Although the transport sector cannot be considered as one of the culprits of the current economic crisis, it is obviously influenced by its consequences. The ability of the public sector to finance new infrastructure projects or to subsidise the operational deficits of public transport modes has certainly diminished. This is forcing administrations around the world to reassess their investment and pricing policies. Other current debates in transport economics focus on the possibilities of curbing atmospheric emissions, the effects of liberalising sectors that had been insulated from competition or the changes in accessibility due to urban and regional transformations, among others.

The aim of this meeting is to discuss recent research in the area of transport economics. The meeting will focus on issues related to pricing, investment and competition. However, research papers in other areas of transport economics and infrastructure analysis are also welcome both from empirical and theoretical perspectives. Between 10 and 12 papers will be accepted for presentation and discussion at the meeting, which will take place during a single day at the University of Barcelona (Av. Diagonal, 690, Barcelona).

El objetivo de la jornada es analizar la reforma de la administración local que se ha concretado recientemente con la Ley 27/2013, de 27 de diciembre, de racionalización y sostenibilidad de la Administración Local y que modifica la Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases de Régimen Local. El análisis se hará por académicos expertos en la materia, especialistas en administración local y cargos políticos de esta administración.

Firms engaged in innovation activity face different obstacles that may hamper or even deter their innovative projects. In the midst of the current economic crisis, firms’ access to external sources of finance to carry out R&D activity and to implement innovative processes has become more difficult. Along with financial barriers, firms might encounter other types of obstacles that may hinder their innovation activity, like the lack of appropriate information on technologies and markets or the uncertainty of the demand. Recently, thanks to the increasing availability of more precise and comprehensive information about firms’ innovative activities, scholars have provided interesting insights into the impact of different type of obstacles to firms’ behaviour at different stages of the innovation cycle and the possible answers from public policies.
The objective of this conference is twofold. Firstly, the morning session will be devoted to a discussion about the current state of the art of the academic research on the obstacles to innovation activity. Secondly, in the afternoon session a round table discussion will take place where the main characteristics of the current Catalan and Spanish policy measures will be analysed. In Spain, the government approved recently the new “Science and Technology Strategy 2013- 2020”.
The conference is addressed to researchers, policy makers, firms, PhD and master students and, generally speaking, to everyone interested in the analysis of the innovation activities of firms and on R&D and innovation policies.

El Foro Fiscal IEB: el sistema fiscal español en tiempos de crisis, ¿cambios o reforma? es un debate público sobre el sistema fiscal español actual y su posible reforma. El foro toma como punto de partida un análisis académico y se centra en seis aspectos del sistema: IRPF; Sociedades; Consumo; Riqueza; Administración Tributaria y Descentralización Fiscal.