Can output explain the predictability and volatility of stock returns?.

This paper examines whether a general equilibrium asset pricing model can explain two important empirical regularities of asset returns, extensively documented in the literature: (i) returns can be predicted by a set of macro variables, and (ii) returns are very volatile. We derive a closed-form solution for the equilibrium asset pricing model that relates asset returns to output by using an approximate method proposed by Campbell (Am. Econ. Rev. 83 (1993) 487) and Restoy and Weil (W.P. NBER, No. 6611 (1998)). We obtain evidence on eight OECD economies using both quarterly and annual observations. Equilibrium models seem to fin fewer difficultie in explaining the volatility of returns than their predictability for general output processes. In the case of the US, the observed predictability and volatility of asset returns, for annual frequencies, are broadly compatible with the predictions of equilibrium models for a reasonableGeneralized isoelastic preferences; Asset returns; Real activity; Volatility;

New business models in the creative economy: emotions and social networks

Creatividad, habilidad y talento individual son el sustrato de la economía creativa, que muestra un alto potencial de desarrollo económico y social basado en la propiedad intelectual. En ella se registra una ruptura de la cadena de valor tradicional y la aparición de nuevos modelos de negocio. A partir de varios estudios de caso mostramos cómo dichos modelos precisan de mercados en red social, caracterizados por articular emociones y mercancías mediante unos relatos que cohesionan a diversas comunidades de usuarios.Individual creativity, skills, and talent shape the creative economy. Its social and economic development potential derives from intellectual property benefits. It reveals a break in the traditional value chain and the emergence of new business models. Several case studies show how social network markets are essential for those models. These markets articulate emotions and products throughout stories that draw together different user’s communities

Functionality of In vitro Reconstituted Group II Intron RmInt1-Derived Ribonucleoprotein Particles

The functional unit of mobile group II introns is a ribonucleoprotein particle (RNP) consisting of the intron-encoded protein (IEP) and the excised intron RNA. The IEP has reverse transcriptase activity but also promotes RNA splicing, and the RNA-protein complex triggers site-specific DNA insertion by reverse splicing, in a process called retrohoming. In vitro reconstituted ribonucleoprotein complexes from the Lactococcus lactis group II intron Ll.LtrB, which produce a double strand break, have recently been studied as a means of developing group II intron-based gene targeting methods for higher organisms. The Sinorhizobium meliloti group II intron RmInt1 is an efficient mobile retroelement, the dispersal of which appears to be linked to transient single-stranded DNA during replication. The RmInt1IEP lacks the endonuclease domain (En) and cannot cut the bottom strand to generate the 3′ end to initiate reverse transcription. We used an Escherichia coli expression system to produce soluble and active RmInt1 IEP and reconstituted RNPs with purified components in vitro. The RNPs generated were functional and reverse-spliced into a single-stranded DNA target. This work constitutes the starting point for the use of group II introns lacking DNA endonuclease domain-derived RNPs for highly specific gene targeting methods.This work was supported by research grant BIO2014-51953-P of the Plan Nacional de I+D+i, Biotechnology program from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad including ERDF (European Regional Development Funds).Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe

Las aspiraciones profesionales como indicadores del estilo de liderazgo responsable y de la responsabilidad social corporativa. ¿Estamos formando a los directivos responsables que necesitan las empresas y la sociedad? Un estudio entre países

The relationship between responsible leadership (RL), identified from achievement expectations, and the importance attached to corporate social responsibility (CSR) was analyzed. In a survey of 1,833 business management undergraduates in six Ibero-American countries, factor analysis identified three approaches to stakeholder relations, behaviors, and professional aspirations: a relational style associated with the intention to collaborate with others; a pragmatic style geared to attaining personal and organizational objectives; and an individualist style informed by a drive for personal achievement. Regression analyses confirmed the relationship between relational and pragmatic styles and CSR geared to stakeholder well-being, protection of social and natural environments, and ethical management. Both were associated with regard to the responsibilities that ensure business survival (such as meeting customer needs), while the individualist style was aligned with hostility toward those dimensions of CSR. These findings suggest that the relational and pragmatic styles lead to more effective CSR managementSe analiza la relación entre estilos de liderazgo responsable (LR), éste último identificado a partir de las expectativas profesionales de logro, y la importancia atribuida a la responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC). Contamos con 1,833 participantes de seis países iberoamericanos que cursaban estudios universitarios relacionados con gestión empresarial. Un análisis factorial identificó un estilo de LR relacional orientado a colaborar con otras personas, un estilo pragmático asociado a logros personales y organizacionales y un estilo individualista orientado a intereses personales. Los análisis de regresión mostraron una relación positiva entre los estilos relacional prágmatico y la valoración de la RSC que busca el bienestar de la comunidad, de stakeholders internos y externos, la protección del medioambiente y el comportamiento ético, a la vez que asegura la sostenibilidad de organización, aspectos todos ellos valorados negativamente desde el estilo individualista. Los datos sugieren que en el contexto socio-económico actual los estilos relacional y pragmático serían más efectivos para implementar la RS

