Academic literature on the topic 'Spain'

Globalization abates barriers and makes the world similar, but also leads countries to perform like companies seeking and competing for global capitals. In this competition the „nation brand‟ becomes a critical tool to stand out and attract any sort of foreign investments. In this research, the factors which affect the nation brand, presented in the Anholt´s hexagon model, will be tested through the combination of theory on nation branding and empirical data. The study analyzes how different organizations affect and promote the commercial image of Spain in Sweden. Up to seven entities susceptible to affect the brand Spain were analyzed; the ICEX, the economic and commercial office of Spain in Stockholm, the embassy of Spain in Stockholm, Invest in Spain, the Elcano Royal institute, the Hispanic-Swedish chamber of commerce in Madrid and the Swedish trade council in Madrid. The study also presents an outline of the current context of the brand Spain and its projection in Sweden, as well as an overview on the trade relationship between both countries. The individual commitment of most of the organizations investigated, under the guidance of the Ministry of foreign affairs and the Ministry of industry, tourism, and trade of Spain, appears as one of the main findings. Despite the limited scope of this investigation, the relative novelty of this field of study leaves room for further research in different directions, questioning those who claim that globalization threats local diversity.

The Western Mediterranean realm is considered as a region highly sensitive with regard to climate changes and landscape transformations. Within its semi arid and semi humid areas, even slight climatic changes but also human interventions may result in far-reaching consequences in respect of environment and ecological systems. Thus, research on landscape development has a high relevance in geosciences, especially in the light of current climate change research. It is a major concern to reveal regularities and patterns in past landscape evolution in order to provide a basis for the assessment of future developments. For the reconstruction of late Quaternary environmental conditions fluvial sediments play an important role as they almost uniquely reflect landscapes and landscape changes on a regional scale. This is due to the fact that fluvial dynamics and all enclosed processes are based on multi-causal relationships and a variety of factors like climatic conditions, vegetation development, human impact, or tectonic activity finds expression in fluvial dynamics. About 70 % of the Iberian Peninsula is influenced by moist Atlantic air masses, but in the whole area there is a considerable research gap concerning the exploration of fluvial archives. Taking this into account, this dissertation aims to systematically work out fluvial sediment successions of two river systems, namely the Jarama River in central Spain and the Guadalete River in southwestern Spain. For complementary considerations, first stratigraphic results from the middle to lower Guadalquivir River in southern Spain will be consulted. In a first step, the objective is to intensively study and document sediment profiles for the purpose of deriving a valuable composite profile for each river system. In a second step, the significance of these composite profiles regarding palaeoenvironmental conditions as well as changes will be examined. Beside the reaction of fluvial systems towards climatic changes, relationships with other influencing factors are a main issue. On the basis of a supra-regional comparison a possible coupling of fluvial geomorphic systems and large-scale climate fluctuations shall be analyzed. Furthermore, it is intended to address issues like system connectivity or varying response times and response durations. The bases for these considerations are abundant sedimentary profile records supported by electrical resistivity tomography and percussion drillings. Stratigraphic work includes the differentiation of sediment units, the identification of soil horizons, and the correlation of specific layers and horizons across different profile sections based on sedimentologic and pedogenetic characteristics. Subsequent soil-chemical and sedimentological laboratory analyses on certain key-profiles imply grain-size analyses, the measurement of organic carbon content, calcium carbonate content, pedogenic and total iron contents, as well as magnetic susceptibility. Laboratory analyses are used to strengthen results of field work and to differentiate between soils and soil sediments in ambiguous cases. The chronological resolution of the sediment successions will be provided by radiocarbon dating. The final aim is to work out a detailed fluvial sedimentation history for the late Quaternary. The precise characterization of the catchment areas, together with a comparison of the stratigraphic findings and secondary archive information from the literature, will enable the identification of relationships between fluvial dynamics and different influencing factors. In this dissertation, 36 profile sections have been worked out intensively. Furthermore, 13 percussion drillings were conducted in floodplain positions with insufficient