An empirical analysis of the determinants that can boost Next Generation EU´s effectiveness

Artículo de revistaThe use of Next Generation EU can become one of the main determinants of Spanish economic developments in the coming years. This article analyses the economic impact of the European Regional Development Fund over the last 20 years, on account of the similarity between its goals and those of Next Generation EU and the available information. The findings suggest that those structural reforms that reduce barriers to competition in the product market and some labour market rigidities can scale up the European funds’ expansionary effect (fiscal multiplier) in the medium and long term

Geographic analysis of multiple sensor data from the NASA/USGS earth resources program

Qualitative and quantitative analyses were made of multi-sensor data acquired during aircraft missions. While the principal analysis effort was concentrated on imagery taken over test sites in Southern California, data were also studied from records acquired on missions over test sites at Phoenix, Chicago, Asheville, and New Orleans. The objectives of the analyses were: (1) to determine the capabilities of ten remote sensors in identifying the elements of information necessary in conducting geographic investigations in land use analysis, urban problems, surface energy budget, and soil moisture; (2) to determine the feasibility of using these sensors for these purposes at orbital altitudes; and (3) to collate and analyze ground and air data previously collected and assemble it in a format useful in the accomplishment of cost effectiveness studies

A tale of two margins: monetary policy and capital misallocation

Este documento explora de forma empírica el impacto de la política monetaria en la asignación del capital a través de su efecto heterogéneo en empresas. Usando datos a nivel de empresa de España del período 1999-2019, mostramos que shocks expansivos de política mejoran la asignación del capital, medido como la dispersión intrasector de la productividad marginal del capital (MRPK). Para analizar los mecanismos que llevan a este resultado, primero exploramos el margen intensivo, y mostramos que, tras un shock expansivo de política monetaria, las empresas con una alta MRPK son las que incrementan relativamente más su capital y su deuda. También documentamos como la MRPK tiene un poder explicativo sobre la sensibilidad de la inversión a política monetaria más fuerte que otras variables, como edad, endeudamiento o efectivo. Esta evidencia apunta a la variable MRPK como una buena proxy de fricciones financieras. En segundo lugar, analizamos el margen extensivo, y mostramos que una política monetaria expansiva aumenta la entrada y disminuye la salida de empresas, aunque el efecto es cuantitativamente pequeño, y no induce a cambios significativos en la composición empresarial de la MRPK. En resumen, esta evidencia apunta a que los shocks expansivos de política monetaria mejoran la asignación de recursos sobre todo a través de la relajación de fricciones financieras de empresas constreñidas con mayor productividad del capital.This paper explores the impact of monetary policy on capital misallocation through its heterogeneous effects on firms. Using Spanish firm-level data covering the period 1999-2019, we show that an expansionary monetary policy shock leads to a decrease in capital misallocation, as measured by the within-industry dispersion of firms’ marginal revenue product of capital (MRPK). To analyse the mechanism behind this finding, we first explore the intensive margin and show that high-MRPK firms increase their investment and their debt financing relatively more than low-MRPK firms after monetary policy easing. We also document that a firm’s MRPK is a much stronger driver of its investment sensitivity to monetary policy than its age, leverage or cash. These findings suggest that MRPK is a good proxy for financial frictions. Second, we explore the extensive margin and show that monetary policy easing increases entry and decreases exit, although the effect is quantitatively small, and it does not lead to significant changes in the composition of high- and low-MRPK entrants or exiters. Overall, the evidence points to expansionary monetary policy decreasing capital misallocation mainly through the relaxation of financial frictions of incumbent, productive, constrained firms

Federal unemployment insurance in the United States

Artículo de revistaUnemployment insurance in the United States is one of the fiscal risk-sharing mechanisms designed to mitigate the negative consequences of economic shocks. The system is based on complementary federal and state benefits, which behave very differently during normal and crisis periods. Thus, unemployment insurance is principally a state competence during normal periods, while the federal government assumes an active role in crisis periods, smoothing the negative impact of economic crises on household consumption and mitigating the heterogeneous effects across states. This is an element that distinguishes the United States from the European Monetary Union, which lacks automatic fiscal stabilising tools for the area as a wholeconsequently the costs arising from shocks have to be assumed by each country individually, which makes it difficult for the area to function homogeneousl

Fiscal and environmental policy : three essays on the effect on firms' investment and productivity

Defence date: 6 February 2015Examining Board : Professor Jérôme Adda, EUI & Bocconi University, Supervisor ; Professor Evi Pappa, EUI ; Prof. Emmanuelle Auriol, Toulouse School of Economics ; Professor Dr. Christian Bayer, University of Bonn.This thesis studies how fiscal and environmental policies affect firms' behavior and economic performance. In chapter 1, co-authored with Stefan Lamp, we focus on the effect of tax adjustment on firms' investment decisions. Using a detailed narrative of tax changes in Germany covering 40 years of fiscal adjustments, we define and exploit the exogenous variation of tax bills to quantify the effect of tax changes on future investment plans of firms as well as on realized investment. In chapter 2, co-authored with Hélia Costa, we study how uncertainty over environmental policy affects firms' investment in low-carbon technologies. We model policy uncertainty in the context of an emission trading scheme and we develop a three period sequential model. The set-up of the model combines the industry and electricity sectors and encompasses both irreversible and reversible investment possibilities for firms. Finally, in chapter 3, I investigate whether international and domestic firms' productivity growth may be heterogeneously affected by environmental policy. Using a novel measure of environmental policy stringency and a panel of 11 OECD countries and 22 manufacturing sectors over the period 2000-2009, I estimate the difference in multi-factor productivity growth between multinational and domestic firms associated with a tightening of domestic environmental policy

Caratterizzazione della lega AA6016 per impiego nello stampaggio a caldo di componenti automotive

La tesi propone la caratterizzazione della lega AA6016 per lo stampaggio a caldo. Si sono svolte prove di trazione, analisi microstrutturali, frattografiche, microdurezze. Modellazione del comportamento del materiale secondo Hansel-Spittel e Arrhenius. Studio del trattamento termico di bonifica e suoi vantaggi. Presentazione di un caso industriale e relativi risultatiope

A simple HPLC-DAD method for the analysis of melamine in protein supplements: validation using the accuracy profiles.

The study presents a fully validated simple high-performance liquid chromatography method with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD), able to accurately determine the melamine, fraudulently added, in protein supplements, commonly used from healthy adults to enhance exercise or sport performance. The validation strategy was intentionally oriented towards routine use and the reliability of the method rather than extreme performance. For this reason, validation by accuracy profile, including estimation of uncertainty, was chosen. This procedure, based on the concept of total error (bias + standard deviation), clearly showed that this method was able to determine melamine over the range of 0.05–3.0 mg Kg−1, selected by taking into account the maximum residue levels (MRLs) proposed by European legislation to distinguish between the unavoidable background presence of melamine and unacceptable adulteration. The accuracy profile procedure established that at least 95% of the future results obtained with the proposed method would be within the ±15% acceptance limits of the validated HPLC-DAD method over the whole defined concentration range