The 2014 PREDICT Report. An Analysis of ICT R&D in the EU and Beyond

The 2014 PREDICT report covers the period 2006-2011 analysing the consequences of the deep recession that began in early 2008 which impacts the first most severe downturn in 2009 for the European Union (EU) ICT sector and its R&D performance. The report found that the EU ICT sector continued losing share in total value added, but gaining the share in terms of employment and BERD intensity. The share of ICT R&D public funding (GBAORD) on total GBAORD also increased in 2010 and 2011. However, as a result of the reverse progress on the value added and employment, ICT sector’s labour productivity showed a downward trend during the observed periods. In terms of sub-sector analysis, the ICT manufacturing and services have both recovered to create additional employment in 2011 even though the impact is less profound for the latter. On international comparison, the US still led in ICT sector productivity and value added in 2011. However, in BERD activities, they are being challenged by four Asian countries: Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

El espacio corno referencia en el teatro de Azorín.

Sin resume

INTEGRATION AND COMPETITION IN THE EUROPEAN FINANCIAL MARKETS

Financial integration in Europe should affect the competition between markets and intermediaries and generate a convergence of both interest rates and margins among the different countries. This paper analyses the evolution of the convergence in interest rates and the level of competition and its inequalities among the European banking systems for the period 1993 to 2001. The inequality index used ?the Theil index- allows us to break down the inequalities so that the importance of either a country effect or a specialization effect is quantified. If the former effect dominates it would mean that the national banking markets are segmented as a consequence of the existence of obstacles or barriers to the integration. On the other hand, the dominance of the latter effect would be related to the different level of competition depending on the type of banking specialization. La integración financiera en Europa debe producir efectos sobre la competenciaentre mercados e intermediarios (reducción de precios, costes de intermediación ymárgenes) y generar convergencia en tipos de interés y márgenes entre países. Estetrabajo analiza la evolución de la convergencia en tipos de interés y el nivel decompetencia en los sectores bancarios europeos en el periodo 1993-2001. Además, seestudia el grado de desigualdad de los niveles de competencia mediante la aplicacióndel índice de Theil. Este índice permite la descomposición de la desigualdad de formaque se cuantifica la importancia de tanto efectos país como efectos especialización. Silos primeros dominasen querría decir que los mercados bancarios nacionales estaríansegmentados como consecuencia de la existencia de barreras u obstáculos a laintegración. Por otro lado, si dominasen los efectos especialización, el nivel decompetencia dependería del tipo de especialización bancaria.integración, competencia, mercados financieros europeos. integration, competition, European financial markets

EVOLUCIÓN DEL MARGEN DE INTERMEDIACIÓN EN ESPAÑA: ¿TIPOS DE INTÉRES, RIESGO, COSTES O COMPETENCIA?

This paper analyses the determinants of interest margins of the banking firms.Our starting point is the methodology developed in the original study by Ho andSaunders (1981) and later extensions, but widened to take banks¿ operating costsexplicitly into account. In the developed model the interest margin depends on theoperating expenses of the banks in addition to the interest and credit risks and the levelof competition in the banking markets. For the empirical contrast of the model a panelof firms of the Spanish banking sector for the period 1992-1999 is used. The resultsshow that the fall of margins in the Spanish banking system are due to a reduction in theoperating expenses and in the uncertainty in the financial markets (interest rate risk) thathave counteracted the increase in the market power in the banking firms. Este trabajo analiza los determinantes del margen de intermediación de las entidades bancarias. El modelo desarrollado por Ho y Saunders (1981) es ampliado para tener en cuenta los costes de producción. En el modelo elaborado, el margen de intermediación de las entidades bancarias tiene como elementos fundamentales, además del riesgo de tipo de interés, de crédito y el grado de competencia, los costes operativos medios en los que incurre la entidad. El contraste empírico se realiza para un panel de entidades del sector bancario español durante el periodo 1992-1999. Los resultados muestran que los descensos en el margen de intermediación se derivan de una reducción en los costes operativos y en la incertidumbre de los mercados monetarios (riesgo de tipos de interés) que han contrarrestado el efecto de un crecimiento en el poder de mercado de las empresas bancarias durante el periodo analizado.Márgenes bancarios, riesgo de tipos de interés, competencia. Bank margins, interest rate risk, competition.

