Pacemapping

Pacemapping (PM) is an electrophysiologic technique designed to help locating tachycardia sources by stimulating at different endocardial sites in order to reproduce the clinical tachycardia characteristics. A recorded electrocardiogram (ECG) during the clinical tachycardia has been conventionally used as reference. Yet, endocardial activation pattern during tachycardia may be utilized as well to guide the procedure. In focal tachycardia ablation, PM guide has consistently provided remarkable outcomes1, while outcomes in reentrant tachycardia ablation are less favourabl

Institutional diversity in the euro area: Any evidence of convergence?

In recent years differences in the institutional structure across euro area countries are becoming a cause of concern both for some individual Member States and for the functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). From a global competitiveness perspective, we deal with the diversity in the institutional environment in the EMU. In particular, we assess whether the changes in the state of institutions provide convergence across euro area countries between 2006 and 2015. In addition, among the institutional indicators considered, we compute which institutional aspect contributes more to overall inequality in the state of institutions, as well as the contribution of each country to inequality considering as benchmark the country with the highest institutional quality. According to these country contributions, we highlight distinct patterns of convergence between ‘core’ and ‘periphery’ euro area countries and raise potential links between the institutional changes across euro area countries and both the differences in the intensity of the financial and economic crisis, and the policy responses in terms of fiscal consolidation applied by the respective national governments.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Does economic freedom increase income inequality? Evidence from the EU countries

Over the past decades there have been considerable changes in policies and institutions in favor of economic freedom in the EU countries. This trend coincides with widespread increases in income inequality in numerous member states. To what extent does economic freedom encourage inequality? This paper examines the relationship between economic freedom and income inequality in the EU countries using panel data for the 2000s. The empirical evidence suggests that economic freedom seems to entail greater income inequality. However, not all areas of economic freedom affect income distribution similarly. While government size and regulation appear to be robustly associated with income inequality, legal system and property rights, sound money, and freedom to trade internationally seem not to be significantly related with income distribution in the European context.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

An Exploratory Study of Entrepreneurial Intention Among Hispanic Entrepreneurs in Toronto

The Problem Entrepreneurship scholars have claimed that immigrants are more likely to become self-employed due to limited job opportunities, access to social networks, cultural background, necessity, and education and skills. However, the entrepreneurial experience of Hispanic immigrants in Toronto has yet to be examined. This quantitative study examined the attitudes, norms, and perceptions influencing entrepreneurial intention and the factors that encourage self-employment continuation among immigrants in Canada. Method This study used a survey questionnaire of ninety-four Hispanic entrepreneurs in Toronto to comprehend their entrepreneurial intention. It examined their proficiencies, studied their business characteristics, and predicted their behavior toward self employment continuation. The collected data responded to the descriptive variables, the control variables, and the intention variables. The latter variables were related to the TPB’s three dimensions: a) attitude toward entrepreneurship, b) social norm, and c) behavioral control. This dissertation studied the predictive power of the TPB in self employment continuation among Hispanic entrepreneurs. Conclusions Established on the theory of planned behavior, the investigation found that attitudes towards the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of Hispanic’s entrepreneurial intentions to continue in self employment. In addition, the study shows that perceived behavioral control offers the most substantial predictability for self-employment among Hispanics in contrast with attitudes toward the behaviors and social norms within this subculture reported by the research. The study outcomes have supported the theory of planned behavior and provided new insights for immigrant entrepreneurship research

Who takes the cake Effects of ECB monetary policy across income classes

This work provides evidence on the effects of monetary policy on the income class structure via stimulating economic activity and employment in Eurozone countries over the period 2007Q32016Q1. Based on European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data, we compute the share of the market income perceived by each income class (lower, lower-middle, upper-middle, and upper) for the states that originated the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU11). We analyse the impact of monetary policy impulses under a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive approach and find that a monetary easing shock involving a decrease in nominal interest rates tends to increase the income share of middle classes at the expense of a smaller income share of the upper class, while, the lower class is not significantly affected. Our findings highlight the identified effects are mostly triggered by short-term interest rates cuts as long as they tend to vanish as the monetary policy proxy is located further in the yield curve. This suggests that the egalitarian impacts of monetary policy on market income distribution are to a lesser extent driven by decisions modifying longer-term interest rates.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Multidimensional poverty in the EU: rethinking AROPE through a multi-criteria analysis

At risk of poverty or social exclusion rate (AROPE) constitutes the pivotal indicator of living conditions and poverty in the European Union. Nevertheless, as a multidimensional poverty measure, it has some drawbacks that significantly reduce its utility. In this paper, we propose an alternative multi-criteria approach that provides some innovations for the computation of multidimensional poverty in the European countries. We first propose a normalization formula for each dimension by using a double point of reference. We then put forward alternative aggregation functions that permit diverse degrees of substitutability across dimensions. This new formulation allows us to go beyond focusing merely on the rate of people classified as AROPE, making it possible to evaluate aspects such as the intensity of multidimensional poverty and how changes over time are distributed across population in terms of shared prosperity, as showed in an illustration for the EU28 countries.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec