University Governing Bodies: Reform and Inclusion of External Members

Durant els darrers anys s’han publicat un nombre important d’estudis i articles al voltant de la governança de les universitats, el seu sistema de govern i la necessitat d’una reforma en profunditat per tal d’adaptar aquesta institució a les necessitats que la societat actual té de la universitat, que transcendeixen les clàssiques de la docència i la recerca. Amb aquest article pretenc fer aportacions al debat en curs, amb la voluntat d’incidir en la concreció d’alguns dels temes tractats, específicament sobre com s’hauria de configurar l’estructura del govern de la universitat, els seus òrgans, la seva composició i les relacions entre ells. La qüestió de la incorporació de membres externs al govern universitari, de quina forma s’ha de produir, en quina mesura i amb quines atribucions, és un dels nuclis centrals de l’article. La configuració que plantejo es basa en un únic òrgan de govern amb majoria de membres externs i amb una àmplia capacitat per dissenyar i executar polítiques, tenint d’altra banda com a òrgan de control, un claustre universitari fort, que avali el pla estratègic que li presenti el govern i que exerceixi de garant de les llibertats acadèmiques.Una reforma de l’abast que s’està estudiant, tant si s’adopta una línia semblant a l’exposada aquí com si s’opta per altres tipus de configuracions, implicarà necessàriament la modificació de l’actual o la redacció d’una nova llei orgànica reguladora de les universitats. Les implicacions que necessàriament sorgiran de les noves atribucions amb què, sens dubte, es dotarà la institució universitària tindran ressò a mitjà termini en la configuració de l’autonomia universitària i de les llibertats acadèmiques que al llarg de les passades dècades ha anat teixint el Tribunal Constitucional. Exposo també en aquest article algunes consideracions al voltant d’aquests aspectes.Durante los últimos años se han publicado un número importante de estudios y artículos en torno a la gobernanza de las universidades, su sistema de gobierno y la necesidad de una reforma en profundidad para adaptar esta institución a las necesidades que la sociedad actual tiene de la universidad, que trascienden las clásicas de la docencia y la investigación. Con este artículo pretendo hacer aportaciones al debate en curso, con la voluntad de incidir en la concreción de algunos de los temas tratados, específicamente sobre cómo se debería configurar la estructura del gobierno de la universidad, sus órganos, su composición y las relaciones entre ellos.La cuestión de la incorporación de miembros externos al gobierno universitario, de qué forma se ha de producir, en qué medida y con qué atribuciones, es uno de los núcleos centrales del artículo. La configuración que planteo se basa en un único órgano de gobierno con mayoría de miembros externos y con amplia capacidad para diseñar y ejecutar políticas, teniendo por otra parte como órgano de control un claustro universitario fuerte, que avale el plan estratégico que le presente el gobierno y que ejerza de garante de las libertades académicas.Una reforma del alcance que se está estudiando, tanto si se adopta una línea similar a la expuesta aquí como si se opta por otros tipos de configuraciones, implicará necesariamente la modificación de la actual o la redacción de una nueva ley orgánica reguladora de las universidades. Las implicaciones que necesariamente surgirán de las nuevas atribuciones con las que, sin duda, se dotará a la institución universitaria tendrán eco a medio plazo en la configuración de la autonomía universitaria y de las libertades académicas que a lo largo de las pasadas décadas ha ido tejiendo el Tribunal Constitucional. Expongo también en este artículo algunas consideraciones en torno a estos aspectos.A number of important studies and articles have been published in recent years on university governance, their system of government and the need for a thoroughgoing reform to adapt this institution to the needs that today’s society has of universities, which transcend the classical ones of research and education.  By means of this article I intend to contribute to this ongoing debate and go into more detail on some of the issues touched on, specifically on what form the structure of university government, its bodies, their composition and the relationships between them should take. The issue of incorporating external members in university government, what form that should take, to what extent and with what functions is one of the central themes of the article.  The form I propose is based on a single governing body with a majority of outside members and ample scope for designing and implementing policies, with a strong university senate as an oversight body that would endorse the strategic plan submitted to it by the governing body and act as a guarantor of academic freedoms.A reform on the scale being studied, whether it is along the lines set out here or takes another form, will necessarily involve a change in the current Organic Act on Universities or the drafting of a new one.  The implications which will inevitably flow from the new functions that the new university institution will undoubtedly be given will, in the medium term, have influence the shape of university autonomy and academic freedoms that the Constitutional Court has been defining  in recent decades.  I also outline some considerations on these aspects in the article

Sobre el disseny institucional de l'avaluació de les polítiques publiques: riscos i propostes de millora

La crisi econòmica i les seves conseqüències sobre les restriccions pres­supostàries de les administracions públiques han comportat un augment de la conscienciació política i social sobre l'escassetat dels recursos pres­supostaris i el seu cost d'oportunitat. D'aquesta conscienciació sorgeix una pressió social per fiscalitzar el bon ús d'aquests recursos per part de les administracions i dels representants polítics. Així doncs, no és es­trany que la millora del procés de formació de polítiques públiques i la importància de la seva avaluació hagi retornat a les agendes de diverses administracions. ..