exposure conditions. For the chronological frame 70 radiocarbon samples have been dated. The obtained results show a significant pattern of sedimentation periods and phases of stability associated with soil formation for each river system. The sedimentation history of the Guadalete and Guadalquivir Rivers could be reconstructed for the last 15 ka, while conclusions with regard to sedimentation dynamics of the Jarama River could be drawn for a period of 43 ka. Thanks to an abundance of available studies on other terrestrial archives with climatic or environmental relevance, it was possible to assess the influence of different parameters such as climate, vegetation, humankind, tectonics, and base-level changes on fluvial sedimentation dynamics. It emerged that, first and foremost, rapid climate changes had significant impact on the mobilization of sediments in the catchment area as well as their deposition in floodplain positions. On the other hand prolonged periods of climatic amelioration caused floodplain stability along with soil formation, as documented for the time spans between 13.3 and 12.7 ka, 7 and 5.1 ka, 2.8 and 2.3 ka, 1.4 and 1.2 ka, as well as 0.8 and 0.5 ka cal. BP in several river systems. Periods of increased sedimentation were initiated by phases of climatic aridification that affected fluvial systems through the weakening of the vegetation cover and the accentuation of the hydrological discharge regime. Corresponding patterns have been found for the time intervals between 8 and 7 ka, 5 and 3.8 ka, 2.2 and 1.5 ka, as well as around 1 ka and 0.4 ka cal. BP. The supra-regional effectiveness of the factor climate is contrasted by a strong regional individuality of the river catchments that is expressed by further, regionally limited phases of fluvial activity. Crucial to this development – apart from regional climate differences – are, inter alia, tectonic movements as evidenced for the Jarama River system in central Spain, or late Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level fluctuations that primarily affected fluvial dynamics along the lower course of the Guadalete River in southwestern Spain. Furthermore, it can be shown that variations in time and duration of fluvial system response are attributable to differing buffer capacities of river catchments towards external influences. The increase of human impact during the late Holocene apparently provoked a reinforcement of the effects of climatic impulses. There are clear evidences for the participation of humans in the mobilization of sediments; however, concerning the degree of influence it is hardly possible to differentiate between the factors humans and climate
Der westliche Mediterranraum gilt als landschaftlich und klimatisch hochsensible Region, für deren semiaride bis semihumide Gebiete bereits kleinere klimatische Änderungen, aber auch Eingriffe des Menschen, mit weitreichenden Folgen für Umwelt und ökologische Systeme verbunden sein können. Forschungen zum Landschaftswandel nehmen hier vor allem vor dem Hintergrund des derzeitigen Klimawandels einen hohen Stellenwert in den Geowissenschaften ein. Ein wichtiges Anliegen ist dabei, in früheren Landschaftswandeln Muster zu entdecken, welche als Grundlage für Bewertungen zukünftiger Veränderungen dienen können. Für die Rekonstruktion spätquartärer Umweltbedingungen kommt fluvialen Sedimenten eine besondere Rolle zu. Wie kein anderes Archiv spiegeln fluviale Sedimentabfolgen Landschaftszustände und -entwicklung auf regionaler Ebene wieder. Dies ist dem Umstand geschuldet, dass fluviale Dynamik mit allen inbegriffenen Prozessen auf polykausalen Zusammenhängen beruht und somit eine Vielzahl an Faktoren, wie klimatische Verhältnisse und Vegetationsentwicklung, menschliche Einflussnahme oder tektonische Aktivität Ausdruck in fluvialer Dynamik finden. Von feuchten atlantischen Luftmassen geprägte Gebiete nehmen etwa 70 % der Fläche der Iberischen Halbinsel ein, allerdings besteht hier eine erhebliche Forschungslücke im Bereich der Analyse fluvialer Archive. Diesem Umstand soll in vorliegender Dissertation in Form einer systematischen Aufarbeitung der fluvialen Sedimentabfolgen zweier Flusssysteme in Zentralspanien (Rio Jarama), sowie in SW-Spanien (Rio Guadalete) Rechnung getragen werden. Für ergänzende Betrachtungen werden dabei erste Befunde zur stratigraphischen Gliederung des Guadalquivir-Mittellaufes in S-Spanien herangezogen. Ziel der Arbeiten ist es zunächst über umfangreiche Aufnahmen und Dokumentationen von Sedimentprofilen ein belastbares Standardprofil für jedes Flusssystem zu erarbeiten und dieses hinsichtlich der Aussagekraft in Bezug auf Paläoumweltbedingungen und vor allem -wandeln zu prüfen. Neben der möglichen Reaktion fluvialer Systeme auf klimatische Änderungen, stehen dabei vor allem auch Beziehungsgeflechte zu anderen Einflussfaktoren im Vordergrund. Anhand eines überregionalen Vergleichs soll eine mögliche Kopplung fluvialmorphologischer Systeme an großräumige Klimafluktuationen untersucht werden, zudem soll weiteren Themenkomplexen, wie der Konnektivität verschiedener Systeme oder unterschiedlichen Reaktionszeiten und -geschwindigkeiten nachgegangen werden. Grundlage für diese Betrachtungen bilden dabei aus zahlreichen Geländeaufnahmen resultierende