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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2005‒09‒11
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Tooraj Jamasb; Michael Pollitt |
| Abstract: | Electricity reform has coincided with a significant decline in energy R&D activities. Technical progress is crucial for tackling many energy and environmental issues as well as for long-term efficiency improvement. This paper reviews the industrial organisation literature on innovation to explore the causes of this decline, and shows that it was predicted by the pre-reform literature. More recent evidence endorses this conclusion. At the same time, R&D productivity and innovative output appear to have improved in both electric utilities and equipment suppliers, in line with general improvements in the operating efficiency of the sector. Despite this, a lasting decline in basic R&D and innovation input into basic research may negatively affect development of radical technological innovation in the long run. There is a need for reorientation of energy technology policies and spending toward more basic research, engaging more firms in R&D, encouraging collaborative research, and exploring public private partnerships. |
| Keywords: | innovation, R&D expenditure, electricity reform, regulation, ownership |
| JEL: | L94 O38 |
| Date: | 2005–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:0533&r=lam |
| By: | Helmut Franken; Guillermo Le Fort; Eric Parrado |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use a VAR model to analyze the response of the Chilean business cycle to shocks and the capacity of the Chilean economy to withstand them (resilience). Novel features in the analysis include the introduction of an expanded set of variables to capture the impact of external shocks and domestic shocks —including policy variables; the use of an extended sample since the 1950s; and the introduction of block exogeneity to capture the small open economy feature and to better deal with identification issues. Among key results, we find that foreign shocks have been the dominant source of business cycle fluctuations, followed by monetary policy shocks, while fiscal policy shocks explain relatively little; and that despite of the increased synchronization of the domestic business cycle with international conditions, the resilience of the Chilean economy to external shocks has increased during the nineties, with countercyclical policies playing an important role in such a positive developmentCreation-Date:2005-09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chb:bcchwp:331&r=lam |
| By: | Daniel Esteban Osorio Rodríguez; Mauricio Avella Gómez |
| Abstract: | In this paper we try to elucidate the relationship between foreign and domestic banks external indebtedness and the business cycle in Colombia. After a brief review of related literature, we characterize the historical behavior of banking external indebtedness in Colombia, and perform statistical and econometric calculations on the aforementioned relationship. |
| Keywords: | banking external indebtedness, |
| JEL: | G21 |
| Date: | 2005–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000070:001161&r=lam |
| By: | Eduardo Saavedra (ILADES-Georgetown University, Universidad Alberto Hurtado) |
| Abstract: | Este trabajo este trabajo discute la evolución de ciertos indicadores representativos del desempeño de cada una de los servicios básicos en Chile utilizando los elementos previamente descritos. Se concluye que el desempeño de estas industrias en los últimos 15 años ha generado mayor bienestar para la sociedad que de haberse mantenido la tendencia regulatoria mostrada durante el régimen militar. No obstante esa conclusión, este trabajo argumenta que existe espacio para realizar una serie de políticas modernizadoras a la actual institucionalidad reguladora de servicios básicos, entregándose algunas directrices que propicias para generar una discusión en este tenor. |
| Keywords: | Sector Eléctrico, Telecomunicaciones, Sanitarias, Regulación, Modernización |
| JEL: | K23 L51 L97 |
| Date: | 2005–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ila:ilades:inv167&r=lam |