Inequality of opportunity in Europe: Economic and policy facts

In this paper we consider the main factors that have influenced inequality of opportunity (IO) in Europe. Based on the EU-SILC database, we find that the various levels of development, education and social protection expenditure in 23 European countries significantly affect IO. Dropping out from school, reaching at least secondary levels of education, social spending to promote social integration and child care are the most important variables of those analyzed. The functioning of the labor market and the tax structure, on the other hand, do not have a significant bearing on IO. Lastly, we note that IO and total inequality exhibit differentiated explanatory patterns, which signifies that means of redistribution that serve to reduce overall inequality do not necessarily reduce IO.inequality of opportunity; growth; education; public expenditure; labor market.

Inequality of opportunity and growth

Theoretical and empirical studies exploring the effects of income inequality upon growth reach a disappointing inconclusive result. This paper postulates that one reason for this ambiguity is that income inequality is actually a composite measure of at least two different sorts of inequality: inequality of opportunity and inequality of returns to effort. These two types of inequality affect growth through opposite channels, so the relationship between income inequality and growth is positive or negative depending on which component is larger. We test this proposal using inequality-of-opportunity measures computed from the PSID database for 23 states of the U.S. in 1980 and 1990. We find robust support for a negative relationship between inequality of opportunity and growth, and a positive relationship between inequality of returns to effort and growth.income inequality; inequality of opportunity; economic growth.

Tertiary education learning outcomes, a case study: “You want us to think!”

Present perceptions about the poor production of university students in the last decades might be the same other professors had in previous centuries. Nonetheless, more corseting forms of assessment and the irruption of new technologies can establish a difference. These factors serve the controversy when blamed for preventing intellectual development, or when also considering that ICTs are the personal mark of new generations of youths who face their outdated dinosaur teachers. The purpose of this paper is to provide a tentative case analysis of the situation to validate what seems a generalized perception of the decay of tertiary education. Our data will be obtained from answers that students of the third year of a Humanities English degree could not provide. In our approach we will consider the difficulties students have in reaching the highest levels of taxonomies like Bloom’s (1956) or Dreyfus & Dreyfus (1980) with their further modifications. Collaterally we will tackle key competences and forms of assessment. Results will present the dichotomy of maintaining the present progression or, alternatively, think again and take some action.La percepción actual sobre la escasa producción del estudiantado universitario en las últimas décadas puede ser la misma que tenían otros profesores en siglos anteriores. Sin embargo, las formas de evaluación más encorsetadas y la irrupción de las nuevas tecnologías pueden establecer una diferencia. Estos factores están al servicio de la controversia cuando se les culpa de impedir el desarrollo intelectual, o cuando se considera también que las TIC son la marca personal de las nuevas generaciones de jóvenes que se enfrentan a sus anticuados profesores. El propósito de este trabajo es ofrecer un análisis tentativo de la situación para validar lo que parece una percepción generalizada de la decadencia de la educación superior. Nuestros datos se obtendrán a partir de las respuestas que los alumnos de tercer curso del Grado en Estudios Ingleses no pudieron aportar. En nuestro planteamiento consideraremos las dificultades que tienen los alumnos para alcanzar los niveles más altos de taxonomías como la de Bloom (1956) o la de Dreyfus y Dreyfus (1980) con sus posteriores modificaciones. Indirectamente abordaremos las competencias clave y las formas de evaluación. Los resultados nos inducen al dilema de mantener la progresión actual o, alternativamente, recapacitar y tomar alguna medida.La percepció actual sobre l’escassa producció de l’estudiantat universitari en les últimes dècades pot ser la mateixa que tenien altres professors en temps passats. Tanmateix, les formes d’avaluació més limitades i la irrupció de les noves tecnologies poden establir una diferencia. Estos factors están al servei de la controvèrsia quan se’ls culpa d’impedir el desenvolupament intel·lectual, o quan es considera també que les TIC són la marca generacional dels joves enfront del seu professorat desfasat. El propòsit d’este treball és oferir una anàlisi temptativa de la situació per a validar el que sembla una percepció generalitzada de la decadència de l’educació superior. Les nostres dades s’obtindran a partir de les respostes que l’alumnat de tercer curs del Grau en Estudis Anglesos no pogueren aportar. En el nostre plantejament considerem les dificultats que tenen els alumnes per a assolir els nivells més alts de les taxonomies com la de Bloom (1956) o la de Dreyfus i Dreyfus (1980) amb les seues posteriors modificacions. Indirectament abordarem les competències clau i les formes d’avaluació. Els resultats ens condueixen al dilema de mantindre la progressió actual o, per contra, reflexionar i prendre mesures

