Fiscal decentralization, macrostability and growth

This paper examines how fiscal decentralization may influence economic growth. Previous research on this question has primarily focused on the potential direct relationship between decentralization and growth. In this paper, we also examine the potential indirect influence of decentralization on growth through its impact on macroeconomic stability. We find that decentralization may positively influence price stability in developed countries, though this impact is much less clear in developing and transitional countries. We also find some evidence suggesting that decentralization may directly and negatively affect economic growth in higher-income countries but that this effect is reduced through the indirect positive impact of decentralization on growth through macroeconomic stability.Fiscal Decentralization, Economic Growth, and Macroeconomic Stability.

La felicidad

[Resumen] La felicidad es un deseo natural de todo hombre. Encierra un rico repertorio de sentidos según sea el plano desde el que la consideremos. Gracián relaciona la felicidad con la virtud, en especial con la virtud de la prudencia, sinónimo de sabiduría de la vida. Presenta el desengaño como un medio para alcanzar la virtud. El gran obstáculo de la felicidad es la muerte; sin embargo, hay hombres que nunca mueren: o porque se inmortalizan a través de sus obras, o porque entran en la Isla de la Inmortalidad: el Cielo.[Sommaire] Le bonheur est un désir naturel de tout homme. Ce concept contient un répertoire riche de significations selon le point de vue à partir duquel nous l’analysons. Gracián rattache le bonheur à la vertu, spécialement à la vertu de la prudence qui est le synonyme de la sagesse de la vie. Il présente la désillusion (desengaño) comme un moyen pour atteindre la vertu. Le grand obstacle au bonheur est la mort. Il y a toutefois des hommes qui ne meurent jamais parce qu’ils sont immortalisés à travers leurs oeuvres ou parce qu’ils atteignent l’Île de l’Immortalité : le Ciel.[Abstract] Happiness is a natural longing of very man. It encloses a rich repertoire of different meanings, depending on the point from which we consider it. Gracián relates the happiness with the virtue and specially with the prudence, synonym of life’s wisdom. He presents the deceit (desengaño) as a way to get the virtue. The great obstacle to reach the happiness is the death; however there are some neverdying men, because they either become immortal through their writings or enter into the Immortal Island: Heaven

Ingenio, causa principal de la agudeza y complemento del juicio

[Resumen] El artículo ofrece un estudio del concepto de “ingenio” desde la epistemología graciana. Una breve historia de la aparición del término introduce el tema de la relación entre genio e ingenio. Posteriormente se analizan la antropología y la epistemología del ingenio para concluir con la relación entre ingenio, agudeza, juicio y gusto.[Abstract] The article offers a study of the concept of “ingenio” (wit) from Gracián’s epistemology. A brief history of the origin of the term introduces the topic of the relation between genius and ingenius. Later on the anthropology and the epistemology of the “ingenio” are analysed and finally the relation between “ingenio”, “agudeza”, judgement and taste is offered by way of conclusion

Slide-Down Prevention for Wheeled Mobile Robots on Slopes

Wheeled mobile robots on inclined terrain can slide down due to loss of traction and gravity. This type of instability, which is different from tip-over, can provoke uncontrolled motion or get the vehicle stuck. This paper proposes slide-down prevention by real-time computation of a straightforward stability margin for a given ground-wheel friction coefficient. This margin is applied to the case study of Lazaro, a hybrid skid-steer mobile robot with caster-leg mechanism that allows tests with four or five wheel contact points. Experimental results for both ADAMS simulations and the actual vehicle demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Reassessment of intensity estimates from vulnerability and damage distributions: the 2011 Lorca earthquake

This paper presents a reassessment of the seismic intensity estimated for the 2011 Lorca (southeastern Spain) earthquake based on detailed vulnerability data and its comparison with the observed damage. Building and urban data are gathered in selected areas during a field campaign and are completed with office work. The significance of vulnerability modifiers in the final vulnerability distribution is analyzed, and their relation with observed damage trends is explored. A direct application of the vulnerability modifiers is not capable of reproducing the observed damage patterns. A significant increase of vulnerability related to the performance of buildings presenting soft story is required to reach a damage distribution consistent with intensity estimates in the study areas. Accordingly, an intensity increase in certain study zones (as compared to other areas of the city of Lorca) is suggested. Although the approach followed in this study is applied in a city of Spain, it can be extrapolated to other areas where detailed vulnerability assessment is feasible and damage data are available

A review of the palaeoclimatic inference potential of Iberian Quaternary fossil batrachians

Ecological suitability analysis aims to model the potential or probable distribution of species using environmental variables and available species occurrence information as predictors. Most of the European fossil Quaternary amphibians belong to extant species, and being physiologically ectothermic animals, their current ecological niches could become a reliable inference tool to infer past environmental conditions. However, this expectation has never been properly verified. The validity and accuracy of palaeoclimatic inferences based on batrachian species ranges is tested on the Iberian Peninsula, using both palaeofaunistic and Recent distribution data, and an updated database of georeferenced species occurrences is provided. The difficulties of using current geographic information to represent the full spectrum of environmental conditions at which a species occurs are critically examined. A palaeofaunistic review of the role played by historical factors as dispersal limitations for present amphibian species ranges is presented using the available phylogeographical scenarios. Virtual hypothetical taxa can be devised by considering the distributions of several species together and relating their known joint presences with the environmental conditions in these locations. Species distribution models based on these virtual taxa provide the best advisable inferential procedure. For direct raw inferences of the mutual climatic range method, contrary to expectations, the combined taxa sets do not increase their accuracy with the number of species included. This preliminary review shows that Iberian amphibian palaeoclimatic inferences are both valid and reliable enough, a sufficient approximation to complement other techniques. The precision, however, is quite variable among taxa, reflecting the effect of non-climaticPeer reviewe

Improving randomness characterization through Bayesian model selection

Nowadays random number generation plays an essential role in technology with important applications in areas ranging from cryptography, which lies at the core of current communication protocols, to Monte Carlo methods, and other probabilistic algorithms. In this context, a crucial scientific endeavour is to develop effective methods that allow the characterization of random number generators. However, commonly employed methods either lack formality (e.g. the NIST test suite), or are inapplicable in principle (e.g. the characterization derived from the Algorithmic Theory of Information (ATI)). In this letter we present a novel method based on Bayesian model selection, which is both rigorous and effective, for characterizing randomness in a bit sequence. We derive analytic expressions for a model's likelihood which is then used to compute its posterior probability distribution. Our method proves to be more rigorous than NIST's suite and the Borel-Normality criterion and its implementation is straightforward. We have applied our method to an experimental device based on the process of spontaneous parametric downconversion, implemented in our laboratory, to confirm that it behaves as a genuine quantum random number generator (QRNG). As our approach relies on Bayesian inference, which entails model generalizability, our scheme transcends individual sequence analysis, leading to a characterization of the source of the random sequences itself.Comment: 25 page