Economic literature identifies a gender gap in financial literacy. This paper tests to what extent this gender gap is due to a misspecification problem or whether it exists because boys and girls do indeed have differing ways of acquiring financial literacy. Our estimates show that the gender gap decreases by 20 per cent when the model includes the effect of non‐cognitive skills, for 15‐year‐old students in Spain. However, differences between boys and girls in financial literacy remain statistically significant.

This paper seeks to extend our knowledge of the drivers behind talented workers' mobility within the Spanish urban system and the patterns they may follow. For this purpose, the stock and flows of creative workers (selected on the basis of either the industry-based or occupational approaches) are studied at different spatial scales while also considering the influence of local characteristics as a source of attracting and retaining forces. The study is based on the analysis of a quite novel longitudinal micro-database from the Spanish Social Security office. Under the conditions of lower mobility of creative workers compared with other geographical contexts -a trend worsened by the economic crisis-we show that job opportunities, especially in connection with workers' social networks, emerge as the most influential attracting factor. Thus, beyond the classic idea that agglomeration economies benefit all residents, we found evidence that the biggest cities, and Madrid in particular, had become "escalator regions", propelling the careers of young creative workers that had been attracted to them. On the contrary, the influence of urban amenities seems limited to the retention of talent. This research aims to contribute to dealing with the challenge of upgrading local productive forces after the economic crisis and to develop tailor-made talent attraction and retention strategies.

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One remarkable fact distinguished in the global financial regulation picture is a growing openness of pension funds to investments in infrastructure projects. This chapter analyzes why investing in infrastructure is gaining momentum. We explore the pros and cons for pension investments in infrastructure projects, the regulatory changes taking place, and the relevance of the regulatory framework for changing preferences for this alternative asset. We perform a panel data analysis to test the importance of the financial regulatory stance for pension fund decisions to invest in infrastructure. Our results show that, although financial regulatory restrictions on pension funds to invest in infrastructure could be important, there are also other important determinants, such as the institutional framework and factors related to the depth and strength of the financial markets. Geographical considerations are also important. In a nutshell, if governments seek to spur more involvement of pension funds in infrastructure, a broader policy recipe will be required.