Search

This paper present two basic ideas. The first one is that the model of rationality applied to fertility and the interaction between quantity and quality were not originally proposed by Becker, as many of those interested in the subject tend to believe; and even that if this relation could seem clear, it is not obvious. The second one is that from the beginning the analysis of fertility has considered the institutional context. Criticism of Becker's model and more recent work strengthen the importance of institutional analysis for the study of the rationality of families in decisions on the number of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we estimate a dynamic panel data model to determine the effect of various institutional factors on the performance of a sample of Colombian companies during the period 2002-2007. Our results indicate that the analysed companies are affected by these factors. Institutions associated with property rights and contract compliance have significant effects on the growth of the firms. On the other hand, financial development does not have a significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the quality of employment in the major cities of Colombia in 2009. The results show that, although the quality of employment has improved since 2001, it still continues to be below the necessary level of quality employment. It also demonstrates the endogenous nature of education and proposes a correcting procedure for obtaining consistent and efficient estimators of employment quality. In differentiating between salaried and self-employed workers, the results reveal that if an individual is self-employed, an increase in the number of years of education does not contribute to improving the quality of employment. This effect only occurs in the case of salaried workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of research on socioeconomic inequality in Bogota's secondary education (year 2009). The results show that socioeconomic student level is significantly associated both to educational access (public or private), and to educational quality (ranking in State test - ICFES). This demonstrates that in Bogotá not only does each social class study separately, but also that rich people have access to a better education than poor people. This situation of social segregation (apartheid) aggravates some of the already pervasive Colombian problems: lack social mobility, economic inequality and illegitimacy of the political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an empirical verification of the "political business cycle" hypotheses applied to 547 Colombian municipalities from 1989 to 2008. The econometric study reveals that smaller towns exhibit a cycle in public investment and fiscal deficit: both variables increase before elections and fall after them. These results are placed in the Colombian social context to discuss why the cycle occurs in those municipalities and the coincidence with differences in the efficiency of public expenditure to reduce poverty, as measured by unsatisfied basic needs. Some policies are recommended in order to reduce the adverse effects of this cycle and improve efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the relationship between utilitarianism and measurements of poverty. Despite efforts to construct indexes that overcome utilitarianism's limitations, they are still profoundly influenced by the spirit of Bentham. It has not been possible to break the association between portions of wealth and happiness. Recent measurements of poverty --such as the multidimensional poverty index-- are complements rather than substitutes of income-based indexes, such as the poverty line. Since it has not been possible to break away from utilitarianism, the best option is to take up the pertinent contributions of this school of thought, while at the same time taking on the challenge of going beyond utilitarianism. Instead of celebrating victory and proclaiming the end of utilitarianism, it is preferable to retake its central messages and seek that public policy effectively pursue the greatest happiness for the greatest number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of equilibrium has become the centerpiece of modern economic analysis. Moreover, it has provided the impetus behind the expansion of economic theory into areas of the social sciences that used to be regarded as remote. The current paper aims at explaining the changes in economic science that have brought about this process, while at the same time ofering a cursory discussion of the foundations of the concept of equilibrium, its strengths, the methodological challenges it presents, especially as regards the case of "multiple equilibria", and a sketch of alternatives that could tackle said challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative constitutional law scholarship has not realized that differences in the configuration of political institutions should bear upon the way courts do their jobs. This paper develops a comparative theory of judicial role that focuses on broad differences in political context, and particularly in party systems, across countries. I use a case study of the Colombian Constitutional Court (supplemented by briefer studies of the Hungarian and South African Constitutional Courts) to demonstrate how differences in political institutions should impact judicial role. Because Colombian parties are unstable and poorly tied to civil society, the Colombian Congress has difficulty initiating policy, monitoring the enforcement of policy, and checking presidential power. The Court has responded by taking many of these functions into its own hands. I argue that the Court's actions are sensible given Colombia's institutional context, even though existing theories of judicial role would find this kind of legislative-substitution inappropriate. Existing theory's focus on the anti-democratic nature of judicial action assumes a robust constitutional culture outside the courts and a legislature which does a decent job representing popular will -- both assumptions tend