Integrating artificial intelligence into the mortgage credit market

[eng] In order to avoid borrowers' over-indebtedness, Directive 2014/17/EU introduced the obligation to assess the creditworthiness prior to concluding a mortgage loan. To carry out this task, novel technological applications that use artificial intelligence and machine learning are emerging, as well as the use of alternative data, which ensures more predictive power. The purpose of this article is to analyze whether it is possible to use this technology in accordance with Directive 2014/17/EU and the General Data Protection Regulation. It also discusses the possible advantages and challenges that this technology may have.[spa] Para evitar el sobreendeudamiento de los prestatarios, la Directiva 2014/17/UE introdujo la obligación de efectuar una evaluación de solvencia previa a la conclusión del contrato de crédito inmobiliario. Para llevar a cabo esta tarea, están surgiendo nuevas aplicaciones tecnológicas basadas en inteligencia artificial y machine learning, así como el uso de datos alternativos, que aseguran tener un mayor poder predictivo. La finalidad de este artículo es analizar si, de acuerdo con los preceptos de la Directiva 2014717/UE y del Reglamento General de Protección de Datos, es posible usar esta tecnología, así como las posibles ventajas y retos que conllevaría su aplicación.[cat] Per a evitar el sobreendeutament dels prestataris, la Directiva 2014/17/UE va introduir l’obligació d’efectuar una avaluació de solvència prèvia a la conclusió del contracte de crèdit immobiliari. Per a dur a terme aquesta tasca, estan sorgint noves aplicacions tecnològiques basades en intel·ligència artificial i machine learning, així com l’ús de dades alternatives, que asseguren tenir un major poder predictiu. La finalitat d’aquest article és analitzar si, d’acord amb els preceptes de la Directiva 2014717/UE i del Reglament General de Protecció de Dades, és possible usar aquesta tecnologia, així com les possibles aventatges i reptes que comportaria la seva aplicació

Spanish Law of residential tenancies. Historical developments and current regulation and trends

The housing rental market in Spain has been regulated for decades through special rules on urban leases. This special regulation is aimed to protect tenants, who are considered the weak part of the contract, while the general provisions for leases in the Spanish Civil Code are only subsidiarily applicable. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad view of the Spanish legal framework for tenancies, taking into account the historical development of special rules on urban leases, including rights and obligation of the parties and mandatory provisions for this kind of contract. Since 2013, the liberalization of this regime is jeopardizing tenants' stability, affordability and flexibility, which had lead to a proposal for new rules in Cataloni

Overcoming the ‘tenant-owner dilemma’ to foster energy efficiency in residential private rented housing

The Recast Energy Efficiency Directive 2023 has defined the concept of 'split incentive', also known as 'tenant-owner dilemma'. This dilemma refers to the situation where neither landlords nor tenants have incentives to invest in energy efficiency upgrades. Although the Energy Efficiency Directive calls Member States to remove legal barriers to remove split incentives and to encourage retrofits, the list of possible measures is too vague. This paper aims at discussing tenancy law measures designed to increase the energy efficiency of residential housing and to detect which Member States have already addressed this phenomenon. This paper analyses, from a civil legal perspective, the possible private law barriers arising from the tenant-owner dilemma when performing energy efficiency works in selected countries and proposes legal reforms in tenancy law and related policies to overcome them. To do so, this paper follows a legal-doghmatic and comparative law methodology. This paper concludes that some tenancy law provisions, such as the possibility to increase the rent after energy efficiency renovations and long-term leases, may challenge the tenant-owner dilemma in private rented markets, thus promoting renovations and retrofitting for energy efficiency purposes. It also proposes other policies intended to increase parties' willingness to undertake works. More research on the economic and legal efficiency to regulate some of the civil law measures to challenge the tenant-owner dilemma should be necessary. The civil law measures included in this paper may help national policy makers to meet the energy efficiency targets, according to what is established in the Recast Energy Efficiency Directive 2023. Based on the economic theory of the tenant-owner dilemma, this paper investigates the elements of tenancy law that may contribute to less energy-efficient homes, proposing policies for those countries interested in addressing the energy-efficiency challenge from a private law point of view

Information need and uses : an analysis of the literature published in Spain, 1990-2004

This article presents a descriptive analysis of works published in Spanish journals and of the papers of conferences held in Spain in the field of information needs and uses in the period 1990–2004 in order to determine if the change in approach described by Dervin and Nilan, among others, also occurred outside the English speaking world. An analysis of the characteristics of relevant publications in this field (by year, authorship, type of document, type of work, and means of publication) shows that although activity is increasing, information needs and uses have not yet become a well-established area. In addition, a study of the content characteristics (by type of user, methodology used, aspects of the informationseeking process, use of a theoretical basis, and references to research) leads to the conclusion that in Spain there has not yet been a change in the orientation towards a user-oriented model.Abad García, María Francisca: [email protected]; Gonzalez Teruel, Aurora: [email protected]

Grounded theory for generating theory in the study of information behavior

The use of grounded theory procedures for the study of information behavior has contributed to generating theory in this field. Thirty-one works were analyzed with regard to a) their relationship to the context in which the research was carried out, b) the aspect of information behavior researched, c) the use of grounded theory procedures, and d) the generation of theory. Most of the studies were carried out in the context of health information, and grounded theory procedures were for the most part only partially applied. The theoretical propositions produced depended on the subject being studied. Although this methodology is suitable for the study of an individual’s interaction with information from that individual’s own point of view, documentation of the procedures involved is often deficient