Inequality of Opportunity and Inequality of Effort: a Canonical Growth Model

Theoretical and empirical studies exploring the effects of income inequality upon growth reach a disappointing inconclusive result. Some recent empirical papers have emphasized that one reason for this ambiguity could be that income inequality is actually a composite measure of inequality of opportunity (IO) and inequality of effort (IE). These types of inequality would affect growth through opposite channels, so the relationship between inequality and growth would depend on which component is larger. Based on this preliminary empirical result, we build an intergenerational model with human capital of inequality and development. The existence of a trap in the process of human capital accumulation generates multiplicity of equilibria and permits the inclusion of social mobility in the analysis. The model is able to explain how IO and IE affect human capital accumulation and hence ongoing long-run growth. The existence of social mobility in society makes the relationship between income inequality and growth to be non-linear, and the final sign of the in fluence of inequality on growth to be dependent on the degree of development and overall inequality of the economy. We find that IE is generally benefi cial to human capital accumulation and, therefore, to ongoing growth, while IO positively affects human capital (income) only for less developed economies

Las motivaciones de los árbitros de fútbol

En el trabajo empírico que a continuación presentamos hemos estudiado las razones por las que los árbitros de fútbol deciden comenzar, mantenerse, cambiar o dejar el arbitraje utilizando el Cuestionario MIMCA administrado a 121 árbitros de distintas categorías pertenecientes al Comité Técnico de árbitros de Fútbol de Las Palmas. Estos colegiados declaran que las principales razones por los que se iniciaron en la actividad arbitral fueron conseguir ciertas metas y divertirse, entre los motivos para seguir arbitrando citan los relacionados con el disfrute de la actividad, con la relación de grupo o con el conocimiento técnico del arbitraje, las razones que les podrían llevar a cambiar a otra actividad o abandonar el arbitraje de fútbol son las relacionadas con la falta de apoyo por parte de los dirigentes arbitrales, las interferencias con los estudios o el trabajo, y las lesiones.In this research we have studied the reasons for which soccer referees decide to begin, to stay, to change or to leave this activity. The Questionnaire MIMCA was administered to 121 referees belonging to different categories of Las Palmas Technical Committee Referees Soccer. These referees declare that the main reasons for which they began in the refereeing activity were «to succeed in getting certain goals» and «to have a good time»; on the other hand, among the reasons to continue are related with the enjoyment of the activity, with the group relationship or with the technical knowledge of the officiating. Lastly, the reasons argued to change to another activity or to abandon soccer officiating are those related with the lack of support on the part of the refereeing leaders, the interferences with the studies or the work, and the injuries

Influence of boron content on the fracture toughness and fatigue crack propagation kinetics of bainitic steels

The relatively good combination of high strength and ductility makes bainitic steels a candidate to replace many other steels in industrial applications. However, in service, ductility and strength are not up to standard requirements. In many industrial components, toughness and fatigue performance are also very relevant. In the present study, bainitic steels with varying content of boron were fabricated, with the aim of analyzing the fracture toughness and changes in the fatigue life. The results show that a relatively small change in the boron content can cause a notable variation in the fracture toughness of bainitic steels. The maximum value obtained in fracture toughness was for the steel with the highest boron content. It was observed that the amount of interlath martensite constituents decreases in steels with the addition of boron, leading to the promotion of the presence of void coalescence and a remarkable rise in the toughness of bainitic steels. An increase on the fatigue life of the bainitic steels with an increase in the boron content was also observed, through analysis by means of Paris’ law. A comprehensive micrographic study was carried out in order to examine the mechanics of fatigue crack growth in the bainitic steels, revealing small longitudinal cracks in bainitic steels that lack boron. These cracks tend to disappear in bainitic steels that contain boron. To elucidate this behavior, micrographs of the surfaces generated by the crack growth process were taken, showing that several nano-cracks appeared between the bainite laths. It is finally argued that this high-energy consumption process of nano-crack nucleation and growth is the reason for the improved toughness and fatigue life observed in bainitic steels.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

