Suchergebnisse

After three centuries of commercial revolution and progress in manufacturing during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, the Mediterranean experienced a period of famine, increasing military conflicts and the black death pandemic during the 14th century, at the time of the Wolf Solar Minimum. The combined effect was to decrease population, agrarian and industrial output, trade, land rent and fiscal income and to raise agrarian yields, wages, seigniorial debts and distributional conflicts. In spite of recurring shocks, Barcelona and its hinterland, the Principality of Catalonia, recorded a net trend of growth up to the early 15th century, which took place together with new forms of government intervention such as fiscal reforms, devaluations, protectionism and public banking. On the contrary, during most of the 15th century, Barcelona and Catalonia experienced an unequivocal great depression, which coincided with the Spörer Solar Minimum. Too high costs of imperialism in Napoli contributed to exacerbate social and institutional domestic divides. The reaction of the Catalan nobility and the intransigence of the Barcelona oligarchy regarding reformist proposals ended in total war, with enduring consequences for long term development. Barcelona, which had successfully emulated the path of development of Venice, Genoa and Florence, lagged far behind throughout 1462-1516. Although the quality of life of Catalan peasants might have improved and some merchants began to make profits in the Atlantic with the slave and sugar businesses, it did not compensate the costs of commercial decline in the Mediterranean and the loss of markets for Catalan manufactures. ; Después de tres centurias de revolución comercial y progreso manufacturero durante la anomalía climática medieval, el Mediterráneo experimentó un período de carestía alimentaria, intensificación bélica y virulentos brotes de peste durante el siglo XIV, coincidiendo con el mínimo de Wolf de irradiación solar. Su efecto combinado hizo caer la población, la producción agraria e industrial, el comercio, la renta de la tierra y los ingresos fiscales, y aumentar los rendimientos agrarios, los salarios, el endeudamiento señorial y los conflictos distributivos. Pese a las pronunciadas perturbaciones, Barcelona y su hinterland, el Principado de Cataluña, siguieron creciendo y desarrollando su capacidad industrial hasta inicios del Cuatrocientos, mientras se ensayaban nuevas vías de intervención gubernamental: reformas tributarias, devaluaciones, proteccionismo y banca pública. Por el contrario, durante la mayor parte del siglo XV, Cataluña experimentó una inequívoca gran depresión, coincidiendo con otro mínimo de irradiación solar, el de Spörer. Los costes de la aventura imperialista napolitana ahondaron la brecha social e institucional. La reacción de la nobleza catalana y la intransigencia de la oligarquía barcelonesa ante las propuestas reformistas acabaron en guerra total, con consecuencias duraderas para el desarrollo a largo plazo. Barcelona, que había seguido la estela de Venecia, Génova y Florencia con relativo éxito, quedó rezagada durante 1462-1516. Aunque el nivel de vida de algunas fracciones del campesinado pudiera mejorar a finales del siglo xv y algunos comerciantes hacer negocio con azúcar y esclavos en el Atlántico, no compensaron los costes del declive comercial en el Mediterráneo y la pérdida de mercados para las manufacturas catalanas.

Firms dealing with "Made in Spain" fashion products (e.g., textiles, apparel, and footwear) have increased their presence in the world market over the last two decades. This paper focuses on the origins of this process. After constructing a new database of export districts, it first investigates the sources of the international competitiveness of these districts. Second, it explores whether industrial districts boosted the internationalization of Spanish fashion firms. The paper concludes that most of today's outstanding Spanish firms in fashion-related international markets emerged from 1980s' districts, which could have benefited from classical Marshallian externalities, while also taking advantage of the organizational capabilities of leading firms.

This article analyzes the causes for the long-term success of the Barcelona (Spain) and São Paulo (Brazil) automobile industry clusters. Comparative evidence suggests that both clusters emerged in the early twentieth century through the formation of Marshallian external economies. Nevertheless, neither Barcelona nor São Paulo reached mass automobile production before 1950. The consolidation of the clusters required the adoption of strategic industrial policy during the golden age of capitalism. This policy succeeded in encouraging a few hub firms to undertake mass production by using domestic parts. The strategic policy also favored these leading corporations transferring their technical, organizational, and distribution capabilities, which in turn amplified the advantages of the clusters. Local institutions did not make a significant contribution.

