Do wage subsidies affect the subsequent employment stability of permanent workers?: the case of Spain

This article studies how job creation subsidies designed for several Spanish regional governments to foster the creation of new permanent contracts during the period 1997-2004 might affect the subsequent employment stability of the eligible workers. We use a triple difference approach that focuses on regional and temporal variability in individual eligibility conditions of these subsidies to obtain the causal effect of the policy. Our data comes from the Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales (MCVL) and from a database that contains information on the policy analyzed. Our main result is that workers who are eligible for these subsidies face a higher probability of exiting from their current permanent contract than those who do not. These effects vary by age and gender, as well as by contract duration and contract type. This result is particularly relevant for male workers whose contracts also benefited with nationally subsidized payroll deductions and for women with such deductions but only during their first year of employment. During that initial first-year period, the exit rate among eligible workers in our sample increased by 9%, 21% and 16% for younger, middle-aged and older female workers, respectively, and by about 13% and 25% for younger and older male workers, respectively.labour market rotation, permanent contracts, wage subsidies, triple difference, causal inference, average treatment effects, duration model.

The use of permanent and temporary jobs across Spanish regions: Do unit labour cost differentials offer an explanation?

We study the use of permanent and temporary contracts across Spanish regions during the period 1995-2001. First we show that there are significant differences among the regional rates of permanent employment and that these differences tend to persist over time. To understand the underlying factors behind these observed differences we estimate a binary choice model for the individual probability of having a permanent contract, taking advantage of the panel data dimension of the Spanish Labour Force Survey. Our main results are that unit labour cost differentials, and thus labour productivity and total labour cost differentials, partially explain the divergence of regional permanent employment rates. Moreover, compared to the influence of regional fixed effects and other possible explanations such as sector specialisation or the presence of small firms in the region, unit labour costs explain more than two thirds of the observed variance in the permanent employment rate across Spanish regions, once all the relevant heterogeneity is taken into account.Temporary Employment, Unit Labour Costs, Random Effects, Spanish Regions.

Competencia motriz y género entre los escolares españoles

En este estudio se analizan las diferencias de género relativas a la coordinación motriz en una muestra de 903 escolares de edades comprendidas entre 4 y 14 años (Media: 8,65, desviación típica: 2,62). Se les aplicó la Batería Movement ABC de evaluación motriz desarrollada por Henderson y Sugden en 1992. El análisis de los resultados mostró diferencias significativas en diferentes tramos de edad, así en las edades de 7-8 años, en las que se hallaron diferencias significativas en el equilibrio dinámico (mejores resultados en las niñas, p=0,044) y en el atrape y lanzamiento de pelota (mejores resultados en los niños, p= 0,000), pero no en la puntuación global del test (p= 0,326). Entre los 11-12 años las diferencias se encontraron en la destreza manual (mejores resultados en las niñas, p=0,014) y en el lanzamiento y atrape de pelota (mejores resultados en los niños, p=0,000), pero no en la puntuación global del test (p= 0,521). Estos resultados obtenidos en la Batería MABC nos ha mostrado como en las edades más iniciales (4-6 años) no se hallaron diferencias entre los niños y las niñas, siendo a partir de los 7 y 8 años cuando se empiezan a manifestarse algunas diferencias cuya relación está más referidas con lo cultural que con lo biológico, este razonamiento se afianza cuando se comparan estos resultados con otros resultados obtenidos con el mismo instrumento en otros países y culturas.)

Economic Growth or Electricity, what come First in Spain after 1958?