La opinión pública sobre el empleo turístico en la Comunidad Valenciana

The residents’ opinions about the characteristics of employment in the tourism in the Valencia Region (Spain) are analyzed. Three hypotheses are proposed: a) tourism is an economic activity evaluated positively by the host population because it is identified as an important generator of employment and wealth; b) but people recognize that working conditions in the tourism sector are worse than those of other economic activities; c) those people most related to tourism are more likely to accept the activity and positively assess their working conditions.Se analiza la opinión de los residentes en la Comunidad Valenciana (España) sobre las características del empleo en el sector turístico. Se plantean tres hipótesis: el turismo es una actividad económica valorada positivamente por la población de acogida, pues se identifica como un importante generador de empleo y riqueza; la opinión general es que las condicioneslaborales en el sector turístico son peores que las de otras actividades económicas; y en tercer lugar, las personas más vinculadas al turismo son más proclives a aceptar la actividad y a valorar positivamente sus condiciones laborales

La estructura de oportunidades empresariales en los destinos turísticos de sol y playa. El caso de Fuerteventura (Canarias)

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the unequal structure of opportunities in the development of economic activity. It is a specific case where European immigrants have better opportunities than the local residents. This is an unusual situation because the tradicional literature on the entrepreneurship of immigrants and ethnic economy. The study was carried out in Fuerteventura, a sun and beach touristic destination in the Canary Islands. The research used secondary data and interviews in depth. In this work, it’s important the coherent combination of different theoretical approaches for the analysis of these business development processes.El propósito de este trabajo es analizar la desigual estructura de oportunidades en el desarrollo de la actividad empresarial. En concreto, se profundiza en una situación donde los inmigrantes europeos encuentran mejores oportunidades que los residentes nacionales, al contrario de lo que se describe habitualmente en la literatura sobre el emprendimiento de los inmigrantes y la economía étnica. Para ello, se tomará como objeto material de estudio los destinos turísticos de sol y playa, en particular la isla canaria de Fuerteventura, y a partir de datos secundarios y entrevistas en profundidad. Resulta relevante en este trabajo la com¬binación coherente de diversas aproximaciones teóricas para el análisis de estos procesos de desarrollo empresarial

Una lengua para un mundo sin lengua

La clara dependencia entre una economía global y una lengua global es innegable. No obstante, en pocas ocasiones se tratan estos dos aspectos de forma conjunta y tanto lingüistas como historiadores, economistas, sociólogos, etc., se ocupan del «tema del otro» sólo de forma tangencial al «suyo». La actual supremacía mundial del inglés le ha venido dada por la económica estadounidense contra la que pierden fuerza posibles rivalidades como la del español. La simple supervivencia de la manifestación más directa de las diversas culturas se ve condicionada por su papel secundario o nulo en un mundo que se mueve hacia un pensamiento único que se vale de una lengua para cortar otrasA clear interdependence between a globalised economy and a global language cannot be denied. Nevertheless, it is not frequent to find these two aspects dealt with at the same level. Linguists, historians, economists, politicians etc. approach the subject from their «own» point of view with just peripheral mentions of what concerns «the other’s field». The economic power of the United States has favored the present world supremacy of English against which rivalries like Spanish have little to do. The mere survival of the most direct expression of the diverse cultures is conditioned by their secondary or null role in a world that moves towards a unique form of thought that instrumentalizes a language to cut others