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Highlights: [•] The waste generated by the suppliers of the Spanish paper industry is estimated. [•] An Economic Input Output Life Cycle Assessment Models (IO-LCA) is employed. [•] No direct relationship between impact on output and on waste generation was found. [•] The major contributors to waste generation were mining and forestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an examination of the economic contribution to Spain provided by sport hunting. This paper identifies the main stakeholders, the overall expenses and contribution to the Spanish Gross Domestic Product (GDP), tax revenue, and the number of jobs supported. The results confirm that hunting can be considered a key economic activity for the Spanish environment and primary sector, and a measure combatting rural depopulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to analyse the internship expectations gap amongst the three main internship stakeholders: employers (company supervisors), academic supervisors and students, in an effort to detect the variables which could assist closing the gap between students' perceptions and the labour market employers and then, between the academic supervisors in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the students. This paper analyses firstly, the variables that determine students' perceptions and overall satisfaction with the internships. After, it examines the differences with the employers' expectations of the interns' performance. Finally, this paper analyses the variables that determine the academic supervisors in HEIs grading of the interns with the overall satisfaction about the students' internship performance. This research serves as a guide for the improvement, refinement and expansion of university internship programme design together with internship best practices definition to close the expectation gaps between the HEIs and the Business World. Design/methodology/approach: Two quantitative surveys were designed to measure students' and employers' perceptions of the internships. Additionally, one semi-structured qualitative interview is performed to deepen understanding of each student's perception of the internship. The authors perform a triangular analysis of students' perceptions and employers' (company supervisors) and academic supervisors' expectations. A T-test analyses the differences between cognitive, transversal and social skills developed in an internship as perceived by students and employers (company supervisors). Finally, linear regressions are run both to identify the variables that determine the students' internship overall satisfaction and also detect the variables that determine the final internship grade assigned by the academic supervisor from the university. Findings: The authors highlight the following interesting findings. While the students feel that the internships are highly useful and perceive that they were fully integrated into the company's culture, they also state that they learn how to develop their transversal skills much more than the cognitive skills learnt in the whole study programme in their degrees. In parallel, employers (company supervisors), for their part, perceive that students have strong social skills and adjust perfectly to the company's culture, but expected the students to have more creativity and cognitive skills. Finally, the academic supervisor's value the students' written skills together with the company's supervisor valuation more than the students' transversal skills. These main expectation gaps detected must be solved to improve internship outcomes and closing the gaps between the Higher Education and Business World. These findings consolidate existing research and add more quantitative results contextualised to Spanish Higher Education Institutions. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of this research are that it only embeds a HEIs in Spain and the sample should be enlarged with more universities not only from Spain but also from around the world. Thus, the findings in this research can be used to improve the internship programme in this HEIs and its best practices, however they cannot be extrapolated to other HEIs still. Nevertheless, other HEIs can learn from this experience. Regarding the surveys these can be reviewed and homogenised for the student's perception items to be more aligned with the company supervisor's expectations and the academic supervisor's requirements of an internship. As implications, the authors have divided them into theoretical and practical. From the theoretical point of view, there needs to be more research about internships done in Economics, Law and Business Degrees field. From the practical point of view, the authors highlight several implications. First, HEIs must develop internship programmes further and promote the three stakeholders, employer–academic supervisor–student communication more fluid. This communication flow will maximize and align both employer and academic supervisor expectations about the students' performance in their internships. This way, student perceptions of their internship experience will improve and align further. Second, internships must be promoted in the Economics and Business Degrees as they are a unique opportunity for students to apply cognitive, transversal and social skills acquired in their study programmes, developing themselves as future professionals. Third, there is a growing need for HEIs to strengthen links with different companies, not only to teach students the skills employers' value but also to ensure that graduates are aware of what is happening in the labour market. Finally, through the internships developing further, academic supervisors must open their assessment to the students' professional skills (critical thinking, creativity, capacity to solve short term problems efficiently,) aligning with labour market needs. Originality/value: This paper is significant because it shows the growing need for universities to strengthen links with a variety of companies (Business World). Internships are becoming compulsory, having assigned a high percentage of European Credits Transfer System (ECTS) credits to students' Grade Point Average (GPA) in Economics, Law and Business. This research work shows HEIs should improve internship design to close the gap between Higher Education's supply of graduates and the business world's demand for adequately prepared professionals. The results in this paper can help the academic actors start improving the internship design and best practices definition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International Trade, as part of the global economy, has suffered the consequences of the crisis originated by the pandemic. This paper pretends to analyze the effects on the exports and imports of products and services in Spain. The conclusions show that, the drastic falls in some sectors had a temporary component in most cases (especially sanitary and esential goods), but other industries (like tourism, hospitality and leisure) are still suffering the consequences. Although the trade of goods are going back to normal, touristic services still remain behind. The lack of visitors from other countries has also had an impact on the reduction of foreign capital inflows, which are registered in the Balance of Payments. However, perspectives for the coming months are positive, as most of the restrictions associated to COVID are gradually disappearing and international air traffic is increasing, bringing foreign tourists back to Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

