The role of new technologies in the economic growth of Andalucia

This paper explores the contribution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on economic growth and labor productivity growth of Andalucía during 1995-2004. We find that the contribution of ICT assets to total market GVA growth is quantitatively modest. Anyway the contribution to GVA growth and employment growth within the intensive ICT sectors has experienced a considerable increase in Andalucía. Although our analysis detects that intensive ICT sectors exhibit a high productivity level with respect to that of the non intensive ones, our main conclusion is that the advantages that might emerge from the use of ICT are nor yet observable in the economic dynamics of Andalucía, at least in a similar manner to that of the most developed.Information and Communication Technologies, productivity growth, regional growth

The Productivity Paradox and the New Economy: The Spanish Case

This paper studies the impact of the information and communication technologies (ICT) on economic growth in Spain using a dynamic general equilibrium approach. Contrary to previous works, we use a production function with six different capital inputs, three of them corresponding to ICT assets. Calibration of the model suggests that the contribution of ICT to Spanish productivity growth is very relevant, whereas the contribution of non-ICT capital has been even negative. Additionally, over the sample period 1995-2002, we find a negative TFP and productivity growth. These results together aim at the hypothesis that the Spanish economy could be placed within the productivity paradox.New economy, information and communication technologies, technological change, productivity paradox.

ICT-specific technological change and productivity growth in the US 1980-2004

This paper studies the impact of the information and communication technologies (ICT) on U.S. economic growth using a dynamic general equilibrium approach. We use a production function with six different capital inputs, three of them corresponding to ICT assets and other three to non-ICT assets. We find that the technological change embedded in hardware equipment is the main leading non-neutral force of the U.S. productivity growth and accounts for about one quarter of it during the period 1980-2004. As a whole, ICT-specific technological change accounts for about 35% of total labor productivity growth.New economy, information and communication technologies, specific-technological change, neutral-technological change.

Tratamiento psicológico grupal de sesión única para personas que sufren trastornos adaptativos. Programa y evaluación preliminar

La elevada demanda de atención en salud mental en el Sistema Sanitario Público de Andalucía requiere idear e implementar propuestas asistenciales proporcionales a la gravedad de los trastornos, a la vez que ágiles y de calidad. Este trabajo presenta un programa de tratamiento psicológico grupal de sesión única para atender a personas que sufren trastornos adaptativos, así como los resultados de una evaluación preliminar de dicho programa. Los objetivos del programa son ayudar a la recuperación psicológica y emocional de los participantes y a la prevención de su recaída. Se ha aplicado a 40 personas, mujeres y varones, con edades comprendidas entre los 22 y 73 años, derivadas por sus médicos de atención primaria. La evaluación preliminar se realizó mediante un cuestionario de valoración y de satisfacción con el tratamiento de elaboración propia, indicadores asistenciales y la percepción de los profesionales que indicaron la derivación. A pesar del reducido número de pacientes que necesitaron una nueva derivación en los 12 meses siguientes, de las puntuaciones discretamente positivas obtenidas en el mencionado cuestionario y la percepción positiva de los médicos que indicaron la derivación, las limitaciones metodológicas de este estudio obligan a seguir valorando la oportunidad y utilidad del mismo en nuevos estudios controlados.The high demand for mental health care in the Public Health System of Andalusia requires to devise and implement care proposals proportional to the severity of the disorders, while being agile and of quality. This paper presents a single-session group psychological treatment program to assist people with adjustment disorders, as well as the results of its preliminary evaluation. The objectives of the program are to help the psychological and emotional recovery of the participants and to prevent their relapse. It has been applied to 40 people, women and men, aged between 22 and 73 years, derived by their family doctors. The preliminary evaluation was carried out through a questionnaire of assessment and satisfaction with de treatment of own elaboration, indicators of care and the perception of professionals who indicated the derivation. In spite of the small number of people who are referred back within 12 months after the treatment, the discreetly positive scores obtained in the questionnaire and the favorable perception of the doctors who referred patients, the methodological limitations of this study oblige to continue assessing the opportunity and utility of the same in new controlled studies

Beyond the R&D effects on innovation: the contribution of non-R&D activities to TFP growth in the EU

A significant part of the innovation efforts carried out across very heterogeneous economies in Europe is under the form of Non-R&D innovation activities. But the traditional macro approach to the determinants of TFP does not handle this issue appropiately. This paper has proposed and estimated an augmented macro-theoretical model to the determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) by jointly considering the effects of R&D endowments and the impact of Non-R&D innovation activities on …firms´ levels of productivity. The estimation of the model for a sample of EU26 countries covering the period 2004-2008 shows that the distinction between R&D and Non-R&D endowments really matters for a number of different issues. First, the results show a sizable differential impact of these endowments on TFP growth, being the impact of R&D twice as big as the impact of Non-R&D. Second, absorptive capacity is only linked to R&D endowments. And third, the two types of endowments cannot strictly been seen as complements at least for the case of countries with high R&D intensities or high Non-R&D intensities

Productivity growth and technological change in Europe and the U.S.

