The choice of banking firm: Are the interest rate a significant criteria?

The objective of the research is to know the factors that in Spain determine the choice of banking organization. The obtained results indicate that the dimension of the network of branches is the reason more valued. In spite of the increasing symmetry of the Spanish banking market, the preferences of the clients of the savings banks and those of the banks are not absolutely coincident, being the proximity - the main reason for election- much more valued by the former than by the latter. The existence of divergences in the preferences has also been detected according to the region and the typology of city of residence.Choice criteria, retail banking, logit multinomial.

Els Colors dels aliments

La cuina i els aliments constitueixen, sens dubte, un bon context per promoure l'aprenentatge de les ciències i, en concret, de conceptes relacionats amb la química, alhora que els estudiants aprenen a valorar la cuina i a relacionar-la amb la ciència. A la Fundació Alícia es realitzen tallers sobre cuina adreçats als alumnes de secundària i, en aquest article, es presenten activitats d'aquests tallers relacionades amb l'acidesa a la cuina i el color dels aliments i els seus canvis.Food and cooking are clearly a good way to promote the learning of sciences, especialy concepts related to chemistry, bringing the students to appreciate cooking and its relation to science. In the Alícia Foundation, cooking workshops are proposed to high school students. In this paper, we present workshops activities related to acidity in the kitchen and modulation of food colour

Aprenentatge de la ciència a través de la cuina

Les explicacions científiques de fenòmens culinaris indiscutiblement contribueixen a l'aprenentatge de la ciència. La cuina és un vehicle evident d'aquest argumentari. Dissolucions, emulsions, reaccions, dispersions, acidificacions, filtracions, etc. són alguns dels conceptes científics que es poden explicar des de la cuina.Scientific explanations of kitchen phenomena without doubt contribute to the learning of science. The kitchen is a valuable resource for this kind of discussion. Some of the best scientific explanations that can be done in the kitchen include –solutions, emulsions, reactions, dispersions, acid products,...

Recerca gastronomicocientífica : un món per descobrir

Des de l'última dècada del segle XX, es constata en el món gastronòmic una relació entre ciència i cuina. Els grans xefs i els millors restaurants del món han integrat cada vegada més en el seu dia a dia la investigació i la innovació a través de la incorporació de la metodologia científica. Sens dubte, la cuina catalana hi desenvolupa un paper preponderant, en aquest moviment: El Bulli, el Celler de Can Roca i Sant Pau, entre d'altres. Tot aquest context ha permès crear la Fundació Alícia.Since the last ten years of the 20th century, we realize a close relationship between science and cooking. The most important chefs and the best restaurants have included the scientist investigation and the scientist methodology in their daily task. Definitely the Catalan cooking has a great role in this movement; see how El Bulli, Celler de Can Roca, Sant Pau, and many other restaurants work according to that methodology. In that context the Foundation Alicia was born

Processos fisicoquímics a la cuina

En aquest article es presenta un dels tallers de ciència i cuina adreçat als alumnes de secundària i realitzat per la Fundació Alícia. En aquest taller «Descobrim fenòmens culinaris», els alumnes experimenten processos d'osmosi i de cocció. La cuina i els aliments constitueixen, sens dubte, un bon context per promoure l'aprenentatge de les ciències i, en concret, de conceptes relacionats amb la química, i amb la ciència en general. L'article aporta el material per a l'alumne, informació complementària per al professorat i les reflexions sobre el desenvolupament del taller. En números anteriors l'autor ha escrit sobre les emulsions i sobre els processos de gelificació.This article presents a science and cooking workshop aimed at secondary students conducted by the Fundació Alícia. In the workshop «Discovering culinary phenomena» students experienced processes of osmosis and cooking. The kitchen and food is certainly a good context for promoting the learning of science and specific concepts related to chemistry, and science in general. The article provides the material for students, information for teachers and reflections on the development of the workshop. In previous issues the author has written about emulsions and about gelling processes

Evolució dels aparells i utensilis aplicats a la cuina occidental

Des de l'antigor els estris de cuina, avui diferenciats entre aparells i utensilis, han estat presents en la història de la humanitat. Des dels estris, per exemple, trobats a l'abric Romaní de Capellades (Barcelona), lligats a l'elaboració de menjar i molt relacionats amb el foc, fins a l'últim aparell que sortirà al mercat i que és pràcticament un robot de cuina, el Moley. En el llibre de 1821 Culinary chemistry, de Friedrick Accum, ja es mostra la cuina econòmica amb estris que varen anar marcant la trajectòria de l'elaboració de menjars. La revolució industrial també significa un gran avenç en aquest camp. Al segle xx, l'electricitat com a element quotidià i l'entrada de la dona plenament al mercat laboral marquen l'aparició de tot un conjunt d'aparells i utensilis que ara són la base de les cuines tant professionals com domèstiques. El futur ens oferirà aparells i utensilis ràpids, nets, eficients energèticament, barats, d'utilització intuïtiva i molt sostenibles.Cooking instruments, which are now distinguished between appliances and utensils, have been present in the history of humanity since ancient times. These instruments have ranged, for example, from the various utensils found at the prehistoric Romaní Rock Shelter in Capellades (Barcelona Prov.), which were conceived for the preparation of food and were closely connected to the use of fire, to the latest home appliance set to be put on the market, the Moley, which is practically a kitchen robot. The book Culinary Chemistry by Friedrick Accum, from 1821, already dealt with economical cooking based on the use of instruments that came to mark the subsequent development of food preparation. The industrial revolution also led to a major advance in this field. In the 20th century, electricity as an everyday thing and the full entry of women into the labour market marked the emergence of a whole set of appliances and utensils which now form the basis of both professional and domestic kitchens. Appliances and utensils which are fast, clean, energy-efficient, cheap, intuitive and highly sustainable are in store for us in the future

Banking the unbanked: Evidence from the Spanish banking expansion plan

What are the benefits of lifting structural impediments to banking the unbanked? We address this question by studying the Spanish Banking Expansion Plan 1964-1974, a program aimed at extending banking services into unbanked municipalities after decades of banking status quo. We exploit the quasi-experimental nature of the program to identify its effects. Selected municipalities experienced a 9% increase in the number of workers per inhabitant. This effect was driven by the lending channel, primarily through the provision of liquidity and working capital, though not through the savings channel

Banking towards development: Evidence from the Spanish banking expansion plan

During the period 1965-1987 Spain was an emerging market in full transition from developing to developed status. During the same period the Spanish banking system underwent an unprecedented episode of expansion growing from 5,000 to over 30,000 bank branches. We examine whether the latter process partly caused the former by focusing on the relationship between branch expansion and entrepreneurship in the wholesale and retail trade industries. To address the non-random allocation of bank branches we exploit changes in branching policies that induced a plausibly exogenous time-varying pattern in the relationship between a municipality’s initial financial development and branch expansion. Our estimates, based on a panel data-set of over 2,000 Spanish municipalities, reveal that branch expansion had a strong positive impact on entrepreneurship. This effect was essentially driven by the savings banks, which have stronger regional development objectives than those held by the commercial banks, and which expanded more intensely into municipalities with more precarious financial services