Tourism Demand in Catalonia: detecting external economic factors

There is a lack of studies on tourism demand in Catalonia. To fill the gap, this paper focuses on detecting the macroeconomic factors that determine tourism demand in Catalonia. We also analyse the relation between these factors and tourism demand. Despite the strong seasonal component and the outliers in the time series of some countries, overnight stays give a better indication of tourism demand in Catalonia than the number of tourists. The degree of linear association between the macroeconomic variables and tourism demand is also higher when using quarterly rather than monthly data. Finally, there are notable differences between the results obtained for the different countries analysed. These results indicate that the best way to model tourism demand in Catalonia is to specify a quarterly model of overnight stays, differentiating between an aggregate demand model for the total number of tourists and specific models for each of the countries analysed.

A feasability study of the analysis of the economic outcomes of specialized nutrition in obesity and weight management in Switzerland

The increasing prevalence of obesity and its associated complications requires specialized care to improve outcomes and control health care costs. Obesity is associated with numerous serious and costly medical problems requiring specialized care in managing health. The economic burden of obesity includes increased inpatient and outpatient medical expenditures as well as employer-related issues of absenteeism and associate costs. The objectives of this study are: - To describe the health consequences and the economic burden of obesity, - To review the existing treatment - To argue in favor of a specialized nutritional intervention that has shown to improve health and reduce obesity related health care costs. Therefore, expose the possibility of introducing the specialized nutrition in Switzerland and the feasibility of this project considering the medical trends and reimbursement system in Switzerland The benefits and outcomes for the patients will be the significant weight loss which reduces the severity and risk factors for complications and the improved health and quality of life. Weight loss will be a combination of a diet, exercise and behavioral interventions which are the basic recommendations for obesity treatment in addition to the specialized nutritional support. By nutritional support, we mean products that are intended to provide nutritional support in the dietary management of people with specific diseases and conditions when adequate intake of regular foods is compromised. These products are called, Food for special medical purposes FSMP. They are not intended to treat, cure, prevent, mitigate or have a direct impact on disease in a manner similar to drugs or other medical treatments and should be used under medical supervision. They also provide a low cost alternative to surgery. From a health care system perspective, the specialized nutrition will drive its advantage by reducing the utilization of medical services for obesity associated complications like medication, physician's consultations and surgical interventions arriving to a cost effective care for the hospitals, the health care organizations and the third party payers which are the health insurances. [Author, p. 4]

Job loss among immigrant and native workers: evidence from Spain's economic downturn

The profound crisis that has affected the Spanish economy since mid - 2008 has been characterized by significant job losses and a marked rise in the country´s unemployment rate. However, unemployment has had a differential impact on different population groups. Compared to native, immigrant workers have experienced higher rates of job loss. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the differences between immigrants and natives (distinguished by gender) in terms of their probability of suffering job loss in the downturn of late 2008 and 2009. Our results indicate that the higher rate of job loss among female immigrant workers can be fully explained by their lower endowment of human capital. By contrast, human capital endowment and over-representation in certain occupations, sectors and regions in which the crisis had greatest impact do not appear to be the only reason for the penalty suffered by immigrant males in terms of their chances of losing their job in the downturn.

Tuotannon kehitysinvestointiprojektien läpivientimalli

Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena oli tutkia ja etsiä kehityskohteita kohdeyrityksen kehitysinvestointiprojektien toimintamallissa. Diplomityön tavoitteena oli tutkia nykyistä investointikäytäntöä ja luoda eri linjastoissa tehtäville kehitysinvestointiesityksille edellytykset tukea yhteisesti yrityksen tulevia suhdannenäkymiä ja strategiaa. Työn tavoitteena oli myös pyrkiä välillisesti kasvattamaan investointiin sijoitettavan pääoman tuottoprosenttia pienentämällä kustannuksia huolellisen valmistelun keinoin jo investointiprojektin kehityksen alkuvaiheessa. Työkaluksi tähän todettiin olevan läpivientimalli. Tutkimusmenetelminä käytettiin kvantitatiivisia ja kvalitatiivisia tiedonkeruumenenelmiä. Näistä ylemmän johdon ja keskijohdon haastattelut, sekä omat kokemukset yrityksen käytännöistä vuosilta 2004-2008 näyttelivät pääroolia. Työn tuotoksena laadittiin aiheeseen liittyvä ohjeistus ja läpivientimalli osaksi yrityksen laatujärjestelmää. Malli sijoitettiin template tyyppisesti dokumentinhallinnointiohjelmistoon. Työn tuloksena on esitetty kehitysinvestointiprojektien läpivientimalli siten, että se tukee yrityksen strategiaa kestävän kehityksen ympäröimänä. Työlle asetetut tavoitteet saavutettiin sille tarkoitetussa aikavälissä.