This paper presents an evaluation on the technological sources of labor productivity growth across European countries and the US economy for the period 1980-2004. Assets of capital are divided into those related to the information and communication technologies (ICT), and non-ICT assets. Technological progress is divided into neutral change and investment specific change. Previous exercises have aimed at ICT as a serious contributor to the upsurge of US productivity from 1995 on. Contribution to productivity growth from each type of technological progress for the US and EU-15 countries is computed using two different approaches: a growth accounting and a general equilibrium. The US and Denmark are the countries with the larger contribution from ICT-technological progress. Overall, we find that Europe is well behind the US in terms of the effects of ICT technological change.Productivity growth, Investment-specific technological change, Neutral technological change

Persistence in inequalities across the Spanish regions.

This paper investigates several issues concerning persistence in inequalities of relative income per capita among the Spanish regions over 1980-2002. For that purpose we take a Bayesian approach which extends the work by Canova and Marcet (1995). Firstly, we study to what extent there exists a fixed effect bias in the standard cross-section estimates, and we find that the speed of convergence is indeed underestimated. Secondly, we provide a battery of results in which steady states and convergence rates have been obtained for a continuum of prior distributions. Finally, we also deal with persistence in inequalites by determining whether initial conditions matter in the distribution of regional steady states, and our conclusion is that regional disparities tend to persist over time in Spain.Convergence, Inequalities, Bayesian Econometrics, Gibbs sampling.

Memorias TeSAC Olopa, Guatemala 2019

La introducción del enfoque de los Territorios Sostenibles Adaptados al Clima (TeSAC) en Olopa ha permitido conformar una plataforma socialmente inclusiva, que además ha generado evidencia sobre la adopción de prácticas, el fortalecimiento de capacidades institucionales y la implementación de herramientas enfocadas en reducir la vulnerabilidad de los hogares de este municipio a los efectos negativos del cambio climático. Entre los principales avances que se resaltan de la implementación del enfoque TeSAC en 2019, se encuentra el fortalecimiento de capacidades institucionales de uno de los principales aliados locales como la Asociación Regional Campesina Ch’orti’ (ASORECH), lo cual permitirá el escalamiento y la sostenibilidad de los procesos que se han venido adelantando los últimos años. Así mismo, el fortalecimiento de capacidades y lazos entre las instituciones involucradas y la comunidad a partir de talleres, ha ayudado a mejorar la comprensión de las diferentes herramientas que desde la Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (ASAC) permite a los hogares tener una mayor resiliencia frente a los efectos del cambio climático sobre sus sistemas productivos. De igual forma, se espera que se genere información que permita el escalamiento de las prácticas implementadas y los mecanismos de participación para la toma de decisiones, permitiendo acoplar estas herramientas a otras comunidades cercanas o a contextos similares en otras regiones. Entre las prácticas que se han implementado hasta el momento, se encuentran la creación de sistemas de recolección de agua como reservorios de agua y sistemas de cosecha de agua lluvia en 123 hogares; adaptaciones físicas de los terrenos destinados al cultivo como terraceo, huertos con cubierta plástica, labranza de conservación y uso zanjas de contorno en 95 hogares; la adaptación de sistemas rompe vientos como barreras vivas, barreras muertas y cortinas rompe vientos en 60 hogares y otro tipo de prácticas como la introducción de semillas resistentes al estrés hídrico (28 hogares), el uso de fertilizantes orgánicos (125 hogares) y la adaptación de sistemas piscícolas (14 hogares).The introduction of the Climate Smart Village (CVS) approach in Olopa has allowed the creation of a socially inclusive platform that has also generated enough evidence on the adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices, the strengthening of institutional capacities and the implementation of tools focused on reducing climate vulnerability of households in this municipality. Among the main achievements of the implementation of the CSV approach in 2019, the strengthening of institutional capacities of one of the main local parthners such as the Ch'orti ' Farmers Regional Association (ASORECH by its acronym in Spanish), has allowed the continuity and scaling of the developing processes that have been done in recent years. Likewise, the strengthening of capacities and the engagement between the institutions involved and the community through workshops, has helped to improve the understanding of the different tools that through the CSA approach allows households to have greater resilience against the effects of climate change on their production systems. Similarly, it´s expected that the information generated allow the scaling up of the different CSA practices implemented and the mechanisms of participation for decision-making, allowing these tools to be adopted to other nearby communities or producers with similar contexts in other regions. Among the CSA practices that have been implemented so far, there is the creation of water collection systems such as water reservoirs and rainwater harvesting systems in 123 households; physical adaptations of the land for cultivation such as terraces, home gardens with plastic coverage, conservation tillage, and use contour ditches in 95 households; the adaptation of windbreak systems such as live barriers, dead barriers and windbreak curtains in 60 households and other CSA practices such as the introduction of drought-resistant seeds (28 households), the use of organic fertilizers (125 households) and the adaptation of fish farming systems (14 households)

Persistence in inequalities across the Spanish regions

In this paper we investigate several issues concerning persistence in inequalities of relative income per capita among the Spanish regions over 1980-2002. For that purpose we take a Bayesian approach which extends the work by Canova and Marcet (1995). Firstly, we study to what extent there exists a fixed effect bias in the standard cross-section estimates, and we find that the speed of convergence is indeed underestimated. Secondly, we provide a battery of results in which steady states and convergence rates have been obtained for a continuum of prior distributions. Finally, we also deal with persistence in inequalites by determining whether initial conditions matter in the distribution of regional steady states, and our conclusion is that regional disparities tend to persist over time in Spain.Convergence, Inequalities, Bayesian Econometrics, Gibbs sampling