to be false in newer democracies. Thus, comparative public law scholars must be attentive to political context in order to build tools suitable for evaluating the work of courts around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarization seems to be a more accurate concept for the explanation of the emergence of social conflicts than that of inequality. This paper succinctly presents both concepts and summarizes the theory and index of economic polarization developed by Esteban and Ray within its identification-alienation framework and some of its extensions such as the group and explained polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the determinants of legislative action; furthermore it is a study of the Colombian Senate from 2006-2010 where the goal is to discuss the factors that influence the initiation of national bills. In Colombia, the political reforms of 1991, 2003 and 2009 have sought to overcome the particularistic legislation and transform in some way, political representation. In this sense, we estimate the propensity of legislators to initiate national bills as a function of the party structure, the party genesis including the existence of closed lists and seniority. The analysis suggests that the regional anchor of the traditional parties, departmental chiefs and the election system have discouraged national proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political reform of 2003, has been the most important in electoral matters made after the 1991 Constitution. The phenomena of "microempresas electorales", "operación avispa" and personalization, brought about a need to reform and reorganize the system and political parties with two fundamental changes: the electoral formula and the electoral barrier. Since the adoption of the reform there have been four elections in Colombia, two regional (Assembly and Council in 2003 and 2007) and two national (Senate and House of Representatives in 2006 and 2010), which have had mechanical effects on the party system at both the national and sub-national levels, and have "reorganized" the political forces in each legislature. The overall objective of this paper is to observe the effects of the reforms on the national party system in both the first (2006) and second (2010) wave of elections, specifically about the representativeness of the system, taking into account their context and political situation. We conclude that the change in the electoral formula and the imposition of the electoral barrier managed to reorganize the parties and therefore political competition without affecting system proportionality, as its detractors had claimed. Although this aspect had no significant variation, factors such as electoral density lead to other questions over the Colombian electoral system such as the necessity (or not) to think about a new reform that points to a change in the electoral districts and therefore in the levels of representation of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the results of the research during my master that focused on analyzing the structure of patronage networks in implementing the "Families in Action program" as spaces for the accumulation of symbolic and political capital for benefit of internal and external stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new institutionalism has become a dynamic field of work in political science. This paper shows how the new institutionalism, in its heterodox version, has taken up the research program of old institutionalism, while orthodoxy has incorporated the methodological developments of behaviorism and rational choice. The result is an approach that provides a framework for analyzing the multiple problems of politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is a natural resource fundamental for quality of human life. Nevertheless, there are more than one billion people in the world without access to safe drinking water. The water crisis is mainly a crisis of governance, and corruption is one of the principal underlying factors. Due to the characteristics of water supply, the sector must be regulated. However, there are informational asymmetries in regulation, which are a cause of regulatory failures and make the sector more prone to corruption. In Colombia, water supply regulation has a legal structure that aims at stimulating participation, transparency, accountability and integrity. But, there is a significant gap between legal provisions and practice. This paper reviews the Colombian regulatory framework with the aim to identify such gaps and propose ways to strengthen the framework in order to safeguard the delivery of an efficient service to the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the electoral crisis of 2010-2011, this paper presents, in a synthetic fashion, a political genealogy of this situation and the consequences that the end of this armed conflict is going to have on the Ivoirian state and international society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining the approaches of Ortiz and Mejía et al., this paper proposes a new model of drug trafficking and conflict. In a general equilibrium framework, an explanation of the downward trend in the price of cocaine over the last two decades is developed. The model shows that the main factor causing this trend is the increase in productivity in the production of cocaine, which has counterbalanced the impact of the supply-side control policies and the decrease in the number of hectares of land planted with coca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the management of surges in capital inflows to Emerging Markets. It reviews the main policy tools, including fiscal and monetary policy, exchange rate policy, foreign exchange market intervention, domestic prudential regulation, and capital controls. A key conclusion is that, if the economy is operating near potential, if the level of reserves is adequate, if the exchange rate is not undervalued, and if the lows are likely to be transitory, then use of capital controls --in addition to both prudential and macroeconomic policy-- is