Technocracy inside the rule of law : challenges in the foundations of legal norms

Technocracy is usually opposed to democracy. Here, another perspective is taken: technocracy is countered with the rule of law. In trying to understand the contemporary dynamics of the rule of law, two main types of legal systems (in a broad sense) have to be distinguished: firstly, the legal norm, studied by the science of law; secondly, the scientific laws (which includes the legalities of the different sciences and communities). They both contain normative prescriptions. But their differ in their subjects‘ source: while legal norms are the will’s expression of the normative authority, technical prescriptions can be derived from scientific laws, which are grounded over the commonly supposed objectivity of the scientific knowledge about reality. They both impose sanctions too, but in the legal norm they refer to what is established by the norm itself, while in the scientific legality they consist in the reward or the punishment derived from the efficacy or inefficacy to reach the end pursued by the action. The way of legitimation also differs: while legal norms have to have followed the formal procedures and must not have contravened any fundamental right, technical norms‘ validity depend on its theoretical foundations or on its efficacy. Nowadays, scientific knowledge has become and important feature in policy-making. Contradictions can arise between these legal systems. These conflicts are specially grave when the recognition or exercise of fundamental rights is instrumentally used, or when they are violated in order to increase the policies‘ efficacy. A political system is technocratic, when, in case of contradiction, the scientific law finally prevails

Work-life balance in Spanish Firms: Still on the to-do list

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the perception of institutional pressures on employers to improve work-life balance, and to classify organizations according to those perceptions. Using survey data from 146 Spanish private firms in two different industries, the cluster analysis clearly shows the existence of three different groups of companies according to their perception of coercive, mimetic and normative pressures, and the different characteristics of the groups. The diffusion of work-life practices should have begun in Spain, but there is still a long way to go over.Work-life balance, Institutional pressures, Cluster analysis

Is knowledge exchange and combination always useful for innovation?

Using the resource-based view, this paper aims to provide a better understanding of the effect of knowledge on innovation. With this general aim in mind, we relate knowledge’s nature (tacit vs. explicit) and the process (e.g., knowledge exchange and combination) to innovation. Using a sample of 105 marketing and 176 R&D managers from 105 innovative firms, we find a positive linear effect of tacit knowledge on innovation and a U-shaped relationship between knowledge exchange and combination and innovation. We also find an enhancing effect of tacit knowledge on the first part of the curvilinear relationship between knowledge exchange and combination and innovation.: R&D, patents, knowledge, inventions

How does knowledge matter patenting inventions?

While there is robust empirical evidence that firm patenting is positively associated with various measures of overall performance and competitiveness, less is known about what determines the patenting choice. For this reason, this paper examines whether R&D expenditure and the type of knowledge used in the invention determine the decision to patent. With this aim, we use a sample of firms and the European Patent Office to analyse how the combination of R&D expenditure and knowledge codifiability, observability and simplicity influences the patent decision. Our results contribute to the literature and assist R&D managers by showing that both R&D and codified knowledge have a positive impact on the number of inventions patented by a firm, while observable knowledge has a negative impact on patents. Furthermore, we find that the effect of R&D expenditure on the propensity to patent inventions is negatively moderated by knowledge observability and simplicity.: R&D, patents, knowledge, invent

Among institutional racism and the struggle against ethnic and racial discrimination

El objetivo de este artículo es aportar algunas reflexiones en torno a los motivos que podrían subyacer en la ineficacia de las medidas adoptadas por los gobiernos contra la discriminación racial y étnica. Con ese objetivo, la atención se dirige hacia las políticas de inmigración. La justificación para la elección de este enfoque radica en que esas políticas se sustentan sobre criterios discriminatorios entre personas, fundamentalmente según la nacionalidad. Surge, así, una contradicción: se prohíbe ciertas formas de discriminación entre personas, una de las cuales sí que puede ejercerla el estado de forma legítima. Las políticas contra la xenofobia y el racismo se podrían interpretar, desde este enfoque, como medidas dirigidas a gestionar ese monopolio en el derecho a discriminar.The aim of this article is to set out some thoughts around the reasons that may underlie in the ineffectiveness of the measures adopted by the Governments against ethnic and racial discrimination. With this purpose in mind, the attention is directed towards immigration policies. The reason to this choice is that the backgrounds of those policies are discriminatory, as long as they are based on nationality to distinguish between individuals. Due to that, one contradiction arises: despite some forms of discriminatory behavior are forbidden to individuals, one of those forms is allowed to the state. From this viewpoint, anti-discriminatory policies can be understood as measures directed to manage that monopoly on the right to discriminate

Estrategias y actitudes del poder local ante la privatización de las tierras concejiles en la España interior (Ciudad Real, 1855-1910)

