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During the first decades of the 20th century, the supply of paper for the printing industries in Mexico became a problematic issue. Production difficulties, price increases and poor distribution during the monopoly of the San Rafael factory started a deep debate on the modernization and interference of the State in the paper industry. This article analyzes the transition between the private monopoly and the creation of the public company, Productora e Importadora de Papel Sociedad Anónima (PIPSA) in 1935, during the government of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940). Through parliamentary debates, press articles and ministerial reports, the questioning of the monopoly as a public policy, the birth of PIPSA and the results in its first years of operation will be explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study aimed at identifying good practices in different systems of Vocational Education and Training (VET) around the world and in some regions of Mexico, with the purpose of designing a new vocational model for the state of Guanajuato, integrating the educational and employability dimensions, and considering the new trends in vocational systems, that have evolved from an exclusive action of educational centers, towards a new conception that integrates strategic actions carried out collaboratively by educational, governmental, social and economic actors in the region. This is a research project where a documentary analysis methodology is applied, exploring different sources and references of vocation systems that have been implemented by different countries and in other states of the Mexican Republic, to make the proposal of a new vocation model, which is the theoretical-practical reference to coordinate the actions of different actors in the region, which facilitates adequate decision-making by Guanajuato students about the continuation of their educational preparation at the high school and college levels, in addition to the best option for employment. The resulting model integrates two major conceptual axes and four subcategories in each axis, so that it is the initial input for the design of state public policies, as well as the formation of strategies in the educational, social and economic sectors of the state of Guanajuato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with popular dissatisfaction with liberal-capitalist democracy, at the beginning of the 21st century there is a governmental shift to the left in Latin America, in which Mexico is recently participating, with the arrival of the Morena party to power. The social movements that promote these political projects convey leftist utopias that seek to institutionalize themselves in political systems and public policies. However, this process of utopian institutionalization presents tensions and contradictions within the so-called party-movements. In this paper I present a methodological proposal for utopian analysis, which I apply to the "Colectivo La Calle", a group that is part of the lopezobradorista movement in Mexico. I analyze three utopias mediated by this group and find that indeed the Colectivo is mobilizing against Morena's pragmatism. This result adds to previous literature, which, given contemporary governmental experiences, questions the ability of the Latin American institutional left to overcome conservative hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international utilization of the evaluation of programs is limited, in Mexico too. The objective of this paper is to analyze the recommendations made by the evaluation of federal programs in Mexico during 2007-2017, their commitments and the actual fulfilment of them; to review possible explanations and to make suggestions, in the case of National System of Researchers. The methodology used is based on the analysis of documental information and interviews. The results present recommendations that were not transformed into institutional commitments and recurrent issues that have not been fully resolved, particularly, the difficulty to undertake high impact evaluations. It concludes the need to make changes in the organizations of evaluation that favor the analyzed use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes job training strategies oriented to young people, as carried out by organizations in Mexico's civil society. The objective is to share experiences that can enrich proposed high school curriculums. These experiences discuss alternative methodologies rather than traditional pedagogical techniques, and turn to the value of students' own knowledge and background. The text concludes by presenting reflections on the potential and challenges that these organizations face, as well as recommendations for policies, institutional management, alliances, and financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the programs and social development actions that have been applied in Mexico during the period 2009 to 2016 with the purpose of comparing the number of programs and the level of existing linkage with the target population. It was identified that there is a decoupling of public policies aimed at social development, mainly on the issue of exclusion, inequity, approach, and some programs do not have the targeting of their target population. Family agriculture should be considered as the axis for the articulation of public policies and should be inclusive of all types of family farmers that exist in the Mexican countryside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key part of the Mexican economy are the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) because they represent a great part of the industrial universe in the country, they are more than 90% of the total companies. Their contribution is remarkable, in the labor and economic aspects, for this reason their progress contribute to the wellness of the people. One of the main tools of the State to improve continuously the productive conditions is the planning and implementation of public policies that strengthen and develop the key aspects of MSMEs. Through these policies there are presented economic support programs that can focus on different aspects and needs they have. The objective of this paper is to analyze if the financial reforms that were carried out in Mexico during 2014 have facilitated the access to credit and the financing of MSMEs. The methodology that was used to elaborate this study was through a multivariate analysis by two methods: a) hierarchical methods (dendogram) and multidimensional scaling techniques (MDS), ten variables were applied to all the entities of The Mexican Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analize four competitiveness indices for Mexican federative entities produced by two local higher educational institutions and two local agencies. The results indicate that while these studies require indicators to continuously improve their quality and explanatory power, these changes are greater compared to the main international competitiveness