38.5% of the Spanish working population reports pain, 5.1% severe pain. Pain is associated with a high utilization of health services, but, more importantly, with a significant reduction in the ability to continue their work performance. Interventions to minimize the significant costs inflicted by pain should be implemented. Objective: The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the epidemiology of pain in the Spanish working population and to investigate the incremental costs of the different levels of pain on medical costs and productivity losses. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of costs of pain in the Spanish working population from a societal perspective using data from a national representative survey. Results: Data from the 9919 respondents were analyzed. The prevalence of reported pain was 38.5%: 21.9% mild or very mild; 11.5% moderate; 5.1% severe or extreme. Increased self-reported pain was independently associated with significant increases in direct and indirect costs. Those reporting severe or extreme pain showed excess annual costs of €5118.97 per case, being 85% indirect costs. Conclusions: Spain is paying a heavy price for the high prevalence of pain in its working population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banks are the backbone of the financial sector and catalysts in the economic development of any country. Current changes in their global business ecosystem make knowledge of about the fund-supplying and fund-demanding parties of the society a key resource for the fulfillment of banks’ investment and saving functions. This paper addresses the relationship between the performance and a learning culture that is supported by knowledge processes within the organization. Given the relevance of this subject for organizations from most knowledge-intensive domains, this research has focused on the Spanish banking sector. Using a structural equation model, feedback received from 215 employees from 142 individual branches from a major banking institution in Spain is studied. The results of the data analysis show that in addition to maximizing on what is already known about the customer base, employees’ learning about the potential new stakeholders and also about the internal strategies, tools, and techniques is directly related to the bank's performance, which, in turn, influences the economic recovery and socio-economic development. Results support that an active pursuit of learning within the context of the organization is required for banks to remain competitive in the dynamic, global business ecosystem, where international, national, and local banking sectors operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of think tanks in Spain has been growing in the last few years with an equally increasing number of social and grassroots movements. This article offers content analysis results from a selection of eight Spanish think tanks in the digital press during a seven-year period, adding new conclusions to previous literature for the same period. Not only does this research explore the appearance on the media, but also the type of mentions and authorship of the articles and blogs included in the digital press, contributing to a deeper study of think tanks. The objective of this study is to analyse the limited presence of Spanish think tanks in media outlets and whether their appearance is ideologically motivated. The article built a constructed week sampling and followed a content analysis methodology to gather quantitative and qualitative elements from the selected sampling (n=1,101). The paper concludes that the presence of think tanks in the Spanish digital press is limited, causing not only a lack of knowledge of their existence but also raising questions about how they try to impact on the policymaking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Martín de Azpilcueta and his fellow Spanish Scholastics writing and teaching at the University of Salamanca during Spain's Golden Age are rightly pointed to by historians of economic thought as being major contributors toward, if not outright founders of modern economic theory. Among these is the theory of time-preference for which Azpilcueta has repeatedly been given the credit for discovering. However, this discovery is a curious one given how the same man, Azpilcueta, condemned usury in general during his whole life. If Azpilcueta did in fact discover this theory and fully understand its implications, we would reasonably expect him to have questioned his support for the ban on charging an interest on a loan. This paper, therefore, challenges the claim that Azpilcueta understood and revived time-preference theory and shows how his understanding was much more nuanced, and, at times, inconsistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of large renewable energy projects is characterized by the great uncertainties associated with their administrative complexity and their constructive characteristics. For proper management, it is necessary to undertake a thorough project risk assessment prior to construction. The work presented in this paper is based on a hierarchical risk structure identified by a group of experts, from which a Probabilistic Fuzzy Sets with Analysis Hierarchy Process (PFSAHP) was applied. This probabilistic analysis approach used expert opinion based on the Monte Carlo Method that allows for extracting more information from the original data. In addition, the coherence of the experts’ opinions is assessed using a novel parameter known as Confidence Level, which allows for adjusting the opinions of experts and weighting their judgments regarding impact and probability according to their coherence. This model has the advantage of offering a risk analysis in the early stages of the management of renewable energy projects in which there is no detailed information. This model is also more accurate than the classic fuzzy methodology when working with complete distribution functions, whilst it avoids the loss of information that results from the traditional mathematical operations with Fuzzy numbers. To test the model, it was applied to a 250 MW photovoltaic solar plant construction project located in southeast of Spain (Region of Murcia). As a result of the application of the proposed method, risk rankings are obtained with respect to the cost, the time, the scope and from a general point of view of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The main aims of this paper are to analyse the monetary value of informal care time using different techniques and to identify significant variables associated with the number of caregiving hours. Data and methods: A multicentre study in two Spanish regions in adult caregivers was conducted. A total sample of 604 people was available. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify the variables associated with the number of hours of caregiving time. In the monetary valuation of informal care provided, three approaches were used: replacement cost method, opportunity cost and contingent valuation (willingness to pay and willingness to accept). Results: The main determinants of the amount of time of informal care provided were age, gender, the level of care receiver´s dependence and the professional care services received (at home and out of home). The value estimated for informal care time ranges from EUROS 80,247 (replacement cost method) to EUROS 14,325 (willingness to pay), with intermediate values of EUROS 27,140 and EUROS 29,343 (opportunity cost and willingness to accept, respectively). Several sensitivity analyses were performed over the base cases, confirming the previous results. Conclusions: Time of informal care represents a great social value, regardless of the applied technique. However, the results can differ strongly depending on the technique chosen. Therefore, the choice of technique of valuation is not neutral. Among the determinants of informal care time, the professional care received at home has a complementary character to informal care, while the formal care outside the home has a substitute character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Since the 2007/08 financial crisis and during the ensuing period of austerity, government agencies and 'conventional' markets have shown little interest in meeting