The mark-ups in the Spanish economy : international comparison and recent evolution

This paper estimates the steady state mark-ups of 23 branches of activity in seven developed countries (USA, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy and Spain). The empirical methodology departs from the Hall (1988) seminal approach and incorporates the possibility of non-competitive labour markets. Besides, it is used a time varying parameter (TVP) estimation technique in order to compute the evolution of steady state mark-ups. Looking at the constant parameter estimations, it emerges a clear dichotomy between two groups of countries: USA and UK, with the lowest mark-ups, and Japan and Germany, in the other side of the spectrumItaly and Spain keep an intermediate position. With respect to the bargaining power of trade unions, the dichotomy between Anglo-Saxon countries, where it is almost inexistent, and Central European countries is even more marked. Allowing these parameters to evolve in time, the results are also interesting: there have been increases in mark ups in Italy, France and Germanyon the contrary, in USA, Japan, UK and Spain they have diminished. In the case of the bargaining power of the trade unions, all these countries have shown reductions since 1980, with the only exception of Germany. Finally, the paper finds a quite robust inverse relation between productivity growth, mark ups and the bargaining power of trade unions, although the quantitative effects are moderate

Technology and finance: new risks plus new challenges or traditional risks in new suits?

Evento: “Meeting Global Challenges Through Innovation”. Organizado por: City WeekTechnology could bring important efficiency gains to the financial system and also to financial authorities. But, evidence shows that it could have costs if not properly managed. At the very least we should ensure that the principle of “same business, same risk, same rules” is upheld. But we should also assume that there are still unknowns and that some situations would call for a more cautious approach. Technology is already evolving at a rapid pace, one that, to date, neither regulation nor supervision has managed to hold back. Risk management and industry awareness will continue to be key

Recent Trends in the Spanish Banking Sector

Evento: NPL-DAYS ESPAÑA. Organizado por: DD TalksThe decline in lending accelerated in 2023Q1, with a significant drop for SMEs. The pace of loan repayments has accelerated in most segments. Interest rates on new loans for house purchase and to NFCs are in line with the Euribor, unlike those on new deposits. Higher interest rates will entail a further repricing of mortgages in 2023. Non-performing loans continued to decline, although the NPL and stage 2 ratios stabilised in the quarter. The outstanding balance of ICO loans declined in recent quarters. Listed banks’ earnings grew notably in 2023 Q1, driven by higher net interest income

Short and medium term risks for the Spanish financial sector

Evento: 13th Spanish Capital Markets Conference. Organizado por: AFME y AEBThis new shock to the Spanish economy comes amid a gradual recovery, which remained incomplete, uneven across sectors and influenced by the course of the pandemic and continuous upside inflation surprises since mid 2021. In this environment, banks should remain cautious and the supervisors closely monitor any potential materialisation of the identified risks, in order to taken action to mitigate them

Las múltiples acepciones del término "historia" durante la Primera República en Nueva Granada, 1809-1815 (Debates)

This study explores the assorted connotations that the elite Creole press ascribed to the term “history” during Nueva Granada’s First Republic between 1809 and 1815. This investigation brings to light evidence of two diverse uses of the concept history. One depicts the magistra vitae perspective and the other one portrays a more modern notion regarding the passage of time. Articles written by Antonio Nariño in La Bagatela are clear examples of the latter case.El artículo explora las varias connotaciones que las élites criollas dieron al término “historia” durante la Primera República de la Nueva Granada, entre 1809 y 1815. La investigación recupera evidencia principalmente de dos tipos de usos de la voz historia. En una se muestra una concepción de la historia procedente de la perspectiva magistra vitae. En la otra, en cambio, se presenta una influencia de una noción más moderna sobre la concepción del paso del tiempo. Los artículos escritos por Antonio Nariño, por ejemplo, ilustran un uso que se inscribe en este segundo caso

Creditor countries and debtor countries : some asymmetries in the dynamics of external wealth accumulation

Artículo de revistaFollowing the global financial crisis, the external imbalances in terms of countries’ current account balances have been reduced to a large extent. However, the imbalances measured in terms of net external wealth (or net international investment position, NIIP) have continued to increase. The empirical analysis presented in this article suggests that there is asymmetry between net debtor countries (negative NIIP) and net creditor countries (positive NIIP), with potential implications for global trade and growth. In the case of debtors, their negative NIIP contributes to reducing current account deficits and is therefore a stabilising factor. Conversely, in the case of the creditors, the NIIP contributes to increasing current account surpluses which, in turn, strengthens the dynamics of wealth accumulation in these countries, compared with the rest of the worl

The Spanish block of the ESCB-Multi-Country Model

Se presenta el bloque español (ES-MCM) del modelo Multi-Pais del Sistema Europeo de Bancos Centrales (ESCB-MCM) para el area del euro, que ha sido desarrollado conjuntamente por el Banco de España. Este modelo guarda una estrecha relacion con el Are-Wide Model del ECB (AWM, see Fagan et al. 2001), tanto desde un punto de vista teorico como contable. Esto se debe a que, al igual que el AWM, el ES-MCM y el resto de bloques del ESCB-MCM se usan en los ejercicio de prediccion del ESCB. La estructura teorica del ES-MCM esta en linea con la mayoria de los moedlos macroeconomicos que se utilizan en la actualidad. En la version actual de este modelo, las expectativas se consideran de forma implicita mediante la inclusion de los valores retrasados de las variables. Incluye tambien una regla de politica fiscal en linea con el Pacto de Crecimiento y Estabilidad, que evita el incumplimiento de la restriccion de solvencia del sector publico. (ad

Soil and dust mites. Tiny animals close to us

Los ácaros son uno de los grupos más antiguo, diverso y numeroso de artrópodos que habitan la Tierra. Los ácaros han conquistado diferentes ambientes, algunas especies están asociadas o dependen de un organismo para vivir, mientras que otros son de vida libre. Por ejemplo, los ácaros del suelo y del polvo han desarrollado estructuras morfológicas muy diferentes que les permiten colonizar ambientes muy contrastados y acceder a diferentes recursos alimenticios. Se sugieren dos actividades académicas para que los estudiantes observen los ácaros bajo el microscopio.Mites are one of the most ancient, diverse and numerous arthropod groups that inhabit the Earth. Mites have conquered different environments, some species are associated or dependent of an organism for survival, while others are free-living. For example, soil and dust mites have developed very different morphological structures that allow them to colonize very contrasting environments and access to different food sources. We suggest two academic activities for students to observe mites under the microscope