An index of political support for decentralization: the Spanish case.

This paper presents a method to make measurable what was not: the discourses of politicians regarding decentralization. For this purpose, we develop a “matrix of arguments” and a set of indexes, and apply them to provide a snapshot of the politicians’ views on the “General Law of Budgetary Stability”, a landmark for the process of decentralization in Spain.political party, matrix of decentralization, arguments, index of decentralization.

Satisfacción laboral y su relación con variables socio demográficas y laborales y con parámetros de riesgo cardiovascular en trabajadores de Baleares

Se realiza un estudio transversal en 1016 trabajadores de Baleares de distintos sectores de actividad. Se analizan variables socio demográficas, laborales y de riesgo cardiovascular y se valora su relación con satisfacción laboral empleando análisis univariante y multivariante. Observamos que se relacionan directamente con el nivel de estudios e inversamente con la estabilidad laboral. No se han encontrado relaciones entre satisfacción laboral y los parámetros de salud estudiados. En base a los resultados, consideramos que la medicina del trabajo podría tener un papel fundamental en la prevención de factores psicosociales con la ayuda de programas de promoción de la salud encaminados a mejorar la satisfacción laboral.We performed a cross-sectional study in 1016 balearic workers from different sociodemographic sectors. Occupational and cardiovascular risk variables and its relationship with job satisfaction were analyzed, using univariate and multivariate analysis. We observed a direct relationship of our findings with the educational level and an inverse relationship with job stability. No relationships were found between job satisfaction and health parameters. Based on the results, we believe that occupational medicine could have a role in the prevention of psychosocial factors with the help of programs of health promotion aimed at improving job satisfaction

Variation in body size and metamorphic traits of Iberian spadefoot toads over a short geographic distance

Determinants of geographic variation in body size are often poorly understood, especially in organisms with complex life cycles. We examined patterns of adult body size and metamorphic traits variation in Iberian spadefoot toad (Pelobates cultripes) populations, which exhibit an extreme reduction in adult body size, 71.6% reduction in body mass, within just about 30 km at south-western Spain. We hypothesized that size at and time to metamorphosis would be predictive of the spatial pattern observed in adult body size. Larvae from eight populations were raised in a common garden experiment at two different larval densities that allow to differentiate whether population divergence was genetically based or was simply a reflection of environmental variation and, in addition, whether this population divergence was modulated by differing crowding larval environments. Larger adult size populations had higher larval growth rates, attaining larger sizes at metamorphosis, and exhibited higher survival than smaller-sized populations at both densities, although accentuated at a low larval density. These population differences appeared to be consistent once embryo size variation was controlled for, suggesting that this phenotypic divergence is not due to maternal effects. Our results suggest considerable genetic differentiation in metamorphic traits that parallels and may be a causal determinant of geographic variation in adult body size. © 2008 The Authors.Peer Reviewe

Convergencia real en Europa Central y del Este: un análisis del período 1950-2008

This article examines the real convergence hypothesis for the period 1950-2008 in some Central and Eastern European countries using time series techniques and allowing for structural breaks. We find convergence within the countries when applying unit root tests on per capita GNP differences, but not when per capita GNP differences are defined with respect to Germany, the point of reference for the EU. However, when we allow for the existence of structural breaks in the convergence process, we find evidence of some countries (Albania, Bulgaria, former Czechoslovakia) catching-up with the German economy since the nineties. This suggests that the changes taking place since then in those countries have had a positive impact on convergence.Este trabajo contrasta la hipótesis de convergencia en PIB per capita durante el período 1950-2008 para una muestra de países de Europa Central y del Este, utilizando técnicas de series temporales. La aplicación de los contrastes de raíces unitarias indica que ha habido convergencia real entre los países de la región, aunque no cuando definimos la convergencia respecto a Alemania, país de referencia de la Unión Europea. Sin embargo, cuando permitimos la existencia de cambios estructurales, se observa un proceso de acercamiento de algunos países (Albania, Bulgaria y la antigua Checoslovaquia) respecto a Alemania desde los años 90, sugiriendo que los cambios ocurridos en estos países desde esa década han afectado positivamente a la convergencia