indices. Relevance and reliability for the economic planning will be greater for decision makers, policy makers and individuals concerned as usefulness and benchmarks in the design and monitoring of local public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses some ideas of what the ethics of public servants should be, and contrasts the objectives and strategies outlined in the National Program to Combat Corruption by the federal government (Mexico, 2000-2006) with the objectives achieved at the end the administration and the place of Mexico in perceptions of corruption. The paper suggests that ethical development of public servants should be understood as a political issue, where the individual’s interest ought to be tuned to the institution he works for. The optimal functioning of the institution should thus be seen as a personal benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to give continuity to my previous work about the software industry and information technology services, but this time focused on the study of the dynamics of the cluster technology in local experiences. So the paper inquires this dynamic in two cities: Merida (Yucatan, Mexico) and Rosario (Santa Fe, Argentina) .The aim of approaching these two case studies is based on the interest in these two cities, since they have a innovative productive profile, with significant growth rates and that this strategy is added to other activities of high added value. In this sense the production of software and new technologies, are creating a climate conducive to local development. This paper examines the socio-economic context of each city, the background to the creation of the cluster technology, international cooperation and international institutional business, public policy in the territorial cluster, the profile and activities of the companies in there, and the characteristics of their human resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the main problems shown by education offered to rural, migrant children in Mexico. The analysis begins with a critical review on the central criteria of education policy directed towards the search for enhancing educative opportunities and the betterment of quality in services for the most vulnerable sectors of the national population. The political principles are confronted with the results of an external evaluation of the Programa Educación Primaria para Niñas y Niños Migrantes (PRONIM), which is the educative program that presents a wide range of coverage and attends most of these children in Mexico. This article analyzes some of the most important results achieved by the PRONIM during 2004, and emphasizes the incongruence of the government policy, expressed in: scarce resources provided to Mexican states to program operation; lack of regional equality regarding the assignation of financial resources; precarious school spaces; depressing work conditions for teachers; and the lack of adequate pedagogic and didactic proposals. Those factors, among other, conjugate with some external aspects of the educative system, producing an increasing reduction in the access opportunities, continuity and school achievement of this children population. The paper intends to show the distances and challenges to sort out in order to be in possibility of achieve a fairer and more comprehensive primary education for the children of migrant rural workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyze how the video surveillance puts the personal data that manage in a space of legal indeterminacy, and how generates process of social and space classification that derive, sometimes, in forms of social exclusion. The perspective that frame the capacity that individuals have to construct autonomy and control spaces against the stratification and domination logics. From this perspective, it's analyzed how the weak or inexistent regulation of video surveillance cameras in Mexico can affect the citizenship practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-enterprises have traditionally been considered a burden for development, from both the theoretical perspective of social sciences as well as policy praxis. However, for some years now, some of the specialized literature has presented evidence that despite their low productivity, the contribution of the informal economy to job creation and income in less-developed economies is significant. Given that other countries have begun to develop policies to encourage productivity in the informal sector, the main purpose of this paper is to understand, through a review of the regulations that support micro-enterprises, as well as new decrees and regulations, the current position of Mexico in this debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discourse theory is useful for understanding the creation of borders, whether material or imaginary. This paper addresses three situations on Mexico's southern border between 2000 and 2015 in which elements of discourse theory may be applied. The outcomes were the following: 1) correlations may be made between the elements of the discourse moving from the northern to the southern border, but not in the opposite direction; 2) the process of securitising the discourse about migrants is continuous, and new securitising elements are regularly added; 3) an "elastic borders" phenomenon exists, where borders extend or retract, thereby creating new border regions; and 4) discourses around the southern border are constructed with more pejorative elements than the northern, despite the fact that crime rates are higher in the north. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the economic, politic and social conditions around the construction of the Queretaro’s Intercontinental Airport in Mexico. Rural communities surround this airport and the research is oriented to analyze what kinds of changes have been produced in one of the most important locality: San José de Navajas. In order to do so, it is study the negotiation process that allow to expropriate the community land, the conflicts generated as a result of it and the changes in the labor conditions and labor identity of the inhabitants. The research team also studies the expectative of development created in the community as a result of the arrival of foreign direct investment, which supposed to create new jobs in benefit of the community. The results of the research show how negatives effects are produced when government takes unilateral decisions and do not consider the opinion of the community residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the organizational diagnosis (OD) of a Public Safety State Academy of north-central Mexico as part of an intervention organizational (IO) project in the frame of the transition that occurs with the alternation of two different parties in state government. The main objective is to assess the relevance of the io for promoting change in government organizations. The data collected during the diagnosis reported here constitute evidence of positive weight, especially in light of the emphasis