Test for long memory processes. A bootstrap approach

Many time series in diverse fields have been found to exhibit long memory. This paper analyzes the behavior of some of the most used tests for long memory: the R/S or rescaled R/S, the GPH (Geweke and Porter-Hudak) and the DFA (Detrended Fluctuation Analysis). Some of these tests exhibit size distortions in small-samples. It is well known that the bootstrap procedure may correct this fact. In this paper, size and power for those tests, for finite samples and different distributions such as normal, uniform and log-normal are investigated. In the case of short memory process, such as AR, MA and ARCH and long memory such as ARFIMA, p-values are calculated using the post-blackening, moving block bootstrap. The Monte Carlo studies suggest that the bootstrap critical values perform better. The results are applied to financial return time series.Long memory, bootstrap, p-value, size correction, Monte Carlo

Does electoral competition curb party favoritism? [WP]

We study whether incumbents facing uncontested elections channel public spending towards co‐partisan officials more than is the case of incumbents that are worried about their chances of re‐election. To do so, we draw on data detailing capital transfers allocated by Spanish regions to local governments during the period 1995‐2007. Using a regression discontinuity design, we document strong and robust effects. We find that, on average, a mayor belonging to the same party as that of the regional president obtains nearly twice the amount in grants as is received by a mayor belonging to an opposition party. This effect is much greater for regional incumbents that won the previous election by a large margin, but it disappears in the case of highly competitive elections. The effects estimated by difference‐in‐differences are not so great but they point in the same direction. Overall, the results are consistent with predictions that regional incumbents focus on obtaining the most votes possible when elections are strongly contested, while they seek to increase the number of aligned mayors when their position at the ballot box is not vulnerable

Does electoral competition curb party favoritism?

We study whether incumbents facing uncontested elections channel public spending towards co-partisan officials more than is the case of incumbents that are worried about reelection. We draw on data on capital transfers allocated by Spanish regions to local governments during 1995-2007. Using a regression discontinuity design, we document strong and robust effects. We find that a mayor belonging to the party of the regional president obtains twice the amount in grants received by an opposition's mayor. This effect is much greater for regional incumbents that won the previous election by a large margin, but it disappears for highly competitive elections