Profilaufnahmen, sowie Ergebnisse geoelektrischer Messungen und Bohrsondierungen. Stratigraphische Arbeiten belaufen sich zunächst auf die Untergliederung verschiedener Sedimenteinheiten, die Ausweisung von Bodenhorizonten, sowie die Korrelation einzelner Schichten und Horizonte über unterschiedliche Profile hinweg anhand charakteristischer sedimentologischer und pedogenetischer Merkmale. Nachfolgende bodenchemische und sedimentologische Laboruntersuchungen an ausgewählten Profilen sollen über die Bestimmung von Korngrößenverhältnissen, Gehalten an organischem Kohlenstoff, Kalk- und Eisengehalten, sowie der magnetischen Suszeptibilität die Geländebefunde stützen und in unklaren Fällen eine Unterscheidung von Böden und Bodensedimenten erleichtern. Die zeitliche Auflösung der Sedimentabfolgen soll über Radiokarbondatierungen realisiert werden, mit dem letztendlichen Ziel, eine detaillierte fluviale Sedimentationsgeschichte für das Spätquartär zu erarbeiten. In einem weiteren Schritt werden begleitend zu einer detaillierten Einzugsgebietscharakteristik die chronostratigraphischen Befunde einem intensiven Vergleich mit in der Literatur verfügbaren Studien an Sekundärarchiven zugeführt, um Beziehungsgeflechte zwischen fluvialer Dynamik und verschiedenen Einflussfaktoren aufzudecken. Im Rahmen dieser Dissertation konnten zunächst 36 Profilaufschlüsse detailliert bearbeitet und zudem 13 Rammkernsondierungen in Flussauenpositionen abgeteuft werden. Für den chronologischen Rahmen wurden 70 Radiokohlenstoffproben datiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen ein deutliches Muster von Sedimentationsphasen und Zeiten der Stabilität mit einhergehender Bodenbildung für jedes Flusseinzugsgebiet. Dabei konnte die Sedimentationsgeschichte der Flusssysteme Rio Guadalete und Rio Guadalquivir für die letzten 15.000 Jahre und des Rio Jarama für die letzten 43 ka rekonstruiert werden. Dank der Fülle an verfügbaren Studien an terrestrischen Vergleichsarchiven mit klima- und umweltrelevantem Bezug war es möglich, den Einfluss der unterschiedlichen Parameter Klima, Vegetation, Mensch und Tektonik, bzw. Erosionsbasis auf die fluviale Sedimentationsdynamik zu prüfen. So zeigte sich, dass vor allem rasche Klimaänderungen in der Lage waren die Mobilisierung von Sedimenten im Einzugsgebiet und deren Ablagerung in den Flussauen zu initiieren. Dahingegen bewirkten anhaltende klimatische Gunstphasen eine Stabilisierung mit einhergehender Bodenbildung, wie für die Zeiträume zwischen 13.3 und 12.7 ka, 7 und 5.1 ka, 2.8 und 2.3 ka, 1.4 und 1.2 ka, sowie 0.8 und 0.5 ka cal. BP für sämtliche Flusssysteme zu verzeichnen ist. Perioden verstärkter Sedimentation folgten in der Regel Phasen klimatischer Aridifizierung, welche über eine Schwächung der Vegetationsbedeckung und Akzentuierung des hydrologischen Abflussregimes in der Lage waren auf das fluviale System Einfluss zu nehmen. Entsprechende Muster konnten für die Zeiträume zwischen 8 und 7 ka, 5 und 3.8 ka, 2.2 und 1.5 ka, sowie um 1 ka als auch 0.4 ka cal. BP dokumentiert werden. Dem überregional wirksamen Einfluss des Faktors Klima steht jedoch eine starke landschaftsgeschichtliche Individualität der verschiedenen Regionen gegenüber, welche in weiteren, regional begrenzten Phasen fluvialer Aktivität zum Ausdruck kommt. Ausschlaggebend sind hier neben der Ausbildung regionaler Klimaunterschiede unter Anderem tektonische Verstellungen, welche für das in Zentralspanien gelegene System des Rio Jarama belegt werden konnten, oder spätpleistozäne und holozäne Meeresspiegelschwankungen, welche sich vor allem auf die fluviale Dynamik im Unterlauf des in SW-Spanien gelegenen Rio Guadalete auswirkten. Desweiteren können Unterschiede in Reaktionsdauer und -geschwindigkeit fluvialer Systeme mit variierendem Puffervermögen der Flusseinzugsgebiete gegenüber äußeren Einflüssen erklärt werden. Das intensivierte Wirken des Menschen im Spätholozän führte allem Anschein nach zu einer Verstärkung der Wirkung klimatischer Impulse, wobei sich klare Evidenzen für eine Beteiligung des Menschen an der Sedimentmobilisierung erkennen lassen, der Umfang des Einflusses des Menschen aber in der Regel nicht klar von dem des Klimas zu trennen ist

Declining fertility in developed countries along with rising number of immigrants and different fertility behavior exhibited by the immigrants make the immigrants’ fertility an interesting topic in field of demography. However most of the studies on immigrants’ fertility consider the female immigrants as their subject on the assumption that they represent the immigrants’ fertility. This study took another perspective and tries to study male immigrants’ fertility. Spanish Immigrants’ Survey 2007 was used to see how the different migration related factors affect the male immigrants’ fertility. Poisson regression was applied on a sample of 3797 childless males who are 16 or older. This study found tentative support to selection hypothesis but no clear support to adaptation hypothesis on male fertility behaviors. There exist differences in the fertility between male immigrants from different regions. Effect of education, number of parent’s siblings and mother language on male immigrants’ fertility was also analyzed.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-92).