justified as part of the policy toolkit to manage inflows. Evidence from the current crisis suggests that controls aimed at achieving a less risky external liability structure reduced financial fragilities and increased growth resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of the convergence process in the development of the telecommunication sector and evaluates its impact on market structure and policy in Telecommunication and Information Technologies (ICT), in order to identify sensitive regulatory issues and some aspects that have not yet been discussed in depth. Regulatory models have responded to the challenges raised by the market and technological development, but models that can anticipate innovations are still required. Thus, the need arises for a new generation of regulation that can generate synergies to harmonize the regulations that govern the sector's industries, and to assess the impact of policies on social, economic and cultural rights associated with the ubiquity of networks and information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideas of modern macroeconomics provided the intellectual justification of the economic policies of the last 10 to 15 years. It is these ideas which the financial crisis falsified. The dominant paradigm in macroeconomic theory over the past 30 years has been that of rational agents who form rational expectations about the future and make optimal decisions. The aim of the paper is to study how these agents deal with risk and uncertainty, the source of the problems of the discipline of economics, the economy and the financial crisis. Modern macroeconomics has responsibility for the financial crisis, because it imposes its intellectual foundation on a world that operates in situations involving risk that are systematically underestimated and leads to not recognized situations of genuine uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural economics has recently been included in the development of Economics. The seminal paper Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma by William Baumol and William Bowen, much acknowledged by specialists and from which this specialisation originates, dates back to 1966. In spite of its short life, cultural economics is a dynamic area for applying economic analysis to diverse subjects such as: "Baumol's cost-disease", cultural policy, models of consumption of cultural goods, concepts of capital and cultural value, organisational and managerial structures of cultural companies, the functionary of art markets and the development of the sector's economic accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand from a regional perspective the causes of the civil war of 1876-1877 in the Northeastern Colombian Andes. An approximation is made to the urban hierarchy in the current Colombian departments of Santander and Norte de Santander between 1853 and 1875. The conditions leading to conflict and the change in that hierarchy are presented. In addition, intervening players and the location of the events of the war are identified. It concludes that the group that fell in urban hierarchy was the one that started the war and that this hierarchical change was one of the causes of the war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The great moderation lulled macroeconomists and policymakers alike into the belief that we knew how to conduct macroeconomic policy. The crisis clearly forces us to question that assessment. This paper reviews the main elements of the pre-crisis consensus, identifies where we were wrong and what tenets of the pre-crisis framework still hold, and takes a tentative first pass at the contours of a new macroeconomic policy framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the impact on the value of future investments that would derive from the privatization of a state-owned road concessionaire, taking into account the ability of the government to handle the asymmetry of information vis à vis the concessionaire. A model based on auction theory is developed in order to quantify the expected impact on government from the privatization of the concessionaire assuming the concession contract is not modified. We conclude that if the government decides to privatize the concessionaire, significant changes are required in the concession contract, especially in the absence of institutional transformations that would improve the government supervisory and control capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a critical analysis of the arguments against the public pensions system. It shows that the defense of the fully funded system based on its solvency and its ability to automatically cope with the processes of aging society are mere fallacies. In fact, it can be shown that the pay-as-you-go and fully funded systems are equivalent, facing the same problems in the long term. Finally, projections of conventional indicators show that the cries of alarm of Fedesarrollo and BBVA have no solid foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some nations criticize Colombian efforts to fight against the violence. However, Colombia doesn't have real support from some of its neighbors (Nicaragua, Ecuador and Venezuela) as well as other actors to combat guerrillas or paramilitary groups which, in turn, are related to the drug traffic. It is necessary that the international community understand the Colombian effort to carry out its struggle against ilegal drugs as well as the violence that results there from. Colombia has increased its spending in Security and Defense during the last decade especially against narcotrafficking. Does Colombia have real support from its neighbors and allies to combat this crime? This paper evaluates the cooperation that Colombia has obtained from other actors in this struggle not only in economic terms, but also in terms of institutional support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread use of landmines is commonplace in countries with armed conflicts. In the Colombian case, the use of these weapons by terrorist groups such as FARC, has noticeably