INTEREST-RATE MODELS FOR US AND UK WITH MIXED INFLATIONARY EXPECTATIONS. A COMPARISON WITH THE RATIONAL AND THE ADAPTIVE SCHEME

This paper presents a macro-econometric model for medium- and long-term nominal interest rates, assuming heterogeneous economic agents in the market that use different and limited sets of information. It also shows the empirical results obtained from US and UK data, comparing the performance of the model under mixed expectations with, respectively, the performance of the model under rational expectations and under a kind of adaptative expectation. The econometric problems arising in the mixed- and rational-expectation models are tackled by the generalized method of moments. The mixed-expectation model picks up the dynamics of market expectations better than both the rational-expectation model and the adaptative-expectation model, so that it provides the more reasonable model of interest-rate determination.

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE US AND THE UK INTEREST RATES UNDER THE RATIONAL EXPECTATION SCHEME

This paper presents a macro-econometric model for medium- and long-term nominal interest rates and the empirical results obtained with US and UK data. The explanatory equation for nominal interest rates is derived from the equilibrium condition of the savings market and takes real, financial and foreign aspects into account. Expected values of the inflation rate appear as regressors and, assuming rational expectations, two alternative models are obtained and estimated by the generalized method of moments. The empirical results for the US support: a) the strong influence of the inflation rate on the nominal interest rate (although the Fisher hypothesis is not completely fulfilled), b) the importance of the growth rate of the real GDP in the interest-rate determination, and c) the fulfilment of the Ricardian hypothesis. The UK nominal interest rate follows the US nominal interest rate.rational expectations, gmm estimation

CONFLICT, DECENTRALISATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN COLOMBIA, 1974-2004

The objective of this paper is to determine the variables that explain the geographical expansion and armed activity of Colombian irregular groups since the mid seventies, taking into account the role of the political, fiscal and budgetary decentralization and its effects over local governance. This period of Colombian history (1974-2004) has been graved by strong economic, social and institutional changes that have deepened particularly since the decentralization process of the mid eighties. In fact, this paper states that decentralization process transformed the conflict into a dispute over the local power, intensifying the use of violence in order to appropriate part of the public goods and resources, interfere the political process and consolidate the group´s territorial control. The analysis of the illegal group´s early activity (1974-1982) shows that the use of violence is explained by grievances such as poverty or inequality. However, subsequent years reveal deep changes in the illegal group´s strategic procedures in which the decentralization process have given them incentives to control the local governments by using violence (greed). The results demonstrate a strong and significant relationship between the intensification of the armed conflict and the greater political, budgetary and fiscal autonomy of local governments. In fact, the presence of local resources such as royalties and taxes triggers violence against politicians being more intense in the municipalities where the actions of the illegal groups are higher.Armed conflict, Violence, Decentralization, Local governance, Spatial Econometrics

Estudi dels esgrafiats de l'edifici de la Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer: simbologia i maçoneria

En aquest article es presenta una primera aproximació a la lectura en clau simbòlica dels esgrafiats i els elements decoratius de la Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer i de la Casa de Santa Teresa. Així mateix, es presenta una possible interpretació d’alguns d’ells des de la maçoneria, tenint en compte la vinculació de Balaguer amb aquesta organització

Escritura e imagen en Yves Bonnefoy. Una aproximación desde la historia del arte

The writings about art and the artists of Yves Bonnefoy are a convergence point between the art critic and art history. They contribute to a method of approach to the art object from a humanist perspective. He uses referential, personal and psychological analysis, but without being absolutely away from the scientific method. It is based on a search for truth using a precise language, with specific terms, as each science has. These terms have been assembled for the first time in my Glossary about the art writings of Yves Bonnefoy which is part of my University Dissertation. Yves Bonnefoy’s work opens important perspectives for art history. They show us new ways to bring near and to extend our knowledge of the artists and their artistic creations

Warm hilltop inflation

We study the low-temperature limit of warm inflation in a hilltop model. This limit remains valid up to the end of inflation, allowing an analytic description of the entire inflationary stage. In the weak dissipative regime, if the kinetic density of the inflaton dominates after inflation, low scale inflation is attained with Hubble scale as low as 1 GeV. In the strong dissipative regime, the model satisfies the observational requirements for the spectral index with a mild tuning of the model parameters, while also overcoming the $\eta$-problem of inflation. However, there is some danger of gravitino overproduction unless the particle content of the theory is large.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Difusión de la fisioterapia en la atención primaria

