Inequality, poverty and loss of purchasing power of wage Income in Spain as a result of the economic crisis

[Resumo] O obxectivo deste traballo é ver como as políticas de axuste que se puxeron en marcha por causa da crise económica trouxeron consigo unha forte diminución das rendas salariais en relación co produto interior bruto, así como un incremento do risco de pobreza e/ou exclusión social en España. Xa que logo, analízanse a desigualdade, a pobreza e a perda de poder adquisitivo das rendas salariais en España nos anos posteriores ao inicio da crise. A superioridade das rendas salariais sobre as empresariais en relación co produto interior bruto de finais do pasado século desapareceu até se igualaren ambos os tipos de rendas. Como efecto da evolución destas variables macroeconómicas, o risco de pobreza e/ou exclusión social aumentou, e os máis castigados foron os menores de 16 anos e os desempregados. Cómpre salientarmos que o índice de pobreza e/ou exclusión social en España está situado entre os máis altos da Zona Euro, cun crecemento entre 2008 e 2014 tres veces maior á media da rexión[Abstract] The aim of this work is to analyse how the adjustment policies that were put in place because of the economic crisis lead to a strong decrease of the wage income when compared to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Also, it analyses how they meant an increase of poverty risk and/or social exclusion in Spain. Therefore, this work deals with inequality, poverty and the loss of purchasing power of wage income in Spain during the years that followed the crisis. The superiority of wage income compared with the income of the firms in relation to gross domestic product at the end of last century has disappeared, and the participation of both incomes has become equal nowadays. As a result of the evolution of these macroeconomic variables, the risk of poverty and/or social exclusion has increased in Spain. The hardest hit has been experienced by children under 16 years old and unemployed people. Regarding Europe, it should be noted that the poverty rate and/or social exclusion in Spain is located among the highest in the Eurozone, having increased three times more than the average in the region between 2008 and 201

Analysis of Economic Crisis and its Effects on Migration between Spain and Switzerland

[Resumo] Os movementos migratorios internacionais son consubstanciais á procura de mellores condicións de vida. Así, desde os países menos desenvolvidos, con conflitos bélicos ou inestabilidade política, xorden fluxos migratorios cara aos países con maior estabilidade política ou máis favorables condicións socioeconómicas. No entanto, nos contextos de crise económica, as condicións diferenciais entre os distintos países vense modificadas e a incerteza aparece como elemento adicional. A emigración de España a Suíza foi relevante en termos cuantitativos na metade do pasado século, e estivo constituída principalmente por man de obra masculina e pouco cualificada. A situación de bonanza económica dos derradeiros anos do século XX e inicios do século XXI modificou o panorama social e económico en España, mais a forte crise económica global iniciada en 2007 mudou o escenario mundial. Neste traballo analízanse os fluxos migratorios entre España e Suíza, facendo especial referencia á emigración galega cara a ese país. Os resultados confirman os efectos da crise no caso analizado.[Abstract] International migration flows are inherent to the search for improving people living conditions; so, these flows usually goes from those less developed countries, or involved in a war or living under political instability, towards countries with a greater political stability or with better socioeconomic conditions. In the context of economic crisis, the differentials between countries conditions become modify and the uncertainty appears as an additional element. The emigration from Spain to Switzerland was important, in quantitative terms in the past half century, and it was mainly shaped by male and low-skilled labour. The economic boom of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century changed the social and economic landscape in Spain. Anyway, the strong global economic crisis, begun in 2007, changed the world stage. In this paper the migratory flows between Spain and Switzerland are discussed, with special reference to the Galician emigration to that country. The results confirm the effects of the crisis for the analysed case

Social effects of economic crisis: risk of exclusion. An overview of the European context

Sustainability is a complex concept. It only can be achieved from a global perspective, where social, economic and environmental issues are all key factors for achieving the goal. This paper is focused on the importance of social sustainability and, as a consequence, the importance of avoiding each and everyone’s risk of poverty and exclusion as due to the recent crisis effects. Nevertheless, this crisis resulted in higher inequalities and put a lot of people at risk of poverty, even in “developed” countries. Through a statistical and econometric analysis, some of the key factors to which the European Union should aim to avoid unsustainable scenarios are analysed. A regression, factorial and cluster analysis is carried out and this leads to conclude that the labour market is key in promoting economic policies in order to achieve social sustainabilityResearch results presented in this paper are an element of research project implemented by the National Science Center Poland (Polskie Narodowe Centrum Nauki) under the grant OPUS13 no UMO-2017/25/B/HS4/0217

The non-competition clause in spanish legislation

[Resumo] Os coñecementos en materia de saber-facer ou know-how e a rede de clientes das empresas son dous activos cruciais no desenvolvemento da competencia dentro de calquera sector de actividade. Ora ben, estes importantes activos están sobre todo en mans dos empregados que as empresas contratan, xa que forman parte substancial das súas ferramentas de traballo, alén de que se trata de activos que se van desenvolvendo continuamente co propio exercicio empresarial. Que estes intanxibles caesen nas mans de empresas competidoras podería supoñer un importante quebranto para calquera empresa, ao facela quedar nunha posición competitiva feble fronte a terceiros. Así, a protección destes coñecementos fronte a súa posible explotación por parte de empresas competidoras está regulada polas normas xurídicas. Tal protección ten como compoñente máis importante os acordos entre as empresas e os traballadores polos cales estes se comprometen a salvagardar os devanditos activos e absterse a prestar os seus servizos a outra empresa do sector durante un tempo determinado. Neste traballo analízase tal situación, á luz da regulación española sobre a materia.[Abstract] The expertise or know-how of the companies as well as their network of customers, are a crucial tool to successfully develop competition within a particular business environment. These important assets owned by companies, are, however, in the hands of hired employees, as these assets are a substantial part of their working tools: In addition, these assets continuously develop within the entrepreneurial exercise itself. If these intangibles fall into the hands of competitors, it could be a significant loss for the company putting it in a weak competitive position against third parties. The protection of such knowledge against possible exploitation by competitors is regulated by the legal rules of different countries. Such protection is an important part of the agreements between employer and employee, where they commit to safeguard these assets by abstaining from providing their services to another company operating in the same sector for a certain time. This paper analyses this issue in light of the Spanish regulation on the matte

Financial Literacy and Economic Growth: How Eastern Europe is Doing?