low-income housing demand. Land and housing are increasingly commodified and financialised, and 'formal' access to housing has become unaffordable to ever larger sectors of the population. Those excluded from formal systems continue to provide themselves with land and housing via alternative means, as has been documented for over five decades. This phenomenon has intensified in some places and reappeared in others. Despite international agreements and exhortations to recognise the urban poor's efforts to house themselves, which now also promote the notion of urban and community resilience, government agencies continue to criminalise and quash such initiatives, thus contributing to inequality. This paper aims to examine and illustrate the type of bottom-up housing process and official response that is taking place around the wold, with a focus on the role of two key actors: state and community. It adopts a transformative interpretation of urban resilience based on making the concept of resistance central to this, in order to reflect the realities and priorities of low-income and vulnerable settlements. This 'resistance as resilience' is explored in three self-built settlements by examining Giddens's structuring types of relation: allocative structures, authoritative structures and systems of meaning. These case studies are located in national contexts with different income levels: Las Sabinas in Spain (recent settlement in a high-income country); Guinaw Rails Nord in Senegal (medium-term settlement in a low-income country), Villa 31 in Argentina (long-standing settlement in a middle-income country). The case studies show how communities in all three cases have been the most active and effective in creating settlements that meet their needs in an integrated way, while government agencies have implemented policies of exclusion and abandonment. The case studies highlight that communities do not operate on a level playing field, but their actions can bring about changes in the types of relation identified by Giddens. So-called 'informality' thus becomes a political question, related to the position of low-income communities within their political economy and social structure, and their relationship with power structures. Highlights • In the last decade, commodified and financialised housing has become unaffordable to larger sectors of the population. • A transformative interpretation of urban resilience is adopted based on making the concept of resistance central to this. • Giddens's structuration theory is applied three self-built settlements around the world (Spain, Senegal and Argentina). • We show that 'informality' is a political issue, related to the relationship of low-income communities with power structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refined olive oil (ROO) and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) categories are different products with respect to their objective quality. Nevertheless, this quality gap is not reflected in the purchase behaviour of consumers in Spain, which is the main producer country worldwide. On the basis of economic theory, the price gap could be a part of the explanation; however, the objective price gap between EVOO and ROO has been on average around €0.40 kg −1 since the 2007/2008 crop year in Spain. Therefore, this paper contributes to a more in-depth understanding of those factors, besides price, affecting consumers' decision-making process in olive oil markets. We examine how consumers build their purchase preferences towards two products – namely EVOO and ROO–based on their evaluative judgements shaped by person-related and environmental factors. In doing so, a theoretical model is proposed and an empirical application in southern Spain is presented, using variance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) by means of partial least squares path modelling (PLS). The results show how attitude towards EVOO and ROO play a key role in explaining both EVOO and ROO consumption. In addition, taste preferences are shown to have an overriding moderator effect on the relationship between attitude towards ROO and consumption. Negative anticipated consequences regarding EVOO are core to shape consumers' attitude towards ROO and also influence attitude towards the own product. Meanwhile, healthy shopping habits affect mainly attitude towards EVOO and the perceived value of private brands influences attitude towards ROO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses whether regions benefit from their neighbours' transport facilities. We focus on ports and estimate a gravity model of trade that includes port facilities indicators as explanatory variables. The model is estimated by using exports from 19 Spanish regions to 45 countries from 2000 onwards. To test for the existence of regional spillovers, we construct a weight matrix that takes into account the relative importance of the neighbouring ports, as well as the quality of port infrastructure in destination countries. The findings suggest that regional spillovers play a larger role than port facilities themselves in the growth of Spanish exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper we analyze the reasons behind the high success rate in the football clubs insolvency proceedings. The Spanish insolvency scenario has shown elevated fail rates (higher than 90%), evidencing notable weaknesses. Conversely, football clubs have successfully overcome their legal insolvency situations in the great majority of cases, and the results of our paper prove that (i) a financial structure less concentrated in secured credits (particularly secured financial institutions) than the rest of firms, and (ii) the systematic support given by public administrations (voting in favor of their proposals) have provided such outcome. Additionally, this occurs in a context in which public administrations have shown their reticence to give support to the rest of insolvent firms, while others (football clubs) receive it even though they present poorer management indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, Ciccone's ( ) approach is applied to the Spanish case in 2011 but by estimating it using local labor markets (LLMs) instead of NUTS‐2 or NUTS‐3 regions. It is especially relevant in the case of Spain because the NUTS‐3 (provinces) are large regions in comparison with other cases in Europe. From a sample of income taxpayers published by the Spanish Fiscal Studies Institute, we derive figures on average wages by worker on the scale of LLMs. We argue that working at this level of spatial disaggregation is more in line with the idea of externalities from agglomerations, which are generated on a local scale. We can also observe intra‐regional heterogeneity and how the urban wage premium changes along the entire distribution of cities, including small‐medium size urban areas or rural areas. The empirical analysis is based on several estimation strategies, namely, ordinary least squares, two‐stages least squares, quantile regressions (QR), and instrumental variable quantile regressions (IVQR) estimators; they all find a significantly positive effect of agglomeration in the conditional mean of wages. This result can be estimated along the conditional distribution of wages. According to the QR and IVQR estimates, important variations are found along the distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale and objectives: Economic theory classifies an intervention as socially beneficial if the total Willingness to Pay (WTP) of those who gain exceeds the total Willingness to accept (WTA) of those who are harmed. This paper examines the differences in health system users’ valuation of a health care service in primary care setting based on the WTP and WTA perspectives, discussing the impact of personal and service variables, including risk attitudes, on these disparities. Method: Six hundred and sixty two subjects who asked for care in health centres in the Region of Madrid (Spain) were interviewed, using the contingent valuation method to estimate WTP and WTA. Patient sociodemographic characteristics, health needs, satisfaction with the service and risk attitude and behaviour under risk (measured by self-reported scales and lottery games respectively) were collected. Generalised Linear Models were used to estimate the association between the explanatory variables and the WTA/WTP ratio. Results: We obtained the WTA/WTP ratio for 570 subjects (mean 1.66 CI 95%: 1.53–1.79; median 1, interquartile range 1–2). People with higher education or in high social groups expressed WTA values closest to WTP. The opposite occurred in patients with the greatest health needs or who were born abroad. Self-reported expression of risk aversion appeared also related to increases in the WTA/WTP ratio. Satisfaction with the service evaluated was the most influential factor in the WTA/WTP ratio. Conclusion: Health need, difficulty in obtaining substitutes and satisfaction with the service could serve for profiling people averse to loss for health care services in primary care setting. Self-reported expression of risk aversion could also be related to increases in the WTA/WTP ratio. This would mean that these characteristics should be taken into account both in the design and implementation of new healthcare interventions, as in the making decision for disinvestment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper provides a bridge between the literature examining the economic impact of air services and the literature analyzing the determinants of bilateral FDI flows. I estimate a gravity equation for the determinants of bilateral FDI flows between the Spanish region of Catalonia, home to the airport of Barcelona, and countries of all over the world for the period 2002-2015. I find evidence that the reduction in travel time due to the availability of nonstop flights scheduled with sufficient frequency increases the amount of FDI due to the enhanced transmission of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galicia (NW Spain) has been the first national milk producer with production rates oscillating between 25.7% and 39.1%, of the total milk produced in Spain between 2001 and 2014. Dairy industry is one of the most important food activities in this geographical region; only fish processing industry (data from 2014) precedes its annual turnover. Research related to sustainability in this sector has proved that farming is the most polluting process associated to the life cycle. Nevertheless, the prevention and control of emissions to air, water and soil, as well as waste generation derived from the industrial process, cannot be omitted. This is the objective of the Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, IPPC). The industrial activities included in its Annex I (as the dairy industry) must, among others, implement the Best Available Techniques (BATs), to achieve a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole. This paper analyses the degree of implementation of the IPPC Directive in the dairy industry of Galicia, selecting 5 dairy industrial installations in the framework of the IPPC. The used methodology was proposed previously and applied for validation to the fish and seafood caning industry (Bello Bugallo et al., 2013). The environmental performance of these plants was analysed using, among others, the first environmental permits and taking into account the last modifications published in the official journal, as a source of information about the degree of implementation of the BAT and the associated emission levels. The results give an updated inventory of BAT for the dairy industry, the comparative between plants, the number of implemented BAT, the emissions and the overall environmental performance of each plant. The main conclusions indicate that the degree of implementation of BAT is, in general, quite poor especially those related to waste management. The 2 plants “theoretically” with the largest number of BAT implemented are the most pollutant ones (taken into account emissions). The reason is not that BATs are not effective but every plant has its particularities (age, the kind of fuel used, and so on) and therefore, each one has its own needs from an environmental point of view. Then BAT should be selected for the most pollutant flows, the so called Improvable Flows (IF). These IF must be identified previously with adequate tools, followed by the selection of the appropriate BATs from an updated inventory. This analysis could be extrapolated and applied to the rest of the installations of this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Plan F of Great Britain's Women's Budget Group (UKWBG) and the Scottish Women's Budget Group (SWBG) for gender equality in Spain that will lead to sustainable development. Topics include negative impact of austerity policies on women empowerment and well-being; development of a Briefing Paper by organizations to promote women rights and economic recovery; and several aspects of the paper such as reverse cuts, establishment of equal pay and access to affordable care.

One of the most innovative elements of the Water-Framework Directive (WFD) is the important role that economic analysis is assigned in achieving its environmental objectives. In Spain, a great effort has been put forth by river basin agencies to diagnose the current state of water bodies and to implement the economic tools and principles required by the Directive. However, there have been a number of shortcomings in the way the economic analysis was designed and applied (as well as a significant delay in meeting the WFD's deadlines). The objective of this paper is to critically review the implementation of the economics of the WFD in Spain and to make suggestions on how to deal with the problems that have been encountered. Some of the more important shortcomings are that the characterization of water uses is mostly descriptive and lacks prospective analysis; that analysis of the potential for costs recovery of water services has incorrectly assumed that the financial costs of water provision are completely covered by the payment of the current legal tariffs; and that environmental and resource costs have not been included in the analysis for the selection of mitigation measures. The main reason for these problems is that water policy-makers and managers were unprepared for, and inexperienced with economic analysis. The most important recommendation of this paper to improve future revisions of the River Basin Management Plans is to strengthen the links between water planners and academics, moving towards evidence-based policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The objective of this paper is to analyse whether the recent recession has altered health care utilisation patterns of different income groups in Spain. Methods: Based on information concerning individuals 'income and health care use, along with health need indicators and demographic characteristics (provided by the Spanish National Health Surveys from 2006/07 and 2011/12), econometric models are estimated in two parts (mixed logistic regressions and truncated negative binominal regressions) for each of the public health services studied (family doctor appointments, appointments with specialists, hospitalisations, emergencies and prescription drug use). Results: The results show that the principle of universal access to public health provision does not in fact prevent a financial crisis from affecting certain income groups more than others in their utilisation of public health services. Conclusions: Specifically, in relative terms the recession has been more detrimental to low-income groups in the cases of specialist appointments and hospitalisations, whereas it has worked to their advantage in the cases of emergency services and family doctor appointments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the unemployment effect on food expenditure (UEFE) for Spanish households and quantifies its magnitude in boom and crisis periods. The results show that the UEFE was negative in both contexts but was reinforced during the economic crisis. Applying propensity score matching and difference-in-differences techniques to a sample of Spanish households for 2006 and 2013 (representative of a boom period and a crisis period, respectively), we found that the UEFE amounted to 2.9% in the boom period and to 4.5% in the crisis period. Quantile difference-in-differences estimates confirmed that the economic crisis enhanced the UEFE for Spanish households, with this effect decreasing continuously up to quantile 0.9. The UEFE was exacerbated mainly in those economically disadvantaged households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically examines the impact of competition in the television (TV) industry on the number of movie theaters, their attendance, and their box office revenues. Studies of firm entry usually focus on the impact of regulation on economic outcomes within an industry, thereby neglecting its impact on neighboring industries. Using changes in regulation in the Spanish local TV station industry, we estimate the impact of TV entry on the movie theater industry between 1993 and 2005. Our findings show that local TV entry decreased the number of theaters and screens in a province, as well as movie attendance and box office revenues. ( JEL L11, L43, L82) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the extent to which the relationship between energy consumption and real gross domestic product can be affected by an effective economic development policy based on industrialization. The SpanishStabilization and Liberalization Planof 1959 is regarded as a “natural experiment” that is especially interesting for our purposes. To explore long-run causality and possible changes in its direction, we have exploited statistical information for a long period (1900–2008). We applied a moving-window regression procedure based on the augmented vector autoregressive methodology of Toda and Yamamoto (1995). Causality results are highly sensitive to the industrialization process. For the sub-period preceding the development policy, we consistently found greater support for the “conservation hypothesis”. This contrasts sharply with the set of results obtained from the data belonging to the subsequent sub-period, where evidence is in favor of the “growth hypothesis”. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The European market for cannabis derivatives is being transformed. The cultivation of cannabis within the EU and the shift of demand from hashish to domestic marihuana are key aspects of this transformation. Spain, formerly central to the trade of Moroccan hashish, is becoming a marihuana-producing country. The emergence of "import-substitution" has been researched in other EU countries, but thus far the Spanish case remains undocumented.Methods: This paper is based on analysis of data of 748 cannabis plantations seized by Spanish police in 2013. The sample comprises reports of seizures identified through a survey of online news and police reports. "Event-analysis" methods were applied to these sources.Results: The analysis offers a typology of plantations, a profile of participants and the different production systems, and a model of regional distribution. Half of the plantations were small (less than 42 plants) and half contained between 100 and 1000 plants, with an average size of 261 plants. About three-quarters of plants were cultivated indoors using stolen electricity. 86% of all plants seized were from large-scale plantations (more than 220 plants). Most plantations were located along the Mediterranean coast, where population and tourism are concentrated. Over three-quarters of those indicted by police were Spanish (85%). Among the foreign owners of big plantations, Dutch nationals predominated. The number of seized plants by province was directly associated with the number of grow shops (β=0.962, p<0.001).Conclusion: The rise of large-scale cannabis plantations in the Spanish Mediterranean coast is increasingly replacing import of Moroccan hashish. Indoor cultivation supported by grow shops, that provide the technology and know-how, seem to be the dominant form of organization in this emerging industry. Large-scale plantations may have met most of the demand for marihuana in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy demand prediction is an important problem whose solution is evaluated by policy makers in order to take key decisions affecting the economy of a country. A number of previous approaches to improve the quality of this estimation have been proposed in the last decade, the majority of them applying different machine learning techniques. In this paper, the performance of a robust hybrid approach, composed of a Variable Neighborhood Search algorithm and a new class of neural network called Extreme Learning Machine, is discussed. The Variable Neighborhood Search algorithm is focused on obtaining the most relevant features among the set of initial ones, by including an exponential prediction model. While previous approaches consider that the number of macroeconomic variables used for prediction is a parameter of the algorithm (i.e., it is fixed a priori), the proposed Variable Neighborhood Search method optimizes both: the number of variables and the best ones. After this first step of feature selection, an Extreme Learning Machine network is applied to obtain the final energy demand prediction. Experiments in a real case of energy demand estimation in Spain show the excellent performance of the proposed approach. In particular, the whole method obtains an estimation of the energy demand with an error lower than 2%, even when considering the crisis years, which are a real challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few decades, economists have defended the use of market-based instruments (MBI) in environmental and climate policy. There have been many papers which have compared the costs of attaining environmental objectives with MBIs and with command and control instruments. However very few have compared different MBIs in examining these costs. This paper seeks to analyse various MBIs for CO2 mitigation from the viewpoint of cost-effectiveness, using an AGE (applied general equilibrium) model for the case of Spain. A distinction is drawn between (1) quantity instruments, which represent different extents of a market for emission permits; and (2) price instruments, which represent different types of tax. Each instrument can affect different segments of the emission sources and therefore can have very different effects on the economy as a whole. We show how MBI can help to minimise mitigation costs, but also how taxes and tradable emission permits that are limited or constrained by many exemptions and distortions can raise costs considerably. