Subjective well-being and basic needs: Evidence from rural Guatemala

This paper deals with basic needs fulfillment interpreted in a subjective way. We develop a framework in which the basic needs of households in developing areas are valued from a subjective point of view. We estimate how certain indicators and assets influence basic needs perception. We compare income and perceived basic needs poverty measures, finding that they mismatch. We conclude that income-based approaches should be complemented with other indicators such as subjective satisfaction measures to understand development and measure poverty.Subjective well-being, basic needs, poverty, Guatemala, Highlands.

Análisis de las preferencias del consumo de vinos IGP por parte del segmento joven de la población. Aplicación a la D.O. Navarra.

El consumo de vino en España ha ido disminuyendo en los últimos años, cediendo parte de su mercado a otras bebidas. Esta circunstancia, unida a los cambios en las preferencias y en las pautas de consumo del producto, crea una difícil situación para las empresas del sector vinícola. Por tanto parece fundamental que las empresas vinícolas analicen su situación de cara a adoptar unas adecuadas estrategias empresariales que les permitan hacer frente a la situación actual y a un futuro que se plantea complicado. Este estudio se enmarca en Navarra, región situada en el Norte de España, en el extremo occidental de los Pirineos. Es una de las zonas vitivinícolas españolas más antiguas y gran parte de su producción vinícola se acoge a la Denominación de Origen Navarra. Siendo consciente de la difícil situación que atraviesa el Sector, el Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Navarra, ha visto en los jóvenes un mercado nuevo y fresco que puede potenciarse. En este contexto se plantea el presente trabajo, cuyo objetivo es el análisis de la situación actual del consumo de vino, prestando especial atención al análisis de los hábitos y preferencias del segmento joven de los consumidores. Por otro lado también se pretende situar el vino en relación al consumo joven de bebidas alternativas. La investigación se inicia con una revisión de literatura sobre las variables que afectan al consumo de vino, entre los que destacan la edad, sexo, nivel de estudios, etc. El estudio empírico se ha basado en una encuesta ad-hoc realizada en los núcleos poblacionales más grandes de Navarra con el objetivo de detectar dónde se encuentran los mayores problemas de este mercado además de las distintas actitudes que adoptan frente a éste cada uno de los segmentos de la población analizados. Una vez realizado el correspondiente análisis estadístico, los resultados conducen a conclusiones que pueden ser útiles para el futuro diseño de estrategias comerciales de las empresas oferentes del sector vinícola navarro. Palabras clave — Consumo de Vino – Jóvenes – Navarra InternationalConsumo de Vino, Jóvenes, Navarra International EAAE, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Labor and Human Capital,

Do interregional transfers improve the economic performance of poor regions? The case of Spain

The 17 regional governments of Spain receive grants from both the central government and the European Union. The grants are generally redistributive and are intended to stimulate economic activity in the poorer regions. We evaluate the effectiveness of the grants by comparing the economic performance of the regions before and after the implementation of the grant programs using a differences--in-- differences approach. We find that these policies have not been effective at stimulating private investment or improving the overall economies of the poorer regions.Regional grants and economic development

Tax incentives and the city

It is difficult to justify tax incentives within the existing economics literature on tax competition. We develop a model in which communities are interested in attracting firms not only for their own capital but also for the “concentration externalities,” a form of agglomeration economies, their location bestows on existing firms. We find that it is efficient in this case for communities to offer tax incentives, defined as a tax rate below the benefit tax level, to firms. We present the recent relocation of the Boeing Corporation's headquarters from Seattle to Chicago as a case study.Tax incentives, concentration externalities, agglomeration economies, tax competition, benefit tax

Fiscal decentralization in Spain: An asymmetric transition to democracy

Asymmetric fiscal decentralization, by which we mean different fiscal arrangements between the central government and different groups of, or individual, lower-level governments, may be justified from an economic efficiency perspective. As argued by Tiebout (1956), Oates (1972) and others, a decentralized system of regional and local governments is better able to accommodate differences in tastes for public goods and services. This efficiency argument calls for decentralization of fiscal authority to regional and local governments, but not necessarily asymmetric decentralization. However, when the differences in tastes for public goods and services arise out of differences in history, culture and language across regions of a country, asymmetric treatment may be justified. History, culture and language may influence how a group of people (a region) views autonomy, independence and fiscal authority. Some regions may have had experience with autonomous government in the past, they may have a culture that is strongly reliant upon (or leery of) the central government, or they may be fearful of losing their separate languages if they do not have special arrangements. To accommodate differences in taste for independence, autonomy, and fiscal authority, it may be necessary to have different fiscal arrangements between the central government and the different regions comprising the country.Fiscal decentralization, autonomous communities, asymmetric devolution, Spanish regions, fiscal imbalance

Fashion as a Narrative System: A Decolonial Approach

Treballs Finals del Grau d'Estudis Anglesos, Facultat de Filologia, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2022-2023. Tutora: Isabel Alonso Breto[cat] Aquest article examina com funciona la moda com a sistema narratiu i com es pot utilitzar com a eina per a la narració, així com per explorar temes tan complexos com la decolonialitat. Advoca per la democratització de l'art i la cultura mitjançant la vinculació dels temes de moda amb el que concerneix l'individu comú. La decolonialitat de la moda es discuteix amb l'ajuda de la teoria semiòtica i decolonial, així com analitzant el treball de creatius i dissenyadors africans. Incorporant idees de la semiòtica de la moda –i l'obra de Roland Barthes– i de teòrics decolonialistes com Walter Mignolo, aquest article pretén defensar la moda com un sistema narratiu fort que manté la capacitat de conversar amb diversos camps acadèmics. El text emfatitza dissenyadors i marques, com Wanda Lephoto, que representen missatges importants a través de la moda. Finalment, aconsegueix la seva intenció d'aprofundir en els materials per transmetre una idea de l'estat de la conversa decolonial en el món de la moda.[eng] This paper examines how fashion works as a narrative system and how it can be used as a tool for storytelling, as well as to explore issues as complex as decolonialization. It advocates for the democratization of art and culture by linking fashion themes to what concerns the common individual. Fashion decolonialization is discussed with the help of semiotic and decolonial theory, as well as by analysing the work of African creatives and designers. Incorporating ideas from fashion semiotics –and the work of Roland Barthes– and from decolonial theorist like Walter Mignolo, this paper intends to defend fashion as a strong narrative system that holds the ability to converse with diverse academic fields. The text emphasizes the work of designers and brands, like Wanda Lephoto, that represent important messages through fashion. Ultimately it achieves its intention to delve into the materials to convey an idea of the state of the decolonial conversation in the fashion world

The Demand for Excess Reserves in the Euro Area and the Impact of the Current Credit Crisis

One of the risks that banks need to manage, in their financial intermediation activities, is liquidity risk. Thus, banks hold reserves for precautionary reasons, in order to keep enough cash to meet their obligations. In this work, we analyze the demand for excess reserves by Euro Area banks, since the change in the framework of the single monetary policy in March 2004. Our main conclusions are that there is a positive relationship between the demand for reserves and its financing cost and also that the environment of uncertainty present in the credit crisis is not significant in the demand for excess reserves: the ECB achieved control over the money market tensions.banks; excess reserves; liquidity risk