Exploring Determinants of Urban Motorcycle Accident Severity: The Case of Barcelona

Public authorities and road users alike are increasingly concerned by recent trends in road safety outcomes in Barcelona, which is the European city with the highest number of registered Powered Two-Wheel (PTW) vehicles per inhabitant,. In this study we explore the determinants of motorcycle and moped accident severity in a large urban area, drawing on Barcelona’s local police database (2002-2008). We apply non-parametric regression techniques to characterize PTW accidents and parametric methods to investigate the factors influencing their severity. Our results show that PTW accident victims are more vulnerable, showing greater degrees of accident severity, than other traffic victims. Speed violations and alcohol consumption provide the worst health outcomes. Demographic and environment-related risk factors, in addition to helmet use, play an important role in determining accident severity. Thus, this study furthers our understanding of the most vulnerable vehicle types, while our results have direct implications for local policy makers in their fight to reduce the severity of PTW accidents in large urban areas.Road Safety, Motorcycles, Mopeds, Accidents, Severity, Transportation

Assessing excess profits from different entry regulations

Entry regulations affecting professional services such as pharmacies are common practice in many European countries. We assess the impact of entry regulations on profits estimating a structural model of entry using the information provided by a policy experiment. We use the case of different regional policies governing the opening of new pharmacies in Spain to show that structural models of entry ought to be estimated with data from policy experiments to pin down how entry regulations change payoffs functions of the incumbents. Contrary to the public interest rationales, regulations are not boosting only small town pharmacies payoffs nor increasing all pharmacies payoffs alike. The gains from regulations are very unevenly distributed,suggesting that private interests are shaping the current mix of entry and markup regulations.Entry, regulation, professional services

Assessing excess profits from different entry regulations

Entry regulations affecting professional services such as pharmacies are common practice in many European countries. We assess the impact of entry regulations on profits estimating a structural model of entry using the information provided by a policy experiment. We use the case of different regional policies governing the opening of new pharmacies in Spain to show that structural models of entry ought to be estimated with data from policy experiments to pin down how entry regulations change payoffs functions of the incumbents. Contrary to the public interest rationales, regulations are not boosting only small town pharmacies payoffs nor increasing all pharmacies payoffs alike. The gains from regulations are very unevenly distributed,suggesting that private interests are shaping the current mix of entry and markup regulations

Exploring Determinants of Urban Motorcycle Accident Severity : The Case of Barcelona

Public authorities and road users alike are increasingly concerned by recent trends in road safety outcomes in Barcelona, which is the European city with the highest number of registered Powered Two-Wheel (PTW) vehicles per inhabitant,. In this study we explore the determinants of motorcycle and moped accident severity in a large urban area, drawing on Barcelona's local police database (2002-2008). We apply non-parametric regression techniques to characterize PTW accidents and parametric methods to investigate the factors influencing their severity. Our results show that PTW accident victims are more vulnerable, showing greater degrees of accident severity, than other traffic victims. Speed violations and alcohol consumption provide the worst health outcomes. Demographic and environment-related risk factors, in addition to helmet use, play an important role in determining accident severity. Thus, this study furthers our understanding of the most vulnerable vehicle types, while our results have direct implications for local policy makers in their fight to reduce the severity of PTW accidents in large urban areas

Are two-part tariffs efficient when consumers plan ahead? An empirical study

During the last two decades there has been an increase in using dynamic tariffs for billing household electricity consumption. This has questioned the suitability of traditional pricing schemes, such as two-part tariffs, since they contribute to create marked peak and offpeak demands. The aim of this paper is to assess if two-part tariffs are an efficient pricing scheme using Spanish household electricity microdata. An ordered probit model with instrumental variables on the determinants of power level choice and non-paramentric spline regressions on the electricity price distribution will allow us to distinguish between the tariff structure choice and the simultaneous demand decisions. We conclude that electricity consumption and dwellings' and individuals' characteristics are key determinants of the fixed charge paid by Spanish households Finally, the results point to the inefficiency of the two-part tariff as those consumers who consume more electricity pay a lower price than the others

Contextos cerámicos de la primera mitad del s. V en el interior de la Meseta: el yacimiento de Las Lagunillas (Aldeamayor de San Martín, Valladolid)

Se aborda en este trabajo el estudio de los abundantes conjuntos cerámicos recuperados en el yacimiento de Las Lagunillas (Aldeamayor de San Martín, Valladolid). Se trata de un asentamiento rural de vida corta encuadrado en la primera mitad del siglo V y organizado en tomo a una vivienda de planta regular con patio central a la que se asocian dos hoyos, utilizados en su último momento como vertederos, y dos hornos, destinados muy posiblemente a la fabricación de tejas. Las diferentes producciones, tanto finas como comunes, se analizan atendiendo a su secuenciación en cuatro fases estratigráficas bien diferenciadas: constructiva, ocupación, abandono/destrucción y expolio, lo que nos permite aportar algunas precisiones acerca de la evolución de ciertos tipos cerámicos a lo largo de este complejo periodo. Fundamental ha sido en este sentido la aplicación de los parámetros de análisis propuestos recientemente por A. Vigil-Escalera, particularmente interesantes en lo que respecta a las producciones de T.S.H.T.It is tackled in this paper the study of the pleintiful pottery collections recovered in the site of Las Lagunillas (Aldeamayor de San Martín, Valladolid). It is a rural short-lived settlement placed in the first half of the 5th Century and organized around a regular floor house with central courtyard and to which two holes (used in the last moments as rubbish dumps) and two ovens (possibly used for the manufacture of tiles) are associated. The different collections, both fine and common, are analized according to their stratigraphic sequence into four distinct phases: construction, occupation, abandonment/destruction and plunder, which allows us to provide some details about the evolution of some ceramic types throughout of this complex period. In this sense has been fundamental to apply the analysis parameters recently proposed by A. Vigil-Escalera, especially in relation to the production of T.H.S.T

Characteristics of Empathy in young people measured by the Spanish validation of the Basic Empathy Scale

Antecedentes: la empatía es una variable de personalidad que predice buena parte del funcionamiento emocional y social de los jóvenes (Jolliffe y Farrington, 2006). La investigación reciente confirma la existencia de dos dimensiones fundamentales en este constructo: la empatía afectiva —capacidad para experimentar una respuesta emocional semejante a la de otra persona— y la empatía cognitiva —capacidad para comprender racionalmente las emociones de otra persona—. La Escala de Empatía Básica (Jolliffe y Farrington, 2006) es un instrumento que evalúa satisfactoriamente estas dos dimensiones. Método: una muestra de 752 jóvenes (339 varones, 413 mujeres; 14-25 años) completó una adaptación española de la EEB. Resultados: el análisis factorial confirmatorio mostró que la adaptación española de esta escala tenía la misma estructura bifactorial que la original (CFI= .93). Esta adaptación mostró una fiabilidad satisfactoria (alfa de Cronbach>.92), así como validez discriminante y convergente respecto a medidas del Narcisismo, Psicoticismo y Amabilidad. También se encontró una mayor puntuación en Empatía, tanto Afectiva como Cognitiva, en las mujeres frente a los hombres. Ambas subescalas presentan una correlación directa significativa con la edad. Conclusiones: esta escala se confirma como un instrumento en español con buenas propiedades psicométricas para la evaluación de la empatía