El Complejo Turbidítico del Carbonífero del Priorat (Tarragona)

Relaciones entre las asociaciones de facies de las tres unidades litoestratigráficas del complejo turbidítico y su asimilación a unidades deposicionales dentro de modelos de sedimentación submarina.

Els materials arqueològics del jaciment ibèric de la Serra de l'Espasa (Capçanes, Priorat) dipositats al Museu d'Arqueologia Salvador Vilaseca de Reus: evidències d'un santuari?

En aquest treball presentem una revisió del jaciment ibèric de la Serra de l"Espasa (Capçanes, Priorat) a partir de l"estudi, amb criteris actualitzats, del material conservat en el Museu Salvador Vilaseca de Reus. Els resultats són contrastats amb les darreres investigacions arqueològiques desenvolupades en el curs inferior de l"Ebre. A l"últim, s"analitzen les possibles interpretacions d"aquest conjunt, en particular la hipotètica existència d"un santuari, i les seves implicacions en el procés de romanització en aquesta zona

El abrigo del Filador (Margalef de Montsant, Tarragona) y su contextualizacion cultural y cronologica en el Nordeste Peninsular

En este articulo se pasa revista, de forma resumida, a 20 años de excavaciones en el abrigo del Filador y se dan a conocer los resultados más importantes (sedimentología, fauna, polen, industria, dataciones, etc..), obtenidos con la aplicación de nuevas técnicas de estudio desde 1979. Del mismo modo replanteamos su ubicación cronocultural dentro del marco geográfico del NE peninsular a partir de las dataciones radiocarbónicas conocidas hasta el momento. Se trata del primer trabajo de síntesis sobre el yacimiento realizado con posterioridad al estudio de J. Fortea (Fortea 1973); el Filador sigue siendo un referente obligado del Epipaleolítico de la zona en tanto que muestra la mayoría de las facies cronoculturales que definen esta fase en el NE ibérico.

Troballa d'un palet de riera pintat a la cova del Filador (Margalef de Montsant, Priorat, Tarragona)

Aquesta nota vol ser la primera notícia de la troballa d'un palet de riera pintat durant els treballs d'excavació de l'abric del Filador (Margalef de Montsant, Priorat, Tarragona) l'estiu de 1982. Volem que Pyrenae, la revista del nostre Institut d'Arqueología i Prehistoria, organisme que d'altra banda inclou la nostra tasca de camp dins de la seva programació, sigui la primera en tenir aquesta nova. Si bé una primera fotografía ja ha aparegut al cataleg de l'exposició "L'Arqueologia catalana, avui" (pag. 30), aixo no resta actualitat a les dades ínicials que oferirem.

Vint anys d'excavacions a l'abric del Filador (Margalef de Montsant, Priorat, Tarragona)

L"objectiu d"aquest treball és fer conèixer, de forma molt resumida el procés d"excavació de l"abric del Filador entre el 1978 i el 1997. Durant aquest període de temps la Universitat de Barcelona ha tingut cura de la direcció dels esmentats treballs. Els tres codirectors que hem assolit durant més de temps les responsabilitats de coordinar la recerca volem oferir una síntesi de la història i resultats de vint campanyes ininterrumpudes en un jaciment clau per entendre el desenvolupament de l"Epipaleolític al NE peninsular i la façana mediterrània ibèrica.

El clima i la producció d'olives a la Catalunya seca: el cas de Cabacés (el Priorat)

[cat] En un context de canvi climàtic cal estudiar les vulnerabilitats del territori a escala local. En aquest treball s'analitza la producció d'oli de qualitat en un indret de la Catalunya seca, Cabacés (el Priorat), i es posa en relació amb la variabilitat climàtica. Els resultats mostren que el clima té una influència important en la producció d'olives, sobretot les temperatures màximes del mes d'abril i les precipitacions del mes més sec, juliol. S'obté un model de regressió múltiple a partir d'aquestes dues variables climàtiques més influents en la producció. No obstant això, els valors del model s'allunyen dels reals a partir de l'any 2003 a causa d'un creixement molt elevat de la producció per l'extensió del reg de suport. Les futures vulnerabilitats no només depenen del canvi climàtic, sinó dels efectes del canvi global, fenomen que també engloba tots aquells canvis en els usos, hàbits i consums del territori.

Technological trampolines for new venture creation in Catalonia: the case of the University of Girona

Recent trends in technology transfer show an intensification of spin-off creation as a modality of university research commercialisation, complementary to the conventional ones, contract research and licensing. In this paper we analyse the evolution, objectives, resources and activities of a specialised unit –Technological Trampoline (TT) - in charge of new venture creation at the University of Girona (Catalonia-Spain). Based on two theoretical frameworks, Resource-based-view and Institutional Theory, we adopt a multi-dimensional approach to study the strategy of spinning-off new ventures at the University of Girona in terms of resources and activities, how this process is organised and if the outputs fit with this UdG’s objectives and the local environment. Our main contribution is an in-depth analysis of the spin-off creation unit with special emphasis on its variety of resources and activities. The results have a series of implications and recommendations at both university and TT level.

Milk, from medicine to food Mediterranean Europe: Catalonia, 19th-20th centuries

The spread of milk consumption was a significant change in the diet of Europeans, however it is one that has not been greatly studied with regard to the populations of Mediterranean Europe. In this article we shall analyse the ain circumstances that conditioned that process in Catalonia between the middle of the 19th century and 1936. In our study we shall argue that the consumption of milk in this area was only relevant in the 19th century in situations of illness or old age, and that it subsequently increased and acquired a new significance as a result of various factors. In particular, we shall emphasise: (a) the scientific advances in microbiology and nutrition, (b) the activities carried out by doctors and various public institutions to promote the consumption of fresh milk, and (c) the technological innovations in the milk producing sector. In Appendix 1 we show two maps representing the main territorial references that we shall mention.

