http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/13260 www.pcb.ub.edu/xreap/web/home.php Sun, 19 May 2013 23:17:03 GMT 2013-05-19T23:17:03Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/bitstream/id/34850/ http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/13260 http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/203168 Ecological Footprint Inequality: A methodological review and some results Teixidó Figueras, Jordi; Duro Moreno, Juan Antonio Scarcities of environmental services are no longer merely a remote hypothesis. Consequently, analysis of their inequalities between nations becomes of paramount importance for the achievement of sustainability in terms either of international policy, or of Universalist ethical principles of equity. This paper aims, on the one hand, at revising methodological aspects of the inequality measurement of certain environmental data and, on the other, at extending the scarce empirical evidence relating to the international distribution of Ecological Footprint (EF), by using a longer EF time series. Most of the techniques currently important in the literature are revised and then tested on EF data with interesting results. We look in depth at Lorenz dominance analyses and consider the underlying properties of different inequality indices. Those indices which fit best with environmental inequality measurements are CV2 and GE(2) because of their neutrality property, however a trade-off may occur when subgroup decompositions are performed. A weighting factor decomposition method is proposed in order to isolate weighting factor changes in inequality growth rates. Finally, the only non-ambiguous way of decomposing inequality by source is the natural decomposition of CV2, which additionally allows the interpretation of marginal term contributions. Empirically, this paper contributes to the environmental inequality measurement of EF: this inequality has been quite stable and its change over time is due to per capita vector changes rather than population changes. Almost the entirety of the EF inequality is explainable by differences in the means between the countries of the World Bank group. This finding suggests that international environmental agreements should be attempted on a regional basis in an attempt to achieve greater consensus between the parties involved. Additionally, source decomposition warns of the dangers of confining CO2 emissions reduction to crop-based energies because of the implications for basic needs satisfaction. Keywords: ecological footprint; ecological inequality measurement, inequality decomposition. Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/203168 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202969 Nonparametric estimation of Value-at-Risk Alemany Leira, Ramon; Bolancé Losilla, Catalina; Guillén, Montserrat A method to estimate an extreme quantile that requires no distributional assumptions is presented. The approach is based on transformed kernel estimation of the cumulative distribution function (cdf). The proposed method consists of a double transformation kernel estimation. We derive optimal bandwidth selection methods that have a direct expression for the smoothing parameter. The bandwidth can accommodate to the given quantile level. The procedure is useful for large data sets and improves quantile estimation compared to other methods in heavy tailed distributions. Implementation is straightforward and R programs are available. Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202969 2012-10-16T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202153 Leontief versus Ghosh: two faces of the same coin Manresa, Antonio, 1954-; Sancho Pifarré, Ferran In this paper we explore the sectoral and aggregate implications of some endogeneization rules (i.e. on value-added and final demand) which have been common in the Leontief model and have been recently proposed in the Ghosh model. We detect that these rules may give rise in both models to some allegedly pathological behavior in the sense that sectoral or aggregate output, very often, may not follow the logical and economically expected direct relationship with some underlying endogenous variables—namely, output and value-added in the Ghosh model and output and consumption in the Leontief model. Because of the common mathematical structure, whatever is or seems to be pathological in the Ghosh model also has a symmetric counterpart in the Leontief model. These would not be good news for the inner consistency of these linear models. To avoid such possible inconsistencies, we propose new and simple endogeneization rules that have a sound economic interpretation. Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202153 2012-10-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202118 Do labour mobility and networks foster geographical knowledge diffusion? The case of European regions Miguelez, Ernest; Moreno Serrano, Rosina The goal of this paper is twofold: first, we aim to assess the role played by inventors’ cross-regional mobility and networks of collaboration in fostering knowledge diffusion across regions and subsequent innovation. Second, we intend to evaluate the feasibility of using mobility and networks information to build cross-regional interaction matrices to be used within the spatial econometrics toolbox. To do so, we depart from a knowledge production function where regional innovation intensity is a function not only of the own regional innovation inputs but also external accessible R&D gained through interregional interactions. Differently from much of the previous literature, cross-section gravity models of mobility and networks are estimated to use the fitted values to build our ‘spatial’ weights matrices, which characterize the intensity of knowledge interactions across a panel of 269 regions covering most European countries over 6 years. Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202118 2012-07-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202111 Ecological Footprint Inequality across countries: the role of environment intensity, income and interaction effects Duro Moreno, Juan Antonio; Teixidó-Figueras, Jordi Recently, White (2007) analysed the international inequalities in Ecological Footprints per capita (EF hereafter) based on a two-factor decomposition of an index from the Atkinson family (Atkinson (1970)). Specifically, this paper evaluated the separate role of environment intensity (EF/GDP) and average income as explanatory factors for these global inequalities. However, in addition to other comments on their appeal, this decomposition suffers from the serious limitation of the omission of the role exerted by probable factorial correlation (York et al. (2005)). This paper proposes, by way of an alternative, a decomposition of a conceptually similar index like Theil’s (Theil, 1967) which, in effect, permits clear decomposition in terms of the role of both factors plus an inter-factor correlation, in line with Duro and Padilla (2006). This decomposition might, in turn, be extended to group inequality components (Shorrocks, 1980), an analysis that cannot be conducted in the case of the Atkinson indices. The proposed methodology is implemented empirically with the aim of analysing the international inequalities in EF per capita for the 1980-2007 period and, amongst other results, we find that, indeed, the interactive component explains, to a significant extent, the apparent pattern of stability observed in overall international inequalities. Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202111 2012-10-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/200765 Profitability, uncertainty and multi-product firm product proliferation: The Spanish car industry Varela, Xosé-Luís This article studies how product introduction decisions relate to profitability and uncertainty in the context of multi-product firms and product differentiation. These two features, common to many modern industries, have not received much attention in the literature as compared to the classical problem of firm entry, even if the determinants of firm and product entry are quite different. The theoretical predictions about the sign of the impact of uncertainty on product entry are not conclusive. Therefore, an econometric model relating firms’ product introduction decisions with profitability and profit uncertainty is proposed. Firm’s estimated profits are obtained from a structural model of product demand and supply, and uncertainty is proxied by profits’ variance. The empirical analysis is carried out using data on the Spanish car industry for the period 1990-2000. The results show a positive relationship between product introduction and profitability, and a negative one with respect to profit variability. Interestingly, the degree of uncertainty appears to be a driving force of entry stronger than profitability, suggesting that the product proliferation process in the Spanish car market may have been mainly a consequence of lower uncertainty rather than the result of having a more profitable market Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/200765 2012-09-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/198856 Intermediary and structural determinants of early childhood health in Colombia: exploring the role of communities Osorio, Ana Maria; Bolancé Losilla, Catalina; Madise, Nyovani This study examines how structural determinants influence intermediary factors of child health inequities and how they operate through the communities where children live. In particular, we explore individual, family and community level characteristics associated with a composite indicator that quantitatively measures intermediary determinants of early childhood health in Colombia. We use data from the 2010 Colombian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Adopting the conceptual framework of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), three dimensions related to child health are represented in the index: behavioural factors, psychosocial factors and health system. In order to generate the weight of the variables and take into account the discrete nature of the data, principal component analysis (PCA) using polychoric correlations are employed in the index construction. Weighted multilevel models are used to examine community effects. The results show that the effect of household’s SES is attenuated when community characteristics are included, indicating the importance that the level of community development may have in mediating individual and family characteristics. The findings indicate that there is a significant variance in intermediary determinants of child health between-community, especially for those determinants linked to the health system, even after controlling for individual, family and community characteristics. These results likely reflect that whilst the community context can exert a greater influence on intermediary factors linked directly to health, in the case of psychosocial factors and the parent’s behaviours, the family context can be more important. This underlines the importance of distinguishing between community and family intervention programmes. Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/198856 2012-06-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196167 Local Distance-Based Generalized Linear Models using the dbstats package for R Boj del Val, Eva; Delicado, Pedro; Fortiana Gregori, Josep; Esteve, Anna; Caballé Mestres, Adrià This paper introduces local distance-based generalized linear models. These models extend (weighted) distance-based linear models firstly with the generalized linear model concept, then by localizing. Distances between individuals are the only predictor information needed to fit these models. Therefore they are applicable to mixed (qualitative and quantitative) explanatory variables or when the regressor is of functional type. Models can be fitted and analysed with the R package dbstats, which implements several distancebased prediction methods. Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196167 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196166 What about people in European Regional Science? Royuela Mora, Vicente The 51st ERSA Conference held in Barcelona in 2011 was one of the largest ever. Here, by examining the characteristics of the conference, this paper identifies the main trends in Regional Science at a moment in which the discipline is renewing its efforts to provide responses in a complex, globalised world in which cities and regions are acquiring greater and greater importance. This paper follows in the tradition of a long list of studies that have examined the nature of the field of Regional Science and draws on a broad array of sources of information: the delegates’ demographic details, the conference program itself, a satisfaction survey conducted among delegates, a quality survey addressed to those chairing the sessions and, finally, a bibliometric database including each author signing a paper presented at the conference. With this information we describe the ERSA delegates: their relative youthfulness; the areas in which women are taking on a more important role; the countries and regions of the world that have the most dominant profile in Regional Science today; the thematic areas that are being driven by professionals as opposed to academics; the relevance of regional economic growth and innovation as trending topics in the field; the growing frequency of co-authorship and, consequently, of scientific collaboration; and, finally, and perhaps most importantly, the continuous enhancement of the quality of the work being undertaken in the discipline. Indeed, following on from this description, the results of the regression analysis conducted show that for ERSA delegates what matters most is quality, and this must be the direction that future conferences should move toward. Ultimately, therefore, ERSA conferences are comprehensive, all-embracing occasions, representing an ideal opportunity for regional scientists to present their work to each other and to network. Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196166 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196043 Sunk costs, extensive R&D subsidies and permanent inducement effects Arqué Castells, Pere; Mohnen, Pierre A. We study whether there is scope for using subsidies to smooth out barriers to R&D performance and expand the share of R&D firms in Spain. We consider a dynamic model with sunk entry costs in which firms’ optimal participation strategy is defined in terms of two subsidy thresholds that characterise entry and continuation. We compute the subsidy thresholds from the estimates of a dynamic panel data type-2 tobit model for an unbalanced panel of about 2,000 Spanish manufacturing firms. The results suggest that “extensive” subsidies are a feasible and efficient tool for expanding the share of R&D firms. Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196043 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196042 Los límites de la compacidad urbana como instrumento a favor de la sostenibilidad. La hipótesis de la compensación en Barcelona medida a través de la huella ecológica de la movilidad y la vivienda Muñiz, Ivan; Calatayud, Daniel; Dobaño López, Roger La hipótesis de la compensación plantea la posibilidad de que los individuos que viven en centros urbanos densos tengan una mayor propensión a disponer de una segunda residencia y/o llevar a cabo desplazamientos más frecuentes hacia destinos más alejados durante los fines de semana y las vacaciones que los individuos que viven en zonas poco densas. En este contexto, no está claro cuál es el efecto neto de la densidad en términos ambientales. En esta investigación se contrasta la hipótesis de la compensación en la Región Metropolitana de Barcelona utilizando como indicador de impacto ambiental la huella ecológica de la movilidad y de la vivienda. Los resultados obtenidos rechazan la hipótesis de la compensación en un sentido fuerte, pero se detecta la existencia de un nivel máximo de densidad a partir del cual ejerce un impacto de signo positivo. Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196042 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196041 What underlies localization and urbanization economies? Evidence from the location of new firms Marín-López, Raquel; Jofre Monseny, Jordi; Viladecans Marsal, Elisabet The objective of this paper is to analyze why firms in some industries locate in specialized economic environments (localization economies) while those in other industries prefer large city locations (urbanization economies). To this end, we examine the location decisions of new manufacturing firms in Spain at the city level and for narrowly defined industries (three-digit level). First, we estimate firm location models to obtain estimates that reflect the importance of localization and urbanization economies in each industry. In a second step, we regress these estimates on industry characteristics that are related to the potential importance of three agglomeration theories, namely, labor market pooling, input sharing and knowledge spillovers. Localization effects are low and urbanization effects are high in knowledge-intensive industries, suggesting that firms (partly) locate in large cities to reap the benefits of inter-industry knowledge spillovers. We also find that localization effects are high in industries that employ workers whose skills are more industry-specific, suggesting that industries (partly) locate in specialized economic environments to share a common pool of specialized workers. Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196041 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/195760 Changes in wage structure in Mexico going beyond the mean: An analysis of differences in distribution, 1987-2008 Tello, Claudia; Ramos Lobo, Raúl; Artís Ortuño, Manuel This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the relationship between wage inequality, employment structure, and returns to education in urban areas of Mexico during the past two decades (1987-2008). Applying Melly’s (2005) quantile regression based decomposition, we find that changes in wage inequality have been driven mainly by variations in educational wage premia. Additionally, we find that changes in employment structure, including occupation and firm size, have played a vital role. This evidence seems to suggest that the changes in wage inequality in urban Mexico cannot be interpreted in terms of a skill-biased change, but rather they are the result of an increasing demand for skills during that period. Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/195760 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/182683 Quantitative analysis of image factors in a cultural heritage tourist destination Bové-Sans, Miquel-Àngel; Laguado Ramírez, Raquel Irene The tourism consumer’s purchase decision process is, to a great extent, conditioned by the image the tourist has of the different destinations that make up his or her choice set. In a highly competitive international tourist market, those responsible for destinations’ promotion and development policies seek differentiation strategies so that they may position the destinations in the most suitable market segments for their product in order to improve their attractiveness to visitors and increase or consolidate the economic benefits that tourism activity generates in their territory. To this end, the main objective we set ourselves in this paper is the empirical analysis of the factors that determine the image formation of Tarragona city as a cultural heritage destination. Without a doubt, UNESCO’s declaration of Tarragona’s artistic and monumental legacies as World Heritage site in the year 2000 meant important international recognition of the quality of the cultural and patrimonial elements offered by the city to the visitors who choose it as a tourist destination. It also represents a strategic opportunity to boost the city’s promotion of tourism and its consolidation as a unique destination given its cultural and patrimonial characteristics. Our work is based on the use of structured and unstructured techniques to identify the factors that determine Tarragona’s tourist destination image and that have a decisive influence on visitors’ process of choice of destination. In addition to being able to ascertain Tarragona’s global tourist image, we consider that the heterogeneity of its visitors requires a more detailed study that enables us to segment visitor typology. We consider that the information provided by these results may prove of great interest to those responsible for local tourism policy, both when designing products and when promoting the destination. Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/182683 2012-04-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/182670 Discrete time Non-homogeneous Semi-Markov Processes applied to Models for Disability Insurance D’Amico, Guglielmo; Guillén, Montserrat; Manca, Raimondo; In this paper, we present a stochastic model for disability insurance contracts. The model is based on a discrete time non-homogeneous semi-Markov process (DTNHSMP) to which the backward recurrence time process is introduced. This permits a more exhaustive study of disability evolution and a more efficient approach to the duration problem. The use of semi-Markov reward processes facilitates the possibility of deriving equations of the prospective and retrospective mathematical reserves. The model is applied to a sample of contracts drawn at random from a mutual insurance company. Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/182670 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/182666 Driving competition in local gasoline markets Perdiguero, Jordi; Borrell, Joan-Ramon Relevant market definition is still a key element of economic analysis of competition in the gasoline market. It is particularly difficult to handle when competition is local and market power is geographically constrained like is the case in the gasoline market. We analyse how the application of the hypothetical monopolist or Small but Significant Non-Transitory Increase in Prices (SSNIP) test performs for defining isochrones using only information on prices and distance among competitors. We conclude that geographic information systems can be very successfully used to define more precisely relevant geographic market in the gasoline retailing. The application to the Spanish gasoline market concludes that geographic relevant market is composed by 5-6 minutes of travel time. Localised market power should be taken into account when analysing the adverse effects of mergers and entry regulations in gasoline retailing. Only drawing small enough isochrones will drive competition in local markets because it is just close rivals that compete effectively with each other. Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/182666 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179582 Solvency Capital estimation and Risk Measures Ferri Vidal, Antoni; Guillén, Montserrat; Bermúdez, Lluís This paper examines why a financial entity’s solvency capital estimation might be underestimated if the total amount required is obtained directly from a risk measurement. Using Monte Carlo simulation we show that, in some instances, a common risk measure such as Value-at-Risk is not subadditive when certain dependence structures are considered. Higher risk evaluations are obtained for independence between random variables than those obtained in the case of comonotonicity. The paper stresses, therefore, the relationship between dependence structures and capital estimation. Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179582 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179579 How to use the standard model with own data? Bermúdez, Lluís; Guillén, Montserrat; Ferri Vidal, Antoni In this work discuss the use of the standard model for the calculation of the solvency capital requirement (SCR) when the company aims to use the specific parameters of the model on the basis of the experience of its portfolio. In particular, this analysis focuses on the formula presented in the latest quantitative impact study (2010 CEIOPS) for non-life underwriting premium and reserve risk. One of the keys of the standard model for premium and reserves risk is the correlation matrix between lines of business. In this work we present how the correlation matrix between lines of business could be estimated from a quantitative perspective, as well as the possibility of using a credibility model for the estimation of the matrix of correlation between lines of business that merge qualitative and quantitative perspective. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179579 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179577 Evaluating antitrust leniency programs Borrell, Joan-Ramon; Jiménez, Juan Luís; García, Carmen This paper identifies and then quantifies econometrically the impact of leniency programs on the perception of the effectiveness of antitrust policies using country level panel data for a 10-year span. Leniency programs have been introduced gradually in antitrust legislation across the globe to fight more effectively against cartels. We use the dynamics of the diffusion of such policy innovation across countries and over time to evaluate the impact of the program. We find that leniency programs have had a significant impact on the perception among the business community of the effectiveness of each country‟s antitrust policy. Leniency programs have become weapons of mass dissuasion in the hands of antitrust enforcers against the more damaging forms of explicit collusion among rival firms in the market place. Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179577 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179210 Growth in a Cross-Section of Cities: Location, Increasing Returns or Random Growth? González Val, Rafael; Olmo, Jose This article analyzes empirically the main existing theories on income and population city growth: increasing returns to scale, locational fundamentals and random growth. To do this we implement a threshold nonlinearity test that extends standard linear growth regression models to a dataset on urban, climatological and macroeconomic variables on 1,175 U.S. cities. Our analysis reveals the existence of increasing returns when per-capita income levels are beyond $19; 264. Despite this, income growth is mostly explained by social and locational fundamentals. Population growth also exhibits two distinct equilibria determined by a threshold value of 116,300 inhabitants beyond which city population grows at a higher rate. Income and population growth do not go hand in hand, implying an optimal level of population beyond which income growth stagnates or deteriorates Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179210 2011-12-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179209 The determinants of YIc's R&D activity García, José, 1963-; Pellegrino, Gabriele; Vivarelli, Marco This paper examines the determinants of young innovative companies’ (YICs) R&D activities taking into account the autoregressive nature of innovation. Using a large longitudinal dataset comprising Spanish manufacturing firms over the period 1990-2008, we find that previous R&D experience is a fundamental determinant for mature and young firms, albeit to a smaller extent in the case of the YICs, suggesting that their innovation behaviour is less persistent and more erratic. Moreover, our results suggest that firm and market characteristics play a distinct role in boosting the innovation activity of firms of different age. In particular, while market concentration and the degree of product diversification are found to be important in boosting R&D activities in the sub-sample of mature firms only, YICs’ spending on R&D appears to be more sensitive to demand-pull variables, suggesting the presence of credit constraints. These results have been obtained using a recently proposed dynamic type-2 tobit estimator, which accounts for individual effects and efficiently handles the initial conditions problem. