L'avaluació dels aprenentatges: un estudi de cas sobre l'avaluació continuada i el rendiment acadèmic

Aquesta comunicació es proposa analitzar la incidència de l'avaluació continuada dels aprenentatges en el rendiment acadèmic dels alumnes universitaris durant la darrera dècada. Es centra en el cas d'Història Econòmica Mundial, una assignatura obligatòria a la Facultat d'Economia i Empresa de la Universitat de Barcelona. Aporta noves evidències quantitatives i qualitatives, i, a diferència d'altres estudis, adopta una perspectiva de llarg termini que permet enriquir l'anàlisi

The evaluation of learning: a case study on continuous assessment and academic achievement

The aim of this paper is to analyse how continuous assessment of learning affected academic achievement in university students over the last decade. It focuses on the case of World Economic History, a compulsory subject in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Barcelona. The paper provides new quantitative and qualitative evidence on the issue, and, unlike other studies, takes a long-term perspective to enrich the analysis of assessment methods and academic achievement

The Expansion of Branding in International Marketing: The Case of Olive Oil, 1870s-1930s

Drawing on a variety of sources, this article investigates the emergence and expansion of branding in the international olive oil markets prior to World War II. It documents the rapid growth of the world trade in packaged olive oil from the 1870s onwards and shows that the main destinations of this consumer-ready product were in the Americas. In this respect, it complements previous findings based on the use of trademark registration figures. The article then argues that the expansion of canned and branded olive oil exports to the New World was the result of three interconnected factors: the mass migration of southern Europeans in the late nineteenth century and the formation of a new market on the other side of the Atlantic; significant transformations in the commodity chain of the product in the Americas during the first third of the twentieth century; and the problems of quality uncertainty and fraud in the emerging New World markets for olive oil. By analysing these factors, this study also provides evidence to further the debate on the purpose of branding and modern marketing

The Growth of an Agribusiness Cluster in Catalonia: Evidence from the Olive Oil Industry

This article aims to contribute to an understanding of the evolution of agribusiness clusters. It focuses on Catalonia, one of Europe's leading regions in the agro-food industry; and it takes as a case-study olive oil. a typical Mediterranean commodity. After identifying the cluster and the main stages of its evolution, the article shows that the three decades following the years around 1890 were the most dynamic period for the cluster. Whereas several factors contributed to the final outcome, this article suggests that the existence of previous processes of accumulation of ski lis, techniques, market and product knowledge and the capabilities of firms had a remarkable influence on the successful response of agents to developments and shocks from outside the cluster

Height and Industrialisation in a City in Catalonia during the Nineteenth Century

Drawing on anthropometric information, this article investigates the evolution of the biological standard of living in nineteenth-century Catalonia. We focus on the city of Igualada, one of Catalonia’s main textile centres in the early part of the century. The results show a decline in the height of males born between the 1830s and the 1860s, the period in which factory-based industrialisation emerged and became consolidated. The article also suggests that height inequality rose during the third quarter of the nineteenth century. The empirical evidence gathered provides further support for the pessimistic view of the evolution of the standard of living during the early stages of industrialisation

Sibship size and the biological standard of living in industrial Catalonia, c.1860-c.1920: a case study

By using military records and population censuses this article investigates the relationship between sibship size and the biological living standards of young males, as measured by height. Focusing on a medium-sized industrial town in Catalonia the analysis shows that the impact of sibship size on child outcomes, as hypothesised by the resource dilution explanation, was rather weak during the years of the first fertility transition. Sibship size affected the height of young males only in certain socioeconomic groups and in specific periods of time, and not always in the expected direction. The article also explores the potential role of confounding factors in the link between sibship size and height, as well as the complexity of this relationship

The Biological Standard of Living in Nineteenth-Century Industrial Catalonia: A Case Study

Drawing on anthropometric information, this article investigates the evolution of the biological standard of living in nineteenth-century Catalonia. We focus on the city of Igualada, one of Catalonia's main textile centres in the early part of the century. The results show a decline in the height of males born between the 1830s and the 1860s, the period in which factory- based industrialisation emerged and became consolidated. The article also suggests that height inequality rose during the third quarter of the nineteenth century. The empirical evidence gathered provides further support for the pessimistic view of the evolution of the standard of living during the early stages of industrialisation

Biological Standards of Living in Rural Catalonia over the Long-Run: A Comparison with Urban Areas (1840-1960)

Objective: to assess the long-term evolution of biological living standards in rural Catalonia and to compare it with the corresponding figures in urban areas. Methods: using data from military records of conscripts from six towns in western Catalonia, we construct an annual height series. Height is standardised at the age of 21 years. We also construct a body mass index (BMI) for conscripts born in 1891 and 1934-39. The annual height series for western Catalonia is systematically compared to the series for Reus, Catalonia's second largest city during the second half of the 19th century. Results: comparing the cohorts born in the periods 1840-49 and 1951-60, we find that height increased by 5.7 centimetres over this period. However, the increase was not distributed equally over time. In the second half of the 19th century, rural heights stagnated over the long run and declined relative to urban heights. In the cohorts born in the decades between 1910 and 1950, rural heights rose by more than 5 centimetres, and converged with those of Reus. Conclusion: we provide new evidence for the current debate on the rural-urban height gap. Between the 1840s and the 1950s, heights in rural western Catalonia grew at rates similar to those recorded in certain urban areas, but growth rates differed depending on the period of analysis. This study underlines the importance of adopting long-term perspectives, and stresses that rural-urban height differences tend to be time-and space-specific

The urban-rural height gap: evidence from late nineteenth-century in Catalonia

This paper aims to establish whether there was a gap in biological living standards between urban and rural areas in late nineteenth-century Catalonia, and if so, to determine its extent. The study makes use of a large new dataset based on military records for the cohort of males born in the year 1890 and enlisted in the year 1911. By combining individual heights with information at municipal level, we conclude that the 1890 cohort of conscripts living in rural areas were shorter than those that resided in towns and cities with populations of more than 20,000 people. We also hypothesise about the reasons why urban dwellers in late nineteenth-century Catalonia were taller than their rural counterparts by considering the potential role of rural–urban migration, improvements in public sanitation and health care, and progresses in the quantity and quality of food availability for urban dweller

Una aproximació a l'economia de la Segarra (1970-1992). Importància i limitacions d'un procés de transformació econòmica

Darrerament, l'economia de la Segarra ha experimentat unes transformacions tan trascendentals com insuficients. Trascendentals perquè han modificat la fesonomia econòmica de la comarca. Insuficients perquè, segons les dades de renda familiar disponible per càpita, no han aconseguit allunyar la comarca de la Catalunya pobra. El que s'exposa a continuació és una anàlisi, encara molt genèrica i esquemàtica, d'alguns dels canvis més significatius de l'economia de la Segarra entre 1970 i 1992