Empirical evidence on imperfect information in the parking market [WP]

Parking economics literature main attention has been paid to the cruising externality and garage market power issues, but all works assume that perfect information exists. But imperfect information may arise as (1) drivers may not know all available options in their choice set; and (2) they lack of information to evaluate them; further exacerbating already mentioned distortions. In this paper we provide compelling evidence on the existence and extent of information frictions in this market; based on the case study of Barcelona. We also test whether parkers’ lack of knowledge translates into undesirable market outcomes

Misinformation and Misperception in the market for parking

This article studies the level of knowledge and information held by drivers in the car parking market. By drawing on a survey conducted with 576 garage customers in Barcelona, we provide new evidence on the market frictions produced by the misinformation and misperception of drivers searching for parking spaces. We identify the factors that aggravate/mitigate misinformation and misperception, and examine how they affect the functioning of the parking market, damaging market competition, undermining effective regulatory actions and exacerbating negative externalities. Our evidence shows that drivers’ misperceptions increase cruising-for-parking and its consequences: congestion, pollution and accidents

The price to park: Assessing the determinants of Garage prices and their interaction with curbside regulation

Curbside parking regulation has been widely implemented in cities around the world and increasingly they are adopting market-oriented perspectives. However, policy-makers face a complex task when they seek to foster efficiency in this market due to its intrinsic distortions (most notably, cruising in search of a parking space and garage market power). Theoretical studies stress that the right price differential between curbside and garage parking fees is critical in addressing this task; yet, the interactions between the two have received little attention to date in the literature. By drawing on a new self-constructed database for all the garages in the city of Barcelona, we empirically explore the determinants of garage prices. Our results indicate that prices are mainly influenced by fixed and variable cost drivers, the dominance position of the garage in its surrounding market and the garage’s interaction with curbside parking. In this regard, we find that prices react to the scarcity of parking spaces in the street and to the curbside price fixed by the public authority. In short, this paper stresses the importance of the interactions between the curb and off-street garages when considering policy alternatives that might establish the optimal price differential

The impact of curbside parking regulation on garage demand

Parking regulation is seen as a good option to encourage modal shift in order to tackle congestion and pollution in metropolitan areas. Market-clearing curbside pricing is rarely implemented and policy makers have tended to make off-street parking provision their main tool to address excessive curbside demand. Research devoted to garage parking is far less well developed, even though public authorities provide both curbside and garage parking that compete with privately operated facilities. In this paper the impact of garage fare and curbside regulation characteristics (fare and type of dedicated spaces) on garage parking demand are investigated. Aggregate occasional and subscribers parking demand is analyzed by means of two different econometric models estimated using a panel from Barcelona's public parking authority (BSM) that covers 34 garage facilities with yearly data for the period 2006-2012. We find that both demand segments show a negative elasticity to garage fare. Only occasional parkers show a clear substitution effect with a curbside premium ( 0.55/h). Our finding suggests that the actual pricing efficiency gap in Barcelona can range between 0.45 and 1.05 due to the mismatch between curbside and garage pricing regimes; for which we propose some policy alternatives. This stresses the need for a single integrated market approach to parking management, in order to overcome market distortions and achieve efficiency. Additionally, our results show that the characteristics of curbside parking spaces (allowance and time limits) play a role in garage demand determination, yet pricing is much more efficient trigger for behavioral change

Misinformation and Misperception in the market for parking

Parking regulations have been widely adopted by cities as a tool to tackle traffic-related externalities. Both researchers and practitioners have proposed parking policy interventions that tend to rely on the assumption that parkers have perfect information about the availability of parking options and their characteristics (prices and quality) when determining consumers' behavior. However, research shows that when information acquisition (search) is costly it is rational for consumers not to be fully informed at the expense of their taking non-optimal decisions, with negative welfare implications. We conduct an empirical study of the level of knowledge and information held by drivers in the car parking market. We draw on a survey conducted with 576 garage customers in Barcelona to estimate different regression models to assess how drivers transform information into actual knowledge, identifying the factors that aggravate/mitigate misinformation and misperception (subjective information levels and its accuracy). We find that parkers know little about available parking alternatives and their prices, and the accuracy of their knowledge is poor and biased towards prioritizing curbside parking. Costly search does not help drivers increase their knowledge levels, with garage facilities' and surrounding areas' characteristics playing a relevant role. We also find that garages have effective obfuscation strategies to keep drivers uninformed and exploit their localized market power by reducing price saliency and increasing fee complexity. Our results suggest that information should be carefully considered in the design and implementation of parking policy interventions and transport information systems, in order to avoid undesired market distortions

The determinants of garage prices and their interaction with curbside regulation

The market for parking is characterized by intrinsic distortions such as cruising in search of a parking space and garage market power. Theoretical studies stress that the price differential between curbside and garage parking fees is critical in addressing this inefficiency; yet, the interactions between the two have received little attention to date in the literature. By drawing on a new self-constructed database for all the garages in the city of Barcelona, we empirically explore the determinants of garage prices. Our results indicate that prices are mainly influenced by fixed and variable cost drivers, the dominance position of the garage in its surrounding market and the garage's interaction with curbside parking. We also find that prices react to the scarcity of parking spaces in the street and to the curbside price fixed by the public authority

El uso de la tecnología en la universidad. ¿Es necesaria su regulación?

L'objecte del present treball és l'estudi, des d'un punt de vista jurídic, de les possibles conseqüències indesitjades derivades de la introducció de noves tecnologies d'informació i comunicació en l'àmbit universitari; en particular, sobre alguns dels drets constitucionals dels membres de la comunitat universitària. La finalitat de l'estudi és aportar elements de reflexió sobre la conveniència o no de regular els usos de la tecnologia aplicada especialment a la docència i a la gestió universitària per a garantir el respecte als esmentats drets. La metodologia emprada és la pròpia de la recerca en matèria jurídica, a través de l'estudi de la normativa i jurisprudència existent amb incidència en aquest àmbit, així com de la doctrina publicada sobre aquest tema. Els resultats obtinguts mostren evidències que efectivament poden donar-se situacions en el desenvolupament normal de l'activitat universitària en què l'ús o la imposició de determinades noves tecnologies afecti drets dels seus membres. Es constata així mateix que no existeix regulació que ordeni aquest àmbit o que impedeixi tals afectacions. Això porta a concloure que l'ús de la tecnologia en la universitat hauria de regular-se, de manera que s'asseguri la transparència en el seu disseny i implementació, així com la protecció dels drets dels seus usuaris i dels destinataris de la seva utilització. La Llei orgànica reguladora de la universitat apareix com el nivell adequat per a establir un marc comú d'empara de drets, mentre que la normativa autonòmica universitària hauria de tenir espai per al seu posterior desenvolupament fent ús de les seves competències.The object of this paper is the study of the possible undesired consequences, from a legal point of view, derived from the introduction of new information and communication technologies in the university environment; in particular, on some of the constitutional rights of the members of the university community.  The purpose of the study is to provide elements for reflection on the convenience or not of regulating the uses of technology applied specially to teaching and university management, to guarantee respect for the aforementioned rights. The methodology used is that of research in legal topics, through the study of existing regulations and jurisprudence with an impact in this area, as well as the doctrine published in this regard. The results obtained show evidence that situations can occur in the normal development of university activity in which the use or imposition of certain new technologies affects the rights of its members.  It is also verified that there is no regulation that orders this area or that prevents such affectations. This leads to the conclusion that the use of technology in the university should be regulated, to ensure transparency in its design and implementation, as well as the protection of the rights of its users and the recipients of its use.  The Organic Law regulating the university appears as the appropriate level to establish a common framework for the protection of rights, while the regional university regulations should have space for their subsequent development in implementation of their powers.El objeto del presente trabajo es el estudio, desde un punto de vista jurídico, de las posibles consecuencias indeseadas derivadas de la introducción de nuevas tecnologías de información y comunicación en el ámbito universitario; en particular, sobre algunos de los derechos constitucionales de los miembros de la comunidad universitaria.  La finalidad del estudio es aportar elementos de reflexión sobre la conveniencia o no de regular los usos de la tecnología aplicada especialmente a la docencia y a la gestión universitaria para garantizar el respeto a los mencionados derechos. La metodología empleada es la propia de la investigación en materia jurídica, a través del estudio de la normativa y jurisprudencia existente con incidencia en este ámbito, así como de la doctrina publicada al respecto. Los resultados obtenidos muestran evidencias de que efectivamente pueden darse situaciones en el desarrollo normal de la actividad universitaria en que el uso o la imposición de determinadas nuevas tecnologías afecte derechos de sus miembros.   Se constata asimismo que no existe regulación que ordene este ámbito o que impida tales afectaciones. Ello lleva a concluir que el uso de la tecnología en la universidad debería regularse, de forma que se asegure la transparencia en su diseño e implementación, así como la protección de los derechos de sus usuarios y de los destinatarios de su utilización.  La Ley Orgánica reguladora de la universidad aparece como el nivel adecuado para establecer un marco común de amparo de derechos, mientras que la normativa autonómica universitaria debería tener espacio para su posterior desarrollo en uso de sus competencias