The Spanish public pension system is currently based on the pay as you go (PA YOO) principle. This thesis examines the current structure of this public system and its financial viability in the face of expected demographic changes. First, demographic and macroeconomic models were created extending out to 2050 and, based on them, the finances of the system were estimated assuming that the current regulations would remain largely unchanged. The simulations indicate that the system will show small surpluses for the next years followed by an alarming deterioration beyond 2020, mainly driven by demographic factors such as increasing life expectancy and the reduction in fertility rate observed in the last two decades. The baseline demographic and macroeconomic scenario results in a projected deficit of about 7% of GDP by 2045. This outlook includes a reduction of unemployment and an increase in labor force participation within reasonable limits. It is also shown that high immigration, fertility and productivity growth, again, within reasonable limits, while improving the financial outlook, do not resolve the issue. Without significant reforms, the system will be faced with a reduction in benefits and/or an increase in the payroll-tax by the second quarter of this century. The model is further used to test the effectiveness of potential reforms. We conclude that a permanent solution could be supported on three pillars: 1. The creation of a Pension Fund with the surpluses of the PAYOO system and a creative investment policy such as that recommended by Modigliani et al. 2. The contribution of the prospective surpluses from the unemployment system (INEM) to the fund during a transitory period. 3. Reforms in the pension calculating procedures that will foster participation in the labor force and eliminate some of the distortions introduced by the current system. These reforms would maintain financial viability without having to raise the payroll-tax. Furthermore, the tax could be reduced gradually beyond 2045. Additionally, this reform would combine advantages from funded pension systems, such as deepening of the capital stock and consolidation of the financial markets, with those of PAYOO schemes, such as their redistributive aspects and "defined benefit" character.
by Pedro Sainz de Baranda.
M.B.A.

The International Health Regulations (2005) are legally binding on 196 States Parties, Including all WHO Member States. The IHR aims to keep the world informed about public health risks, through committing all signatories to cooperate together in combating any future “illness or medical condition, irrespective of origin or source, that presents or could present significant harm to humans.” Under IHR, countries agreed to strengthen their public health capacities and notify the WHO of any such illness in their populations. The WHO would be the centralized body for all countries facing a health threat, with the power to declare a “public health emergency of international concern,” issue recommendations, and work with countries to tackle a crisis. Although, with the sudden and rapid spread of COVID-19 in the world, many countries varied in implementing the WHO guidelines and health recommendations. While some countries followed the WHO guidelines, others imposed travel restrictions against the WHO’s recommendations. Some refused to share their data with the organization. Others banned the export of medical equipment, even in the face of global shortages. The UN Compliance Research group will focus during the current cycle on analyzing the compliance of the WHO member states to the organizations guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using unique firm-level data, we analyze the characteristics of services exporters in one of world's most important services traders: Spain. Our paper shows that only a small percentage of firms participate in services export; moreover, exports represent a small share of total turnover for traders. We also find that exporters have a premium over non-exporters in size, sales, labor productivity and differentiation level. These variables also play an important role in determining firms' participation in the export market and in firms' export intensity. Our results show that exporters where already more productive than other firms before starting to export. We do not find evidence that exporting increases firms' productivity.