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Sponsoring culture is a long-term profit-generating investment that public policy makers can achieve by means of Pigouvian subsidy or tax schemes. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the three VAT reforms implemented between 2012 and 2018 (one tax raise reform and two tax cut reforms) in the cultural sector in Spain. We first provide visual evidence and empirical estimates of the tax shifting and the distribution of the VAT burden between consumers and producers. We then use a regression discontinuity design to assess the causal effects of these VAT reforms on performing acts and cinema consumption (both in the extensive and the intensive margin). Several interesting findings arise from our results. First, we find that producers only passed through 45% of the VAT cut to consumer prices. Second, the effect of the 2017 VAT reduction on performing arts slightly increased the number of households consuming these cultural services, whereas the 2018 tax cut on cinema had no significant effect in the number of moviegoers (extensive margin). Third, the cultural spending per household conditional on participation (intensive margin) increased after the two VAT rate reductions. Finally, we test for asymmetries in pass-through with respect to the 2012 tax raise and we find (i) no evidence of prices responding more strongly to increases than to decreases in VAT, (ii) a symmetric response of the number of households consuming these cultural services, and (iii) an asymmetric response of the average cultural spending conditional on participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries worldwide have set national targets for energy production from renewable sources. Yet, while many governments are committed to more renewable energy, obtaining permission to site installations is becoming increasingly difficult. With large tracts of land for renewables becoming intensely contested, countries seeking to meet their renewables targets are directing attention also towards tapping the potential in the urban environment through smaller-scale facilities. These entail other challenges, and countries are seeking ways to overcome them. The focus of this paper is on one, still evolving, type of renewable energy technology: small-scale wind turbines (SSWT). The paper presents a review of current but limited international academic knowledge on the land-regulation aspects of siting SSWT in countries that already have experience with such installations, including the USA, UK and New Zealand. The paper also reports on a comparative analysis of the land-related regulations and practices in two selected Mediterranean jurisdictions – Spain (Catalonia) and Israel. The approach of this study is exploratory, relying on analysis of legal and policy documents complemented by field work through in-depth interviews with key-stakeholders in both jurisdictions. The overall aim of this study is to examine different approaches of planning systems to new technologies. The findings show that despite their shared objective factors, the two jurisdictions have adopted almost opposite approach to regulating SSWTs. The findings, therefore, suggest that the incorporation of an unknown technology within the city requires a change of mindset both among the officials and among the city residents. A more effective regulatory framework might therefore entails a combination of strategic thinking, an experimental approach and the capacity to learn from cross-national comparative experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assets under management involved in socially responsible investing almost trebled from 2007 to 2011 in Europe, led by pension funds. Such growth has encouraged the implementation of socially responsible activities by companies, which have improved their cleaner production methods in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, total water used, energy consumption and waste generated, among others. Integrating environmental, social and governance policies for cleaner production into the investment strategy of pension plans could increase their cost deriving from the screening process and/or increase the benefits, because socially responsible companies in which pension funds invest might achieve a better financial performance than traditional companies, which could in turn affect pension plans' financial performance. For this reason, the aim of this paper is two-fold: firstly, to examine the financial performance of Spanish pension plans compared to market benchmarks taking into account the category to which they belong, and the socially responsible business strategy implemented by the manager; and secondly, to analyze whether differences in financial performance exist between solidarity pension plans, ethical pension plans and traditional pension plans. To do this, we have a sample of 651 individual system pension plans. Using these sample data, we implement the robust random effects panel data methodology. The results show that ethical pension plans, which invest in companies that improve their cleaner production methods, achieve a similar financial performance to conventional pension plans, while solidarity pension plans significantly outperform conventional pension plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Energy efficiency first' is one of the key principles of the Energy Union, mainly due to it being the most cost effective way to reduce emissions, improving energy security, enhancing competitiveness and making energy consumption more affordable for all consumers. In light of the revised EU Energy Efficiency Directive, this paper discusses new developments brought by the EU together with the national case studies of Slovenia and Spain. Given that the paper has a specific focus on