Differential morphology and jumping performance of newly metamorphosed frogs of the hybridogenetic Rana esculenta complex

Closely related clonal and sexual populations may coexist in spite of the theorized lower potential for the evolution of clonal genotypes. Water frogs of the Rana esculenta complex have hemiclonal inheritance but most populations coexist with one of the recombinant parental species. We examine whether hemiclonal lineages may counterbalance their limitations of genetic variability by the adoption of one or more non-exclusive mechanisms: the general-purpose genotype or the frozen niche-variation model. Three coexisting hemiclones of the hybrid R. esculenta (GUT1, GUT2, GUT3) and both parental species (syntopic R. lessonae and allopatric R. ridibunda) were raised at two larval densities to examine morphological traits affecting jumping performance at the time of metamorphosis and size-independent jumping ability tested at three temperatures. Hind leg length and body mass at metamorphosis, traits that explain most of the variance in jumping performance, differed across hemiclones of R. esculenta. Metamorphs of hemiclone GUT1 had the longest hindlimbs and were bigger than metamorphs of the other hemiclones at low larval density but not at high density. Size adjusted jumping performance exhibited a significant genotype by larval density interaction. Metamorphs of GUT1 showed maximal jumping performance when raised at low larval density but at high density metamorphs of GUT2 were the best jumpers. In addition, within particular traits, differences were found between hemiclones across densities. These results appear to be consistent with both frozen niche-variation model and the general-purpose genotype model. Comparison with parental species revealed syntopic R. lessonae was smaller than hemiclones at metamorphosis but conversely exhibited better size-adjusted jumping performance when raised at low larval density. Temperature affected size-adjusted jumping performance only for frogs raised at low larval density but not for those raised at high larval densities. There was no significant temperature by hemiclone interaction.Peer Reviewe

Local government transparency index: determinants of municipalities’ rankings

Purpose Cases of corruption, embezzlement, theft and fraud, abuse of discretion, favoritism, nepotism, clientelism, and abuse of power in governments have led to a growing demand from society to access public information. In response to this demand, governments have been forced to be more transparent in the conduct of their activities. The information transparency index (TI) may be conditioned by economic and political characteristics of local governments affecting the information provided. What factors influenced the index of municipal transparency? Literature about transparency is largely based on the explanations of the agency theory and the legitimacy theory. Based on the postulates of both theories, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, study the index transparency in Spanish municipalities, and, second, determine the main features that are affecting the index of transparency. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from Transparency International Spain ranking and from official sources. Univariate and multivariate analysis are performed for the treatment of data. Findings The results shows that political factors like electoral turnout, political ideology, and political competition have a significant effect on the index of transparency. Gender has no significant effect on the index of transparency. Originality/value This study is a contribution to the growing body literature of transparency in order to understand what explains the variations of the TI among municipalities

Women’s political representation and transparency in local governance

Despite the growing interest on the influence of gender in local government, the relationship between women’s political representation on municipalities, as council member or as female mayors, and transparency is an under-researched topic. This article analyses the political representation of women in Spanish local councils and their influence on the level of transparency. Results show that women’s political representation in municipalities has a positive influence on the level of transparency, increasing information transparency and reducing information asymmetry

E-government-enabled transparency: the effect of electoral aspects and citizen’s access to Internet on information disclosure

Recent literature on transparency claims that e-government-enabled transparency through websites may be conditioned by political and social factors. Being more transparent while conducting its activities and political responsibilities has been the response of governments to citizens’ demand for access to public information. This paper analyzes if political and social conditions influence transparency in Portuguese municipalities. The results show that political ideology, electoral turnout, proximity of elections, citizens’ access to Internet and geographic location influence municipalities’ transparency. The analyses are based on panel data from all 308 Portuguese municipalities.This study conducted at Research Center in Political Science [UID/CPO/00758/2013], University of Minho and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds