Euro area banking sector integration: using hierarchical cluster analysis techniques

In this study we apply cluster analysis techniques, including a novel smoothing method, to detect some basic patterns and trends in the euro area banking sector in terms of the degree of homogeneity of countries. We find that in the period 1998-2004 the banking sectors in the euro area countries seem to have become somewhat more homogeneous, although the results are not unequivocal and considerable differences remain, leaving scope for further integration. In terms of clustering, the Western and Central European countries (like Germany, France, Belgium, and to some extent also the Netherlands, Austria and Italy) tend to cluster together, while Spain and Portugal and more recently also Greece usually are in the same distinct cluster. Ireland and Finland form separate clusters, but overall tend to be closer to the Western and Central European cluster. JEL Classification: C49, F36, G21banking sector, cluster analysis, financial integration

Interest rate expectations and uncertainty during ECB governing council days: evidence from intraday implied densities of 3-month Euribor

This paper analyses changes in short-term interest rate expectations and uncertainty during ECB Governing Council days. For this purpose, it first extends the estimation of risk-neutral probability density functions up to tick frequency. In particular, the non-parametric estimator of these densities, which is based on fitting implied volatility curves, is applied to estimate intraday expectations of threemonth EURIBOR three months ahead. The estimator proves to be robust to market microstructure noise and able to capture meaningful changes in expectations. Estimates of the noise impact on the statistical moments of the densities further enhance the interpretation. In addition, the paper assesses the impact of the ECB communication during Governing Council days. The results show that the whole density may react to the communication and that such repositioning of market participants’ expectations will contain information beyond that of changes in the consensus view already observed in forward rates. The results also point out the relevance of the press conference in providing extra information and triggering an adjustment process for interest rate expectations. JEL Classification: C14, E43, E52, E58, E61announcement effects, central bank communication, interest rate expectations, intraday analysis, option-implied densities, risk-neutral probability density functions, tick data

L'avaluació per competències en les activitats d'aprenentatge del nou grau en Estudis Clàssics

L'avaluació per competències en les activitats d'aprenentatge del nou grau en Estudis Clàssics és un projecte d'innovació docent finançat per l'AGAUR que té per objectiu dissenyar activitats d'aprenentatge que puguin servir per avaluar les competències del nou grau en Estudis Clàssics de la UAB. En aquest article es presenten els seus antecedents, objectius, metodologia i resultats

The Dialogic Turn: Dialogue or Violence?

Individuals and social groups are increasingly using dialogue to take decisions, perform actions and solve conflicts in diverse social relationships, from international policies or globalization processes to personal friendships, labor relations or the intimacy of bedroom. When they do not use dialogue, they use violence or imposition: there are only two ways to proceed. The increase of dialogue does not imply that there is no violence in human and social relationships, obviously there is; but this phenomenon confirms that there exist many dialogic interactions and procedures in society which shed light to the process of radicalization of democracy, and thus need to be further analyzed from the social sciences. This article does so; it discusses the “dialogic turn” in the social sciences and illustrates it with the case of feminist theory and practice. Whereas in the past feminism had been a movement for few academic women often speaking for “others”, current dialogic feminism brings into egalitarian dialogue the voices of very diverse women who reach agreements regarding vision and action.

Female University Students Respond to Gender Violence through Dialogic Feminist Gatherings

Within the framework of the "Free_Teen_Desire" research project led by the University of Cambridge and funded by the programme Marie Curie Actions[i], a survey was conducted. Vignette-Test data for 127 female university students (ages 18-27 years) in Spain reveals that the wish to hook up with a violent young man significantly decreases after a gathering on the topic of the Mirage of Upward Mobility, a successful programme elaborated in Dialogic Feminism (Butler, Beck & Puigvert, 2003). In the pre-test,78.4%of the respondents stated that their female friends wouldliketo hook up with a violent man at a party, while this percentage decreased to 38.5% when they responded concerning themselves. After the pre-test, there was a one-hour gathering and debate. The subsequent post-test revealed that only 48.8%of the respondents stated that their female friends wouldliketo hook up with a violent man at a party, and 14.9% of the respondents made the same statement concerning themselves. The survey presented pictures of four men accompanied by a short explanation of their characters. The explanations of man 1 and man 3 included sentences that describe behaviours characterized as gender violence in previous international surveys (Banyard et al., 2005; Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 1999; Gross et al., 2006; Kalof et al., 2001). The descriptions of man 2 and man 4 only included non-sexist behaviours. The data did not significantly change when we exchanged the pictures of man 2 and man 4 in the instrument with the pictures of the men with violent profiles and then administered the post-test. For different groups of respondents, the period between the pre-test and the gathering as well as between the gathering and the post-test were changed from fifteen minutes to one and two weeks. In all cases, we obtained similar results for the pre- and post-tests. However, additional research is required to demonstrate how long the effect of the gathering endures and to identify the processes that can increase or decrease the effect over time.[i]This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 659299

Clustering techniques applied to outlier detection of financial market series using a moving window filtering algorithm

In this study we combine clustering techniques with a moving window algorithm in order to filter financial market data outliers. We apply the algorithm to a set of financial market data which consists of 25 series selected from a larger dataset using a cluster analysis technique taking into account the daily behaviour of the market; each of these series is an element of a cluster that represents a different segment of the market. We set up a framework of possible algorithm parameter combinations that detect most of the outliers by market segment. In addition, the algorithm parameters that have been found can also be used to detect outliers in other series with similar economic behaviour in the same cluster. Moreover, the crosschecking of the behaviour of different series within each cluster reduces the possibility of observations being misclassified as outliers. JEL Classification: C19, C49, G19cluster analysis, financial market, moving filtering window algorithm, Outliers

IX workshop sobre Mètodes Ràpids i Automatització en Microbiologia Alimentària

Del 23 al 26 de novembre de 2010, tingué lloc el IX workshop sobre Mètodes ràpids i automatització en microbiologia alimentària (MRAMA), a la sala d'actes de la Facultat de Veterinària de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, dirigit pels Drs. Marta Capellas Puig i Josep Yuste Puigvert, professors de Ciència i tecnologia dels aliments, i organitzat pel Centre Especial de Recerca Planta de Tecnologia dels Aliments (CERPTA) i el Departament de Ciència animal i dels aliments de la UAB. Celebrat anualment, el workshop MRAMA, d'un contingut aplicat i de futur, amplia i difon els coneixements teòrics i pràctics sobre mètodes innovadors per detectar, comptar, aïllar i caracteritzar ràpidament els microorganismes habituals als aliments i l'aigua.Del 23 al 26 de noviembre de 2010, tuvo lugar el IX workshop sobre Métodos rápidos y automatización en microbiología alimentaria (MRAMA), en la sala de actos de la Facultad de Veterinaria de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, dirigido por los Dres. Marta Capellas Puig y Josep Yuste Puigvert, profesores de Ciencia y Tecnología de los alimentos, y organizado por el Centro Especial de Investigación Planta de Tecnología de los Alimentos (CERPTA) y el Departamento de Ciencia animal y de los alimentos de la UAB. Celebrado anualmente, el workshop MRAMA, con un contenido aplicado y de futuro, amplía y difunde los conocimientos teóricos y prácticos sobre métodos innovadores para detectar, contar, aislar y caracterizar rápidamente los microorganismos habituales en los alimentos y el agua