the industrial sector, it discusses the selected measures of the Energy Efficiency Directive, such as defined in Articles 7, 8, and 14, which are the most relevant to this sector. The paper also explores the newly issued integrated national energy and climate plans together with national measures and policies that support energy efficiency in industry, including the quantification of achieved and forecast energy savings in these two EU Member States. • The revised EU Energy Efficiency Directive is the key driver of change in Member States. • More ambitious energy efficiency targets are projected in Slovenia and Spain for 2030. • The integrated National Energy and Climate plans inspired further national developments. • Both countries committed to continue their national measures/schemes on energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the last two decades, the rise in opioid prescription has worsened health outcomes worldwide, increasing both levels of abuse and mortality rates. In order to reduce the scale of this public health problem, new policies have been implemented in many countries. In 2012, Spain adopted new legislation on opioid prescription (the ROE law), which meant that practitioners no longer needed to obtain extra authorisation in order to prescribe strong opioids. The objective of the paper is to assess the impact of this law on opioid use and abuse in Catalonia, Spain.Methods: We established two measures of the use of strong and weak opioids: DDDs, and abuse. We used benzodiazepines and antidepressants as controls, and adjusted for age, sex, drug co-payment level, death or near death, cancer diagnosis, morbidity group, and type of prescription. The data were obtained from administrative and dispensing drug databases in a population of 7.5 million inhabitants. We estimated two-way fixed effects using difference in difference models.Results: The ROE law impacted reducing the monthly use of strong opioids by 0.903 DDDs, representing a 3.15% decrease in the mean monthly use of strong opioids. However, abuse rose 1.86 times compared with the average pre-ROE value, which represents an increase of 11,190 months of opioid abuse (i.e., an 11.33% of all monthly opioids use).Conclusion: The abolition of the duplicate prescription programme for strong opioids led to a reduction in the average monthly use of strong opioids, but an increase in abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A methodology to assess energy flexibility of building clusters in a GIS framework. • Building clusters become energy prosumer by deep renovation and renewable energies. • It aims to integrate a wider spatial decision tool for environmental public policy. • Comfort thermal indexes quantify energy flexibility to measure peak load reduction. • Cluster design approach may help reduce investment costs and reach cost optimality. Natural resource depletion, global warming and pollution pose substantial threats in prioritizing environmental policy, both for private organizations and for governments. Half the EU building stock is prior to energy efficiency standards, thus making it an urgent challenge for the EU to aim at decarbonized cities by 2050. Urban energy retrofitting at cluster level represents a major opportunity, as its current rate is lower than an annual 1%, 3% being the EU desirable rate. This paper presents a bottom-up methodology to assess energy flexibility of building clusters within a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework, applied on a district scale. Energy performance certificates and GIS-based data permit diagnosis and neighborhood selection. The methodology evaluates building cluster energy flexibility via energy demand reduction and PV production. The results show the building cluster hourly load profile for heating and cooling, and thermal comfort indexes. It is expected that this GIS-based methodology will become part of a wider spatial decision support tool for environmental public policies contributing to building stock transformation, from energy consumer to prosumer through deep renovation and renewable energy use. Finally, this methodology is adaptable to other climates, particularly within Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Traffic accidents and economic activity in Spain is analyzed for 1975:01 - 2016:12. • Asymmetric cyclical behavior of accident and injuries is found. • Mandatory seatbelts use has led to a reduction of all accidents rates since 1992. • The penalty points system introduced in July 2006 has only had temporary effects. • A Composite Leading Indicator is used for real time forecasting of accident rates. This paper analyzes the relationship between road traffic accidents and real economic activity in Spain, using data on accidents, fatalities and injuries from January 1975 to December 2016. Our results show the historical asymmetric cyclical behavior of traffic accidents variables. This relationship is more evident for accidents and injuries, while fatalities have shown a different pattern since 2002. Besides using aggregate data, we have analyzed urban and nonurban accidents separately. We analyze the effect of economic variables, public policy interventions and other potential factors affecting traffic series. Regarding policy interventions, we confirm a permanent reduction in all accident rates associated with the mandatory use of seatbelts on car passengers since 1992. However, the penalty points system introduced in July 2006 has only had temporary effects. We have also shown the effect of economic variables such as Industrial Production Index, gasoline and diesel consumption and registration of new vehicles and, as a novelty, the benefits of using the composite coincident and leading indicators of the Spanish economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]