The role of the tourism sector in economic development. Lessons from the Spanish experience

Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the global economy and is considered an efficient tool with which to promote economic growth. The case of Spain¿s economy is well known in this respect; in fact, widespread consensus exists on the part played by tourism in enhancing the industrialisation process in Spain and the part played by foreign currency receipts from tourism in financing the imports of capital goods, which made the expansion of manufacturing possible. This paper aims to assess the real role of foreign currency receipts from tourism in Spain¿s economy from 1960 to the present. The results of Spain¿s experience may well help to guide policy decisions in developing countries in similar circumstances.

The role of the tourism sector in economic development. Lessons from the Spanish experience

Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the global economy and is considered an efficient tool with which to promote economic growth. The case of Spain¿s economy is well known in this respect; in fact, widespread consensus exists on the part played by tourism in enhancing the industrialisation process in Spain and the part played by foreign currency receipts from tourism in financing the imports of capital goods, which made the expansion of manufacturing possible. This paper aims to assess the real role of foreign currency receipts from tourism in Spain¿s economy from 1960 to the present. The results of Spain¿s experience may well help to guide policy decisions in developing countries in similar circumstances.

Human Capital Composition and Economic Growth at a Regional Level

With this paper we build a two-region model where both innovation and imitation are performed. In particular imitation takes the form of technological spillovers that lagging regions may exploit given certain human capital conditions. We show how the high skill content of each region’s workforce (rather than the average human capital stock) is crucial to determine convergence towards the income level of the leader region and to exploit the technological spillovers coming from the frontier. The same applies to bureaucratic/institutional quality which are conductive to higher growth in the long run. We test successfully our theoretical result over Spanish regions for the period between 1960 and 1997. We exploit system GMM estimators which allow us to correctly deal with endogeneity problems and small sample bias.

Appropriate IPRs, Human Capital Composition and Economic Growth

We generalize a standard technology diffusion model by allowing for IPRs regimes to be endogenously defined by the development level of each country. Also we insert differences in the composition of human capital between North (leader) and South (followers) which shape the relative costs of innovation and imitation. Results show how an optimal growth trajectory is found for the follower country which initially imitates and that, once a "threshold development stage" is reached, optimally switches to innovation by fully enforcing IPRs achieving a higher proximity with the technology frontier in the long-run. Other scenarios, such as a premature increase in the enforcement of IPRs or a switch from imitation to innovation at early stages of development of the followers are found to be sub-optimal.

Regional economic growth and human capital: the role of overeducation

The paper analyses the link between human capital and regional economic growth in the European Union. Using different indicators of human capital calculated from census microdata, we conclude that the recent economic performance of European regions is associated to an increase in overeducation. In fact, measures of educational mismatch seem to have a stronger connection to regional economic performance than other traditional measures of human capital stocks.

Intraregional trade in South America, 1913-50. Economic linkages before institutional agreements

Dejando de lado NAFTA, la integración comercial en América Latina sigue siendo muy moderada hoy en día, representando alrededor del 20% del comercio total. Lo sorprendente es que estos valores eran más altos en 1945. Esto constituye un hecho paradoxal: la integración comercial alcanzó su récord antes de la firma de acuerdos de integración comercial. En el presente trabajo se estudia el comercio intrarregional a lo largo del período de entreguerras (1913-1950) a través del análisis de cinco casos: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile y Peru. El análisis de la integración comercial en este período representa una novedad en la literatura, ya que los trabajos sobre América Latina, específicos de comercio intraregional, se centran en el período a partir de la década de 1960. El documento destaca dos conclusiones principales: a) con la excepción de los períodos de las guerras mundiales, el comercio intraregional ha sido muy modesto desde 1913 hasta la actualidad, b) en general, el comercio intrarregional repitió la especialización del comercio mundial: una alta concentración en productos de bajo valor añadido.