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Contributors -- Current Challenges of High Mountain Conservation -- 1 The High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World -- Abstract -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.1.1 Conservation in a Changing World -- 1.1.2 Vulnerability, Exposure, and Sensitivity -- 1.2 Mountain Exposure to Global Changes -- 1.2.1 Climate Change -- 1.2.2 Atmospheric Contaminants -- 1.2.3 Long-Distance Atmospheric Fertilization -- 1.2.4 Biotic Dispersal Enhancement -- 1.3 Mountain Exposure to Regional Changes -- 1.3.1 Pasture Shifting Systems -- 1.3.2 Conservation Versus Extraction -- 1.3.3 Tourism and Sport Pressures -- 1.4 High Mountain Idiosyncratic Sensitivity -- 1.4.1 Temperature Versus Water -- 1.4.2 Persistence Versus Migration -- 1.4.3 Regional Fingerprints -- 1.5 Conservation Synergies and Challenges -- 1.5.1 Conservation Versus Stewardship (Franciscans Vs. Benedictines) -- 1.5.2 Loss of Uniqueness -- 1.5.3 Functional Versus Phylogenetic Conservation -- 1.5.4 Size Matters -- 1.5.5 Local Contribution to Global Ecological Services -- 1.5.6 Conservation Beyond Conservation -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 2 Trade-offs in High Mountain Conservation -- Abstract -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Distinctive Features of Conservation in High Mountain Ecosystems -- 2.3 Conservation, Vulnerability and Trade-offs -- 2.4 Conservation Management of Exposure and Sensitivity in High Mountains -- 2.5 Managing Conflicting Goals -- 2.6 Complex/Interacting Controls of Trade-offs -- 2.7 General Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Developing a Historical Perspective of the High Mountain Social-Ecological System -- 3 Molecular Biogeography of the High Mountain Systems of Europe: An Overview -- Abstract -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Different Genetic Lineages Within High Mountain Systems -- 3.3 Genetic Links Between High Mountain Systems.

Pyrenees; nature conservation; species distribution; lakes; forests

Winter conditions are rapidly changing in temperate ecosystems, particularly for those that experience periods of snow and ice cover. Relatively little is known of winter ecology in these systems, due to a historical research focus on summer 'growing seasons'. We executed the first global quantitative synthesis on under-ice lake ecology, including 36 abiotic and biotic variables from 42 research groups and 101 lakes, examining seasonal differences and connections as well as how seasonal differences vary with geophysical factors. Plankton were more abundant under ice than expected; mean winter values were 43.2% of summer values for chlorophyll a, 15.8% of summer phytoplankton biovolume and 25.3% of summer zooplankton density. Dissolved nitrogen concentrations were typically higher during winter, and these differences were exaggerated in smaller lakes. Lake size also influenced winter-summer patterns for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), with higher winter DOC in smaller lakes. At coarse levels of taxonomic aggregation, phytoplankton and zooplankton community composition showed few systematic differences between seasons, although literature suggests that seasonal differences are frequently lake-specific, species-specific, or occur at the level of functional group. Within the subset of lakes that had longer time series, winter influenced the subsequent summer for some nutrient variables and zooplankton biomass. ; National Science Foundation (NSF DEB) [1431428, 1136637]; Washington State University; Russian Science Foundation [14-14-00400]; Ministry of education and science of Russia Gos-Zasanie project [1354-2014/51]; Natural Environment Research Council [NE/J00829X/1, 1230750, NE/G019622/1, NE/J010227/1] ; Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF DEB #1431428; NSF DEB #1136637) and Washington State University. M. Timofeyev and E. Silow were partially supported by Russian Science Foundation project No 14-14-00400 and Ministry of education and science of Russia Gos-Zasanie project No 1354-2014/51. We are grateful to Marianne Moore, Deniz Ozkundakci, Chris Polashenski and Paula Kankaala for discussions that greatly improved this work. We also gratefully acknowledge the following individuals for contributing to this project: John Anderson, Jill Baron, Rick Bourbonniere, Sandra Brovold, Lluis Camarero, Sudeep Chandra, Jim Cotner, Laura Forsstom, Guillaume Grosbois, Chris Harrod, Klaus D. Joehnk, T.Y. Kim, Daniel Langenhaun, Reet Laugaste, Suzanne McGowan, Virginia Panizzo, Giampaolo Rossetti, R.E.H. Smith, Sarah Spaulding, Helen Tammert, Steve Thackeray, Kyle Zimmer, Priit Zingel and two anonymous reviewers. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.