AN ESTIMATION OF DISPOSABLE PERSONAL INCOME OF THE SPANISH MUNICIPALITIES IN 1997

Since 1992, Lawrence R. Klein Institute –Autónoma University of Madrid- estimates the disposable income of the Spanish municipalities, recently published in the ‘Anuario Comercial de España’ –Spanish Trade Yearbook- as scaled levels. Municipal personal income has been considered as one of the most important economic indicators, very used in a wide range of studies concerned with regional convergence, welfare analysis, marketing targets, etc. This kind of estimation can be carried out by both direct and indirect methodology. The first proceeding requires a huge information database generally difficult to obtain and not always precise, which main defect is that it cannot reflect the underground economy of Spanish municipalities. That is why direct methodology always has needed the help of indirect proceedings. These last ones find out the statistical relation of the personal disposable income and a group of socio-economic indicators for all the geographic units considered, municipalities, provinces, regions, countries, etc. In this paper, the authors present some of the indirect methods used to estimate the disposable income of Spanish municipalities. Especially the Klein estimation combines some multivariate analysis –panel data, factor and cross-section regression analysis- with a big database of almost 200 socio-economic indicators. The final estimation of the 8.099 municipalities disposable income allows us to acquire a better knowing of Spanish micro-territorial development.

ECOLOGICAL INFERENCE AND SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY - A NEW APPROACH BASED ON ENTROPY ECONOMETRICS

In this paper, we compare the results obtained by the application of three alternative methods of ecological inference. The data is on per capita household disposable income in the 50 provinces and 78 municipalities of Asturias, Spain. The first method is based on Ordinary Least Squares regression model, which assumes constancy or homogeneity. The second method is based on a spatial autocorrelation model, which assumes heterogeneity in two spatial regimes. The third method is based on a varying-coefficients model, which assumes total heterogeneity. The second model is estimated by Maximum Likelihood, whereas the latter is estimated by using Generalized Maximum or Cross Entropy.

Spatial interaction models applied to the design of retail trade areas

Intermetropolitan trade areas are geographical zones defined by consumer movements over space -retail flows- from their municipalities of residence towards a head town, to purchase special goods: clothing and footwear, furniture, food, etc. These market areas own an economic sense that do not have other more commonly used territorial divisions, such as towns, provinces or regions. Since 1992, the Lawrence R. Klein Institute -Autonoma University of Madrid-actualises the Spanish Retail Trade Atlas and determines regional trade areas and sub-areas, using spatial gravity models and survey. The authors' experience in this Project allows them to analyse the different procedures suggested for modelling the consumer store-choice process and from this, estimating the market share of a retail outlet or a town. Store choice models can be classified into two main groups. First, the descriptive-determinist approach includes a group of techniques that rely on observation or normative assumptions. It is well-known the procedure devised by Applebaum (1961) for constructing primary trade areas from customers spotted on a location map or the classical central place theory, based on the nearest-centre hypothesis. 'Reilly's law of retail gravitation' (1931) considers not only distance but also attractiveness of alternative shopping opportunities. Secondly, the explicative-stochastic approach uses information revealed by past behaviour to understand the dynamics of retail competition and how consumers choose among alternative shopping opportunities. Huff was the first to use a utility function and introduced the spatial interaction models to explain consumer behaviour. They argued that consumers rate alternatives on the basis of their evaluation of the total utility of the store and not merely on its location. Huff's model is a particular case of the discrete-choice models known as multinomial logit (McFadden, 1974). Both models satisfies the so-called 'Independece of Irrelevant Alternatives' (IIA) property, that is, the ratio of the probabilities of an individual selecting two alternatives is unaffected by the addition of a third alternative. While this may be reasonably representative of certain aspatial choice situations, it is very unlikely to occur in spatial choice because of the fixed locations of spatial alternatives. The competing destinations model, derived from purely spatial considerations, provides a way of overcoming some problems with the logit and nested logit models that arise from the transference of essentially aspatial theory to the spatial realm. This work focuses on market area delimitation models and presents the estimation process developed by the L.R. Klein Institute in determining intermetropolitan trade areas. It is also applied a competing destinations model to the trade area of Madrid, a very peculiar one because of its magnitude and the important shopping concentration around the capital. Finally, we want to highlight the main applications derived from the knowledge and actualisation of the consumer retail flows. These applications take into account not only retailing but also another economic activities relating with market attraction areas.