Purpose With the opening up of the economy since the 1959 Economic Stabilization Plan, was it the production of electricity that drove the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in Spain or, on the contrary, was it the growth of GDP that drove the production of electricity well into the 21st century? The purpose of this paper is to answer this question. Design/methodology/approach A cointegration approach based on the studies conducted by Pesaran and Shin (1999) and Pesaran et al. (2001) is applied, as it is suitable for short data series like those used in this paper. Findings The results of this paper allow us to conclude that electricity production boosted economic growth in Spain during the period under study, confirming the growth hypothesis. Research limitations/implications The results of this paper should be interpreted with caution, as electricity today amounts to less than a quarter of the total amount of energy used in Spain. It was not possible to incorporate other inputs to the production function (such as other energy inputs, technological or human capital), but the methodology used avoids the problems of omitted variables and of autocorrelation. Practical implications The results show that a small economy with limited resources, such as the Spanish one, is more vulnerable to energy shocks than other energy-sufficient economies. As Spain is a country with high energy dependence from abroad, the government must first ensure the electricity supply. Increased availability and access to different sources of electricity will improve the outlook for the Spanish economy. Conversely, a shortage in supply of electricity will constrain the regular pace of economic growth. Social implications Spain should investigate and explore more efficient and cost-effective sources of energy, in particular the renewable energies, as traditional energy sources will be scarce before long. Originality/value This paper differs from previous ones carried out for Spain in several aspects: it considers a broader period of time, from 1958 to 2015; the relationships between electricity production and GDP are analysed for the first time in a neo-classical production function where electricity, capital and employment are considered as separate factors; and a cointegration approach based on the studies conducted by Pesaran and Shin (1999) and Pesaran et al. (2001) is applied, as it is suitable for short data series like those used in this paper

Matrix Product States: Symmetries and Two-Body Hamiltonians

We characterize the conditions under which a translationally invariant matrix product state (MPS) is invariant under local transformations. This allows us to relate the symmetry group of a given state to the symmetry group of a simple tensor. We exploit this result in order to prove and extend a version of the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorem, one of the basic results in many-body physics, in the context of MPS. We illustrate the results with an exhaustive search of SU(2)--invariant two-body Hamiltonians which have such MPS as exact ground states or excitations.Comment: PDFLatex, 12 pages and 6 figure

Comparative Analysis of Tolerances Allocation in Mechanical Assemblies based on Cost-tolerance Curves

El presente trabajo propone un método para la determinación de los valores de las tolerancias individuales de las piezas que forman un conjunto ensamblado a partir de valores de tolerancias especificados en el conjunto final, optimizando el coste total de fabricación de las piezas individuales a partir de funciones de coste-tolerancia basadas en el proceso de fabricación de cada una de ellas. Para ello se parte de los principales trabajos desarrollados en la línea de asignación de tolerancias y se realiza la propuesta del modelo de trabajo, basado en la optimización de costes a partir de la aplicación del método de los multiplicadores de Lagrange a diversas curvas de coste-toleranci

The presidency of the governing boards of cooperatives in Spain: a gendered approach

International cooperative values and principles are guidelines that could lead cooperatives towards greater gender equality in the decision-making process. Stimulated by the interest in cooperatives and by the growing demand for advocating a faster increase in the presence of chairwomen in boardrooms, this research aims to analyse the impact of the gender of the cooperative president in some variables related to financial and employment ratios, corporate governance and other characteristics of the organization in Spain. Information about the major Spanish cooperative entities has been collected and analyzed to carry out the empirical study. We find that cooperatives with higher liquidity ratio, higher number of employees, higher percentage of female employees, higher employee costs divided by operating revenue ratio, lower indebtedness, and fewer years since the appointment of the president have a higher probability of belonging to the group of cooperatives with a board chaired by a woman. Cooperatives headed by women exhibit a higher ratio of staffing costs to operating revenues, which could indicate an increased intensity of cooperative principles and values related with the primacy of the economic welfare of workers over the economic benefits

Barriers to innovation in Spanish rural Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

In the context of globalisation, innovation has been recognized as a key driver of Europe’s national and regional economies, whether rural or not. Nevertheless, rural firms are considered less innovative than firms in urban agglomerations. Rural areas represent three-quarters of the land of the OECD countries and are home to a quarter of its population. Moreover, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the economy. This paper reviews the barriers to innovation indicated throughout literature, brings out what constitutes the main barriers in rural SMEs and presents an understanding of some of the factors that determine the position of these firms in responding to new requirements. Data were collected through a questionnaire for managers of 511 SMEs in a rural area of Spain. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS software package. The results identify key factors that hinder innovation in rural SMEs, namely those related to economic reasons, such as high costs of the innovation or the difficulty to obtain financial resources, and risk aversion issues. Specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in SMEs firms in rural areas is limited. Therefore, this paper fills this research gap by expanding the body of knowledge in the field of rural SMEs innovation and provides further evidence on this phenomenon. The results also offer relevant insights for managers and policy makers when formulating and implementing strategies to diminish innovation barriers in rural SMEs