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the determination of wage rates for health professionals using three well known, and commonly used, econometric techniques: ordinary least squares, instrumental variables, and Heckman’s method. The data come from a graduate survey and the analysis focuses on a regional labor market, due to nationwide information on salaries is absent in Spain. After estimating different wage equations, the results suggest that OLS estimates are preferable. The findings show an important wage premium for medical doctors relative to nurses, but also a wage advantage for workers who are civil servants and a gender wage-gap that favors men. Although the expansion of higher education in Spain has reduced social inequalities in access, the main policy implication from this paper is that social class differences can still persist at the degree level—in the choice of degree—if students of higher socioeconomic status get a place at university in a degree of higher earnings, a fact that is corroborated in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the integration experiences of Portugal and Spain in the European Union in order to study how it has affected their economic structures and economic performance. It analyzes the relationship between regional integration, economic growth, and economic reforms, draws some lessons based on their EU integration experience, and looks at the impact of European Monetary Union (EMU) integration in the Portuguese and Spanish economies. While the overall benefits of EU/EMU membership are undeniable in both countries, their economic performance diverged starting in 2000. In particular, the paper will examine the reasons for this divergence during the 2000-2007 period. The examination of these cases will show that the process of economic reforms has to be a domestic process led by domestic actors willing to carry them out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The main interest of the methodology for the investigation of wastewater reclamation and reuse systems which is proposed in this paper is that all costs and benefits (social and private) are considered in the economic and technological analysis. This general concern allows an improvement in the design of investment decisions. Traditionally, an economic-financial analysis of wastewater reclamation and reuse systems focuses exclusively on the study of costs and private benefits. The methodology that is presented in this paper takes into account not only the private impacts but also the project spillovers which could have relevance on the project. In this research, the use value of the reclaimed water in the Natural Wildlife Park of Aiguamolls de l’Empordà is estimated. The travel cost technique is applied to estimate the external value of the Park. According to the final results, the price of the reclaimed water in the Park should have to be between 0.75 €/m3 (without opportunity cost) and 1.20 €/m3 (with opportunity cost). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyses the performance of provincial Spanish wages during the period 1985-2003. Using both traditional and recent analytical approaches, related to spatial econometrics, non-parametric and semi-parametric techniques, the paper reveals that a process of wage convergence has taken place. However, this does not preclude that mobility within the provincial wage distribution is small. The paper also shows that the degree of provincial wage flexibility is very low, which is in accordance with the institutional framework of wage formation in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cannabis social clubs (CSCs) in Spain are non-profit organisations that connect regular adult cannabis users. One of their functions is to supply cannabis to the closed circuit of members. The CSCs do not breach any international treaties. The aim of the paper is to present the findings of a qualitative study among Spanish CSCs in order to assess their potential for minimising the harm resulting from cannabis use (such as respiratory and mental health risks, the risk of dependence, and social risks).Method: A convenience sample of 11 CSCs was selected from four regions of Spain - the Basque country, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Galicia. 94 respondents took part in 14 focus groups (FGs). The number of participants in a FG ranged from two to 12. A semi-structured interview guide and a structured questionnaire were used in the FG.Findings: Members described a variety of risk minimising features of the CSCs: the availability of a quality product and mechanisms for its control, availability of different strains of cannabis and knowledge about their different psychoactive effects, increased control over personal cannabis use, informal information sharing and interaction, reduced stigma, and reduced criminal risks.Conclusions: The fact that the CSCs have no incentive to increase members' consumption means that they should be considered to be feasible spaces for the implementation of public health policies. Policy objectives could include a requirement that CSC members have control over the quality of cannabis, that different strains of cannabis are available together with information on their effects, that quantity of cannabis at intake is restricted and planned for each member, and that harm minimisation activities are both formally and informally implemented in the clubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assessing the long-term cost of colorectal cancer (CRC) increases our understanding of the disease burden. The aim of this paper is to estimate the long-term costs of CRC care by stage at diagnosis and phase of care in the Spanish National Health Service.Methods: Retrospective study on resource use and direct medical cost of a cohort of 699 patients diagnosed and treated for CRC in 2000-2006, with follow-up until 30 June 2011, at Hospital del Mar (Barcelona). The Kaplan-Meier sample average estimator was used to calculate observed 11-year costs, which were then extrapolated to 16 years. Bootstrap percentile confidence intervals were calculated for the mean long-term cost per patient by stage. Phase-specific, long-term costs for the entire CRC cohort were also estimated.Results: With regard to stage at diagnosis, the mean long-term cost per patient ranged from €20,708 (in situ) to €47,681 (stage III). The estimated costs increased at more advanced stages up to stage III and then substantially decreased in stage IV. In terms of treatment phase, the mean cost of the initial period represented 24.8 % of the total mean long-term cost, whereas the cost of continuing and advanced care phases represented 16.9 and 58.3 %, respectively.Conclusions: This study is the first to provide long-term cost estimates for CRC treatment, by stage at diagnosis and phase of care, based on data from clinical practice in Spain, and it will contribute useful information for future studies on cost-effectiveness and budget impact of different therapeutic innovations in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There is considerable evidence demonstrating socioeconomic inequalities in mortality, some of which focuses on intraurban inequalities. However, all the studies assume that the spatial variation of inequalities is stable over the time. We challenge this assumption and propose two hypotheses: (i) have spatial variations in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality at an intraurban level changed over time? and (ii) as a result of the economic crisis, has the gap between such disparities widened? In this paper, our objective is to assess the effect of the economic recession on the spatio-temporal variation of socioeconomic inequalities in mortality in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). Methods We used a spatio-temporal ecological design to analyse mortality inequalities at small area level in Barcelona. Mortality data and socioeconomic indicators correspond to the years 2005 and 2008-2011. We specified spatio-temporal ecological mixed regressions for both men and women using two indicators, neighbourhood and year. We allowed the coefficients of the socioeconomic variables to differ according to the levels and explicitly took into account spatio-temporal adjustment. Results For men and women both absolute and, above all, relative risks for mortality have increased since 2009. In relative terms, this means that the risk of dying has increased much more in the most economically deprived neighbourhoods than in the more affluent ones. Conclusions Although the geographical pattern in relative risks for mortality in neighbourhoods in Barcelona remained very stable between 2005 and 2011, socioeconomic inequalities in mortality at an intraurban level have surged since 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the role of the composition of the coupon in the demand for Spanish football pools (La Quiniela). As La Quiniela players are expected to use their football knowledge in the process of