Socio-spatial analysis of the vulnerable urban fabric in the city of Barcelona

[EN] Socio-residential vulnerability is one of currently increasing challenges for cities and metropolitan areas in addressing the interaction between the vulnerable resident population and the need to improve the building stock, particularly after the financial crisis of 2008 and the consequent regression of public investments.Recent studies have measured and described the levels of vulnerability in the city of Barcelona and their results highlight socio-spatial similarities between urban fabrics that happen to be morphologically, historically and geographically very different.The present research focuses on the assessment of physical and social shortcomings of vulnerable areas in the city of Barcelona. With this purpose, a sample of buildings in some of the most vulnerable neighbourhoods are statistically analysed through a set of variables at building scale related to both the need of improvement of residential existing buildings and the characteristics of their inhabitants.An extensiveThe main sources of this research have been provided or supported by the Council of Barcelona, by means of several contracts that have been crucial for the development of fieldwork and database elaboration. The present paper has been written with funding of the Ministry of Education thanks to an FPU Grant for Doctoral research. Finally, this research has been carried out in the framework of the ongoing R&D Project: Re-Inhabit. Indicadores socio-espaciales para la mejora del stock habitacional en zonas vulnerables. Criterios de actuación en los casos de las áreas metropolitanas de Barcelona y Bilbao. RTI 2018-101342-B-I00, supported and funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.Vima-Grau, S.; Cornadó, C.; Garcia-Almirall, P. (2019). Socio-spatial analysis of the vulnerable urban fabric in the city of Barcelona. VITRUVIO - International Journal of Architectural Technology and Sustainability. 4(2):75-89. https://doi.org/10.4995/vitruvio-ijats.2019.12559OJS758942Alguacil, J., Camacho, J., Hernández, A. (2014) La vulnerabilidad urbana en España. Identificación y evolución de los barrios vulnerables. EMPIRIA. Revista de Metodología de Ciencias Sociales 27: 73-94. https://doi.org/10.5944/empiria.27.2014.10863Ajuntament de Barcelona (2016). Pla pel Dret a l'Habitatge de Barcelona 2016-2025. Resum executiu.Garcia-Almirall, P., Vila, G., Vima-Grau, S., Uzqueda, A. (2017). Estudi i detecció a la ciutat de Barcelona d'àmbits de vulnerabilitat residencial. Ajuntament de Barcelona.Cornadó, C., Garcia-Almirall, P., Vima-Grau, S. (2017). Prediagnosi de l'edificació residencial en els àmbits de vulnerabilitat de la ciutat de Barcelona. Ajuntament de Barcelona.Cornadó, C., Garcia-Almirall, P., Vima-Grau, S., Vila, G., Uzqueda, A. (2017) Methodology for the Detection of Residential Vulnerable Areas - the Case of Barcelona. IOP Conf. Series. Materials Science and Engineering 245. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/245/4/042062Cornadó C, Vima-Grau S, Garcia-Almirall P. Assessment of the Residential Building Stock in the Vulnerable Areas in the City of Barcelona. XVII International Forum. Gangemi Editore, 2019; 174-183. http://hdl.handle.net/2117/166252Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC). 2018. Anunci de la Convocatòria del Programa de Finques d'Alta Complexitat. Núm 7642-14.6.2018. CVE-DOGC-A-18157071-2018.Tapada, M.T., Arbaci, S. (2011) Proyectos de regeneración urbana en Barcelona contra la segregación socioespacial (1986-2009): ¿solución o mito? ACE: Architecture, City and Environment 6, 17: 187-222.Thomsen, A., Van der Flier, K. (2011). Obsolescence and the end of life phase of buildings. Management and Innovation for a Sustainable Built Environment. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Thomsen, A., Van der Flier, K., Nieboer, N. (2015). Analyising obsolescence, an elaborated model for residential buildings. Structural Survey 33, 3: 210-227. https://doi.org/10.1108/SS-12-2014-0040Thomsen A., Nieboer, N., Van der Flier, K. (2017). Obsolescence - understanding the underlying processes. ENHR 2015 Conference Lisbon. https://doi.org/10.15396/eres2017_259Turkington, R., Watson, C. (2015). Renewing Europe's Housing. Policy Press, Great Britain. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447310129.001.0001Vima, S. 2018. Caracterització i prediagnosi del teixit socioresidencial vulnerable a la ciutat de Barcelona. Master thesis MBARCH. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

E-learning, vocational training and employability for the unemployed: survey design and validation

The paper analyses the effect of e-learning vocational training on the employability of the unemployed. Through a questionnaire survey of 5,265 people who took part in ane-learning training programme developed in 2009 by the Catalan Employment Service (SOC) and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) to improve the employability of the unemployed, the study makes two main contributions. First,we describe the design of an 18-item scale. Second, the study analyses the factorial structure and psychometric properties of that scale. Three factors from the exploratoryfactor analysis, namely competencies developed (α1=0.93), applicability of training (α2=0.92) and satisfaction with the pedagogical design (α3=0.90), explain 71.5% of cumulative variance. The total scale reliability is 0.94. The statisticsobtained for the confirmatory factor analysis (CFI=0.94, NNFI=0.94, and RMSEA=0.08) indicate an acceptable fit of the proposed threefactor model (Chi-square=2.416, p=0.000). The coefficients of the estimates, all with valuesbetween 0.85 and 1.66, are significant at p<0.001.The study provides new evidence in the specific field of e-learning vocational training specifically for the unemployed, as well as new dimensions such as the structure and the pedagogical design of the programme. The analysis of a new edition of the programme in 2012 reveals the usefulness of e-learning for the unemployed withfewer formal qualifications

