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on Central and South America |
|
Issue of 2010‒01‒10
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Alberto Behar |
| Abstract: | We develop a model of endogenous skill-biased technical change in developing countries. The model reconciles wildly dispersed existing estimates of the elasticity of substitution between more and less educated workers. It also produces an estimating equation for the elasticity, which allow us to produce overdue estimates for developing countries. With four types of data, elasticity estimates for developing countries are consistently about 2. In a skill-biased technical change framework, this estimate makes sense of what appears to be little or no correlation between relative skill supply and wage inequality. |
| Keywords: | Skill-biased technical change, Elasticity of substitution, Wage premium |
| JEL: | I20 J23 J24 J31 O15 O33 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:467&r=lam |
| By: | Duha T. Altindag |
| Abstract: | Using a panel data set of European countries, this paper investigates the impact of crime on international tourism. Violent crimes are negatively associated with incom- ing international tourists and international tourism revenue indicating that tourists consider the risk of victimization when choosing locations to visit. This impact is smaller in magnitude in Southern European countries which are generally more attrac- tive tourist destinations suggesting that victimization risk and attractiveness of the destination may be substitutable traits. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2009-15&r=lam |
| By: | Lawson, Colin; Hudson, John |
| Abstract: | The term “anti-Americanism” has become common coinage in public and academic debate, the more so since the election of President G. W. Bush, and especially since 9/11. Yet little is known of its causes and impact. Defining it as opposition to US policy, and using 2003 and 2005 Eurobarometer data we examine individuals` attitudes to the US in five policy dimensions for EU members. We find that over a third of EU voters either approved or disapproved of the US in all five dimensions. We also find there are differences in attitude to US policy related to age, policy preferences and nationality. And, although anti-Americanism is associated with a preference for greater European independence, perhaps surprisingly it is also linked to a desire for a less federal and hence less powerful Europe. |
| Keywords: | Federalism; anti-Americanism; European Union |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:19/09&r=lam |
| By: | Martha R. López; Juan David Prada |
| Abstract: | The unfolding of the 2007 world financial and economic crisis has highlighted the vulnerability of real economic activity to strong fluctuations in asset prices. Which is the optimal monetary policy in an economy like the Colombian that is exposed to swings in asset prices? What is the implication in terms of Central Bank losses when it follows a standard simple rule instead of the optimal monetary policy? To answer these questions we use a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model with physical capital and sticky wages for the Colombian economy and derive the optimal monetary policy. Then, we explore the dynamic effects of news about a future technology improvement which turns out ex post to be overoptimistic under the optimal policy rule and alternative specifications of simple rules and definitions of output gap. |
| Date: | 2009–12–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:006299&r=lam |
| By: | Diego Battiston (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata); Guillermo Cruces (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata y CONICET); Luis Felipe Lopez Calva (United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean); Maria Ana Lugo (Department of Economics, University of Oxford); Maria Emma Santos (Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), Oxford University and CONICET - Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina.) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents empirical results of a wide range of multidimensional poverty measures for: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico and Uruguay, for the period 1992–2006. Six dimensions are analysed: income, child attendance at school, education of the household head, sanitation, water and shelter. Over the study period, El Salvador, Brazil, Mexico and Chile experienced significant reductions of multidimensional poverty. In contrast, in urban Uruguay there was a small reduction in multidimensional poverty, while in urban Argentina the estimates did not change significantly. El Salvador, Brazil and Mexico together with rural areas of Chile display significantly higher and more simultaneous deprivations than urban areas of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. In all countries, access to proper sanitation and education of the household head are the highest contributors to overall multidimensional poverty. |
| Keywords: | Multidimensional poverty measurement, counting approach, Latin America, Unsatisfied Basic Needs, rural and urban areas. |
| JEL: | D31 I32 |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0090&r=lam |
| By: | Eduardo Lora; Hugo Nopo |
| Abstract: | En este artículo se presenta una visión comparada de la formación de economistas en cinco países de América Latina. Para tal fin, se analizan la currícula, los libros de texto comúnmente utilizados, la dedicación de los profesores, los métodos de enseñanza, y el uso de tecnologías y herramientas computacionales. Así mismo, siguiendo el enfoque de Colander (2005), se aplica una encuesta a estudiantes de esta carrera para diseñar un perfil socioeconómico de los mismos e indagar acerca de sus actitudes y opiniones. Dentro de las regularidades encontradas para los cinco países, es de resaltar la falta de conexión entre las expectativas de los estudiantes sobre las demandas de los mercados de trabajo y las demandas efectivas de economistas por sectores de empleo. |
| Keywords: | Economía, enseñanza, formación, universidad |
| JEL: | A22 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4648&r=lam |