Editorial

Editoria

Editorial

Editoria

The Texaco-Chevron case in Ecuador: Law and justice in the age of globalization

This is the story of an unequal legal battle. It's one that the communities affected by the operations of Texaco in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, have been holding for more than twenty years, to get compensation for damages to the environment, people's health and the ways of life of the local communities, first against Texaco, and after its absorption into Chevron, against this company. This is a litigation that perfectly illustrates three aspects: the conversion of the whole world into a single area of dispute with ramifications in the United States, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Argentina, Canada, and Brazil; the limitations of the current international legal system to the actions of big transnational companies; and finally the enormous inequalities of means between parties and the determination of Chevron, whatever the price, to take all necessary measures not to lose a litigation that is already iconic

Editorial

Editoria

Cosmopolitan distribution of the large composite microbial mat spirochete, Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi

Inocula from organic-rich black muds immediately underlying intertidal laminated microbial mats dominated by Microcoleus chthonoplastes yielded large, variable diameter spirochetes. These unusual spirochetes, previously reported only from the Alfacs Peninsula at the delta of the Ebro river in northeast Spain, contain striking arrays of cytoplasmic granules packed into their protoplasmic cylinders. On several occasions, both in summer and winter, the huge spirochetes were recognized in samples from mats growing in the Sippewissett salt marsh at Woods Hole Massachusetts. They were also seen in similar samples from microbial mats at North Pond, Laguna Figueroa, Baja California Norte, Mexico. The identity of these spirochetes was confirmed by electron microscopy: number and disposition of flagella, composite structure, measurements of their distinctive cytoplasmic granules. The granules, larger, more conspicuous and present in addition to ribosomes, are hypothesized to contain ATPases. As culture conditions worsen, these spirochetes retract into membrane-bounded round bodies in which they form refractile inclusions. From morphology and behavior we conclude the North American spirochetes from both Atlantic and Pacific intertidal microbial mats are indistinguishable from those at the delta of the Ebro river. We conclude a cosmopolitan distribution for Spirosymplokos deltaeiberi

The regional allocation of infrastructures investment: The role of equity, efficiency and political factors

This paper analyses the main determinants of the regional allocation of infrastructure investment. The estimated investment equation is derived from a general specification of the government's objective function (Berhman and Craig, Am. Econom. Rev. 77 (1987) 315), which accounts both for the equity-efficiency trade-off and for deviations from this rule that arise because of political factors. The reaction of investment to changes in the regional output provides information about the strength of the equity-efficiency trade-off. The main political factor considered is a measurement of the electoral productivity of funds invested in each region

Infrastructure investment across Spanish regions: determinants and calculation of an expenditure needs index

This paper constructs an index of infrastructure needs for the Spanish regions (Comunidades Autónomas). Using theoretical models, we define and econometrically estimate equations on the determinants of public investment in infrastructures undertaken by the different levels of government (regional and central) for the period 1987-1996. The estimated parameters for the investment determinants allow us to calculate a needs index, which reveals (and quantifies): first, the existence of a trade-off between equity and efficiency for the different levels of government when deciding public investments in infrastructures, and second, the importance on including additional (to GDP and population) need variables to calculate a territorial distribution rule of public investment in infrastructures.Infrastructures, investment needs, public investment.