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This paper introduces inference based stochastic dominance tools to decompose the difference between economic welfare and poverty among countries or regions into inequality effect and income effect. To this aim, the variances and covariances matrix of the generalized Lorenz curve used in that decomposition are developed. The methodology is applied to Spain and its regions for the period 2003-2007. The conclusion is that in some regions, especially AndalucIa and Madrid, the income distribution is clearly anti-poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of the minimum wages on the employment of immigrants in Spain. This is a novel research that takes into consideration two important facts. First, the considerable increase in the immigrant population occurred in Spain during the last decade and, second, the extraordinary rise in the minimum wage that has been taking place since 2004. An important result is the negative sensitivity of immigrant employment to changes in the minimum wage. Nevertheless, these effects differ according to the immigrants' sex and their geographical origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the influence of economic remoteness in the explanation of per capita GDP disparities across Spanish provinces. In order to do so, we regress provincial per capita GDP on market access and a set of control variables using OLS and IV estimates. The results of our estimations show that market access is statistically significant and quantitatively important in the explanation of the spatial income structure observed across the Spanish provinces. Our results also show that there are at least three channels through which market access might be affecting Spanish per capita GDP figures: human capital, productive capital and the size of R&D activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the case of Spain in the period from 1993 to 2005, when intense reforms in several industries took place in the country. We observe an increase in collusion and trust practices in liberalized industries, what requires an increase in the resources dedicated to antitrust policy. An econometric estimation demonstrates the influence that certain regulatory dimensions have on antitrust activity. Deregulation has an additional positive effect on antitrust activity. We also observe a learning effect in industries due to previous sanctions. Finally, we find a complementarity effect of regulatory agencies on the antitrust policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the determinants of investment decisions on Spanish money market funds. It belongs, therefore, to the growing area of behavioural finance. The study offers a double perspective because it analyses both money and investor flows. The empirical evidence shows that past return is the key factor in fund purchase decisions; whereas risk loses the influence shown in equity funds. Higher fees restrain inflows though their negative impact softens as fees increase. Decision variables such as fund size, management company size or the flow into the category are also included in our analysis. In view of the analysis of different subsamples, we conclude that it is important to distinguish market states and domestic fund industries considering their specific features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this paper is to analyze the demand for alcoholic beverages among Spanish young males and females. To that end, we develop an empirical model which combines elements from the Theory of Two-Stage Budgeting and the Theory of Addiction in a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System. We carry out the estimations with data mainly drawn from the Spanish National Survey on Drug Use in the School Population (2000). As a main result we highlight that lower purchasing power reduces the budget share allocated to buy alcoholic beverages, so fiscal policies will reduce the alcohol demand among teenagers. There is also empirical evidence that wine behaves as ordinary goods for women, whereas beer and spirits are luxury goods for men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing prices in Spain have increased sharply since 1999, increasing the financial effort households need to make to buy a house. Inflation data, based on the HIPC (Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices), fell to very low values during this period. Since the composition of the HIPC does not include housing prices, a problematic question arises: Are we measuring inflation correctly? In this paper, we offer a methodological strategy to correct inflation measurement bias due to how housing is treated in the HIPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conclusions regarding the evolution of inequality in countries or regions are frequently deduced from variations in the point estimations of the usual indicators, without considering the impact of sampling errors on the statistical significance of the changes detected. In this paper, we analyze the influence of different inference methods (asymptotic and bootstrap) on the Gini coefficient in detecting the inter-annual variations of this indicator. With this aim, we first carry out a simulation experiment in order to evaluate the behaviour of different methodologies once we know the real value of the population parameters. Secondly, we present a sensitivity study, applied to data in the Spanish case, in order to analyze the influence of the inference technique on the definition of trends in the behaviour of the Gini coefficient, using data from the European Community Household Panel for the period 1993-2000. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, changes in the Spanish personal in come distribution along the period 1973-2000 are studied using the parameter estimations of the Dagum model for the state and its autonomous communities. With this aim, in the first place, a theoretical approach to the parameters of Dagum model is developed to obtain a new characterization of each one of them, in relation to its economic interpretation. Available data from Spanish Household Budgets Basic Surveys and European Union Household Panel are used in order to adjust personal income distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]