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We examine the interaction between a firm that uses either a dirty or a clean technology to produce a product over two periods, 1 and 2, and an environmentally conscious regulator that chooses the environmental tax/subsidy policy. The regulator ignores with which technology the firm manufactures the product and only has a prior belief about it. In this context, if the regulator can credibly commit to the policy for both periods, social welfare is generally higher than if it cannot commit, because distortions in firm's production at period 1 for signalling purposes strongly reduces the optimality of an environmental policy of short duration. A period-by-period policy in which the regulator does not commit to the policy terms for period 2 (which will be contingent to information provided by the firm in period 1) is only optimal when clean technology is very expensive to produce with it and the regulator's environmental concern is not very high. The results highlight the importance of taking into account the time horizon in policymaking, as well as the limitations of regulatory policies that seek to elicit information about the type of technology used by firms.

[Abstract]: Professional certifications represent for many university degrees, especially postgraduate degrees, a recognition of their academic quality and the future employability of the graduates. This article contributes to the analysis of the impact of external accreditations on students’ perception of employability and satisfaction. We offer a case of study, a Master of Science (MSc) in Banking and Finance that became the first academic degree in Spain to obtain the two professional accreditations required for employees in financial institutions since 2019. A survey to a sample of students who graduated two academic years before and two years after the MSc was recognised is used to measure students' motivations for enrolment and satisfaction. The results provide significant evidence that professional accreditation became a key motivation for students to enrol the master, is associated with a more diverse geographical origin of students, and students highlight the higher quality and better coordination of the teaching staff.

[Abstract]: The development of a sustainable rural world must have an innovative agri-food industry as one of its bases. This article offers a comprehensive analysis of the main drivers of innovation by small and medium agrifood companies in Spain. A combined multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is performed to identify the key factors among 63 indicators in the domains of the technology-organisation-environmental approach. The results suggest an open field of research. Positively related to innovation are firm capacities and financial resources. Moreover, agri-food firms innovate in products, processes or marketing in order to increase sales, enter new markets, or increase the quality of their products. On the contrary, most of these firms did not innovate to reduce costs or time of response, meet regulatory compliance or maintain employment. Authorities should be aware that smaller and younger agri-food firms face more restrictions to innovate, and firms feel public policies could help to meet market demand as a driving force of innovation. On the contrary, essential objectives of regional development such as environmental compliance and maintaining employment seem to depend solely on public action.

Financial management decisions are made by people, and people, in all instances, are shaped by their behavioral traits. Here we provide extensive insight on the theoretical and empirical analysis made on cognitive biases and their influence on financial decisions. To provide a systematic exposition, we set three broad categories: heuristics and biases, choices (including framing and preferences) and social factors. We then describe the main biases within each category and provide an extensive revision of the main theoretical and empirical developments about their impact on financial decisions., Las decisiones de gestión financiera las toman las personas, y las personas, en todos los casos, están determinadas por sus rasgos de comportamiento. Aquí proporcionamos una visión amplia del análisis teórico y empírico realizado sobre los sesgos cognitivos y su influencia en las decisiones financieras. Para proporcionar una exposición sistemática, establecemos tres categorías amplias: heurísticas y sesgos, elecciones (incluidos encuadres y preferencias) y factores sociales. A continuación, describimos los principales sesgos dentro de cada categoría y proporcionamos una revisión exhaustiva de los principales desarrollos teóricos y empíricos sobre su impacto en las decisiones financieras.

[Abstract] Access to external finance is a key challenge for the creation, survival and growth of SMEs. This article delves into the “weak funding” handicap of rural small firms (SEs): the access to bank financing and the substitutive role of trade credit for entrepreneurs in rural areas when they faced bank credit constraints. Considering SEs in Galicia (Spain), a paradigmatic case in Europe of rural areas in demographic decline with a strong impact of the Spanish sovereign and banking crisis of 2008–2012. There’s evidence of firms in rural areas facing a differential negative flow of bank credit during the financial crisis, especially in the manufacturing and construction sectors, that dissipated afterwards. Then, using a panel data approach that considers the determinants of trade credit, the complementary and substitutive hypotheses are tested to estimate the impact of bank credit restrictions over trade credit.

