|
on Central and South America |
|
Issue of 2005‒12‒09
five papers chosen by |
| By: | Carlos A.Huertas Campos |
| Abstract: | Este documento muestra evidencia de una relación no lineal entre la Tasa de Cambio Real (TCR) de Colombia y sus fundamentales. Utilizando un modelo exponencial auto-regresivo de transición suave (ESTAR), se encontró que la TCR bilateral de Colombia frente a México y a Estados Unidos, responde inealmente a ciertos fundamentales, y no linealmente a sus desalineamientos. |
| Keywords: | Tasa de cambio real, equilibrio de la tasa de cambio real. |
| JEL: | C32 F31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:359&r=lam |
| By: | Viviana Fernández |
| Abstract: | There is an extensive literature on the determinants of capital structure for developed countries, but little has been said about emerging economies. This article analyzes the driving forces of capital structure in Chile for the period 1990-2002. We study aggregate leverage and interest-bearing liabilities in isolation for all firms, and firms segmented by economic sector. Our results give more support to the trade-off theory than to the pecking-order hypothesis. In particular, in recent years equity issues have followed firms’ financing deficits more closely than net debt issues have. We conjecture that tax and monetary policies might have driven this result. The contribution of our work is also methodological. Our econometric specification is based on a random-effects panel data model for censored data developed by Anderson (1986) and extended by Kim and Maddala (1992). We expand Anderson-Kim-Maddala’s work to panel data models for uncensored data, and devise specification tests for non-nested random-effects models. Most literature on capital structure focuses on the cross-section variation of the data by averaging observations over time. Or, when using panel data models, the bias of fixed-effects estimates, under a dynamic specification, is usually neglected. |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edj:ceauch:200&r=lam |
| By: | Raphael Bergoeing; Andrés Hernando; Andrea Repetto |
| Abstract: | Starting in the mid 1970s, Chile implemented a deep and comprehensive set of structural market reforms. In spite of the wide agreement there is with respect to the expected benefits these reforms should have on growth, little evidence has been provided to empirically establish and to quantify this connection. Using plant-level data on Chilean manufacturing firms for the 1980-2001 period, we provide such evidence. In particular, we estimate disaggregate total factor productivity (TFP) and decompose its dynamics into production reallocation and within plant efficiency changes to study aggregate efficiency, a fundamental source of aggregate growth. We find that during the 1990s, when most reforms had already been fully implemented, both the level and dispersion of TFP grew steadily. These efficiency gains were explained in equal proportions by within plant changes and by the net entry of new and more productive economic units. The reallocation among incumbent plants did not contribute significantly to the enhancement of efficiency, however. Finally, we also show that within-plant efficiency gains were the largest among firms producing traded goods, and among firms that were more likely to face binding liquidity constraints. Thus, in Chile, the adoption of better technologies and production processes, fostered by broader foreign exposure and a superior access to external finance, seem to have accounted for the observed improvement in manufacturing performance. |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edj:ceauch:207&r=lam |
| By: | Jaime Gatica; Pilar Romaguera |
| Abstract: | La situación laboral ha generado una creciente preocupación en los últimos años en Chile. El lento crecimiento de la economía a partir de la crisis asiática de los añnos 1998-99 determinó el aumento de la tasa de desocupación que se ha mantenido en el tiempo, situación que dio lugar a un debate acerca de las causas del desempleo y, en particular, sobre si este era de carácter cíclico o estructural. A esto, a su vez, se suman nuevos temas como la alta rotación del empleo, los efectos económicos de la legislación laboral, y las dificultades de inserción laboral de grupos específicos de la población, como son los jóvenes y las mujeres. Al examinar los distintos trabajos que se han realizado recientemente sobre estos temas, veremos que algunos ratifican la evidencia encontrada por investigaciones previas; sin embargo, existen también nuevos resultados que son aparentemente contradictorios o plantean verdaderos puzzles en su interpretación. Esto se explica no sólo porque cada investigación enfatiza un aspecto particular de esta problemática, sino también porque el mercado laboral parece ser más heterogéneo de lo esperado. A partir de esta revisión surge una interesante agenda futura de temas laborales cuya solución es necesaria para potenciar el crecimiento de la economía en el mediano plazo. |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edj:ceauch:210&r=lam |
| By: | Sebastian Galiani; Ernesto Schargrodsky |
| Abstract: | Secure property rights are considered a key determinant of economic development. The evaluation of the causal effects of land titling, however, is a difficult task as the allocation of property rights is typically endogenous. We exploit a natural experiment in the allocation of land titles to overcome this identification problem. More than twenty years ago, a group of squatters occupied a piece of land in a poor suburban area of Buenos Aires. When the Congress passed a law expropriating the land from the former owners with the purpose of entitling it to the occupants, some of the original owners accepted the government compensation, while others are still disputing the compensation payment in the slow Argentine courts. These different decisions by the former owners generated an allocation of property rights that is exogenous in equations describing the behavior of the squatters. We find that entitled families increased housing investment, reduced household size, and improved the education of their children relative to the control group. However, effects on credit access are modest and there are no effects on labor income. |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udt:wpbsdt:proprightspoor&r=lam |