that Jacobson, Butterill and Goering (2005) DO in their model of learning in the IO. We conclude that, even with the constraints of IO implementation, the IO and the OD are very useful to promote change in these organizations, especially, in times of party alternation in government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the territory management process regarding a succinct property of the public policy, its territorialization. The methodological basis takes criteria and factors that deal exclusively with territorial development, and segregate two qualities to the territory: as a central focus of public policy and as a management unit. All in all, the interactions that make up social networks are analyzed and a proposal on the convergence structure for territorial management is presented. The results show the methodological feasibility in a case study, the District/Regional Councils of Sustainable Rural Development (CD / RDRS) in Central Mexico. It is concluded that the methodologies are coherent for reasoning the condition or situation of territorial development, and based on that propose solutions to the problems that arise from the management process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper highlights the historical construction of the concept of rural development in Mexico, particularly is a synthesis of its institutionalization and its evolution in public policy by governments and development agencies. We emphasize the contents of the various rural development approaches, methodologies and the role of government. All this in order to reflect on the prospects of the Mexican rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last forty years in various regions of Mexico, Jalisco, has given impetus to the development of industries known as "modern" as electronics and software, this is intended to increase growth and foster development, all this has been detrimental to those industries considered "traditional" (footwear, textile, jewelery), industries that have long been the basis for productive development of these regions. Policies that have followed in industrial countries has been to promote the first under the assumption that they are incorporating the technology, while the latter incorporates little technology in their production processes and generally do not innovate. However industrial behavior has demonstrated that the above is a fallacy. Government policies that were implemented in industrial resulted in the increase in the share of industrial production called "modern", such as electronics and software, but those traditional activities such as jewelry, not only maintained but that increased production and commercial dynamism. This dynamic is observed in the absorption of employment and productive participation nationwide. The jewelry industry is a case in point, because from generation entrepreneurship capacity, social capital and working together with the government, among others, has managed to influence local development in the region. Therefore in this paper analyzes trying to emphasize that industry, from interviews with key actors and quantitative analysis for this industry, basic factors that impacted on the local development of Jalisco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a brief description of development banks history in Mexico, particularly on those oriented towards support firms financially, as well as on some ideas behind their creation and transformations. The article points out that even if in Mexican history there have been a great number of development banks created with the objective of aiding firms financial necessities, such purpose has hot necessarily been accomplished since the actions of those institutions may have deviated towards attaining a broad and not necessarily clear goals list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to show that the continuous training teacher´s policy in Mexico, since its formalization in 1993 until the creation of the Sistema Nacional de Formación Continua y Superación Profesional de Maestros en Servicio in 2008, has followed the same path of modernization management of public policies in Mexico, which responds to the adoption and adaptation of the logic of New Public Management without ensuring that the training record a real impact on the students learning. From the above, the scope and results of continuous training policy indicators are dimensioned to coverage and eligibility, to the detriment of educational quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to determine the profile of total demand and potential supply in health services, available for high cost illness or catastrophic illness in the Fund for Protection against Catastrophic Expenses (FPCGC by its Spanish initials) of the System of Social Protection in Health (SPSS). In the Fund's financial design's basis, health reality was considered static by deducting the effects of epidemic changes and not précising people's health needs, or "hidden demand". Thus, when this demand is revealed it becomes an effective demand for health institution and the plans used in the Fund's financial calculations change. All in all, a methodological definition from the General Health Council is needed in order to organize and make CIs temporal for the Fund's coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current context of economic and environmental crisis, the question for developing countries, whether it is better to think about adapting or mitigating climate change. Of the more than 24 million metric tons of C02 emitted in the world, Mexico contributes only 1.6%, although this figure is relatively small is important to devise strategies to tackle the problem of climate change, considering participation of key stakeholders such as government, private sector and civil society, through the design of environmental policies and concrete actions from private enterprise. The target of this paper is to explain how from the private sector itself emerging alternatives for adapting to climate change, the trades do also contribute to the mitigation, such as the experience of industrial ecology has been given in Altamira, Tamaulipas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the spatial patterns and trends of vehicle theft crimes in Mexico City. Data on arrests and criminal warrants are examined at the municipality and police sector levels. Also, series are examined in a yearly, monthly and daily fashion. This allows the detection of hot spots and the probabilistic forecasting of vehicle theft crimes on a daily basis. This is performed within reasonable limits of data reliability, sampling error, and in disconnection from theoretical postulates. Findings are discussed in relationship to criminal prevention policy actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the environment of insecurity and violence associated with drug trafficking on the U.S.