A general equilibrium approach to the stock returns and real activity relationship

This paper brings together two separate and important topics in finance: the predictability of aggregated stock returns and the intertemporal asset pricing models. We present empirical evidence about the predictability of stock returns with a sample of OECD economies and investigate whether such evidence is consistent with a simple general equilibrium model. Our framework allow us to formalize the extensively documented empirical relationship between asset returns and real activity. The principal parameters in this relationship are the relative risk aversion and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution for the first moment of the returns and only the elasticity of substitution for the second moments. Except for the United States annual case, the puzzle of volatility remains in our model

Lignocellulose Nanofibre Obtained from Agricultural Wastes of Tomato, Pepper and Eggplants Improves the Performance of Films of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) for Food Packaging

Films formulated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (synthetic biopolymer) were reinforced with lignocellulose nanofibres (LCNF) from residues of vegetable production (natural biopolymer). The LCNF were obtained by mechanical and chemical pre-treatment by 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO) and added to the polyvinyl alcohol (polymer matrix) with the aim of improving the properties of the film for use in food packaging. The mechanical properties, crystallinity, thermal resistance, chemical structure, antioxidant activity, water barrier properties and optical properties (transparency and UV barrier), were evaluated. In general, with the addition of LCNF, an improvement in the studied properties of the films was observed. In terms of mechanical properties, the films reinforced with 7% LCNF TEMPO showed the best results for tensile strength, Young’s modulus and elongation at break. At the same LCNF proportion, the thermal stability (Tmax) increased between 5.5% and 10.8%, and the antioxidant activity increased between 90.9% and 191.8%, depending on the raw material and the pre-treatment used to obtain the different LCNF. Finally, a large increase in UV blocking was also observed with the addition of 7% LCNF. In particular, the films with 7% of eggplant LCNF showed higher performance for Young’s modulus, elongation at break, thermal stability and UV barrier. Overall, results demonstrated that the use of LCNF generated from agricultural residues represents a suitable bioeconomy approach able to enhance film properties for its application in the development of more sustainable and eco-friendly food packaging systems

Multi-facet determination for clustering with Bayesian networks

Real world applications of sectors like industry, healthcare or finance usually generate data of high complexity that can be interpreted from different viewpoints. When clustering this type of data, a single set of clusters may not suffice, hence the necessity of methods that generate multiple clusterings that represent different perspectives. In this paper, we present a novel multi-partition clustering method that returns several interesting and non-redundant solutions, where each of them is a data partition with an associated facet of data. Each of these facets represents a subset of the original attributes that is selected using our information-theoretic criterion UMRMR. Our approach is based on an optimization procedure that takes advantage of the Bayesian network factorization to provide high quality solutions in a fraction of the time

Prediction of growth performance parameters in the growing and free-range finishing phases of the Iberian pig via meta-analysis

Aim of study: To describe and predict mathematically the growth parameters of Iberian pigs. Area of study: Iberian dehesa agroforestry system. Southwest of Iberian Peninsula. Material and methods: A quantitative and systematic review was carried out to find all studies with valid data of growth and finishing in the Iberian swine breed published up to May 2020. For the analysis of the data, a mathematical fitting model was obtained and a function was postulated to describe the relation between the variables age and body weight. Main results: 112 publications were found, and after applying several quality filters, 18 with age and weight matched data were used. The database was composed of 76 different tests and 22,558 animals. The clasical growth phases were independently evaluated for data analysis.It was necessary to separate the finishing trials into three groups according to the starting age. Seven mathematical models were obtained for lactation,post-weaning, and montanera finishing. However, no valid test data were found during the growth and prefinishing phases. Besides that, a single model was obtained combining lactation and post-weaning, and another surface model including the variables age and weight to compare average daily weight gain in montanera finishing phase. Research highlights: After systematic review of the studies that provide information on the growth of Iberian pigs, and a quantitative analysis, some mathematical linear and nonlinear models have been developed for the prediction of the production ratios at different phases