Sector-level economic effects of regulatory complexity: evidence from Spain

En este documento se estudia por primera vez el impacto de la complejidad regulatoria a escala sectorial en España en diversas medidas de eficiencia económica. El análisis se fundamenta en una innovadora base de datos que ha clasificado 206.777 normas españolas, tanto por sector de actividad como por comunidades autónomas, y que pone de manifiesto el creciente volumen de regulación, así como su diversidad por sector, a escala geográfica y por etapa del ciclo económico. Estudiamos en primer lugar los impactos económicos de la complejidad de la regulación sectorial de forma agregada en la relación empleo-población, las horas de trabajo totales, las participaciones sectoriales en el PIB, la intensidad de trabajo o la intensidad de capital. En segundo lugar, ahondamos en los impactos heterogéneos observados sobre las empresas con diferentes tamaños y edades, haciendo uso de una rica base de datos a escala empresarial: la Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales. En el primer caso, estimamos un conjunto de especificaciones con efectos fijos múltiples a través de 13 sectores económicos, 23 clasificaciones legales por sector y las 17 comunidades autónomas durante el período 1995-2020. La evidencia sugiere que una mayor complejidad regulatoria tiene un efecto negativo sobre la tasa de empleo y un impacto negativo sobre el valor añadido. El efecto sobre el empleo es coherente con los hallazgos previos para Estados Unidos. En concreto, cada aumento del índice de la complejidad de regulación adicional se asocia con una caída del 0,7% en la cuota de empleo a escala sectorial, ceteris paribus. Además, nuestros resultados sugieren que se están produciendo varios efectos distorsionadores a escala sectorial: la intensidad de la mano de obra es notablemente menor y las tasas de inversión disminuyen como respuesta al aumento de regulación. Estos efectos distorsionadores se materializan a través de las diferencias de composición, principalmente mediante la reducción de los salarios y de la tasa de inversión. En el segundo caso, utilizando datos desagregados de empleo según las características de las empresas, mostramos que el impacto negativo de la complejidad de la regulación se concentra en las empresas más pequeñas y jóvenes. Así pues, este hallazgo apoya la hipótesis de que una normativa más compleja impone una carga que las empresas pequeñas y con menos experiencia están menos capacitadas para manejar. A escala sectorial, el grupo de sectores más afectado es el manufacturero. Esto puede estar relacionado con la mayor inversión requerida en esos sectores.This paper studies for the first time the impact on various measures of economic efficiency of regulatory complexity by sector in Spain. We base our analysis on an innovative database that classifies 206,777 regulations by economic sector and region, which highlights the growing volume of regulation, as well as its diversity by sector, region and business cycle stage. This analysis first looks at the aggregate impacts of sectoral regulatory complexity on the employment-to-population ratio, total working hours, sectoral GDP shares, labour intensity and capital intensity. Secondly it delves into the heterogeneous impacts observed across firms of different sizes and ages, drawing on the MCVL (Continuous Work History Sample), a rich database at the enterprise level. On the first front, we estimate a set of multiple fixed-effects model specifications across 13 economic sectors, 23 regulatory sectors and 17 Spanish regions over the period 1995-2020. Our results suggest that greater regulatory complexity has a negative impact on the employment rate and on value added. The effect on employment is consistent with previous findings for the United States. In particular, ceteris paribus, each additional increase in the regulatory complexity index is associated with a 0.7 percent drop in the sector-level employment share. Furthermore, our findings suggest that several distortionary sector-level effects of increasing regulatory complexity are taking place. For instance, markedly lower labour intensity and decreased sector-level investment rates, which confirm that greater regulatory complexity entails non-trivial sector-level costs. Distortionary effects of regulatory complexity materialise through compositional differences, mainly in the form of reduced wages and a lower investment rate

