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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2010‒02‒05
five papers chosen by |
| By: | Sánchez, Rafael (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | This study exploits the reduction of weekly working hours from 48 to 45 occured in Chile in January 2005. We use this pure and exogenous policy change to identify the employment effects of such a policy. Our main contribution is that we overcome the problems of previous studies such as : selection between hours and employment, lack of identification strategy due to the joint implementation of policies and lack of crucial variables (like hourly wages and usual hours). Our results suggest no significant effects of a reduction of standard hours on employment transitions and a significant effect on hourly wages (i.e. wage compensation). These results are robust to several specifiations. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:925&r=lam |
| By: | Macdonald, Kevin; Barrera, Felipe; Guaqueta, Juliana; Patrinos, Harry Anthony; Porta, Emilio |
| Abstract: | Wealth and gender inequity in the accumulation of cognitive skills is measured as the association between subject competency and wealth and gender using the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment. Wealth inequity is found to occur not through disparate household characteristics but rather through disparate school characteristics; little evidence is found of an association between wealth and competency within schools. Weak evidence is found of wealth mitigating gender differences through school characteristics. These findings suggest that wealth inequity in the accumulation of cognitive skills is almost exclusively associated with disparate school characteristics and that disparate school characteristics may play a role in accentuating gender inequity. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary Education,Education For All,Disability,Primary Education,Secondary Education |
| Date: | 2010–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5189&r=lam |
| By: | Manuel Agosin; Roberto Álvarez; Claudio Bravo-Ortega; Esteban Puentes |
| Abstract: | Using a large dataset of countries during the last forty years, this paper analyzes the main determinants of export diversification. We explore the role of several factors and we use three different indicators of export diversification. We find robust evidence across specifications and indicators that trade openness induces higher specialization and does not favor export diversification. In contrast, financial development helps countries to diversify their exports. Looking at the effects of exchange rates, our results suggest a negative effect of real exchange rate overvaluation, but not significant effects of exchange rate volatility. We also find evidence that capital accumulation contributes positively to diversity exports and that increasing remoteness tend to reduce export diversification. We explore also the role of terms of trade shocks. Some of our results suggest that there is an interesting interaction between this variable and human capital. We find that improvements in terms of trade tend to concentrate exports, but this effect is lower for those countries with higher levels of human capital. This evidence suggests that countries with higher education can take advantage of positive terms of trade shocks to increase export diversification. |
| Keywords: | Export diversification, reforms, exchange rate |
| JEL: | F10 O10 O24 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udc:wpaper:wp309&r=lam |
| By: | Jorge Dresdner (Departamento de Economía, Universidad de Concepción.); Carlos Sanhueza (Programa Magister en Economía de Recursos Naturales y del Medio Ambiente. Universidad de Concepción) |
| Abstract: | En este artículo se presentan series corregidas de salarios mensuales con periodicidad trimestral para trece regiones en Chile en el período Diciembre 1994 - Diciembre 2004. La información se origina de la Superintendencia de Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones, pero ha sido corregida por sesgos de truncación y censuramiento. El análisis comparativo entre series corregidas y sin corregir indica que éstas tienen un comportamiento diferenciado desde el punto de vista estadístico, y que las series sin corregir no constituyen un buen predictor de las corregidas. Por ello, para el análisis de salarios regionales es conveniente utilizar las series corregidas. |
| Keywords: | Salarios regionales, Estimación, Truncamiento, Censura. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnc:wpaper:07-2009&r=lam |
| By: | Miguel Angel Quiroga (Departamento de Economía, Universidad de Concepción); Martin Persson (Department of Energy and Environment Chalmers University of Technology Sweden); Thomas Sterner (Department of Economics, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | We study whether lax environmental regulations induce comparative advantages, causing the least-regulated countries to specialize in polluting industries. We seek to improve three areas in the empirical literature based on the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek’s factor content of trade, more specifically in Tobey’s (1990) approach: the measurement of environmental endowments, the possible endogeneity due to an omitted variable that has not been considered, and the influence of the industrial level of aggregation. For the econometrical analysis, we use a cross-section of 71 countries to examine the net exports in the most polluting industries in the year 2000. As a result, we find that industrial aggregation matters and we find some evidence in favor of the pollution-haven effect. |
| Keywords: | trade, comparative advantage, pollution haven, environmental endowment,environmental regulation, Porter hypothesis, factor content, aggregation bias, nonhomothetic preferences. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnc:wpaper:03-2009&r=lam |