selecting matches results, the inclusion of editions of the game in which the teams listed in the coupon are unfamiliar may negatively affect La Quiniela sales. Empirical findings confirm that the link of the pools to the composition of the coupon matters. Additionally, the net revenue effect of the inclusion of new La Quiniela fixtures is also studied concluding that it seems to be in favour of the operator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper evaluates the impact of accessibility on the productivity of Spanish manufacturing firms. We suggest the use of accessibility indicators of workers and commodities, integrating transport, land use, and individual components, computing real distances or traveling times using the Spanish full road network. Estimated firms' total factor productivity is explained as a function of the accessibility indicators and additional control variables. Results evidence the crucial role on firms' productivity to the accessibility of commodities and to a slightly lesser extent the workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: While previous research already exists on the impact of the current economic crisis and whether it leads to an increase in mortality by suicide, our objective in this paper is to determine if the increase in the suicide rate in Catalonia, Spain from 2010 onwards has been statistically significant and whether it is associated with rising unemployment. Methods: We used hierarchical mixed models, separately considering the crude death rate of suicides for municipalities with more than and less than 10,000 inhabitants as dependent variables both unstratified and stratified according to gender and/or age group. Results: In municipalities with 10,000 or more inhabitants there was an increase in the relative risk of suicide from 2009 onwards. This increase was only statistically significant for working-aged women (16-64 years). In municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants the relative risk showed a decreasing trend even after 2009. In no case did we find the unemployment rate to be associated (statistically significant) with the suicide rate. Conclusions: The increase in the suicide rate from 2010 in Catalonia was not statistically significant as a whole, with the exception of working-aged women (16-64 years) living in municipalities with 10,000 or more inhabitants. We have not found this increase to be associated with rising unemployment in any of the cases. Future research into the effects of economic recessions on suicide mortality should take into account inequalities by age, sex and size of municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the changes in the total factor productivity index of a Spanish hotel chain in the period from 2007 to 2010 with the purpose of id en tifying efficiency patterns for the chain in a period of financial crisis. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) Malmquist productivity index was used to estimate productivity change in 38 hotels of the AC chain. Results reveal AC hotels' efficiency trends and, therefore, their competitiveness in the recession period; they also show the changes experienced in these hotels' total productivity and its components: technological and efficiency changes. Positive efficiency changes were due to positive technical efficiency rather than technological efficiency. The recession period certainly influenced the performance of AC Hotels, which focused on organizational changes rather than investing in technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a preliminary analysis of the rules on fresh start and debt relief for individual debtors to be found in the recent Spanish Real Decreto-ley 1/2015, de 27 de febrero (RDL 1/2015). The new rules are presented in the context of the traditional preeminence of the rule of unlimited liability of individual debtors under Spanish Law, as well as the limited steps undertaken in Spanish Law to limit such primacy, specially since 2013. The main economic benefits and disadvantages of debt relief for individual debtors are reviewed, and the main solutions introduced by the new Spanish legislation are covered, both those essentially inspired by the Entrepreneurship Act of 201 and those newly designed by RDL 1/2015. Finally, the paper attempts at a first evaluation of the main choices made by Spanish Law in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current situation, the social economy has a very important role to play because of its capacity to create employment and to energise sectors or collectives with particular economic development problems. For this reason, the ability to measure the real scope - both direct and indirect - of its impact on economic activity and employment is a matter of great interest. This paper proposes the use of multi-sector models, based on social accounting matrices, to measure the total impact of the social economy. Combining these models with the available statistical data on social economy enterprises in Spain will also make it possible to obtain information to quantify this impact in particular sectors of interest. Additionally, in this way the capacity of the social economy to contribute to economic recovery can also be assessed. The results show that social economy enterprises have a greater capacity for job creation than other companies in Spain, particularly in service sectors. This is augmented by the considerable ability of these sectors (essentially services) to multiply impacts and by their high employment ratio, which is still greater in the case of the social economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called Coal Decree (Royal Decree 143/2010) and subsequent Royal Decree 1221/2010 have modified the historical use of coal trends in the Spanish economy since 2010. The use of domestic coal in Spain's electricity sector will be promoted by the Royal Decree until 2014. This energy strategy on the one hand and political decision on the other were advanced under the flag of energy security and the fulfillment of the 9th Principle of the International Council of Mining and Metals (ICMM), which specified that sustainable development in mining areas should maintain, among other things, employment. The mutual understanding between the government and the local mining industry is confronted with vast criticism at the institutional, firm and social levels regarding: a) the disparities generated between electricity generation technologies; b) the increase of electricity market prices (The National Competition Commission reported the Royal Decree); and c) subsequent environmental harm. The Coal Decree has changed the gradual decrease of coal in the Spanish energy mix since the end of the 1990s. The environmental efficiency gains accumulated over the past several years would be lost as a result of this change of direction in policy. In the last fifteen years, the coal industry in Spain has been under pressure from political decisions that have forced the dismantling of the industry, a labor reconversion of mining areas, and the conversion of coal-fired power plants into combined-cycle gas power plants. This situation considerably reduced CO 2 emissions from coal combustion in Spain, improving the environmental efficiency of the entire economy for many years. Nevertheless, the implementation of the Royal Decree has changed these trends. This paper will examine the environmental consequences of the Coal Decree from 2010 to 2014 based on actual economic and energy demand requirements and actual electricity mix composition. A post-Keynesian energy AGE model to forecast energy demand and the derived CO 2 emissions will be applied to evaluate the change in the reduction of emissions observed in the electricity sector since 2005 and in the Spanish economy since 2010. The results will be compared to other alternative scenarios of CO 2 emissions evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we offer an initial assessment