What Happened to Discrete Chaos,the Quenouille Process,and the Sharp Markov Property? Some History of Stochastic Point Processes

The use of properties of a Poisson process to study the randomness of stars is traced back to a 1767 paper. The process was used and rediscovered many times, and we mention some of the early scientific areas. The name Poisson process was first used in print in 1940, and we believe the term was coined in the corridors of Stockholm University some time between 1936 and 1939. We follow the early developments of doubly stochastic processes and cluster processes, and describe different efforts to apply the Markov property to point processes.     

Social Sciences and Urban Studies: Goodbye to Paradigms?

The development of urban studies during the 1960s and 1970s was an offshoot of mainstream social sciences which, at least in Latin America, were formulated from a critical standpoint based largely on a renovated Marxism and the rise of the structuralisms. Now that this framework's apparently solid base has come under question in the so‐called ‘paradigm crisis', what is the outlook for urban studies and, in general, for the critical social sciences? This article poses a series of ideas which hopefully will contribute to a discussion on these and other aspects of a theoretical debate which cannot be ignored by urban researchers.     

What Role for Social Science in the ‘Urban Age'?

There is growing recognition of a new human ascendancy: ‘the urban age’. Rising interest in urbanism is evident in popular literature, the media and major global institutions. And yet, as with another great issue of the age, global warming, there is evidence that social science is being sidelined from a rapidly enlarging field of human concern. New urban knowledges are forwarded from the physical sciences and from popular commentary that are characterized by naturalism and its kindred tendencies, especially determinism. In this essay I consider why social scientific urbanism seems increasingly marginal to an ever broadening urban discussion. The regressive consequences for human knowledge and prospect are essayed. The essay's final part is prospectus: for a revivified social scientific urbanism that draws from Sayer's recent argument for renewal of critical human knowledge.     

Unveiling Urban Sprawl in the Mediterranean Region: Towards a Latent Urban Transformation?

The relationship between form and function in European Mediterranean cities has been widely addressed from various perspectives. A number of studies indicate that, until the 1980s, compactness was a key trait of several cities of the Northern Mediterranean. However, after the ‘compact growth’ period, these cities experienced patterns of urbanization that differed from their traditional trends. Since the 1990s, sprawl, coupled with population decline in the inner cities, has become the main pattern of urban development. This article explores the key features of exurban development in the Mediterranean region in order to provide material for a discussion based on the differences and similarities in the characteristics of sprawl processes originating in the US and Northern Europe. It concludes that any debate on policy responses to sprawl must be specifically formulated according to the scope, administrative level, housing and planning system, territorial and socioeconomic characteristics of the urban system under examination. It is our belief that sprawl requires site‐specific analyses and policy strategies for the region being studied if the process is to be effectively controlled.     

If Urban Regions are the Answer,What is the Question? Thoughts on the European Experience

This essay contributes to the current debate in the field of critical urban and regional studies on the meanings of the ‘regional’ and the ‘urban’. From a political science perspective, we focus on the European case. Firstly, we argue that the conception of the regional scale is not the same in various languages and traditions. Regions in Europe carry meanings and connotations that are not always easy to translate without losing their specific histories. Secondly, our analysis of contemporary debates on the ‘regional’ in the field of urban studies reveals that both practitioners and academics consider the regional scale mainly as a functional space, as the space for economic competitiveness. However, urban regions are also to be regarded as spaces for social and political mobilization. I argue that the political dimension of the ‘regional’ deserves more attention and that further research needs to be undertaken in this respect.     

What has been happening to collective bargaining under New Labour? Interpreting WERS 2004

The late 20th century saw the rapid decline of collective bargaining, which had hitherto been the dominant means of regulation of employment in Britain. The article uses a comparison of the Workplace Employment Relations Surveys for 1998 and 2004 to assess how far this changed during the later period of economic growth and sympathetic labour legislation. Contrary to expectations, the data show that collective bargaining coverage has continued to fall, although much of this decline is concentrated in small firms in the private sector. The article goes on to analyse the recent change at sectoral level and examines evidence on the extent to which the character, as well as the extent, of collective bargaining had changed. The locus of management decision making has continued to move down organisations, both where collective bargaining occurs and also where unions are absent. Finally, the article evaluates how the perceptions of those involved in the bargaining process have shifted at a time of greatly diminished trade union influence.     

What is the best way to impede a central bank?

