Regulation, competition and integration in electronic payments markets: the Spanish and European cases

The instruments used by regulators to promote competition and integration in the face of problems such as those related to payment methods can generate disincentives, especially in the absence of adequate information to guarantee the rationality of agents. This is particularly relevant because these markets exhibit particularities and asymmetries that differentiate them from other more traditional markets (different sides, network economies, cross-transfers, hidden costs, large externalities, and so on), characteristics which make them more dependent on the quality and quantity of information. Therefore, when this information is inadequate, more failures than can be solely attributed to market regulation tend to occur. In this paper we argue that interventions in "two-sided” payment cards markets (2SMs) to reduce costs to merchants may in the end harm the interests of consumers and discourage penetration of cards as a payment method and their increased use in retail operations. In our study we analyze and simulate the effects of the legislative package on electronic payments proposed by the European Commission in July 2013, which seeks to force a top-down convergence, similar to that designed for domestic interest rates with the euro, and which has proven to be a failure during the recent debt crisis

Local government debt: an application to the Spanish case

For the last years, Europe has been subject to fiscal austerity in order to satisfy the Maastrich criteria. In this way, Spanish municipalities have been affected by new regulations and local government structure has changed. This paper is focused on the main factors that explain local government debt. In particular, budgetary information of a group of Spanish municipalities is used (1990-2000). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data are presented. Key words:Fiscal Federalism, Local Government, debt, decentralization.

Energy harvesting from vehicular traffic over speed bumps: A review

Energy used by vehicles to slow down in areas of limited speed is wasted. A traffic energy-harvesting device (TEHD) is capable of harvesting vehicle energy when passing over a speed bump. This paper presents a classification of the different technologies used in the existing TEHDs. Moreover, an estimation of the energy that could be harvested with the different technologies and their cost has been elaborated. The energy recovered with these devices could be used for marking and lighting of roads in urban areas, making transportation infrastructures more sustainable and environmentally friendly

Comparison of peristrophic multiplexing and a combination of angular and peristrophic holographic multiplexing in a thick PVA/acrylamide photopolymer for data storage

Two different types of multiplexing are used to store 90 holograms at the same location in a polyvinyl alcoholacrylamide photopolymer material. In the first, the 90 holograms are stored using only peristrophic multiplexing, whereas in the second a combination of angular and peristrophic multiplexing is used. The results (diffraction efficiency and dynamic range, M#) obtained with these two multiplexing techniques are compared. With the first, the dynamic range was M# = 13 and with the second M# = 8. An exposure schedule method is used to calculate the exposure time necessary to store the holograms with a more uniform, higher diffraction efficiency.This work was supported by the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain)” under projects FIS2005-05881-C02-01 and FIS2005-05881-C02-02, and by the “Generalitat Valenciana” under Project GV06/172

Aportaciones del Programa Marco de Investigación Europea al Análisis del Trabajo Social

En el presente artículo identificamos, a partir de las investigaciones de la comunidad científica internacional, dos de las competencias clave para los y las trabajadoras sociales: conocer las actuaciones de éxito en el ámbito social y desarrollar actos comunicativos dialógicos para recrear las actuaciones de éxito en cada contexto. También constatamos cómo los resultados de la investigación científica internacional demuestran que los grupos culturales rechazan cada vez más que se les vaya a investigar y quieren y exigen participar en las investigaciones y que se dé valor científico a sus voces para colaborar en las políticas sociales que necesitan los y las ciudadanas para salir de su exclusión.This article identifies two key competencies that social workers need, according to research conducted by the international scientific community: the capacity to find and analyse successful actions in the social environment and the capacity to develop dialogic communicative acts to recreate such successful actions in different contexts. The article also informs how research conducted by the international scientific community demonstrates that cultural groups are increasingly rejecting the act of being researched and how they are demanding participation in the research to have their voices recognized as having scientific value in order to collaborate in the social policies the citizens require to overcome social exclusion

Los fondos estructurales europeos y el desarrollo regional: balance de una década desde la perspectiva española

After the joining of Spain to the EU, the economic and social cohesion has become the second European policy, in relation to the volume of resources. Spain is the country that manages the larger volume of European funds. From 2000 uncertainties will affect both the amount of resources allocated and the he allocation criteria, in the context of the EU enlargement and the introduction of the single currency. In this paper we make an overview of the evolution and application of EU funds in Spain in the last decade

Long-range repulsive interaction between TTF molecules on a metal surface induced by charge transfer

The low-coverage adsorption of a molecular electron donor, tetrathiafulvalene, on Au(111) is characterized by the spontaneous formation of superlattice of monomers, whose spacing exceeds the equilibrium distance of non-covalent interactions and depends on coverage. The origin of this peculiar growth mode is due to a long-range repulsive interaction between molecules. The analysis of molecular-pair distributions obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy measurements permits us to determine that the nature of TTF intermolecular interactions on Au (111) is electrostatic. A repulsion between molecules is caused by the accumulation of charge due to electron donation into the metal surface, as pictured through density functional theory calculations

Influence of 4,4’-azobis (4-cyanopentanoic acid) in Transmission and Reflection Gratings Stored in a PVA/AA Photopolymer

Holographic transmission gratings with a spatial frequency of 2658 lines/mm and reflection gratings with a spatial frequency of 4553 lines/mm were stored in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/acrylamide (AA) based photopolymer. This material can reach diffraction efficiencies close to 100% for spatial frequencies about 1000 lines/mm. However, for higher spatial frequencies, the diffraction efficiency decreases considerably as the spatial frequency increases. To enhance the material response at high spatial frequencies, a chain transfer agent, the 4,4’-azobis (4-cyanopentanoic acid), ACPA, is added to the composition of the material. Different concentrations of ACPA are incorporated into the main composition of the photopolymer to find the concentration value that provides the highest diffraction efficiency. Moreover, the refractive index modulation and the optical thickness of the transmission and reflection gratings were obtained, evaluated and compared to procure more information about the influence of the ACPA on them.This work was supported by the “Generalitat Valenciana” (Spain) under projects PROMETEOII/2015/015 and ISIC/2012/013 and by “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” (Spain) under projects FIS2014-56100-C2-1-P and FIS2015-66570-P