The Total fiscal cost of indirect taxation: an approximation using Catalonia's recent input-output table

In this note we quantify to what extent indirect taxation influences and distorts prices. To do so we use the networked accounting structure of the most recent input-output table of Catalonia, an autonomous region of Spain, to model price formation. The role of indirect taxation is considered both from a classical value perspective and a more neoclassical flavoured one. We show that they would yield equivalent results under some basic premises. The neoclassical perspective, however, offers a bit more flexibility to distinguish among different tax figures and hence provide a clearer disaggregate picture of how an indirect tax ends up affecting, and by how much, the cost structure.

Why Catalonia will see its energy metabolism increase in the near future: an application of MuSIASEM

This paper applies the so-called Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) to the economy of the Spanish region of Catalonia. By applying Georgescu-Roegen's fund-flow model, it arrives at the conclusion that within a context of the end of cheap oil, the current development model based on the growth of low productivity sectors such as services and construction must change. The change is needed not only because of the increasing scarcity of affordable energy carriers, or because of the increasing environmental impact that the present development represents, but also because of an ageing population that demands labour productivity gains. This will imply industry requiring more energy consumption per worker in order to increase its productivity, and therefore its competitiveness. Thus, we conclude that energy intensity, and exosomatic energy metabolism of Catalonia will increase dramatically in the near future unless major conservation efforts are implemented in both the household and transport sectors.

Barriers to innovation and public policy in Catalonia

The present paper analyses the link between firms’ decisions to innovate and the barriers that prevent them from being innovative. The aim is twofold. First, it analyses three groups of barriers to innovation: the cost of innovation projects, lack of knowledge and market conditions. Second, it presents the main steps taken by Catalan Government to promote the creation of new firms and to reduce barriers to innovation. The data set used is based on the 2004 official innovation survey of Catalonia which was taken from the Spanish CIS-4 sample. This sample includes individual information on 2,954 Catalan firms in manufacturing industries and knowledge-intensive services (KIS). The empirical analysis reveals pronounced differences regarding a firm’s propensity to innovate and its perception of barriers. Moreover, the results show that cost and knowledge barriers seem to be the most important and that there are substantial sectoral differences in the way that firms react to barriers. The results of this paper have important implications for the design of future public policy to promote entrepreneurship and innovation together.

Applications of the MuSIASEM approach to study changes in the metabolic pattern of Catalonia

This document presents an integrated analysis of the performance of Catalonia based on an analysis of how the energy consumption (measured at the societal level for the Catalan Society) is used within both the productive sectors of the economy and the household, to generate added value, jobs, and to guarantee a given level of material standard of living to the population. The trends found in Catalonia are compared to the trends of other European Countries to contextualize the performance of Catalonia with respect to other societies that have followed different paths of economic development. The first part of the document consists of the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach that has been used to provide this integrated analysis of Catalan Society across different scales (starting from an analysis of the specific sectors of the Catalan economy as an Autonomous Community and scaling up to an intra-regional (European Union 14) comparison) and across different dimensions of analyses of energy consumption coupled with added value generation. Within the scope of this study, we observe the various trajectories of changes in the metabolic pattern for Catalonia and the EU14 countries in the Paid Work Sectors composed of namely, the Agricultural Sector, the Productive Sector and the Services and Government Sector also in comparison with the changes in the household sector. The flow intensities of the exosomatic energy and the added value generated for each specific sector are defined per hour of human activity, thus characterized as exosomatic energy (MJ/hour) (or Exosomatic Metabolic Rate) and added value (€/hour) (Economic Labour Productivity) across multiple levels. Within the second part of the document, the possible usage of the MuSIASEM approach to land use analyses (using a multi-level matrix of categories of land use) has been conducted.

Water scarcity, social power and the production of an elite suburb: the political ecology of water in Matadepera, Catalonia

This article investigates the history of land and water transformations in Matadepera, a wealthy suburb of metropolitan Barcelona. Analysis is informed by theories of political ecology and methods of environmental history; although very relevant, these have received relatively little attention within ecological economics. Empirical material includes communications from the City Archives of Matadepera (1919-1979), 17 interviews with locals born between 1913 and 1958, and an exhaustive review of grey historical literature. Existing water histories of Barcelona and its outskirts portray a battle against natural water scarcity, hard won by heroic engineers and politicians acting for the good of the community. Our research in Matadepera tells a very different story. We reveal the production of a highly uneven landscape and waterscape through fierce political and power struggles. The evolution of Matadepera from a small rural village to an elite suburb was anything but spontaneous or peaceful. It was a socio-environmental project well intended by landowning elites and heavily fought by others. The struggle for the control of water went hand in hand with the land and political struggles that culminated – and were violently resolved - in the Spanish Civil War. The displacement of the economic and environmental costs of water use from few to many continues to this day and is constitutive of Matadepera’s uneven and unsustainable landscape. By unravelling the relations of power that are inscribed in the urbanization of nature (Swyngedouw, 2004), we question the perceived wisdoms of contemporary water policy debates, particularly the notion of a natural scarcity that merits a technical or economic response. We argue that the water question is fundamentally a political question of environmental justice; it is about negotiating alternative visions of the future and deciding whose visions will be produced.