Recent work has found several ways of restricting central bank behavior to achieve much of the gain of commitment over discretion. This paper compares three such impediments: A quadratic penalty on interest rate changes, a fixed penalty on any rate change, and forced infrequency of rate change. All three achieve significant improvement over discretion, and often come close to interest rate rule commitment. The fixed penalty is frequently the best performing restriction, although the quadratic penalty does best in certain alternative parameterizations. Combinations are found to provide no improvement over the individual impediments alone.     

Climate cooperation from Kyoto to Paris: What can be learnt from the CDM experience?

The mitigation of greenhouse gas concentration has become a first-order issue for decision making in environmental sustainability. Countries can meet their mitigation commitments and environmental objectives through multiple instruments. A key role is played by cooperative mechanisms, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), under the Kyoto Protocol, and a similar mechanism established by the Paris Agreement (Art. 6), whose implementation rules are still under negotiation. However, another form of cooperation was already established under the different framework of the Official Development Assistance (ODA), potentially sharing abatement purposes. This paper aims to compare the mitigation actions implemented either as CDM or ODA projects. We conduct a multi-criteria econometric analysis, based on an originally created, harmonised dataset that merges renewable energy CDM projects and comparable ODA projects to investigate the role of the institutional framework in influencing the effectiveness of reducing emissions worldwide. Results show that the Kyoto Protocol had a positive impact in terms of cost-effectiveness for renewable energy projects and that it stimulated policy actions for environmental sustainability. Accordingly, in view of the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, it is extremely important both to look to the past to draw lessons from Kyoto's successes and failures and to apply multi-criteria decision-making approaches for the design of environmental policies.     

Spanish Internal Migration: Is there Anything New to Say?

Abstract

Spanish internal migration has long been resistant to traditional economic explanations. However, this paper examines the data for the period 1999–2006 after considerable changes in the Spanish economy. Moreover, it examines migration at the disaggregated level of Spanish provinces rather than regions, the usual unit of measurement. Using a spatial error model as well as a spatial autoregression model it finds the differentials in wages and unemployment between provinces to be significant explanatory variables. House prices are also important in accounting for the dynamics of internal migration.

Les migrations internes en Espagne: qu'y a-t-il de nouveau?

Les migrations internes en Espagne résistent, depuis toujours, à des explications économiques traditionnelles. Cependant, la présente communication examine les données relatives à la période 1999–2006, dans le sillage des changements considérables qui sont survenus dans l’économie espagnole. Elle se penche également sur la migration au niveau désagrégé de provinces espagnoles plutôt que de régions, unité de mesure traditionnelle. En utilisant un modèle d'erreur spatiale ainsi qu'un modèle à autorégression spatiale, elle en conclut que les différences sur le plan des salaires et du chômage entre les différentes provinces constituent des variables explicatives significatives. En outre, le prix de l'immobilier résidentiel joue également un rôle important dans l'examen de la dynamique des migrations internes.

Migracin interior espaola: Queda algo nuevo por decir?

La migración interior española lleva mucho tiempo resistiéndose a las explicaciones económicas tradicionales. No obstante, este artículo examina los datos de 1999–2006, después de considerables cambios en la economía española. Asimismo, examina la migración al nivel desagregado de provincias españolas, en lugar de regiones, que representa la unidad típica de medida. Utilizando un modelo de error espacial, así como un modelo de autorregresión espacial, se descubre que los diferenciales en salarios y empleo entre las provincias son importantes variables explicativas. Los precios de la vivienda también son importantes a la hora de comprender la dinámica de la migración interior.

     

What drives firms' commitment to fighting corruption? Evidence from the UK

The recent leak of the FinCEN files has highlighted the widespread presence of corruption in developing and developed economies, including the UK. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the factors that drive companies to implement measures for preventing corruption in developed countries using FTSE 350 nonfinancial firms. Specifically, the research examines the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments, board structure, and shareholding structure on adopting strategies, policies, and procedures aimed at countering corruption. Drawing upon agency, stakeholder, and legitimacy theories, our empirical evidence supports that CSR commitments and board independence positively influence firms' engagement in anticorruption measures. Conversely, institutional and managerial shareholdings are found to have a negative association with firms' efforts to combat corruption. In addition, the study shows that the effect of board characteristics became more pronounced following the enactment of the UK Bribery Act 2010, indicating risk-averse behavior. Various models, including cross-sectional and two-stage least squares (2SLS), are employed to analyze the data. Our findings have significant implications for understanding the complex relationship between CSR, corporate governance, and the ethical infrastructure of organizations. Ultimately, our results provide valuable insights for policymakers, companies, and other stakeholders in developing effective strategies, policies, and procedures to combat corruption activities.     

What Is the Economic Meaning of FDH? A Reply to Thrall

Journal of Productivity Analysis -