Classical models of urban population density. The case of Barcelona Metropolitan Area

In this paper, we study the classical functional forms density-distance and its relation with the suburbanization for the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The investigation of population concentration will be based on a mesure of the population density gradients derived from the classical models of urban population density. The monocentric urban density analysis has received considerable attention in urban geography and regional science as an empirical issue as well as from a theorical standpoint. The classic study by Colin Clark (1951), followed by the work of Muth (1969) and Mills (1970, 1972), has led to an extensive body of literature dealing with empirical implementations for a wide range of metropolitan areas and cities, in different countries and moments of time. In this work we analize the classical econometric models of urban density. Some of them have been used in studies about the traffic planning and some others in theoretical models on housing market. Quantitative geography has also attempted to model the urban population density. The functions have been estimated from the data sets of Barcelona Metropolitan Area (for six periods of time, 1975-1998) and eleven subcenters whose population ranges from 50.000 to over 200.000 (for one period, 1991). The data are taken from the municipality and census tract area and population data from the Census of Population

An analysis of inflation rates in the european union using wavelets: strong evidence against unit roots

In many fields of economic analysis the order of integration of some economic magnitudes is of particular interest. Among other aspects, the order of integration determines the degree of persistence of that magnitude. The rate of inflation is a very interesting example because many contradictory empirical results on the persistence of inflation rates can be found in the literature. Moreless, the persistence of inflation rates is of particular interest as much for the macro economy as for the taking of political decisions. Recently, Hassler and Wolters (1995) argue that these contradictions may be due to the fact that either process I(0) or I(1) are considered. In this paper we assume inflation rates in European Union countries may in fact be fractionally integrated. Given this assumption, we obtain estimations of the order of integration by means a method based on wavelets coefficients. Finally, results obtained allow reject the unit root hypothesis on inflation rates. It means that a random shock on the rate of inflation in these countries has transitory effects that gradually diminish with the passage of time, that this, said shock hasnt a permanent effect on future values of inflation rates.fractional integration, inflation rates, long memory

El compromís cívic i intel·lectual d'Armand Quintana explicat per ell mateix

L’escriptor Armand Quintana i Panedas (Manlleu, 1921 – Vic, 2005) al llarg de la seva vida va desenvolupar una dilatada i extensa trajectòria cultural que fins ara ha estat poc estudiada. A partir de la transcripció fragmentària de l’arxiu sonor Autobiografia i missatge pòstum d’Armand Quintana i Panedas, conservat al fons Fonoteca Històrica Jaume Font de l’Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya, aquest treball analitza la trajectòria de l’autor i, entre d’altres coses, el presenta com a col·laborador actiu de la revista Inquietud (1955-1966), com a professor de català i agitador social i com a membre fundador del Cineclub de Vic, de la revista infantil i juvenil Cavall Fort i de la Delegació d’Òmnium Cultural a Osona.The writer Armand Quintana Panedas (1921- 2005) throughout his life developed a long and extensive cultural trajectory that until now has drawn no scholarly attention. From the transcript of the audio Autobiografia i missatge pòstum d’Armand Quintana i Panedas, kept in the Fonoteca Històrica Jaume Font of the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya, this paper wants to bring to light the literary career of the author and present him as an active collaborator of the magazine Inquietud (1955- 1966), as a teacher of Catalan language, as a social activist, as well as a founding member of the film club of Vic, of the journal for young children Cavall Fort and of the Delegation of Òmnium Cultural in Osona

Macroeconomic implications of EMU at the regional level

With no doubt, the main cost of joining a currency area is the loss of monetary policy instruments at a national level (e.g. the exchange rate) as stabilisation mechanisms against macroeconomic disturbances that only affect one country of the area or affect them in different manners. As this kind of macroeconomic disturbances, known as “asymmetric shocks”, cannot be dealt by a common monetary policy, alternative adjustment mechanisms are needed to achieve macroeconomic stabilisation. However, the evidence for Europe has shown that European countries have a lower response capacity than other currency areas. For this reason, several studies have examined to what extent asymmetric shocks have been relevant in Europe in the past, mainly at a national level. However, the regional dimension is relevant for this analysis. Not all the regions are equally affected by the problem of asymmetric shocks. The consideration of the fact that European regions did not have sovereignty to apply their own autonomous policy implies that, inside every national state, there could have been regions adversely affected by the national single monetary policy in presence of asymmetric shocks. In this sense, the consideration of the effects of taking part in the Economic and Monetary Union necessarily involves to consider the relative situation of every region inside their own country. If the relationships between every region and the European aggregates are as intense as the relationships with the previous national aggregate, the relative position of the region in this new macroeconomic framework will be similar to the previous one. In this paper, we analyse macroeconomic effects of EMU at a regional level using the Eurostat Regio database. The results show that there are big differences among regions: there will be winners and losers.

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Enhancing knowledge management in online collaborative learning

This study aims to explore two crucial aspects of collaborative work and learning: on the one hand, the importance of enabling collaborative learning applications to capture and structure the information generated by group activity and, on the other hand, to extract the relevant knowledge in order to provide learners and tutors with efficient awareness, feedback and support as regards group performance and collaboration. To this end, in this paper we first propose a conceptual model for data analysis and management that identifies and classifies the many kinds of indicators that describe collaboration and learning into high-level aspects of collaboration. Then, we provide a computational platform that, at a first step, collects and classifies both the event information generated asynchronously from the users' actions and the labeled dialogues from the synchronous collaboration according to these indicators. This information is then analyzed in next steps to eventually extract and present to participants the relevant knowledge about the collaboration. The ultimate aim of this platform is to efficiently embed information and knowledge into collaborative learning applications. We eventually suggest a generalization of our approach to be used in diverse collaborative learning situations and domains

Ownership structure and innovation: Is there a real link

This work focuses on the study of the relationship between ownership and control structure of the company and its innovative activity. Its aim consists of analysing the role that may be played by determinants within the company related to ownership structure when the decision to incur research and development activities is taken as well as on the output of this innovative process. Among these determinants we may think of issues such as who owns the firm and how the control of decision-making is distributed, the nature of this control and the level of concentration of ownership, among others. The study is carried out for the year 2001 using a representative sample of Spanish manufacturing industries.ownership and control structure, agency theory, research and development