Integration brings convergence? The role of public and human capital

This work decompose labor-productivity grotwh and convergence in EU into components attributable to technological change (shifts in the European production frontier), technological catch-up (movements toward or away from the frontier) and factor accumulation (movement toward or away from the frontier). This work extends previous researchs considering public capital and human capitas as additional productive inputs and analysing its separate constribution to convergence as components of factor accumulation. In the case of human capital, we also test its rate effect as determinant factor of technical change. With this purpose we applied the Malmquist index of total factor productivity to an European data base to provide evidence for the 15 EU State Members. The results show that growth is primarily driven by factor accumulation which contribution is fundamental for lagging countries. We do not find evidence of any significant convergence over the whole period studied related to integration with factor accumulation and efficiency change as important factors of convergence while technical change (encouraged by greater human capital) has worked against it. Key words: Human Capital, Malmquist Index, Source of Convergence. JEL Classification: O47 H54 D24

La esperanza de la monarquía. Fiestas en el imperio hispánico por Felipe Próspero

Comunicació presentada al V Simposio Internacional Iconografía y Forma “Visiones de un Imperio en Fiesta”, celebrado en Castellón entre los días 23 y 25 de septiembre de 2015 y organizado por el grupo de investigación Iconografía e Historia del Arte de la Univeristat Jaume I.El 28 de noviembre de 1657 nacía en Madrid el príncipe Felipe Próspero, primer hijo varón, después del nacimiento de dos niñas, de Felipe IV y Mariana de Austria. En 1646 había muerto Baltasar Carlos, dejando al monarca abatido y sin un heredero. Con cincuenta y dos años, cansado y envejecido, el rey veía en este nuevo hijo una nueva esperanza para la sucesión de su monarquía. Recordemos que desde 1640 Felipe IV había tenido que afrontar las guerras con Portugal y Cataluña, el final de la Guerra de los Treinta Años, las revueltas en Aragón, Valencia, Castilla y Nápoles. De tal modo que los decenios de 1640 y 1650 habían sido de bastantes dificultades políticas y económicas para la monarquía. Como consecuencia, España había perdido su hegemonía en Europa, e incluso se había perdido la castellana en España. Pero también se había producido una fuerte crisis de valores espirituales y psicológicos, que conllevó el crecimiento de nuevas devociones, por ejemplo hacia los nuevos santos, como Santa Teresa de Jesús. Por ello, como señalara Lucien Clare, la celebración del nacimiento de un heredero en esa fecha supuso una necesidad política, un verdadero instrumentum regni. No solo el rey, todas las ciudades de los territorios dominados por Felipe IV se aprestaron a celebrar tan alegre y prometedor acontecimiento, algunas con un esplendor inusitado.Paper presented to V Simposio Internacional Iconografía y Forma “Visiones de un Imperio en Fiesta”, celebrado en Castellón entre los días 23 y 25 de septiembre de 2015 y organizado por el grupo de investigación Iconografía e Historia del Arte de la Univeristat Jaume I

Arte mestizo. Arte criollo

El choque que produjo el encuentro entre las civilizaciones prehispánicas y los españoles acabó resolviéndose con la génesis de una sociedad y una cultura mestiza.The clash caused by the encounter of pre-Hispanic and Spanish civilisations was eventually resolved with the dawning of a mestizo society and cultur

Las ciudades simbólicas de Daniel Meisner y la imagen del mundo en los inicios del siglo XVII

El libro "Thesaurus Philo-politicus" de Daniel Meisner (1623-1631), nos llamó la atención por su alta calidad, tanto a nivel simbólico como formal, por lo que sin duda merecía ser analizada en profundidad y en sus diversos aspectos. Sobre todo por el hecho de constituir, hasta el momento, el único libro conocido de emblemas urbanos. Meisner nos ofrece 830 maravillosas vistas de ciudades de todo el mundo y otros tantos preciosos emblemas en relación con ellas. En este estudio introductorio abordamos las claves para comprender la relevancia del Thesaurus Philo-politicus en su contexto histórico y cultural.The book "Thesaurus Philo-politicus" of Daniel Meisner (1623-1631), called us the attention by his high quality, so much to symbolic level like formal, by what definitely deserved to be analysed in depth and in his diverse appearances. Especially by the fact to constitute, until the moment, the only book known of urban emblems. Meisner offers us 830 wonderful seen of cities of all the world and other so many lovely emblems in relation with them. In this introductory study tackle the keys to comprise the importance of the Thesaurus Philo-politicus in his historical and cultural context