Using a database on innovation activities by Spanish firms, we perform an exploratory analysis on a frequently overlooked area of research: innovation investment decisions by small firms in rural areas where socio-economic indicators are weak. We focus on two quite different sectors of interest there, agri-food and t-KIBS firms, to explore how the regional context influences the capacity and the nature of innovation. Following the TOE approach as a conceptual framework, we perform a multivariate statistical analysis based on MCA and PCA combined, to identify the most relevant factors among a list of 73 indicators in four broad domains, including innovation decisions as well as organisational, technological and environmental determinants. The exploratory results obtained suggest an open field of research. Thus, we observe a distinctive behaviour of marketing innovation by agri-food firms that is related to former ICT experience, while services innovation by t-KIBS would be related to the objective of entering new market niches. Some results confirm previous results for SMEs outside rural areas, such as financial constraints, lack of qualified personnel, and strong competition being relevant barriers to invest in R & D by t-KIBS firms. Contrariwise, we dispute the assertion that agri-food firms are primarily oriented towards product and process innovation: what comes together is product and organisational innovation.

[Abstract] The natural experiment provided by the opening of a section that completed the A8 motorway in Mariña de Lugo, a rural area in Galicia (Spain), offers an opportunity to identify whether spread or backwash effects in economic activity are observed. The new section directly affects only a small strip of the territory, - where the transition from the inland rural areas to the more dynamic coastal area takes place. This allows us to test a separate dual inner-coastal socio-economic performance after the opening of the new road – an analysis that has rarely been performed for rural areas in developed countries. We study the impact over population growth, employment and business financial results, using the differences-in-differences approach. The results we obtain are consistent with the spread hypothesis for the nearest municipality to the new road section, while the spread effects did not disseminate to the neighbouring municipalities. These global results hide a different performance at the sector level, positive for transport and manufacturing companies, and negative for retail firms and hospitality

[Resumen] En el presente trabajo de fin de grado se desarrolla un plan de viabilidad de una empresa de mecanizado, que trata de proporcionar unas características determinadas a una forja para que pueda llegar a formar parte de un componente en un reactor de aviación. El trabajo comienza con una breve descripción del proyecto y un análisis estratégico, que incluye tanto el análisis externo como interno. A continuación, se desarrolla el plan estratégico, con un horizonte temporal determinado, definiendo las estrategias de explotación, de capital, financiera y de! corto plazo y describiendo las políticas para llegar a desarrollar unos estados financieros provisionales que permitan analizar la viabilidad del proyecto y llevar a cabo las revisiones que convengan.

This paper overviews the theoretical and empirical research on behavioral biases and their influence in the literature. To provide a systematic exposition, we present a unified framework that takes the reader through an original taxonomy, based on the reviews of relevant authors in the field. In particular, we establish three broad categories that may be distinguished: heuristics and biases; choices, values and frames; and social factors. We then describe the main biases within each category, and revise the main theoretical and empirical developments, linking each bias with other biases and anomalies that are related to them, according to the literature.

We perform a statistical analysis to test and measure some of the classic results about the demographic perspectives of Galician population and the rural – urban polarity. First, we isolate a drag effect from historical emigration to identify different patterns of depopulation at county level over the past two decades without the historical migration effect. This analysis would show an alternative view of the depopulation process, characterized by the formation of a central ring of positive demographic dynamics from the Galician cities inland. Second, we extend the statistical analysis of the rural – urban polarity with a measurement of the effect by various parameters on the geographical population structuring. The shire town population –with a population loss of -0.83% per year in counties with a shire town of less than 5,000- and the driving distance to the nearest of the seven Galician cities -with an additional -0.27%- reveal determinant. Third, beyond the drag effect of past migration and the geographical structure, the performance of the different counties is explained in terms of the sectorial distribution of GDP, with the purpose of identifying the economic sectors that helped the most, in the recent years, to contain population decline in rural counties., Levamos a cabo unha análise estatística para contrastar e cuantificar algunhas das observacións clásicas na problemática demográfica de Galicia e a súa polaridade rural – urbana. Primeiro, íllase o efecto arrastre demográfico para identificar distintos patróns de despoboamento a nivel comarcal ao longo das últimas dúas décadas descontado o efecto migratorio histórico. Esta análise mostraría unha visión alternativa do proceso de despoboamento, caracterizada pola conformación dun anel central de dinámica demográfica positiva a partir das cidades galegas de interior. Segundo, profúndase na análise estatística da polaridade rural – urbana cunha medición do papel xogado por diversos parámetros de vertebración xeográfica da poboación galega. A este efecto, resultan determinantes a poboación da cabeceira de comarca –cunha perda de poboación do -0,83% anual nas comarcas con cabeceira inferior a 5.000 habitantes- e a distancia por estrada á máis próxima das sete cidades galegas –cun -0,27% adicional. Terceiro, descontado o efecto arrastre da emigración pasada e vertebración xeográfica do territorio, explícase a evolución das distintas comarcas en función da distribución sectorial do PIB, ao efecto de identificar os sectores económicos que máis axudaron no pasado recente a conter o devalo demográfico das comarcas rurais