of the impact of the economic crisis on Spain's migration flows. After a period of intensive economic growth and the ensuing immigratory appeal (1995-2007), Spain has been hit hard by the recession. This has modified the trends that had so far characterized foreign immigration in Spain. The impact of the economic recession has been particularly severe in the case of immigrant workers and, consequently, from an institutional point of view, the Spanish government has adopted various measures to restrict the arrival of new immigrants: it has reduced work permit quotas and it has modified the Foreign Residents Law, toughening residence permit requirements. It has also tried to encourage voluntary returns with a programme devised to provide assistance to immigrants originating from countries with which Spain has social security agreements. The response to this programme has, however, been very limited. Immigration flows have continued and rates of return have stayed low, although new trends are also detectable, such as a decrease in the number of irregular arrivals and a rise in informal employment, as well as differences in the impact of unemployment according to nationality and gender. This reveals the complexity of migration processes beyond the supply and demand of labour and the political will to regulate human mobility. Consequently, immigration patterns in Spain reveal the degree of complexity reached by human mobility, which has increased beyond the logic of the labour market and the government's attempts at regulating migration flows by means of institutional measures. The immigrants' hope of raising their standard of living and the socio-economic differences between source and receiving countries, even at a time of severe economic crisis, do still serve as explanations for current migration networks, one of the key points in the current debate on international migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between internal migration and Spanish regional convergence between 1972 and 1998, a period between the mass emigration prior to the 1970s and the mass immigration of the end of the twentieth century. The main results indicate that internal migration led to a fall in Spanish regional development gaps. However, internal migration did not lead to the disappearance of these gaps in the long term. Some regions will always receive workers, others will send them out and a third group will experience a sequence of migration reversals. The econometric methodology used allows us to identify structural breaks and to differentiate between long- and short-term effects. This approach enables predictions to be made for internal migration flows in the long term in the absence of shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse wage differences between foreign and Spanish nationals in Spain. This analysis is relevant because Spain has witnessed a sharp increase in the proportion of foreign workers over the past decade. In our analysis, we explicitly account for unobserved heterogeneity at firm level, a situation which occurs when relevant covariates (for example, those connected to a specific firm's production process) are not included in the model because they are unmeasurable, unobservable or unavailable for the researcher. When accounting for such heterogeneity, our results show that wage gaps between foreign nationals from developing countries and Spanish nationals range between −6.35 per cent and −11.30 per cent. We also find that wage differences, between Spanish nationals and others in the same firm and job, are substantially greater for almost every group of low-tenured foreign workers and also for those holding open-ended contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the internationalization of social economy companies generates balanced profit and loss accounts (triple bottom line) and spreads still further a way of doing business which focuses on a socially sustainable production economy, at a great distance from the speculative economy. Previous evidence of the differential and strategic fact of social economy companies and their need to internationalize in order to guarantee their sustainability triggered this investigation. Its aim was to generate knowledge about the international orientation of cooperative companies and worker-owned companies in Andalusia and to link this to their economic results and the outcome of their innovations. Confirming the Uppsala Model through the international orientation status of social economy companies in Andalusia, this paper shows how a series of specific factors, in addition to the relationship with increasing commercial innovation, have an impact on this orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current economic crisis that Spain has been suffering throughout the last years has had a significant impact on the ways citizens are relating to consumption. In this context, one of the key issues is the new space open for a growing environmental consciousness, due to several reasons such as the impossibility to sustain the consumption model inherited from the boom years, the growing popularity of new patterns of sutainable consumption and the awareness that public opinion shows when asked about topics such as climate change. In this paper, our goal is to explore social perceptions on green consumption from a qualitative perspective. To do so, an analysis of social discourses recorded from focus groups will be undertaken, in the context of a wider reesearch about consumption and crisis. Results seem to highlight the challlenges green consumption faces in Spain, once it fails to engage with the average Spanish consumer. The reasons for such failure will be described in detail in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main effects of the current crisis is re-emerging phenomenon of Spanish emigration, especially since year 2011. This paper examines the growth of emigration from 2008 to 2012, using disaggregated data by origin, age, sex as well as geography detail at provincial level from the Residential Variation Statistics. The analyses distinguish between native-born and foreign-born with and without the Spanish nationality, and highlight recent trends as a result of the prolonged economic recession and its impact on international migration. Although the use of this dataset which contains time series data enable us to provide a relevant picture of the main demographic profiles of current emigration, the data too have uncertainties embedded within, not least because many of the new emigrants have not registered yet at the destination country. However, the data examination allows us to identify different patterns, including the main recipient countries as well as the provincial geography of emigration, and the main demographic profiles of emigrants. The results shed some light of what could be considered as Neo-Hispanic migration given the apparent diversity of outflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates public and private (household) spending per student on education in early childhood, primary and secondary education in Spain, in public educational institutions and in publicly-funded private educational institutions. We use 2007 data from the Household Spending on Education Survey and the Statistics on Public Spending on Education. Public expenditure on education per student in publicly-funded private educational institutions was 49.9% that spent on public educational institutions. The cost assumed by families in public institutions was 38.7% that spent on publicly-funded private educational institutions. The total expenditure per student on publicly-funded private educational institutions was 66.9% that spent on public educational institutions. Enrollment in publicly-funded private educational institutions implies a reduction of public expenditure on education and the transfer of part of those educational expenses to families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]