What´s new and useful about chaos in economic science

La complejidad es una de las propiedades características del comportamiento económico. En este trabajo se exponen los principales conceptos y técnicas de la teoría del caos, analizando las distintas áreas de la ciencia económica desde el punto de vista de la complejidad y el caos. [ABSTRACT] Complexity is one of the most important characteristic properties of the economic behaviour. The new field of knowledge called Chaotic Dynamic Economics born precisely with the objective of understanding, structuring and explaining in an endogenous way such complexity. In this paper, and after scanning the principal concepts and techniques of the chaos theory, we analyze, principally, the different areas of Economic Science from the point of view of complexity and chaos, the main and most recent researches, and the present situation about the results and possibilities of achieving an useful application of those techniques and concepts in our field

Uniformization of triangle modular curves

In the present article, we determine explicit uniformizations of modular curves attached to triangle Fuchsian groups with cusps. Their Hauptmoduln are obtained by integration of non-linear differential equations of the third order. Series expansions involving integral coefficients are calculated around the cusps as well as around the elliptic points. The method is an updated form of a differential construction of the elliptic modular function j, first performed by Dedekind in 1877. Subtle differences between automorphic functions with respect to conjugate Fuchsian groups become apparent

Residential vulnerability of Barcelona: methodology integrating multi-criteria evaluation systems and geographic information systems

This article presents the methodology and results of a pioneering investigation in the determination and mapping of socio-residential vulnerability in the city of Barcelona according to a multi-criteria synthetic analysis. The methodology followed is based on a system of indicators elaborated from the exploitation of habitual statistical Open Data complemented with specific unprecedented data elaborated and supplied by the Barcelona City Council. The analysis is based on secondary data and it is structured in georeferenced axes, components, and indicators, which allow determination of the sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and urban and residential space characteristics at neighborhood, population census unit, and urban block level. The objective of the research was to detect, determine, and establish a measure of differentiation relative to the degree of residential vulnerability of some neighborhoods with respect to others, in order to seek prioritization measures for action in the most vulnerable areas. The results of the research provide a series of maps that allow us to define the areas where the highest levels of vulnerability indicators coincide according to a synthetic multi-criteria analysis.info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN/2PE/RTI2018-101342-B-I00Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::10 - Reducció de les DesigualtatsObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::1 - Fi de la PobresaObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats SosteniblesPostprint (author's final draft

El trabajo de cuidados entre el trabajo profesional y el tiempo de libre disposición personal. Perspectiva de género

En las sociedades del bienestar, los cuidados o el trabajo de cuidados forman parte de la vida cotidiana de las personas, sobre todo de las mujeres, aunque no siempre se le llame así ni tampoco se sea consciente de ello. Esa invisibilidad del trabajo de cuidados afecta tanto al tiempo y al contenido del trabajo como a quién lo protagoniza. Se trata de una actividad y de un tiempo relacionados con la atención y el cuidado de las personas que conviven en el hogar que, a menudo, se extiende hacia un entorno familiar más amplio, como los padres, madres o los suegros y suegras, u otras personas cercanas, a pesar de que no se conviva con ellas. El hecho de que se trate de una actividad por lo común llevada a cabo por las mujeres adultas, ha contribuido a construir la idea de que se trata de una actividad consustancial al género femenino y, en ese sentido, natural e indiscutible, e incluso deseada por las mujeres. De modo que los cuidados sólo se identifican como trabajo cuando se llevan a cabo en el ámbito profesional (sanidad o atención sociosanitaria). Son, en ese caso, una actividad laboral que también aparece teñida por la misma idea de empleo o profesión femeninos y, de hecho, son ocupaciones ampliamente feminizadas. Una segregación ocupacional que, si bien va acompañada por el prestigio y las buenas condiciones laborales de la mayoría de las profesiones relacionadas con la salud, tropieza con el descrédito y los malos empleos de las cuidadoras informales de personas dependientes, mujeres inmigradas, en su mayoría. Cuestiones que este capítulo no va a abordar pues nuestro objetivo ha sido analizar el tiempo y el trabajo de cuidados que se lleva a cabo de manera no remunerada en y para el hogar-familia