L'ús dels telèfons mòbils intel·ligents a l'ensenyament secundari era molt limitat o inexistent fins fa poc temps, però l’aparició de nous corrents pedagògics i de noves eines didàctiques que plantegen fer-ne ús, com el “mobile learning”, han canviat aquesta situació. D’aquest canvi de paradigma pot beneficiar-se l’ensenyament de la programació de computadors que, en alguns països, ja està començant a introduir-se als currículums de les escoles de primària i secundària, amb l'objectiu de formar als joves en aquesta disciplina i introduir la seva forma de pensar. Treballar capacitats com l’abstracció, la deducció lògica o la resolució algorítmica de problemes i relacionant-los amb unes tecnologies amb les quals els adolescents es manegen molt bé i se senten propers, no només farà competents als joves en la programació de computadors sinó que també els ajudarà a millorar les seves capacitats en altres àmbits relacionats, com les matemàtiques, i els motivarà a interessar-se més per les disciplines cientificotècniques. Fent ús de l’eina didàctica App Inventor i dues metodologies pedagògiques, la Tècnica Puzzle i l’Aprenentatge Basat en Problemes (ABP), es proposa una programació d’activitats que treballen, tant de manera conceptual com procedimental, els continguts de programació de computadors introduïts pel nou currículum per al nivell de 3r d’ESO. Les diverses activitats, amb excepció de l’activitat inicial què es de caràcter formatiu i és independent, s’agrupen en parelles d’activitats que proposen als alumnes la realització d’un projecte guiat al voltant del desenvolupament d’una aplicació mòbil.

[Resumen] La reciente crisis financiera ha renovado el interés en el papel que juega el crédito, particularmente bancario, para amplificar el ciclo económico. Esta tesis se centra en el lado de la oferta para estudiar la eficiencia informativa de los sistemas bancarios a la hora de conceder crédito a la economía. Tras una revisión de la literatura centrada en dicho objeto, establecemos la economía y finanzas conductuales como marco conceptual de nuestra investigación. Asi, comentamos en primer lugar los límites para aplicar la hipótesis del mercado eficiente, paradigma clásico en los mercados financieros, a los sistemas bancarios, y ofrecemos un enfoque alternativo en tres pasos que se basa en la literatura conductual. Después, llevamos a cabo una investigación experimental para testar el primer paso: un juego de simulación diseñado para replicar el esquema básico en el que un banco establece sus políticas de crédito. Los resultados se contrastan con los perfiles de los participantes en términos de exceso de confianza y la teoría prospectiva, para determinar si estos sesgos podrían explicar las diferentes políticas de crédito. Por último, ofrecemos un modelo teórico para analizar los pasos segundo y tercero. Asumiendo que algunos bancos tienen gerentes demasiado optimistas, el modelo muestra cómo los bancos racionales seguirían a sus competidores sesgados, y describe los límites del arbitraje en la industria que impedirían restaurar la eficiencia informativa., [Resumo]A recente crise financeira renovou o interese no papel xogado polo crédito, en particular bancario, na amplificación do ciclo económico. Esta tese céntrase no lado da oferta ao obxecto de estudar a eficiencia informativa dos sistemas bancarios cando conceden crédito á economía. Tras unha revisión das principais áreas da literatura centradas en dita cuestión, fixamos a economía e finanzas conductuais como marco conceptual da nosa investigación. Deste xeito, debatemos primeiro sobre as limitacións para aplicar a hipótese do mercado eficiente, paradigma clásico nos mercados financeiros, aos sistemas bancarios, e suxerimos un enfoque alternativo en tres pasos, baseado na literatura conductual. Logo, poñemos en práctica unha investigación experimental ao obxecto de testar o primeiro paso: un xogo de simulación deseñado para replicar o esquema básico no que un banco establece as súas políticas de crédito. Os resultados son contrastados cós perfís dos participantes en termos de exceso de confianza e a teoría prospectiva, para determinar se ditos sesgos poderían explicar diferentes políticas de crédito entre bancos. Para rematar, ofertamos un modelo teórico para analizar o segundo e terceiro paso. Asumindo que algúns bancos son dirixidos por xestores optimistas de máis, o modelo mostra como os bancos racionais seguirían aos seus sesgados competidores, e describe os límites da arbitraxe na industria que impedirían restablecer a eficiencia informativa., [Abstract] The recent financial crisis has renewed interest in the role credit plays, particularly when granted by the banking sector, to amplify the economic cycle. This thesis focuses on the credit supply side to study the informational efficiency of bank-based financial systems when granting credit to the economy. After a revision of the main areas of the literature that are devoted to such purpose, we set the behavioral economics and finance as a conceptual framework for our research. Thus, we firstly discuss the limits to apply the classic paradigm in financial markets, the efficient market hypothesis, to bank-based systems, and offer an alternative approach in three steps, based on the behavioral literature. Then, we implement an experimental research to test the first step. The experiment consists of a business simulation game designed to replicate the basics of a bank to set its credit policies. The results are tested against the participants’ profiles in terms of overconfidence and prospect theory, to determine whether these behavioral biases might explain different credit policies across banks. Finally, we offer a theoretical model to analyze the second and third steps in the behavioral approach. Assuming some banks are run by too optimistic managers, the model shows how rational banks would herd to follow their biased competitors, and describes the limits of arbitrage in the industry that would prevent informational efficiency to be restored.