The influence of Elfreda Chatman's theories: a citation context analysis

The range of theoretical frameworks currently being used by researchers into information behaviour is abundant and diverse. We need to examine thoroughly the contribution of theories and models to further research, as this would help to improve future investigations in the field. This paper adopts this approach, by thoroughly examining the influence that Elfreda Chatman's three middle-range theories have had on subsequent research. A citation context analysis was carried out on the basis of those received by Information poverty theory, life in the round theory and normative behaviour theory. Analysis covered the year of publication, the type of work and the subject-matter of the citing documents. The cites in context or theoretical incidents were analysed for frequency of citation in citing documents, the content of Chatman's work being cited, the context co-citation analysis, the citation style and the citation location. The analysis of citation in context has allowed us to draw a distinction between the author and her work, while verifying that not all cites are the same. These differences reflect the unequal relevance of these theories to subsequent research

Measurement invariance in gender and age of the Herth Hope Index to the general spanish population across the lifespan

The Herth Hope Index (HHI) is used to measure hope. Assessing the psychometric properties of HHI in Spanish population, exploring its structural validity, the different functionalities of the items and the invariability of this measure according to the gender and age of the population. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to explore the scale’s dimensionality and test for strong measurement invariance across sex and age in a cross-sectional, multicenter, prospective study. A new scale was obtained with the structure of one factor with 9 items. Goodness-of-fit indices were excellent. The internal consistency of the one dimension proved high values. The configural invariance on gender shows that both men and women understand the new HHI items, also, this research also shows that there is no scalar invariance across age groups, revealing good levels of adjustment of the item. The Spanish version of the HHI proved to be a valid, reliable instrument to assess the hope in Spanish population.CRUE-CSIC agreementSpringer Natur

The Family-Centred Practices Scale: Psychometric properties of the Spanish version for use with families with children with Down syndrome receiving early childhood intervention

Background: The Family-Centred Practices Scale (FCPS) assesses the degree to which staff in early childhood intervention and development centres use this therapeutic approach. However, there is no adaptation of this scale to families of children with Down syndrome, which is one of the most prevalent intellectual disabilities in early intervention. Objectives: To validate and analyse the psychometric properties of the FCPS in Spanish parents with children with Down syndrome receiving early childhood intervention. Methods: Descriptive analyses, exploratory factor analysis (n = 131), confirmatory factor analysis (n = 126) and scale reliability analyses were performed. In addition, the invariance of the scale by parents' age and gender was assessed, and a longitudinal analysis of the scores was performed. Results: A new scale was obtained with a two-factor structure, similar to the original version, but with fewer items. Goodness-of-fit indices were excellent (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] [95% confidence interval {CI}] = 0.02 [0.01; 0.04]; comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.98; Tucker–Lewis index [TLI] = 0.97; root mean residual [RMR] = 0.02; goodness-of-fit index [GFI] = 0.91; adjusted GFI [AGFI] = 0.90). However, the measure was not gender invariant. Additionally, internal consistency of the two dimensions showed high values in this sample, and comparing the means between the two measurement time points (initial and at about 6 months) showed no differences; the test was powerful but had a very small effect size. Conclusions: The psychometric properties of this FCPS are adequate, and it uses fewer items, which makes it faster to apply and gives it better clinical applicability. This new version of the scale is a valid, reliable tool for evaluating family-centred practices in Spanish families with children with Down syndrome

Análisis de comunidades de insectos forestales en el rango de distribución de Pinus sylvestris en la península ibérica

Los insectos forestales desempeñan un papel fundamental en la ecología de los bosques, formando parte de estos ecosistemas cambiantes y dinámicos e influyendo en los flujos de materia y energía. En este trabajo nos hemos centrado en el estudio de las comunidades de insectos saproxílicos, ligados al rango de distribución del Pinus sylvestris, en dos zonas de estudio de la Península Ibérica, la Sierra de Baza (Granada) y el Monte de Valsaín (Segovia), y su relación con diferentes variables ambientales extraídas de modelos climáticos globales. Para llevar a cabo la recogida de las muestras, se utilizaron trampas con atrayentes multiespecies, con el fin de estudiar la diversidad de las comunidades a dos niveles taxonómicos (especies y familia) y a un nivel no taxonómico (grupos tróficos de imagos e inmaduro) en relación con las variables ambientales, mediante el uso de modelos lineales para ambas zonas en conjunto y por separado. Los resultados obtenidos destacan que, para los niveles de estudio taxonómicos, la tendencia general es que la diversidad aumenta conforme nos elevamos en altitud en ambas zonas, y disminuye conforme nos acercamos a las zonas más cálidas y secas, mientras que no se encuentra una relación significativa en referencia al nivel de estudio no taxonómico. No obstante, y a pesar de que el Monte de Valsaín tiene unas condiciones de bosque óptimas para desarrollo de los insectos, encontramos mayor diversidad en la Sierra de Baza, que presenta unas condiciones ambientales mucho más estresantes, pero que se localiza dentro del hotspot de diversidad de las Sierras Béticas