Urban growth and territorial dynamics in Spain (1985-2001): A spatial econometrics analysis

The study of the territorial/regional development in Spain has nowadays a relatively long tradition, but from the point of view of cities development the number of studies and documents decreases drastically. This paper tries to improve the knowledge of the Spanish urban system. The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, to determine the factors that explain the urban growth of Spanish cities; secondly, to observe the cities situation in terms of ¡§winners¡¨ and ¡§losers¡¨ after the long period of integration of Spain in the EU. A spatial conditional ƒÒ- convergence equation is specified and the Durbin-Wu-Haussman exogeneity test is used to check on the existence of simultaneity between urban growth and the control variables. The classic problems of spread and backwash are studied by including a spatial autoregressive term and spatial regimes ¡Vconvergence clubs- in the growth model.Urban growth, Spanish cities, conditional ƒÒ-convergence, endogeneity, Durbin-Wu-Haussman, spatial autocorrelation, spatial heterogeneity, convergence clubs

SPACE-TIME LAGS: SPECIFICATION STRATEGY IN SPATIAL REGRESSION MODELS

he purpose of this article is to analyse the dynamic trend of spatial dependence, which is not only contemporary but time-lagged in many socio-economic phenomena. Firstly, we show some of the commonly used exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) techniques and we propose other new ones, the exploratory space-time data analysis (ESTDA) that evaluates the instantaneity of spatial dependence. We also propose the space-time correlogram as an instrument for a better specification of spatial lag models, which should include both kind of spatial dependence. Some applications with economic data for Spanish provinces shed some light upon these issues.Spatial dependence, spatial diffusion, ESDA, correlogram, Spanish provinces

"Environmental Diagnosis of Process Plants by Life Cycle Techniques"

Environmental Diagnosis of Process Plants by Life Cycle TechniquesHaydée A. Yrigoyen GonzálezEl objetivo de la investigación es desarrollar una herramienta que relacione aspectos desimulación, evaluación ambiental y análisis de sensibilidad. Para lo cual se estableció unametodología que consta de cinco niveles: Simulación de proceso, Inventario, evaluación deimpactos ambientales, análisis económico y análisis de sensibilidad.La metodología describe las variables relacionadas con el proceso, así como losimpactos asociados a cada una de sus etapas y la viabilidad económica del proceso, eidentifica las etapas de proceso con el mayor impacto ambiental (mediante el análisis desensibilidad).Para la simulación de procesos se empleó el simulador ASPEN Hysys®. El inventario,la evaluación de impactos y el análisis económico se lleva a cabo en hojas de cálculo de formaautomática.La obtención del inventario de efectos ambientales y la evaluación de loscorrespondientes impactos se realizan siguiendo la metodología de ciclo de vida, por lo que seconsideran las cargas ambientales asociadas a las materias primas, la generación deelectricidad y utilidades. Para obtener el inventario se construyó una base de datos quecontiene la información ambiental asociada a varios procesos industriales que se relacionanindirectamente al proceso bajo estudio. Similarmente, se incluyó una base de datos con losfactores de caracterización de las categorías de impacto más importantes.La validación de la metodología y de la herramienta desarrollada se ha llevado a cabomediante tres procesos industriales: polietileno de baja densidad (LDPE), óxido de etileno (EO)y biodiesel. Para cada proceso se han evaluado diferentes configuraciones para poderdeterminar cual de ellas es la mejor opción desde el punto de vista ambiental y económico.En el caso del LDPE, el cambio de configuración se ha enfocado en el origen de laelectricidad, la cual puede ser proveniente de la Red Nacional Española o de una unidad decogeneración. Los resultados indican que la mejor configuración corresponde al proceso queemplea electricidad proveniente de la unidad de cogeneración, puesto que se obtiene vaporcomo sub-producto y se evitan las emisiones asociadas a la generación de electricidad, lo quese refleja en una importante reducción de los impactos ambientales asociados.En el segundo proceso analizado, referente a la producción de oxido de etileno, se hanevaluado cuatro configuraciones, empleando aire u oxígeno como materia prima y electricidadde la Red Española o produciéndola mediante cogeneración. En relación al origen de laelectricidad, al emplear la cogeneración, el comportamiento ambiental del proceso mejoraconsiderablemente. En cuanto a la importancia de la materia prima empleada, al utilizaroxígeno se obtiene un mejor rendimiento en la etapa de reacción, con lo cual se compensa loscostes asociados a la materia prima con la productividad del proceso.Finalmente, se ha llevado a cabo la evaluación del proceso de producción de biodiesel,se comparó el comportamiento ambiental del proceso empleando un catalizador ácido y uncatalizador básico. En el proceso ácido se generan menores impactos ambientales. De formasimilar, ésta configuración tiene un mejor perfil económico ya que los costes asociados a laproducción son menores y no se requiere ninguna unidad de pretratamiento (necesaria en elproceso alcalino).Mediante la herramienta desarrollada, la información inicial puede modificarse encualquier momento con el fin de obtener los valores correspondientes a nuevas condiciones.Uno de los aspectos más importantes es el que la herramienta se adapta fácilmente con elmínimo de variaciones. Las bases de datos que se incluyen en las hojas de cálculo pueden seractualizadas por el usuario o ajustarse a las necesidades específicas de cada proceso. Todo elanálisis se lleva a cabo de forma automática, una vez introducida la información inicial delproceso e información económica.Environmental Diagnosis of Process Plants by Life Cycle TechniquesHaydée A. Yrigoyen GonzálezThe objective of this work is to develop a tool that integrates simulation, environmentalassessment and sensitivity analysis aspects. To support this tool, a methodology consisting offive levels was established. These are: process simulation, Inventory, environmental impactsassessment, economic analysis and sensitivity analysis.The developed methodology describes the variables related to the process, as well asthe impacts associated to each stages, the economic viability of the process, and the processstages with the highest environmental impact (by means of the sensitivity analysis).ASPEN Hysys® is the chosen software for the simulation of processes. The inventory,impact assessment and the economic analysis are automatically obtained in spreadsheets, bymeans of macros execution.The inventory and the impacts assessment are performed following the Life Cyclemethodology. Therefore, the environmental loads of the raw materials, electricity generation andutilities are considered. In order to generate the inventory, a data base was constructed; itcontains the environmental information associated to industrial processes that are indirectlyrelated to the process under study. Similarly, a data base with the characterization factors of themost important impact categories was included in the tool.The validation of the methodology and the developed tool has been accomplished bytheir application to three industrial processes: low density polyethylene (LDPE), ethylene oxide(EO) and biodiesel production. Different configurations have been evaluated for each process todetermine the best option from the environmental and economic point of view.For the LDPE process, the configuration change has focused in the origin of theelectricity, which can be supplied by the Spanish National Network or a cogeneration unit.Based on our results, the best configuration corresponds to the process employing electricity bycogeneration, since steam is obtained as by-product and the emissions associated to theelectricity generation are eliminated. These facts are reflected in an important reduction of theoverall impacts associated to this process.In the second analyzed process, referring to the production of ethylene oxide, fourconfigurations have been evaluated: using air or oxygen as raw material and electricity from theSpanish Network or produced by cogeneration. Related to the origin of the electricity, usingcogeneration, a better environmental profile is obtained. On the other hand, the oxygen as rawmaterial is better than air due to the best yield of ethylene oxide in the reaction stage. Due tothe better selectivity of the oxygen in the reaction, the costs of O2 as raw material arecompensated by high production.Finally, the process evaluation of the biodiesel production has been carried out. In thiscase, an acid and a basic catalyst were compared. The best configuration corresponds to theprocess using an acid catalyst. In the acid process lower environmental impacts are generated.Furthermore, this configuration has a better economical profile since the costs associated to theproduction are smaller and a pre-treatment unit is not required, as in the alkaline process.The initial information can be modified at any time to obtain the profile associated to thenew conditions by means of the developed tool. Also, the tool can be adapted to any process inan easy way. The included database can be updated or adjusted by the user at any time topersonalize them to the specific necessities of each process. Once the initial information isintroduced, the analysis is executed automatically.The developed tool is able to make the simulation, its environmental diagnosis,economic evaluation and the sensitivity analysis of any industrial process, introducing the initialoperation conditions