increased in recent years, particularly since the implementation of the Democratic Security Policy. Clearly, terrorist groups in Colombia have found that landmines are a useful and effective method to contain the military offensive and to protect, among others, areas where illegal coca crops number. Indeed, this strategy has placed Colombia among the countries with the highest incidence of accidents and incidents related to landmines. This paper examines the problem of landmines in Colombia, and reviews mine clearance experiences in other countries in an effort to seek useful alter- natives applicable to the Colombian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a few years of implementation, the Bolsa Familia Program, which covers more than 12 million families, has become the largest program of income transfer in the world and confirmed the distribution of money as the predominant form of social policy in Brazil. Despite the evidence of the effectiveness of such intervention in the economic sphere, when we look at the relationship between the beneficiaries and the agents responsible for the policy, other research questions emerge. When analyzing the trajectory of this policy from the federal sphere to the beneficiary, one can recognize the diverse paths the implementation of this program takes. This paper inquires about the impacts of this program on citizenship, through the organization and participation (or absence) of the beneficiaries in politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a current picture of the inhabitants of Bogota, in the light of three main areas: Democratic Culture, Citizen Culture and Policy Culture, which converge on a concept we refer to as the Public Cultures. The analysis of the Public Cultures stems from the Fifth Biennial Survey of Cultures, an instrument developed by the Bogotá city government through the Observatory of Cultures, a bureau of the Secretary of Culture, Recreation and Sports. The response of over 13000 inhabitants in the 19 burroughs of the city are depicted in the 2009 survey. The article presents findings on the degree of tolerance, respect for differences, civic and democratic values, perceived conflicts and political participation of the people of Bogotá. Readers may take this information and subsequent analysis to deepen their knowledge and commitment to building a sense of belonging in the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1981 Chile began a wave of privatization and market-friendly reforms of social security systems in Latin America; Argentina did the same in 1993. In 2008, Chile and Argentina reformed their pension systems again. Chile maintains the private capitalization system complemented with a basic pension and solidarity payments while Argentina eliminated the capitalization pillar and replaced it by a single integrated delivery system publicly administered. This paper analyzes the policy reforms of pension systems as a result of the comparison between countries, as well as between market and state led reforms and state led reforms: Chile (1981 and 2008) and Argentina (1993 and 2008). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an extended model that includes Thirlwall's simple rule. Growth in Mexico fell from an annual average of 6.76% in 1961-1981 to 2.95% in the 1982-2004 period. Net lows of capital, rents and transfers promote and stabilize the economy, but devaluation does not improve growth. Income growth rates and income elasticities between Mexico and the United States have become equal, which prevents convergence of per capita income. Mexico must design and implement an industrial policy if it wants to increase its rate of growth and face the fall of oil reserves and the changes in US immigration policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assumption of rationality is central in current economic theory. This hypothesis is the pillar for the creation of the homo economicus of conventional theory. Starting with Adam Smith's approach to rationality, the aim of this paper is to contribute to the discussion of the main characteristics of the individual underlying the rational man of economics and their implications for economic analysis. The meaning of rationality according to several authors is reexamined and it is argued that the basis of Adam Smith's work is still valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper synthesizes extensive research conducted by colleagues from a wide diversity of disciplines that examines the relationships between the social systems and ecological systems they use. One of the key observations is that efforts to design general-purpose blueprints frequently fail. The variety of conditions of an ecological system rarely fit a single scheme for good institutions for a large region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the duration of unemployment in Colombia as an indicator of the effectivity of search methods. This work is based on the Continuing Survey of Households (ECH), carried out in Colombia in the second quarter of 2006. Parametric (Weibull proportional risk) and nonparametric (Kaplan-Meier) duration models are estimated. The findings suggest that the duration of unemployment is strongly influenced by the search methods used by employees and the unemployed. Formal methods are the most effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the disentailment of mortmain in Colombia. Most of this land was held by the Catholic Church, which derived considerable economic and political power from its ownership. The Radical faction of the Liberal Party, which governed the country between 1863 and 1876, promoted numerous reforms directed at eliminating the institutions that had survived the years of Spanish colonial rule and were an obstacle to the advance of the economy. A substantial portion of all the properties of the Church were thus expropriated. this process was culminated with the signing of a treaty --"Concordato"-- between the Colombian government and Holy See. The treaty recognized in favor of the Church "the value of disentailed loans and property". Colombian