European cohesion policy after 2006:some comments about current proposals

EU regional policy is in a challenging and dynamic period of change. Not only are there significant administrative problems to overcome in both the current and the new Member States, but there is also a major ongoing debate about the reform of EU regional policy after 2006. Post 2006, the principal challenge concerns economic and social cohesion in an enlarged Union. Enlargement will lead to a severely unbalanced EU territory in terms of the widening disparities between Member States and regions. The degree to which EU regional policy can meet these challenges will be determined by budgetary constraints. The period of successive increases in EU regional policy ended at the Berlin Council in March 1999. Aspects of the current debate concern not only the EU regional policy budget for 2007-2013 but also the possible allocations. In this context, the paper has two main objectives: a) To identify regional disparities in the forthcoming enlarged Europe using multivariate statistical analysis techniques. b) To assess different proposals arising from the Commission open debate on future Cohesion Policy. The data used in the analysis is Newcronos-REGIO database elaborated by EUROSTAT. As a result, a classification of all regions (NUTsII) in the EU-25 is obtained through factor and cluster analysis techniques. Results obtained show that regional disparities cannot be exclusively explained by GDP per capita. Other factors linked to the behaviour of the labour market and to the demographic characteristics of the territories are also of a great importance Key words: Economic and Social Cohesion, Regional Policy, Cluster Analysis

The Spanish Regional Policy: an assessment of economic incentives during the period 1988-2003

Two main challenges influence the design of regional policies carried out by European, National and Regional policy makers. The first is the shift towards a knowledge-based economy, where enterprise competitiveness is increasingly linked to intangible assets. The second is the enlargement of the European Union that means important changes in the European Union marketplace and the possibilities of intervention in some less favoured regions. Until today, Regional Policy in many European Union countries has principally been founded on incentives for the creation of employment and investment in tangible assets. In this context, Spanish Regional Policy has been formulated, on the one hand, to achieve decentralisation of the entities responsible for its promotion and, on the other, to foster co-ordination and integration of Community, National and Autonomous Region interventions. Moreover, the design of this policy has taken into consideration the classical conflict between equity and efficiency. The objective of this paper is to assess the results and the gradual changes in regional incentive policy applied in Spain over the last 15 years and to identify the elements in which public intervention could be improved in order to adapt this policy to the demands laid out within the new environment previously defined. This assessment includes: firstly, a brief analysis of the evolution of public intervention; secondly, a study of the spatial distribution of the incentives over the period considered; and thirdly, a comparison of the economic performance of the different areas depending on the awards received. The analysis of this policy is based on a database comprising over 16 000 items referring to award decisions to applications for Regional Investment Grants (Law 50/1985 of 22 December 1985) gathered from the Official State Bulletin (Boletín Oficial del Estado, BOE) during the period 1988-2003. KEY WORDS: Spain, Regional policy, Regional incentive, Employment, Investment, Policy assessment

Enterprise creation at a local scale - determining factors in the case of municipalities in Castilla y León

The behaviour of enterprises in terms of their spatial distribution is increasingly drawing the attention of regional science, due to the fact that regional economic development is the result of the complex interaction of various factors, key amongst which is entrepreneurial demography. Yet, as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has recognised, few empirical studies have addressed the link between new enterprises and economic change at a local scale, despite entrepreneurs constituting one means of creating employment and increasing local community wealth. Within this context, this paper pinpoints those factors that determine the birth of new enterprises at a local scale, focusing on towns in the Spanish Autonomous Region of Castilla y León. The information used was gathered from the approximately 15 000 companies set up between 2001 and 2003 in the 270 towns with over 1 000 inhabitants in the region, and whose creation as a company was published in the Official Journal of the Trade Register Office. The approach used is based on the link between entrepreneurial capacity and regional economic growth, prior to an analysis of regional differences in the setting up of companies within the Spanish economy. Subsequently, a detailed analysis is made of the factors that influence the creation of new enterprises in towns in Castilla y León, through the use of a regression model which, amongst other conclusions, attributes the emergence of enterprises to a large extent to the presence of agglomeration economies and urban growth.

The determining factors of early leaving from education and training. The case of Spanish regions

El abandono temprano de la educación y la formación es un indicador clave del sistema educativo que condiciona la estructura económica y social, por lo que su reducción es una prioridad dentro de la Estrategia Europa 2020. España presenta la tasa de abandono más alta de la Unión Europea, registrando amplias diferencias interregionales. El artículo estudia la incidencia de los factores educativos, económicos y socioculturales en el nivel de abandono de las comunidades autónomas, utilizando como metodología datos de panel para el periodo 2001-2011. Entre otros resultados, se verifica la importancia del gasto educativo como medida para reducir este problema.The early leaving from education and training rate is a basic indicator in the education system that has influence on economic and social structure. Thus, its reduction is a priority for the Europe 2020 Strategy. Spain has the highest early school leaving rate among the European Union, showing strong interregional differences. This article studies the impact of educational, economic and sociocultural factors on the early school leaving rate at the NUTS2 regions. We have applied a panel data methodology for the period 2001 to 2011. Among other results, expenditure on education appears as a relevant measure for tackling this problem