[Resumen] La reciente crisis financiera ha renovado el interés en el papel que juega el crédito, particularmente bancario, para amplificar el ciclo económico. Esta tesis se centra en el lado de la oferta para estudiar la eficiencia informativa de los sistemas bancarios a la hora de conceder crédito a la economía. Tras una revisión de la literatura centrada en dicho objeto, establecemos la economía y finanzas conductuales como marco conceptual de nuestra investigación. Asi, comentamos en primer lugar los límites para aplicar la hipótesis del mercado eficiente, paradigma clásico en los mercados financieros, a los sistemas bancarios, y ofrecemos un enfoque alternativo en tres pasos que se basa en la literatura conductual. Después, llevamos a cabo una investigación experimental para testar el primer paso: un juego de simulación diseñado para replicar el esquema básico en el que un banco establece sus políticas de crédito. Los resultados se contrastan con los perfiles de los participantes en términos de exceso de confianza y la teoría prospectiva, para determinar si estos sesgos podrían explicar las diferentes políticas de crédito. Por último, ofrecemos un modelo teórico para analizar los pasos segundo y tercero. Asumiendo que algunos bancos tienen gerentes demasiado optimistas, el modelo muestra cómo los bancos racionales seguirían a sus competidores sesgados, y describe los límites del arbitraje en la industria que impedirían restaurar la eficiencia informativa., [Resumo]A recente crise financeira renovou o interese no papel xogado polo crédito, en particular bancario, na amplificación do ciclo económico. Esta tese céntrase no lado da oferta ao obxecto de estudar a eficiencia informativa dos sistemas bancarios cando conceden crédito á economía. Tras unha revisión das principais áreas da literatura centradas en dita cuestión, fixamos a economía e finanzas conductuais como marco conceptual da nosa investigación. Deste xeito, debatemos primeiro sobre as limitacións para aplicar a hipótese do mercado eficiente, paradigma clásico nos mercados financeiros, aos sistemas bancarios, e suxerimos un enfoque alternativo en tres pasos, baseado na literatura conductual. Logo, poñemos en práctica unha investigación experimental ao obxecto de testar o primeiro paso: un xogo de simulación deseñado para replicar o esquema básico no que un banco establece as súas políticas de crédito. Os resultados son contrastados cós perfís dos participantes en termos de exceso de confianza e a teoría prospectiva, para determinar se ditos sesgos poderían explicar diferentes políticas de crédito entre bancos. Para rematar, ofertamos un modelo teórico para analizar o segundo e terceiro paso. Asumindo que algúns bancos son dirixidos por xestores optimistas de máis, o modelo mostra como os bancos racionais seguirían aos seus sesgados competidores, e describe os límites da arbitraxe na industria que impedirían restablecer a eficiencia informativa., [Abstract] The recent financial crisis has renewed interest in the role credit plays, particularly when granted by the banking sector, to amplify the economic cycle. This thesis focuses on the credit supply side to study the informational efficiency of bank-based financial systems when granting credit to the economy. After a revision of the main areas of the literature that are devoted to such purpose, we set the behavioral economics and finance as a conceptual framework for our research. Thus, we firstly discuss the limits to apply the classic paradigm in financial markets, the efficient market hypothesis, to bank-based systems, and offer an alternative approach in three steps, based on the behavioral literature. Then, we implement an experimental research to test the first step. The experiment consists of a business simulation game designed to replicate the basics of a bank to set its credit policies. The results are tested against the participants’ profiles in terms of overconfidence and prospect theory, to determine whether these behavioral biases might explain different credit policies across banks. Finally, we offer a theoretical model to analyze the second and third steps in the behavioral approach. Assuming some banks are run by too optimistic managers, the model shows how rational banks would herd to follow their biased competitors, and describes the limits of arbitrage in the industry that would prevent informational efficiency to be restored.