Percepciones sobre las consecuencias sociales del estado del bienestar y su futuro (Perceptions on the social consequences and the future of welfare state)

Resumen: Las actitudes ciudadanas ante el estado del bienestar van a ser en el futuro motivo de gran interés debido a los proyectos de reforma que se prevee realizar. Los valores y los intereses personales son el conjunto de factores que influyen decisivamente en la opinión de los ciudadanos. Este trabajo pretende dilucidar en que medida los valores representados por la idea de igualdad, de autoridad y de mérito, la posición política y la percepción de los efectos del estado del bienestar permiten determinar la opinión de los individuos sobre la situación futura del sistema de pensiones.Abstract: Citizens’ attitudes to the welfare state will be in the future of great interest because of the draft reform envisaged. The values and interests personal are all factors that strongly influence in the opinion of citizens. This paper seeks to ascertain to what extent values represented by the idea of equality, authority and merit, political position and perceptions of the effects of state welfare for determining the views of individuals on the future status of the pension system

PRODUCT MIX OF THE SPANISH BANKING FIRMS: DO COMPETITION CLUBS EXIST?

The expansion and intensification of banking competition, which has occurred inSpain during the last ten years, has allowed banks and savings banks to define theircompetitive strategies with more freedom. This paper analyzes the similarities andthe differences in their product mix along with its time evolution. In particular, itattempts to identify the different kinds of firms and, on this ground, to analyze whethercompetition leads to the homogeneization (convergence) of product mixes betweenfirms or groups of firms (clubs). The empirical success is higher when specializationclubs are considered, finding increased heterogeneity within the banking system as awhole but increased homogeneity within certain clusters of banks and savings banks La expansión e intensificación de la competencia en el sector bancario ocurrida en España durante la última década ha permitido a bancos y cajas de ahorro definir sus estrategias competitivas con mayor libertad. Este artículo analiza las similitudes y diferencias en la especialización de las empresas bancarias y su evolución temporal. En particular, trata de identificar los distintos tipos de empresas y, a partir de ello, analizar si la competencia está condicionada o no por grupos (clubes) de competidores con especializaciones similares. Los resultados son superiores cuando se consideran clubes de especialización, obteniéndose heterogeneidad creciente para el conjunto del sistema bancario pero homogeneidad creciente dentro de ciertos grupos de bancos y cajas de ahorro.sector bancario, convergencia, especialización productiva banking, convergence, product mix

The determinants of international financial integration revisited: the role of networks and geographic neutrality

Over the last two decades, the degree of international financial integration has increased substantially, becoming an important area of research for many financial economists. This paper explores the determinants of the asymmetries in the international integration of banking systems. We consider an approach based on both network analysis and the concept of geographic neutrality. Our analysis focuses on the banking systems of 18 advanced economies from 1999 to 2005. Results indicate that banking integration should be assessed from the perspective of both inflows and outflows, given that they show different patterns for different countries. The parametric techniques point out the remarkable role of both geographic distance and trade integration. However, the most relevant results are yielded by nonparametric techniques, which we use due to the lack of well-established results on the determinants of trade in assets. These techniques reveal that the effect of the covariates on banking integration is not constant over the conditional distribution which (in practical terms) implies that the sign of the relationship varies across countries

Malone muere, o el cuestionamiento de la existencia

La presencia de este trabajo, junto a otras aportaciones de especialistas de sobrada acreditacion se justifica tan solo -además de la benevolencia y amistad de Ios organizadores- por mi profunda admiración hacia la producción beckettiana. Peso si debiera fundarme en algo mAs que en mi estatuto de lector lo haria en un convencimiento que no creo del todo disparatado. Puesto que no es Beckett un "literato" al uso (sino todo lo contrario: yaveremos que hastacierto punto se plantea la destruccidn de la literatura), tal vez no sena improcedente ofrecer una lectura no sujeta a los criterios de aproximaciones literarias o criticas en general al uso ("histerectomias hechas con paluslre", según nos dice, con desgarrado expresionismo, Beckett en "El mundo y el pantalón", Manchas en el silencio, p. 26). Asi, utilizando como no puede ser de otro modo, el texto de Beckett para subrayar problemas que sin duda me preocupan y que espero les preocupen a los lectores, articularé mi reflexión en dos momentos. Y antes de entrar, haciendo trampas, en ese cuestionamiento de la existencia que Mulone muere a mi juicio plantea, entraré en el cuestionamiento de la crítica a que nos obliga la aventura beckettiana

Nuevos datos de las Sierras de Orihuela y Callosa (Zona Interna Bética, Alicante, SE de España). Implicaciones en la controversia sobre el “Complejo Almágride”

In this paper, we present the results of the stratigraphic and structural study of the Orihuela and Callosa Mountains (Alicante province, SE Spain), belonging to the Internal Betic Zone. The terrains cropping out in this area had been assigned by previous authors to the Ballabona-Cucharón Complex, lately redefined as the Almágride Complex. New data afforded in this work lead us to propose a new stratigraphic succesions, structural division, and geodynamic evolution. We also assign both mountains ranges to the lower Alpujarride Complex, confirming that the Almágride Complex is not a singular element of the Betic Cordillera.En este trabajo presentamos los resultados del estudio estratigráfico y estructural de las sierras de Orihuela y Callosa (provincia de Alicante, SE de España), pertenecientes ambas a la Zona Interna Bética. Estas sierras fueron asignadas por autores precedentes al Complejo Ballabona-Cucharón, más tarde redefinido como Almágride. Los datos presentados en este trabajo nos llevan a proponer una nueva serie estratigráfica, división tectónica y evolución geodinámica del sector estudiado. Así mismo, asignamos las unidades reconocidas a la parte inferior del Complejo Alpujárride, confirmando que el Complejo Almágride no debe ser considerado como elemento singular de la Zona Interna Bética.This study was supported by the research projects BTE2003-01113 and CGL2006-08848, and by research groups GR00/222 y GR01-62

3D geometry and architecture of a normal fault zone in poorly lithified sediments: A trench study on a strand of the Baza Fault, central Betic Cordillera, south Spain

Successive excavation of 13 trenches of different orientations reveals the complexity of a normal fault zone in Pliocene-Pleistocene unconsolidated sediments on a strand of the Baza Fault, central Betic Cordillera, south Spain. These trenches and the excavation floor are interpreted and integrated to reconstruct the 3D geometry and internal architecture of the fault zone. The structure consists of two main fault strands: an eastern one with a few hundred metres throw and a western one with at least 15 m throw. These strands interact and gradually merge to the south, bounding a main deformation zone narrowing from ∼7 to 1 m along strike. Fault-bounded rock bodies, clay and sand smears, and clay injections define the structure. These features are highly variable in 3D. In the northern part of the outcrop, deformation is localized around the main strands, brittle in the west and more ductile to the east. As the strands and their fault zones increasingly interact, fault throw, rock deformation and maturity of the structure increase. Mechanical stratigraphy also controls the style of deformation. A realistic representation of this 4D picture of fault deformation is critical for modelling fluid flow in shallow to possibly deep, faulted sedimentary reservoirs.This research was founded by research group VIGROB053 (University of Alicante)