THE IMPACT OF MONETARY UNION ON EU-15 SOVEREIGN DEBT YIELD SPREADS

With European Monetary Union (EMU), there was an increase in the adjusted spreads (corrected from the foreign exchange risk) of euro participating countries’ sovereign securities over Germany and a decrease in those of non-euro countries. The objective of this paper is to study the reasons for this result, and in particular, whether the change in the price assigned by markets was due to domestic factors such as credit risk and/or market liquidity, or to international risk factors. The empirical evidence suggests that market size scale economies have increased since EMU for all European markets, so the effect of the various risk factors, even though it differs between euro and non-euro countries, is always dependent on the size of the market.Monetary integration, sovereign securities markets, international and domestic credit risk, and market liquidity

EU-15 sovereign governments' cost of borrowing after seven years of Monetary Union

Yield spreads over 10-year German government securities of the EU-15 countries converged dramatically in the seven years after the beginning of Monetary Integration. In this paper, we investigate the relative influence of systemic and idiosyncratic risk factors on their behaviour. Our conclusions suggest that in EMU-countries the relative importance of domestic risk factors (both credit and liquidity risk factors) is higher than that of international factors, which appear to play a secondary but significant role in non-EMU countries.Monetary integration, sovereign securities markets, systemic and idiosyncratic risk

MONETARY INTEGRATION AND THE COST OF BORROWING

With the beginning of the European Monetary Union (EMU), euro-area sovereign securities’ adjusted spreads over Germany (corrected from the foreign exchange risk) experienced an increase that caused a lower than expected decline in borrowing costs. The objective of this paper is to study what explains that rising. In particular, if it took place a change in the price assigned by markets to domestic (credit risk and/or market liquidity) or to international risk factors. The empirical evidence supports the idea that a change in the market value of liquidity occurred with the EMU. International and default risk play a smaller role.Monetary integration, sovereign securities’ markets, international and domestic credit risk, and market liquidity

Origin and genetic diversity of diploid parthenogenetic Artemia in Eurasia

There is wide interest in understanding how genetic diversity is generated and maintained in parthenogenetic lineages, as it will help clarify the debate of the evolution and maintenance of sexual reproduction. There are three mechanisms that can be responsible for the generation of genetic diversity of parthenogenetic lineages: contagious parthenogenesis, repeated hybridization and microorganism infections (e.g. Wolbachia). Brine shrimps of the genus Artemia (Crustacea, Branchiopoda, Anostraca) are a good model system to investigate evolutionary transitions between reproductive systems as they include sexual species and lineages of obligate parthenogenetic populations of different ploidy level, which often co-occur. Diploid parthenogenetic lineages produce occasional fully functional rare males, interspecific hybridization is known to occur, but the mechanisms of origin of asexual lineages are not completely understood. Here we sequenced and analysed fragments of one mitochondrial and two nuclear genes from an extensive set of populations of diploid parthenogenetic Artemia and sexual species from Central and East Asia to investigate the evolutionary origin of diploid parthenogenetic Artemia, and geographic origin of the parental taxa. Our results indicate that there are at least two, possibly three independent and recent maternal origins of parthenogenetic lineages, related to A. urmiana and Artemia sp. from Kazakhstan, but that the nuclear genes are very closely related in all the sexual species and parthenogegetic lineages except for A. sinica, who presumable took no part on the origin of diploid parthenogenetic strains. Our data cannot rule out either hybridization between any of the very closely related Asiatic sexual species or rare events of contagious parthenogenesis via rare males as the contributing mechanisms to the generation of genetic diversity in diploid parthenogenetic Artemia lineages

"Causality and contagion in peripheral EMU public debt markets: a dynamic approach"

Our research aims to analyze the causal relationships in the behavior of public debt issued by peripheral member countries of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with special emphasis on the recent episodes of crisis triggered in the eurozone sovereign debt markets since 2009. With this goal in mind, we make use of a database of daily frequency of yields on 10-year government bonds issued by five EMU countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain), covering the entire history of the EMU from its inception on 1 January 1999 until 31 December 2010. In the first step, we explore the pair-wise causal relationship between yields, both for the whole sample and for changing subsamples of the data, in order to capture the possible time-varying causal relationship. This approach allows us to detect episodes of contagion between yields on bonds issued by different countries. In the second step, we study the determinants of these contagion episodes, analyzing the role played by different factors, paying special attention to instruments that capture the total national debt (domestic and foreign) in each country.Sovereign bond yields, causality, time-varying contagion, euro area, peripheral EMU countries. JEL classification:E44, F36, G15