Detallar cuál es la función de la fisioterapia en la Atención Primaria, junto con la realización de un cuestionario de satisfacción. Se tiene como objetivo poner de manifiesto la realidad de los pacientes que reciben tratamiento de fisioterapia en las salas de Atención Primaria y la percepción que estos tienen ante la falta de recursos. La técnica de investigación cualitativa fue la elegida para dar respuesta al objetivo del estudio. La población que formó parte del estudio, estaba compuesta por pacientes que asistían a las unidades de fisioterapia situadas en los centros de atención primaria, con inclusión de todas las edades, y que hubiesen recibido un mínimo de cinco sesiones de fisioterapia, con el fin de que tuvieran alguna experiencia acumulada. Resultados: En el estudio participaron 25 personas, dieciocho de los pacientes (72%) fueron mujeres y los siete restantes (28%) fueron hombres. Conclusiones: La Fisioterapia en Atención Primaria parece recibir de las autoridades sanitarias una atención y dotación inversamente proporcional a la utilidad y necesidad que la sociedad requiere de la fisioterapia. Consiguiendo de esta manera que patologías de sencillo tratamiento y rápida recuperación, deriven a problemas más graves por falta de medios y eternización de las listas de espera, con el consiguiente gasto adicional que supone para las autoridades sanitaria

Profile analysis of advertising practitioners in corporate webs of advertising agencies in Spain

El sector publicitario se ha transformado con la evolución de la comunicación digital. La atomización de los formatos y soportes ha llevado a una sobre-especialización de la comunicación para la que el anunciante demanda nuevos perfiles profesionales expertos, lo que ha ampliado el número de proveedores de servicios de comunicación. A pesar de que las agencias de publicidad tradicionales han integrado servicios digitales en sus estructuras, encuentran dificultad para competir con el abanico de empresas especializadas en las nuevas formas de comunicación. La demostración de las capacidades profesionales es clave para la competitividad de las agencias, pero la transformación de las estructuras internas no evoluciona a la velocidad del mercado. Esta circunstancia deteriora la relación cliente-agencia, la base de la calidad del servicio donde la confianza entre los profesionales es clave para el éxito. Este artículo analiza cómo las principales agencias creativas españolas presentan el talento interno en sus webs corporativas, el canal propio donde la agencia proyecta su imagen. Se ha realizado un análisis de contenido de los apartados que hablan de talento en dichas webs. La principal conclusión indica que la adaptación de la estructura de las agencias a la comunicación digital, es parcial; sigue predominando la misma estructura organizativa que tenían a finales de los 90, antes de que la competencia de las grandes tecnológicas se planteara como la gran amenaza.The advertising sector has transformed with the digital communication. The atomization of formats and media has led up to an over-specialization of communication, where the advertiser demands new expert professional profiles. Thus, the number of communication suppliers has been widened. Despite the fact that traditional advertising agencies have integrated digital services into their structures, they find it difficult to compete with the range of companies specialized in new forms of communication. The demonstration of professional skills is key to the competitiveness of the agencies. However, the internal transformation does not follow the pace of the market demands. This circumstance deteriorates the client-agency relationship, the basis of service quality where trust among professionals is the key to success. This article analyses how the main Spanish advertising agencies present the internal talent in their corporate websites, their very own channel to project its image. The content analysis methodology has been applied to the agency web sections about talent. The main conclusion indicates a partial adaptation of the agencies to the digital communication and the dominance of the classical structure from the 90s, before the competition of the big tech companies was posed as a great threat

Tipología lexicográfica en la enseñanza del inglés como segunda lengua: Hacia una descripción del uso de los diccionarios

El presente artículo tiene como finalidad describir los principales diccionarios destinados a estudiantes de inglés como L2 y así contribuir a lo que se denomina tipología de diccionarios. Al mismo tiempo, el análisis refuerza la idea de que la tipología de diccionarios y las necesidades de los usuarios son dos conceptos íntimamente relacionados. A su vez, se exponen distintas cuestiones a la hora de abordar el uso del diccionario en las tareas productivas y receptivas y se incide en el hecho de que los estudiantes de una L2 necesitan un mayor entrenamiento en las destrezas relacionadas con el uso del diccionario para así beneficiarse de la información tan valiosa que estas herramientas de aprendizaje proporcionan. The current article aims to describe the main learners.’ dictionaries and therefore to contribute to what is called dictionary typology. In doing so, the analysis reinforces the idea that dictionary typology and user needs are concepts closely related. Thus, different perspectives are set out in order to deal with the use of dictionaries in both productive and receptive tasks and emphasis is placed on the fact that students of a L2 need more training into dictionary skills in order to take advantage of the valuable information dictionaries provid