Integration brings convergence? The role of public and human capital

This work decompose labor-productivity grotwh and convergence in EU into components attributable to technological change (shifts in the European production frontier), technological catch-up (movements toward or away from the frontier) and factor accumulation (movement toward or away from the frontier). This work extends previous researchs considering public capital and human capitas as additional productive inputs and analysing its separate constribution to convergence as components of factor accumulation. In the case of human capital, we also test its rate effect as determinant factor of technical change. With this purpose we applied the Malmquist index of total factor productivity to an European data base to provide evidence for the 15 EU State Members. The results show that growth is primarily driven by factor accumulation which contribution is fundamental for lagging countries. We do not find evidence of any significant convergence over the whole period studied related to integration with factor accumulation and efficiency change as important factors of convergence while technical change (encouraged by greater human capital) has worked against it. Key words: Human Capital, Malmquist Index, Source of Convergence. JEL Classification: O47 H54 D2

Wearable sensors for measuring movement in short sessions of mindfulness sitting meditation: A pilot study

Mindfulness techniques are useful tools in health and well-being. To improve and facilitate formal training, beginners need to know if they are in a stable sitting posture and if they can hold it. Previous monitoring studies did not consider stability during sitting meditation or were specific for longer traditional practices. In this paper, we have extended and adapted previous studies to modern mindfulness practices and posed two questions: (a) Which is the best meditation seat for short sessions? In this way, the applications of stability measures are expanded to meditation activities, in which the sitting posture favors stability, and (b) Which is the most sensitive location of an accelerometer to measure body motion during short meditation sessions? A pilot study involving 31 volunteers was conducted using inertial sensors. The results suggest that thumb, head, or infraclavicular locations can be chosen to measure stability despite the habitual lumbar or sacral region found in the literature. Another important finding of this study is that zafus, chairs, and meditation benches are suitable for short meditation sessions in a sitting posture, although the zafu seems to allow for fewer postural changes. This finding opens new opportunities to design very simple and comfortable measuring systems

Amazons, Heroines and Goddesses. The Symbolic Iconography of Vicereines in the Novohispanic Triumphal Entrances of the 17th Century

Las virreinas novohispanas estuvieron presentes en alegorías y jeroglíficos en los programas iconográficos de los arcos triunfales levantados para los virreyes en las ciudades de México y Puebla. Este texto analiza los personajes asignados por los ideólogos de los arcos, especialmente de la segunda mitad del siglo xvii, que utilizaron a menudo a figuras femeninas amantes o esposas de los héroes y dioses con los que se paragonaba al virrey. A estas mujeres y diosas de la mitología grecorromana se les atribuían una serie de virtudes acordes a lo que se esperaba de la virreina: piedad, sacrificio, armonía conyugal, fertilidad, belleza y, además, se encomiaba sus ilustres y elevados linajes.Novo-Hispanic vicereine women were present in allegories and hieroglyphs in the iconographic programs of the triumphal arches erected for the viceroys in the cities of Mexico and Puebla. This text analyzes the characters assigned by the ideologists of the arches, especially in the second half of the seventeenth century, who often used female figures, lovers or wives of the heroes and gods with whom the viceroy was paragonized. These women and goddesses of Greco-Roman mythology were assigned a series of virtues in accordance with what was expected of the viceroy: piety, sacrifice, conjugal harmony, fertility, beauty. In addition, their illustrious and elevated lineages were praised

Alexander the Great & the Architecture: Artistic Representations in the Early Modern Period

La gesta de Alejandro Magno en el Mediterráneo oriental y Asia supuso una gran transformación cultural del mundo conocido en el siglo IV a. C. y, en especial, en el urbanismo y la concepción arquitectónica. Este texto realiza un análisis de la relación del macedonio con la arquitectura, el urbanismo y, en especial, con la arquitectura funeraria, y cómo se plasmó en las representaciones artísticas de la Edad Moderna. Los artistas de los siglos XVI a XVIII sintieron especial interés por los actos de veneración de Alejandro hacia los edificios sagrados de otras religiones y hacia las tumbas de los héroes homéricos, como se demuestra a través de diversos ejemplos pictóricos.The deeds of Alexander the Great in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia marked a great cultural transformation of the known world in the fourth century B. C. and, in particular, in urbanism and architectural conception. This text focuses on the relationship of the Macedonian with architecture, urbanism and especially with funerary architecture, and how it was reflected in the artistic depictions of the Early Modern Age. Artists from the 16th to 18th centuries were especially interested in Alexander’s acts of veneration towards the sacred buildings of other religions and towards the tombs of Homeric heroes, as demonstrated through various pictorial examples