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179209 2011-12-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179208 The Innovation and Imitation Dichotomy in Spanish firms: do absorptive capacity and the technological frontier matter? Gombau, Verònica; Segarra Blasco, Agustí, 1958- This paper analyses whether a firm’s absorptive capacity and its distance from the technological frontier affect the choice between innovation and imitation in innovative Spanish firms. From an extensive survey of 5,575 firms during the 2004-2009 period, we found two significant results. With regard to the role of absorptive capacity, the empirical evidence shows that when innovative firms have difficulties in accessing external information and hire skilled workers, their innovative capacity is reduced. Meanwhile, with regard to distance from the technological frontier, the firms that reduce this gap manage to increase their innovative capacity at the expense of imitation. To summarise, when we studied firms’ absorptive capacity and their relative position to the technological frontier in tandem, we found that the two factors directly affected firms' ability to innovate or imitate. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179208 2011-12-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179091 Macroeconomics of extensive margins: a simple model Arespa, Marta How do monopolistically competitive industries react to shocks in the context of a New Keynesian macro model? I bridge macroeconomics and trade theory by considering market dynamics. I use an analytically tractable closed-economy model with endogenous entry of firms and show the implications of markets structure for the transmission of real shocks on aggregate variables and welfare. Shock sources become crucial for the results: traditional productivity shocks cause an extensive effect on production; shocks on innovation cause an intensive impact. More patient populations bring the economy to a richer market, although it cushions the extensive effect after an innovation shock. Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/179091 2011-11-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/172874 Does grade retention affect achievement? Some evidence from PISA Garcia-Pérez, J. Ignacio; Hidalgo-Hidalgo, Marisa; Robles-Zurita, José Antonio Grade retention practices are at the forefront of the educational debate. In this paper, we use PISA 2009 data for Spain to measure the effect of grade retention on students’ achievement. One important problem when analyzing this question is that school outcomes and the propensity to repeat a grade are likely to be determined simultaneously. We address this problem by estimating a Switching Regression Model. We …find that grade retention has a negative impact on educational outcomes, but we confi…rm the importance of endogenous selection, which makes observed differences between repeaters and non-repeaters appear 14.6% lower than they actually are. The effect on PISA scores of repeating is much smaller (-10% of non-repeaters’ average) than the counterfactual reduction that non-repeaters would suffer had they been retained as repeaters (-24% of their average). Furthermore, those who repeated a grade during primary education suffered more than those who repeated a grade of secondary school, although the effect of repeating at both times is, as expected, much larger. Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/172874 2011-11-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/172869 R&D cooperation between Spanish firms and scientific partners: what is the role of tertiary education? Segarra Blasco, Agustí, 1958- This paper explores the factors that determine firm’s R&D cooperation with different partners, paying special attention on the role of tertiary education (degree and PhDs level) in facilitating the connection between the firms and the to scientific bodies (technology centres, public research centres and universities). Here, we attempt to answer two questions. First, are innovative firms that carry out internal and external R&D activities more likely to cooperate on R&D projects with other partners? Second, do Spanish innovative firms with a high participation of researchers with degrees or PhDs tend to cooperate more with scientific partners? To answer both questions we apply a three-dimensional approach on a firm level Panel Data with a sample of 4.998 manufacturing and services Spanish firms. First, we run a complementary test between external R&D acquisition and skilled research workers and find that firms which carry out external R&D activities obtain a greater return on R&D cooperation when they have skilled workers in R&D, especially in high-tech manufactures and KIS services. Second, we carry out a 2-step tobit model to estimate, in the first stage, the determinants that explain whether Spanish innovative firms cooperate or not; and in the second stage the factors that affect the choice of partners. And third, we apply an ordered probit model to test the marginal effects of explanatory variables on the different partners. Here we contrast some of the most interesting empirical hypotheses of previous studies, and which emphasize the role of employees with degrees and PhDs in facilitating cooperative R&D between firms and scientific partners. Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/172869 2011-11-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/171817 A New open economy macroeconomic model with endogenous portfolio diversification and firms entry Arespa, Marta This paper provides a new benchmark for the analysis of the international diversi…cation puzzle in a tractable new open economy macroeconomic model. Building on Cole and Obstfeld (1991) and Heathcote and Perri (2009), this model speci…es an equilibrium model of perfect risk sharing in incomplete markets, with endogenous portfolios and number of varieties. Equity home bias may not be a puzzle but a perfectly optimal allocation for hedging risk. In contrast to previous work, the model shows that: (i) optimal international portfolio diversi…cation is driven by home bias in capital goods, independently of home bias in consumption, and by the share of income accruing to labour. The model explains reasonably well the recent patterns of portfolio allocations in developed economies; and (ii) optimal portfolio shares are independent of market dynamics. Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/171817 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/171816 The impact of agglomeration effects and accessibility on wages Matas i Prat, Anna; Raymond Bara, José Luís; Roig Sabaté, José Luis This paper contributes to the empirical literature on the effects of agglomeration and road accessibility on productivity of firms by looking at the case of Spain. We approach productivity indirectly by using individual wages allocated at the NUTS III level. We use a repeated cross-section of individual micro-data for the years 1995, 2002 and 2006. The availability of interprovincial travel time data for each of the three years allows controlling for transport improvements over the period by using a market potential variable. Additionally, agglomeration is approached by employment density and we control for localization economies, human capital externalities and a large set of individual and workplace characteristics. Estimating by instrumental variables, our results show a positive and significant effect of market accessibility on wages and non linear effect for employment density. Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/171816 2011-11-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/171792 Evaluation of subsidies programs to sell green cars: Impact on prices, quantities and efficiency Jiménez, Juan Luí­s; Perdiguero, Jordi; Garcí­a, Carmen During the recent period of economic crisis, many countries have introduced scrappage schemes to boost the sale and production of vehicles, particularly of vehicles designed to pollute less. In this paper, we analyze the impact of a particular scheme in Spain (Plan2000E) on vehicle prices and sales figures as well as on the reduction of polluting emissions from vehicles on the road. We considered the introduction of this scheme an exogenous policy change and because we could distinguish a control group (non-subsidized vehicles) and a treatment group (subsidized vehicles), before and after the introduction of the Plan, we were able to carry out our analysis as a quasi-natural experiment. Our study reveals that manufacturers increased vehicle prices by the same amount they were granted through the Plan (1,000 €). In terms of sales, econometric estimations revealed an increase of almost 5% as a result of the implementation of the Plan. With regard to environmental efficiency, we compared the costs (inverted quantity of money) and the benefits of the program (reductions in polluting emissions and additional fiscal revenues) and found that the Plan would only be beneficial if it boosted demand by at least 30%. Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/171792 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/171085 A logistic regression approach to estimating customer profit loss due to lapses in insurance Guillén, Montserrat; Pérez Marín, Ana María; Alcañiz, Manuela This article focuses on business risk management in the insurance industry. A methodology for estimating the profit loss caused by each customer in the portfolio due to policy cancellation is proposed. Using data from a European insurance company, customer behaviour over time is analyzed in order to estimate the probability of policy cancelation and the resulting potential profit loss due to cancellation. Customers may have up to two different lines of business contracts: motor insurance and other diverse insurance (such as, home contents, life or accident insurance). Implications for understanding customer cancellation behaviour as the core of business risk management are outlined. Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/171085 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/169680 A correlation sensitivity analysis of non-life underwriting risk in solvency capital requirement estimation Bermúdez, Lluis; Ferri, Antoni; Guillén, Montserrat This paper analyses the impact of using different correlation assumptions between lines of business when estimating the risk-based capital reserve, the Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR), under Solvency II regulations. A case study is presented and the SCR is calculated according to the Standard Model approach. Alternatively, the requirement is then calculated using an Internal Model based on a Monte Carlo simulation of the net underwriting result at a one-year horizon, with copulas being used to model the dependence between lines of business. To address the impact of these model assumptions on the SCR we conduct a sensitivity analysis. We examine changes in the correlation matrix between lines of business and address the choice of copulas. Drawing on aggregate historical data from the Spanish non-life insurance market between 2000 and 2009, we conclude that modifications of the correlation and dependence assumptions have a significant impact on SCR estimation. Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/169680 2011-09-01T00:00:00Z