Difusión y dinámica temporal de la dependencia espacial

El propósito de este artículo es analizar la difusión y dinámica temporal de la dependencia espacial. Con este objetivo, en primer lugar se diferenciará entre dependencia espacial contemporánea y no contemporánea, discutiendo distintas especificaciones de modelos espaciales de regresión que recojan ambos tipos de dependencia espacial. En segundo lugar, extenderemos estas especificaciones a modelos SUR espaciales que incluyan retardos tanto espaciales como espacio temporales y que recojan la dinámica temporal de la dependencia espacial mediante una única estructura. Los modelos desarrollados se aplicarán a la estimación de la Renta Familiar disponible en las provincias españolas

Gobierno de TI y propuesta de modelo de referencia para instituciones universitarias

El concepto de “gobierno de TI” no es muy conocido ni entendido a plenitud en el ámbito de los negocios ni en el académico. Es un concepto moderno que aparece en los últimos años como consecuencia de la evolución de la ciencia del management y aplicado al sector de las TI, con el objetivo de ayudar a las organizaciones a realizar un uso más efectivo y eficiente de estas. La premisa de la investigación es que este enfoque puede y debe ser aplicado en las instituciones universitarias.El concepto de “gobierno de TI” no es muy conocido ni entendido a plenitud en el ámbito de los negocios ni en el académico. Es un concepto moderno que aparece en los últimos años como consecuencia de la evolución de la ciencia del management y aplicado al sector de las TI, con el objetivo de ayudar a las organizaciones a realizar un uso más efectivo y eficiente de estas. La premisa de la investigación es que este enfoque puede y debe ser aplicado en las instituciones universitarias

Is spatial dependence an instantaneous effect? Some evidence in economic series of Spanish provinces

The purpose of this article is to analyze if spatial dependence is a synchronic effect, as it has usually been defined. It is known that in many socio-economic phenomena spatial dependence can be not only contemporary but also time-lagged. In this paper, we use two Moran-based space-time autocorrelation statistics in order to evaluate the simultaneity of this spatial effect, allowing for mixed specifications with instantaneous and space-time dependence terms. Some applications with economic data for Spanish provinces shed some light upon these issues

Spatiotemporal methods for analysis of urban system dynamics: an application to Chile

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00168-019-00960-9This paper presents a methodological procedure to evaluate the influence of spatial proximity on evolution of cities to detect regional differences in their spatiotemporal dynamics. The six-step method based on a set of statistical methods can be computed with a new R package: estdaR. The first step consists of the usual characterization of the cross-sectional distribution of the urban areas by means of nonparametric estimations of density functions for a set of significant years. In the second and third steps, the growth process is modeled as a first-order stationary Markov chain to evaluate the effect of global and local spatial autocorrelation on the transition probabilities with a set of indices based on the spatial version of the standard Markov chain. The fourth, fifth, and sixth steps perform in-depth analysis to detect the existence and interaction of spatial regimes in the movement direction and ranking mobility of urban distribution. We apply this novel strategy for the period 1930–2002 to analyze the entire Chilean urban system—not only the Central Zone, in which most of the population and economic activities are concentrated, but also other urban zones in the countryThe funding was provided by Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de España (Grand No. ECO2015-65758-P