historiography has given little attention to the process of disentailment, as a result of the influence of Conservative historiography, which portrayed it as a failure. This mistaken appreciation can only be corrected through research in primary sources. In this paper we have used primary sources that had not been discussed in the most influential works on Colombian economic history of the 19th century and conclude that it was the main economic reform of that period, since it represented at least 16% of the GDP of 1860 and was a very profitable operation for the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to contribute to a critical analysis of what has been called 21st century socialism. Socialist regimes of the 20th century distorted the theoretical Marxian economic model partly because of the impossibility of socialist economic calculation. Allin Cottrell and Paul Cockshott argue that in 21st century socialism, supported by several political parties, social movements and some Latin-American governments, the impossibility of economic calculation can be overcome by the use of computers and the Internet. In this paper we offer criticism of economic and political aspects of Cottrell and Cockshott's theoretical design. Our discussion of the economic aspects is inspired by market socialism, while our discussion of political aspects draws on debates surrounding political or egalitarian liberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy evaluation is, in a general sense, a function of techniques and methods upon which to assess the objectives, efficiency and impact of public action. This paper identifies a new dimension, notably politics, which provides improved social results despite the fact that it remains hidden, rather than emerging as a key asset for improved governmental performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the implementation of the decentralization policy (empowerment of local authority) from the 1991 Constitution to 2002. It does so through the analysis of executive regulatory activity as well as congressional legislation (some fifty legal texts) and twenty two decisions of the High Courts, all of which deal substantive questions on decentralization and/or the autonomy of the territorial governments. Analysis of these decisions allows us, directly and indirectly, to interpret the challenges of territorialization of public policy action as well as changes in belief systems (referentiel). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distinction between "evaluation" and "analysis" within "EPPPAL: an endogenous model for public policy originating in, and directed toward Latin America", is a crucial issue because it gives balance, complements and questions the generous Anglo-Saxon (English) proposal and the friendly French offer on how to make policy public in Latin America. This paper begins with a brief description of the difference between public policy "Analysis" and "Evaluation". The first part presents the evolution of evaluation literature, its functions, conceptual references, typology, and models. q-he second section presents an analysis of its components, its basic assumptions, characteristics, emphases and tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to illustrate different approaches to collective action and their relation with particular types of public policy. We analyze the impact of econonomics and non-economics collective action driven perspectives on public policy theory. The former perspective is conducive to a rational approach to policy. However, as reciprocity enters into collective action reasoning, then public policy becomes interested in understanding behavioural change in terms of such relations. Finally, we conclude on the relevance of collective action for the study of public policy and highlight the circumstances that may foster such analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 international economic crisis caused acceleration in the immigration debate in most of the traditional destination countries. While the macroeconomic collapse of the OECD countries affected first and hardest the immigrant workforce, it didn't translate into a more favorable treatment for it. On the contrary, anti-immigration discourses flourished and gained a growing audience and momentum, allowing for a series of new restrictive and repressive immigration laws, leading to mostly circumstantial and partial reforms. This paper analyzes the enthusiasm created by the idea that international migrants could soon return home, initiating a reverse migration: fleeing the poor conditions and opportunities of their reception countries. Despite the enthusiasm return migration is a theoretical scenario. So far there is no evidence of a massive and spontaneous return migration, in spite of the incentives that were offered by destination countries governments. Meanwhile, deportations, another form of return, coercive indeed, have consolidated as a full right migration policy, and a costly one. More restrictive and repressive migration policies in destination countries make the case for a prompt global immigration policy overhaul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1980, Venezuelan income per capita in dollars was 1.4 times higher than that of Colombia, but in 2007, this ratio was reversed and the Colombian income was 1.1 higher than that of Venezuela. This result deserves an explanation, as both countries made similar structural reforms to allow a free economy and to integrate with international markets. This paper aims to explain this result. The main conclusion is that the State-entrepreneur relationship and the real exchange rate management are crucial for the explanation of the difference in the economic performance of both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes over-education in Colombia, using the data of individuals and companies, compiled by the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) in 2006. It finds that there is a 14% likelihood of being over-educated and that this depends on the mobility between different areas of performance, experience, sex, company size, and educational degree. Overeducated workers earn 2% less than properly-educated workers, according to the international standard. Results also show that in the case of professionals, the likelihood of remaining in the same subject area increases with their experience, and that the higher the level of over-education, the lower likelihood of staying in that area, and workers who hold a graduate degree are less likely to stay in their subject area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiscal rules enhance the credibility of economic policy, allow counter cyclical and sustainable fiscal policies, and contribute to macroeconomic stability and economic growth. The Colombian government has used fiscal rules to limit the growth of expenditure and the indebtedness of sub-national governments, and to promote fiscal transparency and responsibility. However, their success has been partial. This paper presents and analyzes a quantitative fiscal rule of 1% of GDP in the structural primary surplus for the central government, in order to consolidate the country's adjustment of public finances and reduce their vulnerability in the future. If that rule were implemented this year, the government would attain savings of 0.7% of GDP between 2008 and 2011, which would reduce the public debt level by about 3 percentage points of GDP by the end of the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theories focus primarily on phenomena such as systemic robustness against perturbation, self-organization, and on emergence, transformation, and dissolution of organizational entities or action patterns in nature understood as biological systems, the metaphorical resonance of CAS work is not easily translated into careful scientific results in public administration in the environment of globalization. It can be very difficult to identify the right level at which to develop more precise theoretical generalizations with well specified domains of applicability in public administration. This paper demonstrates an approach to this problem. We systematically investigate how emergence new features in a self organized process known as Public Administration.self-orgs [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain benefits from capital globalization, it is necessary for the domestic financial market to be well-developed and regulated. This paper analyzes the effect of capital globalization on the financial system from an institutional perspective. Institutional change is produced by the market and the government and non-government agreements introduced by the financial integration. The empiric evidence suggests that capital globalization has a positive relationship with the institutional development of the financial system, because it reinforces private property rights and reduces monopolist financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explains two enigmas related to the scientific career of Thomas C. Schelling, Nobel Prize in Economics 2005: How to explain his capacity to always produce new ideas? Why have his multiple pioneer ideas had more impact on other social sciences and not on economics? The paper proposes three hypotheses: the minor impact of the acquired knowledge of his theoretical work, a heuristic that always privileged the relationship between unpublished facts and unusual angles, and the creation of a spontaneous knowledge network that covered different disciplines dedicated to social interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important challenge in monetary economics is the development of an endogenous theory of money, which introduces money in a natural way and not as an external imposition. This paper reviews different approaches that have been used in monetary economic literature, and argues that overlapping generation models and search models are the best choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the accumulation pattern of Spanish capitalism during the last half a century, based on the evolution of the capital return and the behavior of its main determinants: distribution and technical change. First, it explains the accumulation logic of the theory of work-value and argues that the so-called "law of the falling tendency of the rate of profit" (Ltdtg) provides a suitable frame to explain the movements of the capitalist development in the long term. It then shows how this dynamic has materialized in the development of world accumulation since the end of the second world war, and concludes that the evolution of the Spanish capitalism in this period follows the same world pattern, emphasizing its main singularities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization has made it evident that the traditional separation between trade and competition policies is not only artificial but in overt contradiction with international economy. This paper discusses the relationship between the agricultural sector and competition policy in a free trade context. It is argued that it is convenient to apply competition policy to this sector, as it ensures the best possible conditions for enhancing technological change processes that are vital for agricultural development. It also argues that a rigorous competition policy is essential, to take into account the particular market structure characteristics of the agricultural related sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the mechanism for the equity of payments for using the Colombian health system, defined as the possibility of consuming services when the need arises, regardless of the individual's resources. The incentives produced by the payment system are studied, as well as a particular case of a homogeneous population. Health services are grouped together according to type of risk, and the variations in service consumption are determined as a function of income. If the mechanism is equitable, the frequency of service use in different socioeconomic levels should be the same for pathologies and treatments with high risk and vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]