Bibliografía de economía regional sobre Castilla y León (1975-1989)

Precede al tít.: Departamento de Economía Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Valladolid

ERK5 Is a Major Determinant of Chemical Sarcomagenesis : Implications in Human Pathology

Sarcoma is a heterogeneous group of tumors poorly studied with few therapeutic opportunities. Interestingly, the role of MAPKs still remains unclear in sarcomatous pathology. Here, we describe for the first time the critical role of ERK5 in the biology of soft tissue sarcoma by using in vitro and in vivo approaches in a murine experimental model of chemical sarcomagenesis. Indeed, our observations were extrapolated to a short series of human leiomyosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcomas. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis allows us to demonstrate the critical role of KLF2 in the biological effects of ERK5. Therefore, the data presented here open new windows in the diagnosis and therapy of soft tissue sarcomas. Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of tumors in which the role of ERK5 is poorly studied. To clarify the role of this MAPK in sarcomatous pathology, we used a murine 3-methyl-cholanthrene (3MC)-induced sarcoma model. Our data show that 3MC induces pleomorphic sarcomas with muscle differentiation, showing an increased expression of ERK5. Indeed, this upregulation was also observed in human sarcomas of muscular origin, such as leiomyosarcoma or rhabdomyosarcoma. Moreover, in cell lines derived from these 3MC-induced tumors, abrogation of Mapk7 expression by using specific shRNAs decreased in vitro growth and colony-forming capacity and led to a marked loss of tumor growth in vivo. In fact, transcriptomic profiling in ERK5 abrogated cell lines by RNAseq showed a deregulated gene expression pattern for key biological processes such as angiogenesis, migration, motility, etc., correlating with a better prognostic in human pathology. Finally, among the various differentially expressed genes, Klf2 is a key mediator of the biological effects of ERK5 as indicated by its specific interference, demonstrating that the ERK5-KLF2 axis is an important determinant of sarcoma biology that should be further studied in human pathology

ERK5 Is a major determinant of chemical sarcomagenesis: implications in human pathology

Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of tumors in which the role of ERK5 is poorly studied. To clarify the role of this MAPK in sarcomatous pathology, we used a murine 3-methyl-cholanthrene (3MC)-induced sarcoma model. Our data show that 3MC induces pleomorphic sarcomas with muscle differentiation, showing an increased expression of ERK5. Indeed, this upregulation was also observed in human sarcomas of muscular origin, such as leiomyosarcoma or rhabdomyosarcoma. Moreover, in cell lines derived from these 3MC-induced tumors, abrogation of Mapk7 expression by using specific shRNAs decreased in vitro growth and colony-forming capacity and led to a marked loss of tumor growth in vivo. In fact, transcriptomic profiling in ERK5 abrogated cell lines by RNAseq showed a deregulated gene expression pattern for key biological processes such as angiogenesis, migration, motility, etc., correlating with a better prognostic in human pathology. Finally, among the various differentially expressed genes, Klf2 is a key mediator of the biological effects of ERK5 as indicated by its specific interference, demonstrating that the ERK5–KLF2 axis is an important determinant of sarcoma biology that should be further studied in human pathology.This work has been supported with Grant RTI2018-094093-B-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, “ERDF A way of making Europe” to RSP. Also supported with funds from Fundación Leticia Castillejo Castillo, Roche España and ACEPAIN to RSP and MJRH. RSP and MJRH’s Research Institute and the work carried out in their laboratory, received partial support from the European Community through the FEDER. JJ and EAL hold a predoctoral research contract cofounded by the European Social Fund and UCLM. OR holds a contract for accessing the Spanish System of Science, Technology, and Innovation (SECTI) funded by the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) and received partial support from the European Social Fund (FSE) through its Operative Program for Castilla-La Mancha (2007–2013)

SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS DR8 (which occurred in Jan 2011). This paper presents an overview of the four SDSS-III surveys. BOSS will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Lya forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the BAO feature of large scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z<0.7 and at z~2.5. SEGUE-2, which is now completed, measured medium-resolution (R=1800) optical spectra of 118,000 stars in a variety of target categories, probing chemical evolution, stellar kinematics and substructure, and the mass profile of the dark matter halo from the solar neighborhood to distances of 100 kpc. APOGEE will obtain high-resolution (R~30,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N>100 per resolution element), H-band (1.51-1.70 micron) spectra of 10^5 evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for ~15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. MARVELS will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 m/s, ~24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. (Abridged)Comment: Revised to version published in The Astronomical Journa