Catalan competitiveness: Science and business

Science has been shown to be an important driver of economic growth and performance. In this chapter we take a careful look at a key ingredient of this driver for Catalonia: the link between science and business. We argue that the Catalan innovation system faces three important challenges in order to better connect science to business: 1) the need for a sufficient supply of high quality science; 2) the need for a sufficient demand for science by companies, and 3) the ability to connect science and business, i.e., science needs different channels to connect with business and requires coordinated efforts between the different players in the innovation system. We find that the science landscape at Catalan (Spanish) scientific institutions has improved considerably in the last decade. Demand for science by Catalan firms, on the contrary, is still very weak. Nevertheless, we do find that industry and universities use a large variety of channels for knowledge interaction. In addition, we show that the three large Catalan universities have very different profiles in their interactions with industry. However, our analysis does indicate that there is currently a lack of basic information about the Catalan innovation system to help inform and direct such important policy measures. Some coordination on recording this information systematically would improve matters considerably.Competitiveness; Catalonia; Science; Business;

Industry characteristics and anti-competitive behavior: Evidence from the EU

In the EU, competition policy is based on three main pillars: antitrust, merger control and monitoring state aid. Our analysis focuses on antitrust policy. In this context, the Commission is concerned about restrictive agreements and practices that imply an abuse of market power. The objective of this paper is to analyze what are the main criteria used by the Commission when deciding on anti-competitive practices. In particular, our goal is to determine whether and to what extent the Commission takes into account economic analysis when deciding whether anti-competitive behavior has taken place. There is a very extensive industrial organization literature which provides the theoretical and empirical background that associates industry features with the likelihood of practices that restrict competition. However, the literature evaluating the competition authority's decisions is much scarcer and has focused mainly on the analysis of merger policy. Our paper contributes to fill this gap in the literature. We examine almost 2,000 cases submitted to the Commission for consideration from January 1999 to February 2004 with the aim of determining which industry characteristics led the Commission to decide against an investigated firm on antitrust grounds.Competition policy; Antitrust; European Commission; Mergers;

L'haiku, forma clau en la poesia de Joan Salvat-Papasseit

És un fet força conegut que Joan Salvat-Papasseit emprà la forma japonesa de l'haiku, principalment en la sèrie «Vibracions». Tanmateix, aquests poemes són vistos, generalment, com un flirteig exotista sense gaire transcendència. L'article argumenta que l'autor coneixia bé la forma de l'haiku i que hi trobà un vehicle molt adequat per a reflectir-hi les inquietuds estètiques que compartia amb Joaquim Torres-Garcia i Rafael Barradas, i que l'haiku ocupa un lloc clau en la seva producció.It is a well known fact that Joan Salvat-Papasseit used the haiku form, specially in his series «Vibracions». Nevertheless, his haikus are generally considered a mere experiment with an exotic form, not at all important. This article argues that the author had a sound knowledge of the haiku form and that he found in it a very convenient vehicle for reflecting the aesthetic concerns he shared with the painters Joaquim Torres-Garcia and Rafael Barradas, and that the haiku takes up a prominent place in his work

Ressenyes

Index de les obres ressenyades: Jordi MARRUGAT, Marià Manent i la traducci

Les traduccions al castellà de les Elegies de Bierville de Carles Riba : opcions traductores i models de llengua literària

Aquest article analitza les traduccions que s'han publicat de les Elegies de Bierville de Carles Riba des de 1952 fins ara amb l'objectiu de dilucidar si hi ha hagut una evolució en la manera com s'han traduït els poemes i en el model de llengua literària emprat. Per tant, es considera el context social i polític en què apareixen les diverses traduccions, així com la modalitat traductora i el model de llengua que ha utilitzat cada traductor i editor. La conclusió és que, a pesar de la diversitat de variables en un corpus relativament breu de textos, la tendència a fer traduccions literals de les Elegies es pot explicar, en part, perquè, a partir dels seixanta, els nous lectors i traductors se senten distanciats del model de llengua de l'original de Riba.This article analyzes the translations of Elegies de Bierville, by Carles Riba, that have been published since 1952 in order to determine whether there has been an evolution in the way of translating the poems and the type of literary language used. Therefore, the social and political context in which the various translations appear, as well as the translation mode and the type of language preferred by each translator and editor are considered. The conclusion is that, despite the diversity of variables in a relatively short corpus of texts, the tendency to make literal translations of Elegies de Bierville can be explained, in part, because from the sixties on, the new readers and translators feel distanced from the model of literary language used in the original work by Riba

Ressenyes

Index de les obres ressenyades: Sílvia COLL-VINENT, G. K. Chesterton a Catalunya i altres estudis sobre una certa anglofília (1916-1938

La poètica postcubista de Josep Maria Junoy /

Estudi de la poètica de Josep Maria Junoy per tal d'analitzar si el seu trencament amb el cubisme el 1919 va ser una ruptura o un procés evolutiu. Estudia, especialment, la seva ideologia literària a través dels haikús que es va dedicar a escriure després d'acusar al cubisme d'atemptar contra l'equilibri clàssic

Internacionalització de programari : el cas del català

La internacionalització és un conjunt de tècniques força vinculades a la programació de sistemes informàtics destinades a assegurar que un programa pot treballar correctament en qualsevol llengua. En aquest article, l'autor apuntarà en els aspectes més pràctics i visibles de la internacionalització per acabar centrant-se en el cas de la llengua catalana