Intraregional trade in South America, 1913-50. Economic linkages before institutional agreements

Dejando de lado NAFTA, la integración comercial en América Latina sigue siendo muy moderada hoy en día, representando alrededor del 20% del comercio total. Lo sorprendente es que estos valores eran más altos en 1945. Esto constituye un hecho paradoxal: la integración comercial alcanzó su récord antes de la firma de acuerdos de integración comercial. En el presente trabajo se estudia el comercio intrarregional a lo largo del período de entreguerras (1913-1950) a través del análisis de cinco casos: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile y Peru. El análisis de la integración comercial en este período representa una novedad en la literatura, ya que los trabajos sobre América Latina, específicos de comercio intraregional, se centran en el período a partir de la década de 1960. El documento destaca dos conclusiones principales: a) con la excepción de los períodos de las guerras mundiales, el comercio intraregional ha sido muy modesto desde 1913 hasta la actualidad, b) en general, el comercio intrarregional repitió la especialización del comercio mundial: una alta concentración en productos de bajo valor añadido.

Arvopaperistaminen ja luottojohdannaiset luottoriskin ja omien varojen hallinnan välineenä

Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitetään, voisiko Pohjola Pankki tehostaa omien varojen käyttöään ja luoda taloudellista lisäarvoa osakkeenomistajilleen hyödyntämällä arvopaperistamista tai luottojohdannaisia rahoitustaseen yritys-lainasaamisiin sisältyvän luottoriskin hallintaan. Työssä pohditaan myös ko. instrumenttien soveltuvuutta ja transaktion toteutusprosessia Pohjola Pankin näkökulmasta. Tutkimus on empiirinen tapaustutkimus, jossa on hyödynnetty kvantitatiivista tutkimusmetodia. Tulosten valossa Pohjola Pankki pystyy alentamaan omien varojen määrä luomaan lisäarvoa ja parantamaan riskipainotettua kannattavuuttaan arvopaperistamalla yrityslainasaataviaan tai ostamalla luottojohdannaisen. Huomioiden kohdeyrityksen luottoportfolion rakenteen ja transaktion toteuttamiseen vaadittavat toimenpiteet, soveltuu luottojohdannainen arvopaperistamista paremmin luottoriskin johtamiseen kohdeyrityksessä – edellyttäen, että suojaus-kustannukset eivät nouse liian korkeiksi ja vapautuvat omat varat saadaan hyödynnettyä mahdollisimman tehokkaasti.

Agglomeration vs. dispersion of economic activities in the districts of Paris

The spatial distribution of economic activity has often been analysed for wide geographical areas such as regions or metropolitan areas, but it has rarely been subject to microanalysis, especially outside the U.S. In this paper we focus on what happens within a large European city (Par is), and analyse how the industrial composition of its districts differs and how these districts evolve. We also analyse suburbanization process for both residents and the workforce and provide empirical evidence about the changing roles of the core and intramuros periphery. Keywords: agglomeration, suburbanization, Paris, micropolitan analysis

Investigating the impact of small versus large firms on economic performance of countries and industries

Following earlier work by Audretsch et al. (2002), we assume that an optimal size-class structure exists, in terms of achieving maximal economic growth rates. Such an optimal structure is likely to exist as economies need a balance between the core competences of large firms (such as exploitation of economies of scale) and those of smaller firms (such as flexibility and exploration of new ideas). Accordingly, changes in size-class structure (i.e., changes in the relative shares in economic activity accounted for by micro, small, medium-sized and large firms) may affect macro-economic growth. Using a unique data base of the EU-27 countries for the period 2002-2008 for five broad sectors of economic activity and four size-classes, we find empirical support which suggests that, on average for these countries over this period, the share of micro and large firms may have been ‘above optimum’ (particularly in lower income EU countries) whereas the share of medium-sized firms may have been ‘below optimum’ (particularly in higher income EU countries). This evidence suggests that the transition from a ‘managed’ to an ‘entrepreneurial’ economy (Audretsch and Thurik, 2001) has not been completed yet in all countries of the EU-27. Keywords: small firms, large firms, size-classes, macro-economic performance

Risk-Return Trade-Off for European Stock Markets

This paper adopts dynamic factor models with macro-finance predictors to test the intertemporal risk-return relation for 13 European stock markets. We identify country specific, euro area, and global macro-finance factors to determine the conditional risk and return. Empirically, the risk- return trade-off is generally negative. However, a Markov switching model documents that there is time-variation in this trade-off that is linked to the state of the economy. Keywords: Risk-return trade-off; Dynamic factor model; Macro-finance predictors; European stock markets; Markov switching model JEL Classifications: C22; G11; G12; G17