El interés por la cuestión de las tierras comunales y por la actitud de la sociedad rural y de sus élites ante el proceso desamortizador se ha incrementado en los últimos años. Mucho se ha avanzado en lo sucedido en diferentes lugares de España, pero sabemos muy poco sobre el caso concreto de la España interior. En este trabajo se pretende cubrir ese vacío historiográfico a partir del estudio concreto de lo acaecido en la provincia de Ciudad Real, un territorio con un importante patrimonio comunal, que desapareció casi al completo por el proceso desamortizador. El trabajo se centra en estudiar las actitudes y estrategias del poder local frente a la venta de la tierra municipal, a partir de un amplio abanico de fuentes, la mayoría inéditas. Se ha puesto de relieve que no existió un consenso del poder local, que el abanico de actuaciones fue muy variable y abarcó desde posiciones prodesamortizadoras entre las élites locales más poderosas hasta actitudes de resistencia en las localidades de mediano o pequeño tamaño. El resultado final ha sido el descubrimiento de un modelo que difiere en buena medida de lo ocurrido en otros lugares de España.Interest in the issue of communal land and the attitude of rural society and its elites to the disentailment process has increased in recent years. Much progress has been made in learning about what happened in various parts of Spain, but we know very little about the specific case of the interior. This paper aims to fill this historiographical gap through an examination of what happened in the province of Ciudad Real, a territory with important communal assets that virtually disappeared due to the disentailment process. Based on a wide range of sources that are mostly unpublished, this study focuses on the attitudes and strategies of local authorities in relation to the sale of municipal land. The findings indicate that there was no consensus among the local authorities; their range of actions was extremely variable and ranged from positions in favour of disentailment among the most powerful local elites to an attitude of resistance among mid to small-sized towns. The end result of this research offers a model that differs significantly from what happened in other parts of Spain

Presiones institucionales para la adopción y uso de medidas de conciliación de la vida profesional y personal. Papel moderador de la presencia de mujeres en la organización.

Este trabajo pretende explorar las presiones institucionales que reciben las empresas para favorecer la conciliación de la vida profesional y personal de sus trabajadores, y su efecto sobre la adopción de medidas y su uso real por parte de los empleados. La presencia de trabajadoras y directivas en la organización se analizan como moderadoras de la relación entre presiones coercitivas, miméticas y normativas y la adopción y uso de las medidas de conciliación. Los resultados revelan que la presión normativa particular que la empresa percibe influye significativamente tanto sobre la adopción como en el uso de medidas de conciliación. Si bien la proporción de trabajadoras no resulta significativa, la presencia de directivas modera la relación entre la presión mimética y el nivel de adopción, y entre la presión coercitiva y la presión mimética y el uso efectivo de medidas de conciliación.Conciliación de la vida profesional y personal; Presiones institucionales; Género

Setting the relationship between human-centered approaches and users? Digital well-being: A review

With the advancement of technology and advent of the new digital era, the society is getting increasingly exposed to novel technologies, digital platforms, or smart devices. This reality opens a wide range of questions about the benefits and challenges of technology and its impact on humans. In this context, the present study investigates the relationship between human-centered approaches and their application to achieve users' digital well-being, as well as explores whether marketing and business industry are sufficiently considering human-centered approaches in their implementation of practices that care for users' digital wellbeing. To this end, we conduct a systematic literature review. The exploratory results confirm that the implementation of human-centered approaches makes it possible to achieve a greater user well-being in the marketing and management sector. Additionally, we also identify and dis-cuss seven more relevant areas. Our review concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for further research on the use of human-centric and digital well-being concepts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reliability Improvement in III-V Concentrator Solar Cells by Means of Perimeter Protection

This paper presents the evolution in the strategy to assess the reliability of III-V solar cells and a new thermal ageing test carried out over GaAs single junction solar cells at three different temperatures (130, 150 and 170° C). The perimeter of the solar cells has been protected with silicone, which seems to be an effective way of enhancing the reliability of the solar cells. A preliminary analysis of the results indicates a mean time to failure (MTTF) one order of magnitude larger than the one obtained in a previous thermal test with the perimeter uncoated

Making the invisible visible: Peralada, a case study

Las diferencias entre municipios rurales y urbanos definen escenarios diferentes donde las personas mayores se enfrentan a necesidades también diferentes. En general, la falta de estudios sobre el envejecimiento entendido como un reto y que, además, asuman la variabilidad del proceso, pone al descubierto la necesidad particular de investigaciones que busquen comprender cómo viven los mayores en entornos como el rural. Este artículo describe nuestra experiencia investigadora en un municipio de la Comarca del Alt Empordà, Cataluña, España. El objetivo principal era entender a las personas mayores establecidas en entornos rurales a través de las situaciones de su vida cotidiana, identificar sus necesidades, contribuir a su autonomía funcional y elaborar propuestas de intervención. La muestra la formaron las 223 personas mayores residentes en el municipio de Peralada y Vilanova de la Muga. Los datos se recogieron utilizando los cuestionarios de Barber, Pfeifer y Barthel, y se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad. Los resultados proporcionan cinco claves relevantes al plantear intervenciones en el contexto rural. Básicamente, la intervención profesional en este ámbito debe ir orientada a mantener y fortalecer las redes de apoyo naturales funcionales en el territorio.Differences between rural and urban social environment define two different settings, each challenging elderly people with different needs. In general the lack of research approaching aging as a challenge and assuming the variability of the process reveals the particular need of studies focused on understanding how aging people live in rural contexts. This article describes our research experience in a rural municipality of Alt Empordà, Catalonia, Spain. Our main objectives were to understand aging people established in rural environments and situated in their daily life contexts, identify their needs, contribute to their functional autonomy and elaborate intervention proposals. Sample was formed by 223 aging people. Data were collected using a depth interview and Barber, Pfeiffer and Barthel questionnaires. Our results provide five relevant clues, useful when planning intervention in rural contexts. Basically professional intervention must be addressed to maintain/strength natural social networks functional on the territory