La regulación sectorial en España. Resultados cuantitativos

El objetivo de este documento es presentar los resultados de una novedosa base de datos de regulación sectorial a nivel desagregado en España. En concreto, se han construido indicadores objetivos del volumen de nueva regulación para 23 sectores de actividad aprobada por cada comunidad autónoma, año a año a lo largo del período 1995-2020. En total, se han identificado y ordenado 206.777 normas. Los indicadores ponen de manifiesto que la regulación sectorial en España es creciente a lo largo del tiempo, pero hay diferencias relevantes tanto entre sectores como entre comunidades autónomas. Así, es más frecuente regular año a año los sectores de servicios y agrícola, frente a los industriales. A escala temporal, se observa que es más frecuente aprobar nuevas normas en los períodos recesivos. Este fenómeno se produce especialmente en 2020, en el contexto de la pandemia de COVID-19, destacando los sectores recreativos, la hostelería, el comercio y la industria textil. Estos resultados cuantitativos, que se presentan en forma de panel, abren la posibilidad de realizar en el futuro nuevos estudios sobre el impacto y la idoneidad del marco institucional (en concreto, de su pilar regulatorio) en elementos como el valor añadido sectorial, la productividad por sector o la demografía empresarial.The aim of this paper is to present the results of a novel database of sectoral regulation at a disaggregated level in Spain. Objective indicators of the volume of new regulation have been constructed for 23 sectors of activity, adopted by each Autonomous Region (Comunidad Autónoma), year by year over the period 1995-2020. In total, 206,777 norms have been identified and classified. The indicators show that new sectoral regulation in Spain is increasing over time, but there are significant differences both between sectors and between Autonomous Regions. Thus, the services and agricultural sectors are relatively more frequently regulated than the industrial ones. On a temporal scale, it is possible to observe that regulators pass new regulations more frequently in downturns. This trend is particularly noticeable in 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the recreational, hospitality, commerce and textile industry sectors. These quantitative results, which are presented as a panel database, open the possibility of further studies on the impact and adequacy of the institutional framework, in particular its regulatory pillar, on elements such as sectoral value added, productivity by sector or business demographics

Radiative corrections to the polarizability tensor of an electrically small anisotropic dielectric particle

Radiative corrections to the polarizability tensor of isotropic particles are fundamental to understand the energy balance between absorption and scattering processes. Equivalent radiative corrections for anisotropic particles are not well known. Assuming that the polarization within the particle is uniform, we derived a closed-form expression for the polarizability tensor which includes radiative corrections. In the absence of absorption, this expression of the polarizability tensor is consistent with the optical theorem. An analogous result for infinitely long cylinders was also derived. Magneto optical Kerr effects in non-absorbing nanoparticles with magneto-optical activity arise as a consequence of radiative corrections to the electrostatic polarizability tensor.This work has been supported by the EU NMP3-SL-2008-214107-Nanomagma, the Spanish MICINN Consolider NanoLight (CSD2007-00046), FIS2006-11170-C02-02 and by the Comunidad de Madrid Microseres-CM Program. R.G.-M. acknowledges support from the EU COST-MP0803. Work by R.G.-M. and L.S.F.-P. was supported by the MICINN “Juan de la Cierva” Program.Peer reviewe

Radiation-Induced Leiomyosarcoma after Breast Cancer Treatment and TRAM Flap Reconstruction

The development of a radiation-induced sarcoma (RIS) in the post mastectomy thoracic treatment volume is an infrequent, but recognized, event. Its frequency is rising in relation with increasing survival of breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant radiation therapy, and is associated with poor prognosis despite treatment. We present a case of leiomyosarcoma in a patient who underwent mastectomy followed by radiotherapy for invasive ductal carcinoma. A delayed TRAM flap reconstruction was performed 10 years after and a rapid growing mass under the reconstructed flap appeared, on routine follow-up, twenty years later. This report analyzes the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of patients with RIS

Epidemiology of surgery associated acute kidney injury (EPIS-AKI) : a prospective international observational multi-center clinical study

The incidence, patient features, risk factors and outcomes of surgery-associated postoperative acute kidney injury (PO-AKI) across different countries and health care systems is unclear. We conducted an international prospective, observational, multi-center study in 30 countries in patients undergoing major surgery (> 2-h duration and postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) or high dependency unit admission). The primary endpoint was the occurrence of PO-AKI within 72 h of surgery defined by the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria. Secondary endpoints included PO-AKI severity and duration, use of renal replacement therapy (RRT), mortality, and ICU and hospital length of stay. We studied 10,568 patients and 1945 (18.4%) developed PO-AKI (1236 (63.5%) KDIGO stage 1500 (25.7%) KDIGO stage 2209 (10.7%) KDIGO stage 3). In 33.8% PO-AKI was persistent, and 170/1945 (8.7%) of patients with PO-AKI received RRT in the ICU. Patients with PO-AKI had greater ICU (6.3% vs. 0.7%) and hospital (8.6% vs. 1.4%) mortality, and longer ICU (median 2 (Q1-Q3, 1-3) days vs. 3 (Q1-Q3, 1-6) days) and hospital length of stay (median 14 (Q1-Q3, 9-24) days vs. 10 (Q1-Q3, 7-17) days). Risk factors for PO-AKI included older age, comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease), type, duration and urgency of surgery as well as intraoperative vasopressors, and aminoglycosides administration. In a comprehensive multinational study, approximately one in five patients develop PO-AKI after major surgery. Increasing severity of PO-AKI is associated with a progressive increase in adverse outcomes. Our findings indicate that PO-AKI represents a significant burden for health care worldwide

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Epidemiology of surgery associated acute kidney injury (EPIS-AKI): a prospective international observational multi-center clinical study