LAS OPERACIONES FUERA DE BALANCE EN EL SISTEMA BANCARIO ESPAÑOL: IMPLICACIONES PARA LA EFICIENCIA

This paper is focused on an activity that has received little attention in the bankingliterature, namely the Off-Balance Sheet activities (OBS). After examining what is meant behind the name OBS activities, the fast growth these operations have shown over the period 1985-1995, and the main causes that have originated this behaviour will be described. The paper also analyses, using a stochastic frontier model, the consequences of including the OBS activities in the production vector in the analysis of the efficiency of the Spanish banking system. A slight reduction in the average efficiency level is found in both commercial and saving banks, although there exist important differences at firm level. The more specialised the firm is in OBS activities, the more reduction in the inefficiency level is found. This result points out the necessity of including the OBS activities in the analysis of the efficiency of banking firms. Este trabajo analiza una de las actividades que menor atención ha recibido en la literatura bancaria: las llamadas Operaciones Fuera de Balance (OFB). Después de examinar lo que se incluye bajo la denominación de OFB, se describirá la evolución de esta actividad bancaria en España y las causas que han determinado su crecimiento durante el periodo 1985-1995. El trabajo también analiza, utilizando un modelo de frontera estocástica, las consecuencias sobre la eficiencia del sistema bancario español de la inclusión de las OFB en el vector de producción, encontrado ligeras reducciones en los niveles medios de eficiencia tanto en bancos nacionales como en cajas de ahorro, si bien existen importantes diferencias a nivel de empresa. Estas diferencias son más acusadas cuanto más especializada se encuentre una empresa en la realización de OFB. Este resultado pone de manifiesto la importancia de la inclusión de las OFB en el análisis y la valoración de la eficiencia de la empresa bancaria.Eficiencias-X, Frontera estocástica, Operaciones Fuera de Balance Stochastic frontier, X-efficiency, Off-Balance sheet activities

Estimating the intensity of price and non-price competition in banking

We model bank oligopoly behaviour using price and non-price competition as strategic variables in an expanded conjectural variations framework. Rivals can respond to changes in both loan and deposit market prices as well as (non-price) branch market shares. The model is illustrated using data for Spain which, over 1986-2002, eliminated interest rate and branching restrictions and set off a competitive race to lock-in expanded market shares. Banks use both interest rates and branches as strategic variables and both have changed over time. We illustrate the results using a regional vs. a national specification for the relevant markets.non-price competition, banking, market shares

Efecto de las medidas del BCE sobre los márgenes de intereses en España

En la etapa actual, las perspectivas de bajos niveles de rentabilidad de las entidades financieras parten del primer escalón de la cuenta de resultados, del margen de intereses. Este trabajo se ha centrado en analizar el margen de intereses del sector bancario español en el contexto europeo. Los bancos operan con márgenes de intereses muy estrechos en Europa. De hecho, en la eurozona, Alemania, Francia e Italia, el margen de intermediación no llega a cubrir los gastos de explotación de los grupos consolidados. El margen de intereses de los grupos consolidados en España se ha situado sistemáticamente por encima del resto de grandes países de la Eurozona. Este trabajo cuantifica la importancia de los distintos determinantes del margen de intermediación a través de un ejercicio de simulación. De acuerdo con nuestros resultados, la actual coyuntura de bajos tipos de interés está afectando negativamente al margen de intereses, pues este es el factor que mayor influencia tiene. En estos momentos en los que la rentabilidad bancaria está en entredicho, una subida de tipos de interés supondría un balón de oxígeno para las entidades bancarias. Les permitiría afrontar los retos estructurales a los que se enfrentan en mejores condiciones. Sin embargo, teniendo en cuenta que los indicios disponibles no inducen a pensar que en el corto plazo el BCE vaya a implementar una política monetaria radicalmente distinta con subidas rápidas de tipos de interés, el reto de aumentar la rentabilidad en el contexto de bajos tipos de interés continuará. En este sentido tres elementos son esenciales: la contención de costes y mejoras de eficiencia que permitan mejorar los resultados incluso con los tipos de interés actuales; la capacidad de generación de ingresos distintos a los intereses; y la continuidad de la mejora de la coyuntura macroeconómica que permita seguir reduciendo la parte del resultado que se detrae por las provisiones