[Abstract]: In this study, we aim to analyse financial literacy as a driver of financial wellbeing and economic growth in three of the most recent EU Member States, namely Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia. Our particular interest in studying more in-depth these three countries is generated by their difficult pathway in the transition to the Euro and economic convergence on one side and by the limited analysis carried out so far in relation to them on the other side. Various studies indicate that financial literacy is associated with wealth accumulation, and financial education can help achieve economic growth. To conduct the empirical analysis, in this study, we have used primary data provided by the OECD for our specific research purposes. The raw data were collected in a survey carried out in 2019 in seven South Eastern European countries reaching over 1,000 respondents for each country. We used two-stage least-squares regression to test our hypothesis and cluster analysis for comparisons among countries. Conclusions of our research reveal the main differences between countries in terms of financial literacy and reverse causality between financial literacy and economic growth for the analysed countries. Finally, the study gives some insights into the future design of public policies on financial education in these countries

Five Years of Spanish Labour Reform and its Labour Market Effects: Precarisation vs. Job Creation

[Resumo] Neste traballo analízanse os efectos da reforma laboral que se acometeu en España en 2012 para lle facer fronte á crise económica. Cinco anos despois a economía comeza a recuperarse, pero os efectos desta reforma configuran un novo escenario canto ás relacións laborais e a situación dos traballadores, coa precariedade, as desigualdades e a pobreza laboral como consecuencias adversas. Mediante unha metodoloxía de análise estatística descritiva, neste traballo presentamos e estudamos a evolución dos datos do mercado de traballo e doutras variables macroeconómicas como indicadores da deterioración da situación dos traballadores en España desde a reforma laboral. As conclusións indican que hai un efecto depresivo sobre as rendas do salario que limita a capacidade de compra e frea a recuperación efectiva do consumo de bens no medio ou longo prazo. Debúxase, xa que logo, unha situación de desigualdades sociais incompatible coa sociedade do benestar, que impide unha recuperación equilibrada da demanda interna[Abstract] This paper analyses the effects of Spanish labour reform, undertaken in 2012, for facing the economic crisis. Five years later, the economic environment begins to recover, but the effects of this reform conduct to a new scenario in labour relations and the situation of workers. The precariousness, the inequalities, and the working poverty are some of the adverse consequences. Through a descriptive statistical analysis methodology, the evolution of labour market data and other macroeconomic variables is presented and studied as indicators of the deterioration of the situation of workers in Spain, from this labour reform. The findings indicate that there is a depressive effect on wage income which limits the purchasing power and inhibits the effective recovery of the consumption of goods in the medium or long term. Moreover, a situation of social inequalities is drawn and this is not compatible with the welfare society. In addition, this situation prevents a balanced recovery of domestic deman

Economic Enviroment and Health Care Coverage: Analysis of Social Acceptance of Access Restrictive Policies Applied in Spain in the Context of Economic Crisis

[Abstract]: Society wellbeing is one the main goals of economic development. During the XX century, societies succeeded increasing their standard of living and the general welfare. But, in 2008, barely begun the XXI century, the strongest economic crisis ever known, destroyed much of the social achievements. Although the European Union had to deal with this situation by designing common policies, the member states have handled this crisis in many different ways. Their restrictive budgets affected a lot of social policies and its effects were mainly suffered for the most disadvantaged people. In this paper we deal with a structural equations model for assessing the population acceptation of those restrictions in health expenses. Spain has one of the best public health system all over the world, and that is the reason for choosing this country to conduct our survey. Our results point out the general disagreement with the cuts in health expenses

Circularity and life cycle environmental impact assessment of batteries for electric vehicles: Industrial challenges, best practices and research guidelines

Circular economy (CE) strategies, aimed at reducing resource consumption and waste generation, can help mitigate the environmental impacts of battery electric vehicles (BEV), thereby providing a more efficient alternative to petrol-fuelled vehicles. Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) are commonly used in BEV because of their higher performance than that of the benchmarks. However, how to analyse the CE innovations through life-cycle assessment (LCA) and how environmental savings relate to different CE strategies remain unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to i) identify and characterise the CE strategies most studied thus far in LCA studies on electric vehicle batteries, ii) evaluate the reasons behind the variability in the environmental impacts and savings between LIB with different chemistries, and iii) provide guidelines for the development of robust LCA studies for LIB by integrating CE management scenarios. The results showed that LCA-supported CE strategies have not been sufficiently explored in the literature, causing variability in methodological choices and research outcomes. While battery recycling was a dominant topic contemplated in 80% of the analysed LCA studies, other CE strategies, such as battery upgrading or remanufacturing, received little attention. The normalised impacts for LIB varied from 4400 kg CO2 eq. to 55,000 kg CO2 eq. based on several factors subject to the practitioners’ choices, such as the battery chemistry considered, impact assessment method applied, available inventories used, and the CE scenario analysed. LCA methodological guidelines for determining the environmental sustainability of the CE strategies for electric vehicle batteries were provided based on the findings