Un glosario de astronomía escondido en las páginas de un manual traducido en el siglo XVII

De Sphaera Mundi, manual de astronomía elaborado en latín por Johannes de Sacrobosco en el siglo XIII, gozó de tanta popularidad en el mundo universitario de la Europa occidental que conoció multitud de ediciones, con y sin comentarios, en latín y en otras lenguas, como el castellano, hasta bien entrado el siglo XVII. Las traducciones y reelaboraciones del original latino fueron introduciendo explicaciones adicionales, siempre dentro del marco de la teoría geocentrista del universo, por lo que el volumen de contenido del texto fue aumentando paulatinamente con una clara intención didáctica. En este trabajo nos ocuparemos de una de las traducciones del manual de Sacrobosco, la elaborada por Luis de Miranda en 1629, que lleva por título Exposición de la esfera de Juan de Sacrobosco, doctor parisiense, traduzida de latín en lengua vulgar, augmentada y enriquecida con lo que d'ella dixeron Francisco Juntino, Elías Veneto, Cristóforo Clavio y otros sus expositores y comentadores [BUSAL 36987]. Hemos seleccionado esta versión pues presenta la peculiaridad de introducir definiciones de los términos de especialidad que el autor/traductor considera más difíciles, con la intención de ayudar a la comprensión de los conceptos que representan esas voces de especialidad. Por ello nos encontramos con un glosario de voces pertenecientes al ámbito de la ciencia del cielo (pero también a otras áreas afines) escondido en las páginas de este manual de astronomía. Además, en ese afán didáctico, incorpora, en las últimas páginas del libro, una 'Tabla de las cosas contenidas en este tratado, de la exposción de la Esfera de Juan de Sacrobosco' en donde, por orden alfabético, encontramos una relación de aquellos conceptos necesarios para la comprensión del funcionamiento del universo y el número de la página en que se tratan. Analizaremos aquí el tipo de información que ofrecen tanto esta tabla como las definiciones de las voces de especialidad.De Sphaera Mundi, an Astronomy textbook written in Latin by Johannes de Sacrobosco in the 13th century, enjoyed such popularity in universities of Western Europe that it was edited in many occassions, with and without commentaries, in Latin and other languages , such as Spanish, well into the 17th century. Some of these translations and new editions introduced additional explanations, always within the geocentric theory of the universe, so the amount of contents gradually increased with a clear didactic purpose. This paper studies the translation composed by Luis de Miranda in 1629 entitled Exposición de la esfera de Juan de Sacrobosco, doctor parisiense, traduzida de latín en lengua vulgar, augmentada y enriquecida con lo que d'ella dixeron Francisco Juntino, Elías Veneto, Cristóforo Clavio y otros sus expositores y comentadores [BUSAL 36987]. It has been chosen for it offers definitions of those specialized terms considered difficult by the translator / author; these definitions are introduced to help understand the concepts that those words represent. Thus it includes a glossary of terms pertaining to the area of knowledge of the science of the heavens (but also to other related areas) hidden in the pages of this Astronomy book. Moreover, with a strong didactic purpose, it includes, in the last pages, a table of contents, 'Tabla de las cosas contenidas en este tratado, de la exposición de la Esfera de Juan de Sacrobosco'. The type of information given by both, this table and the definitions of the specialized words, will be discussed in this paper

Liquidez y tamaño del mercado: diferenciales de rentabilidad a largo plazo tras la UME

El objetivo de este trabajo es el análisis de la importancia relativa de los principales factores de riesgo doméstico que componen los diferenciales de rentabilidad de la deuda pública a largo plazo tras la Integración Monetaria. Los resultados muestran que un cambio en la valoración del mercado de la prima de liquidez podría haber ocurrido con el inicio de la Unión Cambiaria

El pasado no debe caer en el olvido: taller terapéutico para pacientes de Alzheimer en el Museo Pedagógico de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Sevilla

Siempre debemos recordar el pasado para poder centrarnos en el presente y poder abordar el futuro. Este fue el primer el hilo del que se tiró para poder desarrollar una propuesta de intervención que sin duda nos permite observar la importancia que tienen los recuerdos en nuestra vida. El contexto que se eligió fue el Museo Pedagógico de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Sevilla. Ahora bien, se intentaba conseguir que este museo tuviera otro propósito, es decir, darle otra utilidad diferente a la que suelen tener este tipo de museos. Tras conocer varias interesantes investigaciones que reconocían los beneficios de trabajar con los recuerdos infantiles en los pacientes de Alzheimer, procuramos darle al Museo una perspectiva terapéutica. La puesta en práctica de este taller supuso un antes y un después de las personas implicadas en este proyecto. Se cumplieron con creces las expectativas y los objetivos que se habían marcado: la mayoría de los usuarios pudieron recordar aquellos años en los que fueron tan felices y se podía notar en su mirada un brillo de ilusión y una vuelta a la niñez que reaviva su gastada memoria. Considerando así, que en un futuro se pueda llevar a la práctica con otro tipo de públicos o de enfermedades neurodegenerativas.We must always remember the past in order to focus on the present and be able to face the future. This was the first thread of life. The context that was chosen as the Pedagogical Museum of the Faculty of Education Sciences of the University of Seville. Now, try to get this museum to have another purpose, which is something different that we often have this type of museum. Through several interesting investigations, we can recognize the benefits of working with childhood memories in Alzheimer's patients, we try to give the Museum a therapeutic perspective. The implementation of this workshop was a before and after the people involved in this project. The expectations and goals that were set have been met: most users have become a workplace. memory In this sense, the practice can be carried out with other types of public services or neurodegenerative diseases.Universidad de Sevilla. Grado en Pedagogí

Causality and contagion in peripheral EMU public debt markets: a dynamic approach

Our research aims to analyze the causal relationships in the behavior of public debt issued by peripheral member countries of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with special emphasis on the recent episodes of crisis triggered in the eurozone sovereign debt markets since 2009. With this goal in mind, we make use of a database of daily frequency of yields on 10-year government bonds issued by five EMU countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain), covering the entire history of the EMU from its inception on 1 January 1999 until 31 December 2010. In the first step, we explore the pair-wise causal relationship between yields, both for the whole sample and for changing subsamples of the data, in order to capture the possible time-varying causal relationship. This approach allows us to detect episodes of contagion between yields on bonds issued by different countries. In the second step, we study the determinants of these contagion episodes, analyzing the role played by different factors, paying special attention to instruments that capture the total national debt (domestic and foreign) in each country.Nuestra investigación tiene como objetivo analizar las relaciones causales en el comportamiento de la deuda pública emitida por países miembros periféricos de la Unión Económica y Monetaria (UEM), con especial énfasis en los recientes episodios de crisis desatados en los mercados de deuda soberana de la zona euro desde 2009. Con este objetivo, empleamos una base de datos de la frecuencia diaria de los rendimientos de los bonos gubernamentales a 10 años emitidos por cinco países de la UEM (Grecia, Irlanda, Italia, Portugal y España), que abarca toda la historia de la UEM desde su inicio el 1 de enero de 1999 al 31 diciembre de 2010. En la primera etapa, se explora la relación causal por pares entre los rendimientos, tanto para la muestra completa y para submuestras cambiantes de los datos, con el fin de capturar posible relación causal en función del tiempo. Este enfoque nos permite detectar episodios de contagio entre los rendimientos de los bonos emitidos por países distintos. En el segundo paso, se estudian los factores determinantes de estos episodios de contagio, el análisis del papel desempeñado por diferentes factores, prestando especial atención a los instrumentos que capturan la deuda nacional total (doméstica y extranjera) en cada país.Sovereign bond yields, Causality, Time-varying contagion, Euro area, Peripheral EMU countries, Rendimientos bonos soberanos, Causalidad, Contagio variable en el tiempo, Eurozona, Países periféricos UEM.