On the Evolution of Relative Prices and Its Nature at the Regional Level: The Case of Spain

This paper studies the relevance and nature of shifts in relative prices at the regional level in Spain. Deviations in relative prices tend to be small (at most half a point of inflation annually) but persistent. They are determined by features intrinsic to deep economic integration, in particular, wage mechanisms operating at the national level. This is in stark contrast to evidence at the international level. Therefore, while acknowledging that divergent price evolutions are possible in the European Monetary Union, their nature will be different from those observed among Spanish regions.     

Coalition Structures and Policy Change in a Consensus Democracy

This paper studies the relation between coalition structures in policy processes and policy change. While different factors such as policy images, learning processes, external events, or venue shopping are important to explain policy change, coalition structures within policy processes are often neglected. However, policy change happens as a result of negotiations and coordination among coalitions within policy processes. The paper analyzes how conflict, collaboration, and power relations among coalitions of actors influence policy change in an institutional context of a consensus democracy. Empirically, I rely on a Qualitative Comparative Analysis to conduct a cross‐sector comparison of the 11 most important policy processes in Switzerland between 2001 and 2006. Coalition structures with low conflict and strong collaboration among coalitions as well as structures with dominant coalitions and weak collaboration both facilitate major policy change. Competing coalitions that are separated by strong conflict but still collaborate strongly produce policy outputs that are close to the status quo.     

An Evaluation of Endogenous Sustainable Development Planning for the Rural–Urban Environment in Gran Canaria

Urban developments can transform adjacent rural areas by degrading their natural resource base and environmental values. In this paper we provide evidence on the implementation of an endogenous sustainable development plan for the rural–urban environment in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The objective was the generation of endogenous development in the rural areas by implicating the local population in developing activities in line with natural values and the recuperation of traditional cultures. At the same time, urban societies were expected to benefit from the preservation and availability of these rural environments. The plan was implemented in a large rural valley located between adjacent urban areas. The valley represents an opportunity for urban dwellers to benefit from a large rural park in the urban environment for leisure and cultural activities. The overall accomplishment of the plan was evaluated and contrasted with the benefits to the urban population, which were also measured with a discrete choice experiment. The results highlight that the principal objectives failed because of the lack of political determination to promote the participatory channels that would lead to the preservation of natural resources in a dynamic process of social change.     

Cross-Border Networks in Informal and Formal Cooperation in the Border Regions Andalusia–Algarve–Alentejo and South Finland–Estonia

Fostering border relations among the people in border regions seems a precondition for the future envisagement and success of cross-border regions and European Integration. Related studies to border relations observe the weakness of these informal border contacts and relations. However, weak ties represent an opportunity for interaction, and little has been said about how they might play in the construction and performance of institutional cross-border cooperation (CBC). In this work, we examine the nature of personal border networks of professionals working in CBC and how they are interconnected with the institutional CBC. This paper is based on a mainly qualitative research of two different border regions: Andalusia, Algarve and Alentejo (AAA) and South Finland and Estonia (SFE). Nevertheless, the methodology is multi-method, using semi-structured interviews, with specific questions for applying a social network analysis. Conclusions point out different patterns of border relations in both border regions. In AAA, most of the cross-border relations are weaker and related to their professional involvement in institutional CBC. In SFE, border relations rely both on working and personal reasons. All of these cross-border relations imply a significant value as opportunities for social capital construction across the borders and, hence, for greater interaction and cross-border integration.     

Landscape Construction and Long-Term Economic Practices: an Example from the Spanish Mediterranean Uplands Through Rock Art Archaeology

We argue in this paper that Levantine rock art in the Spanish Mediterranean basin allows us to ‘map’ the economic landscape of its makers. Rock art would be the ‘monumental’ side of a dual process of landscape construction: on the one hand, rock art is the first ‘cultural’ action on the landscape beginning in the Early Neolithic; on the other hand, the first evidence of active modification of the Mediterranean vegetation comes from this period. But this evidence as well as other kinds of archaeological remains are still relatively scarce in the uplands; rock art is therefore the most complete type of evidence we can use to support an early use of the Mediterranean upland environment. We use statistical and geographical analysis, together with archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic sources and pollen data, in order to support the idea of early use and exploitation of the Mediterranean uplands since the Neolithic, and into contemporary times.     

A taphonomic study of a carcass consumed by griffon vultures (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gyps fulvus</Emphasis>) and its relevance for the interpretation of bone surface modifications

Vultures are ubiquitous taphonomic agents in most biomes. However, taphonomic studies of vultures are scarce and very little is known of the damage they cause to bone surfaces when consuming carcasses. This study presents the results of a taphonomic analysis of bones modified by griffon vultures. Although some marks created by these agents are diagnostically unique, others are extremely similar to modifications caused by other biostratinomic processes. This renders interpretations of marks on bones very problematic when these modifications are considered in isolation rather than at the assemblage and contextual levels.     

Application of a new typological approach to classifying denticulate and notched tools: the study of two Mousterian lithic assemblages

Identifying tools by means of morphological attributes are widely used in lithic studies to categorize retouched artifacts from different archaeological periods. This procedure has facilitated the exchange of information between separate researchers and has improved the comparison of different assemblages. In these classifications, denticulates and notched tools have been regularly interpreted as analogues and chronologically unvaried in different and vast territories. Based on the definitions developed by Bordes, the denticulate category has become a catchall for any kind of tool bearing concavities. In this paper a new quantitative approach to the classification of denticulates and notched tools is proposed. The new methodology is based on measuring the length of notches and their distribution on the perimeter of the blank. Analyzing the lithic series of the Abric Romaní rock-shelter (Spain) and Grotta Maggiore di San Bernardino (Italy) led to the identification of 11 redundant forms: eight denticulates and three notched tools. Moreover, the application of Kuhn’s Geometric Index of Unifacial Reduction brought local manufacturing trends to light, calling into question the presumed geographical uniformity of these categories of artifacts.