Purpose: The incidence, patient features, risk factors and outcomes of surgery-associated postoperative acute kidney injury (PO-AKI) across different countries and health care systems is unclear. Methods: We conducted an international prospective, observational, multi-center study in 30 countries in patients undergoing major surgery (> 2-h duration and postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) or high dependency unit admission). The primary endpoint was the occurrence of PO-AKI within 72 h of surgery defined by the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria. Secondary endpoints included PO-AKI severity and duration, use of renal replacement therapy (RRT), mortality, and ICU and hospital length of stay. Results: We studied 10,568 patients and 1945 (18.4%) developed PO-AKI (1236 (63.5%) KDIGO stage 1500 (25.7%) KDIGO stage 2209 (10.7%) KDIGO stage 3). In 33.8% PO-AKI was persistent, and 170/1945 (8.7%) of patients with PO-AKI received RRT in the ICU. Patients with PO-AKI had greater ICU (6.3% vs. 0.7%) and hospital (8.6% vs. 1.4%) mortality, and longer ICU (median 2 (Q1-Q3, 1-3) days vs. 3 (Q1-Q3, 1-6) days) and hospital length of stay (median 14 (Q1-Q3, 9-24) days vs. 10 (Q1-Q3, 7-17) days). Risk factors for PO-AKI included older age, comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease), type, duration and urgency of surgery as well as intraoperative vasopressors, and aminoglycosides administration. Conclusion: In a comprehensive multinational study, approximately one in five patients develop PO-AKI after major surgery. Increasing severity of PO-AKI is associated with a progressive increase in adverse outcomes. Our findings indicate that PO-AKI represents a significant burden for health care worldwide

Optical conductance of waveguides built into finite photonic crystals

The concept of optical conductance is introduced in order to characterize the transport properties of waveguides built into finite photonic crystals. The conductance is given by the integral of the transmission cross section as a function of the incoming angle. This concept is illustrated by exact calculations of the light-guiding properties of a waveguide built into a photonic crystal slab based on a square lattice of dielectric cylinders in air. In analogy with their electronic counterparts, the optical conductance of a waveguide is quantized and thus provides a direct measure of the number of guided modes supported by the system.The authors thank E. Sahagún, M. Laroche, R. Gómez-Medina, and P. García-Mochales for interesting discussions.This work has been supported by the Spanish MCyT (Ref.No. FIS2005-05137 and FIS2006-11170-C02-02), Microseres-CM, and the EU-IP “Molecular Imaging” (LSHG-CT-2003-503259).Peer reviewe

Ciencia y política científica. Conversaciones con presidentes del CSIC

406 págs.; 110 fotos, 22 b/n, 86 en color; 14.5×1.8×21 cmEn este período España elabora su primera ley de ciencia, se incorpora a la Unión Europea y define prioridades de investigación. Un actor importante durante estos años es el Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), convirtiéndose en el organismo público de investigación más grande de España y uno de los más importantes del mundo. Para conocer las experiencias e ideas de las personas a cargo de este organismo durante esos 20 años, se realizaron encuentros con los presidentes en la Residencia de Estudiantes. Este libro presenta los aspectos más significativos de las conversaciones con José Elguero, Enric Trillas, Emilio Muñoz, Elías Fereres, José María Mato y César Nombela. Se incluyen, además, entrevistas con Rosa Menéndez y Rafael Rodrigo, responsables de gestión científica cuando tuvieron lugar los encuentros. Las conversaciones permitieron repasar aspectos biográficos, problemas y oportunidades de sus mandatos, relaciones con Europa y el resto del mundo, la situación actual de la ciencia y su papel en el progreso y bienestar de la sociedad, aventurando prioridades para una ciencia futura.Peer reviewe

Soil d13C and d15N as a good indicator for predicting the site index of Galician pine forests (Pinus pinaster Ait. and Pinus sylvestris L.)

Se determinó la abundancia natural de los isótopos estables 13C y 15N en suelos ácidos bajo P. pinaster Ait. y P. sylvestris L. de Galicia (NO España) para evaluar su uso en estimaciones de calidad de estación. Se estudiaron combinaciones de las siguientes variables: roca (granito/esquistos), edad (joven/madura) y calidad (alto/bajo índice de sitio) de la masa arbórea. Los suelos bajo P. pinaster presentaron _13C (-27,03¿) menores (P < 0,001) que los suelos bajo P. sylvestris (-26,13¿). El _15N del suelo no difirió significativamente entre ambas especies. Las regresiones lineales significativas entre el índice de sitio y la composición isotópica del suelo, especialmente sobre esquistos, señalan al _13C del suelo como un buen indicador de calidad para P. pinaster, mientras que para suelos bajo P. sylvestris es el _15N el isótopo más útil en las determinaciones de calidad. En general para ambas especies, parcelas con alto índice de sitio presentaron suelos más pobres en 13C y 15N que parcelas con bajo índice de sitio