-Mexican border, and the actions taken by the federal government to dismantle criminal organizations that fight to control the market and access to border crossing points for the introduction of drugs into the united States. The assumption is that violence and insecurity have existed on the border for a long time, but that the agencies responsible for border control and security are now part of the problem because of their association with criminal gangs, which in turn have strengthened their presence by taking root among sections of border society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overweight and obesity are increasing throughout the world, spurring a research agenda focused on understanding its causes, consequences, and the most appropriate public policies for addressing these problems. Unfortunately, very little remains known about the relationship between overweight/obesity and intellectual and academic outcomes. This is very problematic, as public policies cannot be successfully tailored to specific situations in the absence of adequate data. This paper helps narrow this research gap by analyzing the relationships between weight and school dropout rates, held back a year and increase in falling behind in school for children aged 12 to 14 and adolescents aged 15 to 18. As such, it is the first study addressing this topic in Mexico. The findings suggest that there is no clear relationship between overweight/obesity and intellectual/academic outcomes, as overweight/obesity has no effects on some variables and negative effects on other variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crises are unexpected events that trigger and enable change in the policy regime. To analyze how the policy paradigm changes, this paper analyzes three different crises: Argentina in 2000-2003, Spain in 2008-2011, and Mexico in 1994-1996. The question of the article is: How does crisis trigger change in the policy regime? To answer, is shown that crisis destroy the preexisting government's coalitions, enable the formation of new coalitions that face the crisis that are also substituted after the crisis for a new coalition to institutionalize the new policy paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the tradition of studies on the use or influence of research, this paper presents work on the relation between research and policy, based on the evaluation of higher education. The results show that educational research in Mexico has influenced the political agenda, by including arguments and reorienting debate, and even by modifying initiatives and programs; contributing factors have been the type of research, as well as the assumption or expansion of academic roles into circles of political decision-making. The report also identifies traits of interaction between researchers and government employees, while contributing to the comprehension of the use of research by weighing some of the involved elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the finance policy through contestable extraordinary funds implemented by the Mexican Ministry of Public Education in the state public universities between 2001 and 2005. The results show that this allocation mechanism of public resources has been effective to reward their institutional consolidation. It has also improved their social returns and their contribution to the educational equity through a better quality higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides information on the background, social regulation and problems faced by the Civil Society Organizations that take care of street kids in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico and the role these institutions play in society. For this purpose, we applied a survey to 30 users and 15 employees working in these organizations in the state of Sonora, Mexico. The findings indicate that although there is a legal framework that protects kids, teens and young adults, and that there is a number of organizations with broad experience in their care, most of these young ones are not integrated into one of the institutions. Our conclusion is that the state government has not solved the homeless kids issue, and the organizations that take care of them do not meet the objectives for which they were created, thus limiting the possibilities of integrating the social group they are supposed to be serving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, poverty analyses and policies against poverty have incorporated women as a relevant factor. Nevertheless, some criticisms have been raised against them: first, most of the time, they have relied on an instrumental perspective which does not guarantee better conditions of gender equity; second, poverty analyses have generally become reactive tools that seek to compensate for a current situation, not to prevent it from occurring in the future. This paper therefore proposes to go beyond poverty analyses to identify distinctive features of households derived from social constructions that have an effect on vulnerability, particularly in households headed by women. We point out the importance of an analysis from a gender perspective in order to identify the features which make households more vulnerable to suffering or worsening their conditions of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Baja California produce industry is notice by its strong export orientation production. Never less, in the past few years some products have been associated to food safety outbreaks in the United States, its main market, affecting its competitiveness and market share, driven produce growers to the adoption of standards as a mean to stay in the international market. The paper focus in the role of adoption of International standards in the firms as part of a competitive strategy that implies a technological change in order to comply with the certification requirements. A descriptive statistical analysis is conducted as well as a discriminate analysis in order to explain the factors that are involved in the firms that present technical innovation (adoption of standards) to achieve competitiveness and those that don't improve their productive process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counties and town councils (boroughs) have a direct, immediate and unavoidable responsibility towards the environment. A few years ago, they were not regarded as priority functions of the counties. Today they are not only a basic legal obligation, but a social commitment of the local government to the community. This paper is centered on the responsibilities that the Federal and Local Political Constitutions impose exclusively on boroughs and townships regarding public services. The way those services are delivered have a direct consequence on the local environment. Drinking water, domestic drainage, waste disposal, waste water treatment, hygiene and cleanliness of marketplaces and other services are today's challenges for the municipal authorities; if not attended to in an efficient way they will have a negative direct impact on the quality of life of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to make some reflections on the concept of governance applied to building cooperative public policy processes in poor and backward regions. Our arguments come from a study in a mining region of central Mexico, where is taking place a multi stakeholder process that seeks to translate into public policy a risk health management plan. Our intention is not to establish generalizations from the empirical data, but contesting the normative approach to governance in light of tensions and contradictions that we see in the process of generating collective agreements of public nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the experience of organized women groups in the municipality of Cunduacán, Tabasco, México, during the period of 2004 to 2007. This was a process in which some women from rural communities fought to defend their rights and demanded public policy, municipal regulations and state laws that protect them. During that process, municipal government created the Care for Women Coordination. The activities of the Coordination and women groups put the local agenda in items of women's rights and gender equity. With these references, we discussing about citizen action in the construction of public policies, with two relevant elements in this experience: Requiring a political openness of a local government product of alternating partisan, as well as the press for change of persons and communities involved. The other element was that in an effective way to solve a social problem, the government structure and its policies must be adapted to the social demands. The Care for Women Coordination is an example of transversely attention of women problems based on participation of them [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study of regulation of natural gas pricing in Mexico as a case of "successful" policy research. Studies done under an academic agreement between the Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE) and the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City have analyzed the welfare efficiency implications of the netback rule based on the Houston gas price that is used to set the domestic gas price. This rule results from a well structured welfare maximization general model. However, in practice the netback rule has been debated during several North American price spikes. Policy makers relied on CIDE studies to keep the netback rule. This case study examines how and why policy makers did so. The debate within the Mexican government is analyzed, and the actors involved in the policy discussions are described, as well as the relationships between CIDE and CRE that were developed, and that helped in the communication with policymakers. The methods of dissemination of research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the process of state transformation in Mexico. Different proposals have been introduced by different governments who have gradually transformed the country. To analyze this process we need to know about the type and deepness of the reform's applicability in Mexico during the frequent transformations in different historical moments. We assess the effects and the efficacy of the reforms according to different levels: constitutional reform as the ones which command the state action; administrative reforms like the processes in public administration; and political reforms like the ones that improved the relationships between state and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article synthesizes the trajectory of secondary education in Mexico during the first half of the 19th century, from the perspective of the government policies of the times. A broad explanation is given of the transformations and customs of secondary education as part of the process of conformation of the Mexican educational system. The paper is based on a review of the historically determined concept of secondary education, and studies the stages of the institutionalization of secondary school in the public sector. Consideration is given to colonial precedents, illustrated reforms, the changes generated by the Independence, and modifications promoted by central and federalist systems of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexico's water policy has been dramatically reformed over the last dozen years. Centerpieces of the reforms are new legal regimes, different roles for water authorities and a decentralized management of water resources. Water reform is based on a vision of water as an economic good, and its uses are driven by market dynamics. Rather than keeping its role as developer, the State is responsible for allocating and regulating water uses. This paper has a two-fold purpose. First, it aims at assessing the pros and cons of neoclassic economics, which has exerted a deep influence on the water reform. Second, it uses some indicators of performance (e.g. investments and fees) to evaluate some results of the water reform. It shows that water reform has been relatively successful in some economic respects (e.g. reduced governmental investments). Yet less attention has been paid to key issues such as access to the resource by different sectors (equity) and the environmental impacts of water systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focused on the relevance of routines as a part of the current institutional framework in the context of Mexican local governments. Its purpose is to analyze the implementation network considered in the Law of Sustainable Rural Development, in relation to the procedures the new normative framework establishes, like guidelines of forced behavior for the municipal governments, and, simultaneously, as a condition for success for one of its modalities of execution. The authors consider if the implementation network fits the actual way municipalities effectively pursue rural development policy. In this way, they try to identify the organizational adjustment that exists between the new policy design and the routines previously adopted by local governments. The hypothesis is that local governments tend to adapt the new policy to their own routines, instead of modifying their behavior in relation to the new policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to show that several characteristics that exist in the theoretical frame work known as New Public Management (NPM), such as: orientation of customer, account ability, information's technology, strategic planning, contracts and decentralization; these are in the strategies that apply the governments of the Republic Mexican's states on their public administrations. Official's documents are analyzed in detail with a methodology for to make indicators that it weigh up NPM in the actions are applied for the studied states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper detects market power at the two digit level in the Mexican manufacturing sector for the period 1970- 1991. Similarly to Hall (1988), the identification assumption is that total factor productivity growth is not procyclical. The test holds even for the case in which the market power coefficient is variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]