Dashboards and visualisation tools for enhancing creativity in business master students

[EN] Dashboards are a basic element in Data Science. Well planned dashboards help the staff of a company at all levels of the organization. They allow them to ask questions and respond them in real time. As a result, this information allows them to make appropriate decisions and facilitates innovation. A fundamental component in the dashboards are the visualizations by means of dynamic graphic objects that can be explored. These visualizations must be analyzed dynamically so that business master students can intuitively arrive at a series of insights that bring them closer to the nature of the problems. Learning by doing and consulting. We are going to use a dashboard about innovation elaborated by Bankinter Fundation in the Platform Google Data Analytics. The proposed teaching dynamic includes the formation of work teams of 5-7 students. The challenge start when each group pose several questions to the rest of the teams. To answer these questions the students must consult the proposed dashboard. There is a time limit to answer each question. The winner is the team that answers correctly more questions and explains the way to obtain this information. This way, students get used to dashboards and visualisation tools and start learning with a good dashboard model that prepares them to later select and design proper tools. As a further result, we have appreciated that using visualisation in teaching can increase student engagement and performance.González-Ladrón-De-Guevara, F.; Fernández-Diego, M. (2021). Dashboards and visualisation tools for enhancing creativity in business master students. IATED. 8799-8804. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2021.1836S8799880

Potential and limitations of the ISBSG dataset in enhancing software engineering research: A mapping review

Context The International Software Benchmarking Standards Group (ISBSG) maintains a software development repository with over 6000 software projects. This dataset makes it possible to estimate a project s size, effort, duration, and cost. Objective The aim of this study was to determine how and to what extent, ISBSG has been used by researchers from 2000, when the first papers were published, until June of 2012. Method A systematic mapping review was used as the research method, which was applied to over 129 papers obtained after the filtering process. Results The papers were published in 19 journals and 40 conferences. Thirty-five percent of the papers published between years 2000 and 2011 have received at least one citation in journals and only five papers have received six or more citations. Effort variable is the focus of 70.5% of the papers, 22.5% center their research in a variable different from effort and 7% do not consider any target variable. Additionally, in as many as 70.5% of papers, effort estimation is the research topic, followed by dataset properties (36.4%). The more frequent methods are Regression (61.2%), Machine Learning (35.7%), and Estimation by Analogy (22.5%). ISBSG is used as the only support in 55% of the papers while the remaining papers use complementary datasets. The ISBSG release 10 is used most frequently with 32 references. Finally, some benefits and drawbacks of the usage of ISBSG have been highlighted. Conclusion This work presents a snapshot of the existing usage of ISBSG in software development research. ISBSG offers a wealth of information regarding practices from a wide range of organizations, applications, and development types, which constitutes its main potential. However, a data preparation process is required before any analysis. Lastly, the potential of ISBSG to develop new research is also outlined.Fernández Diego, M.; González-Ladrón-De-Guevara, F. (2014). Potential and limitations of the ISBSG dataset in enhancing software engineering research: A mapping review. Information and Software Technology. 56(6):527-544. doi:10.1016/j.infsof.2014.01.003S52754456

Estimating the intensity of price and non-price competition in banking: an application to the Spanish case

We model bank oligopoly behaviour using price and non-price competition as strategic variables in an expanded conjectural variations framework. Rivals can respond to changes in both loan and deposit market prices as well as (non-price) branch market shares. The model is illustrated using data for Spain which, over 1986-2002, eliminated interest rate and branching restrictions and set off a competitive race to lock-in expanded market shares. Banks use both interest rates and branches as strategic variables and both have changed over time. We illustrate the results using a regional vs. a national specification for the relevant markets. (97 words)non-price competition, banking, market shares