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Cardoso is among the most famous thinkers on development and dependency theory. He successfully combines sociology, economics and political science to build an interdisciplinary view of Latin America's transformations. This paper analyses Cardoso's "radical" theoretical evolution between two major books, Dependency and Development in Latin America (1970) and Charting a New Course: The Politics of Globalization and Social Transformation (2001). The positions he occupied when he wrote these two books, academician-political opponent and then politician, could explain his evolution. Cardoso claims that new political and economic conditions have taken place and a new theory is thus required in order to "chart a new course". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the costs of reducing consumption of goods by making their production illegal and punishing illegal producers. We use illegal drugs as a prominent example. We show that the more inelastic either demand for or supply of goods is, the greater the increase in social cost from further reducing its production by greater enforcement efforts. So, optimal public expenditures on the apprehension and conviction of illegal suppliers depend not only on the difference between the social and private values of consumption, but also on this elasticity. When demand and supply are no so elastic, it does not pay to enforce any prohibition unless the social value is negative. We also show that a monetary tax could cause a greater reduction in output and increase in price than optimal enforcement against the same goods if it were illegal, even though some producers may go underground to avoid a monetary tax. When enforcement is costly, excise taxes and quantity restrictions are not equivalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Aldo Olano stresses that modern day Peru has to be understood as the result of different circumstances where historical and political aspects coincide with different development models and changes within society. The main idea of this paper is that the recurrent lack of governance in Peru is the result of an anti institutional culture but not necessary an anti state one. It is argued that this is also the result of strict social orders that are politically exclusive regardless of modernizing liberal and protectionist projects that date to the last century. The article questions some of the paradigms based on which development programs were implemented and consequently it establishes that current day Peru is the result of a mismatch between the ideological and the institutional. As such, the lack of governance and the preeminence of populist practices is the final result of three inconclusive projects: a military reform government (1968 - 1975), a democratic liberal one (1980-1990, 20002006) and the paternalistic authoritarian (1992-2000). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notions of governability and Populism have been used increasingly in political sciences papers on Latin America. The lack of precision in theirs meanings increased the same way. In this article, we argue that such difficulty lies in theirs uses in three ideal types of speech registries: the academic speech, the bureaucratic speech, and the political speech. We consider that these three uses of Populism and governability, with theirs respective logics, can generate much confusion. We propose therefore some reflections that try to clarify theses notions from the logic of the academic speech, but taking into account the uses that are made in both other registries of speeches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to many analysts, the Nation-State is undergoing a deep crisis, because the effectiveness of its power is being broken up in three directions: upward, as a consequence of globalization and supranationalization; horizontally due to the dismantling of the Welfare State, privatization and deregulation; and downward, because of decentralization and the empowerment of the regional and local entities. According to these interpretations, the joint action of such trends would be eroding the traditional competences of the Nation State and determining the irrelevance of this political entity in the global dynamics of power and the economy. This paper analyses the impact of the above mentioned trends in the Andean countries. It concludes by stating that in this context the processes aimed at reducing the role of the State, have paradoxically turned into the widening of its sphere of action in other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how the theory on the role of institutions in development can be improved, by critically examining the current orthodox discourse on institutions. To understand the relationship between institutions and economic development, it is necessary to have some balance between institutional forms and functions, and to accept its multi-faceted nature. It concludes that a successful institutional adaptation must be politically legitimated by the members of society and requires a better knowledge of the historical and contemporary experiences of each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What on earth are economic theorists like me trying to accomplish? The paper discusses four dilemmas encountered by an economic theorist: i) the dilemma of absurd conclusions: should we abandon a model if it produces absurd conclusions or should we regard a model as a very limited set of assumptions which will inevitably fail in some contexts?; ii) the dilemma of responding to evidence: should our models be judged according to experimental results?; iii) the dilemma of model-less regularities: should models provide the hypothesis for testing or are they simply exercises in logic which have no use in identifying regularities?, and iv) the dilemma of relevance: do we have the right to offer advice or to make statements which are intended to influence the real world? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most frequent questions asked by economists is how individual members of societies make choices. It can be observed that economic agents imitate other agents' actions. It should be asked why rational people choose to imitate other people's behaviour and make decisions that are not based on their own private information. Bikhchandani, Hirshleifer and Welch (1992) showed that fully rational agents, who understand the history of decision making, can generate this kind of behaviour. An important feature of this model is that once individuals begin to imitate others, the social learning process is halted. This paper shows that social learning occurs if agents have a continuum set of actions to choose from or if they just have a sample of the history. It also shows that this type of learning can occur within a herd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates how economic theory deals with analyses of current real estate dynamics and urban residential structure. It shows the fundamental axioms of neoclassical spatial synthesis and their explanations in terms of equilibrium, and highlights ambiguous and unsatisfactory, but elegant, solutions to urban spatial economic structure and dynamics. It presents the critical heterodox approach to the fundamental axioms and the hypothesis of spatial equilibrium, and shows the main aspects of the central heterodox contribution to residential real estate dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the links between Hume's philosophy of customs and the basic principles of institutional theory. This relationship has been suggested by contemporary economists such as Vernon Smith and others, who see in Hume the origins of today's broadly accepted dichotomy between constructive and ecological reasoning, essential to institutional thinking. For Hume habit, as the main guide of life, can be used to comprehend individual and collective behavioural patterns. The question is whether his reflections on the subject are consistent with the foundations of his own philosophy of belief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current theories of the State would benefit from a new look at the economic role of the State in the work of the great economists of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Schumpeter's emphasis on the role of technological innovation in long-term economic growth makes his work particularly interesting for development economics. However, Schumpeter's rejection of the State's role in income redistribution is too simplistic and contradictory. Structural change may enhance the prospects for long-term growth, but also creates social and economic disruptions. This paper explores this basic contradiction and briefly discusses the application of Schumpeter's theory of the State to new industrialized countries in East Asia and Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harrod's research program was the first to integrate the central ideas of "magnum dynamics" into a mechanical framework of vector forces to endogenously explain cycles and growth. Mathematical economists ignored these points and Harrod's original work was presented in textbooks as the Harrod-Domar growth model. The aim of this paper is to present Harrod's dynamic and show that his real aim was to build a non linear cyclic growth model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates how third level of attention hospitals in Bogotá choose between different contractual arrangements with health maintenance organizations (HMO), using criteria which seek to reduce transaction costs. Williamson's theoretical framework is used as a basis for an empirical test. Likert scales are used to operationalize the independent variables and the stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) and multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) for the test of the hypothesis. Results indicate that both HMO's and third level of attention hospitals in Bogotá seek to reduce production rather than transactions costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic renal insufficiency is one of the highest cost pathologies of greater financial impact for the general system of social security health care in Colombia. High-cost case concentration in some health entities made it necessary to distribute resources and patients to other entities in order to counteract the financial unbalance. This paper proposes that demand induction is the principal failure in this case. It presents some hypotheses regarding incentives facing firms in an oligopolic market and argues for the necessity of regulatory intervention in prices and quality and, especially, prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a group of argument models with the purpose of highlighting which debate characteristics should be kept in mind when analyzing written texts or oral speeches in different activities of daily life. It describes the importance of controversies in conceptual change and epistemology illustrated with a typical case of the debate on the challenges of free trade. The authors elaborate an interpretation of the explanation/understanding dualism in the social sciences through argumentation models and controversies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Mexico, wages have stagnated and profits have increased since 1980. This paper analyzes the causes of this performance both at an aggregate and sectorial level. Although in theory trade liberalization should have led to increased wages and a reduction of profits, an unlimited supply of labor prevented wages from increasing and transformed productivity gains in higher returns on capital. Growth of qualified employment was not the result of generalized technological advances; it reflected changes in the composition of labor supply. Higher investment in human capital does not necessarily lead to higher productivity or income. If the improvement in education of the labor force is to generate higher productivity, a public policy of stimulus for economic growth is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This second paper from Mauricio Avella describes the complete cycle of capital exports originating in the United States in the 1920's: the conversion of United States into a creditor nation; the role of New York as the dominant financial center; and the distribution of United States investments, particularly in South America. Moreover, it examines the availability of these exports to Colombia, and the consequences from collapsing of external credit granted by the United States. Finally, it reviews the balance of the main international creditors when the export cycle of American capital closed in the 1920's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows the report presented by the Commission on Graduate Education in Economics in 1991 to the American Economic Association, it focuses on the extent to which graduate education in economic may have become too isolated from real economic problems. The report analyzes the first year core program and then fields, and it questions about the excessive emphasis given to mathematical technique versus economic substance. Thereafter the paper describes some perceived deficiencies of coursework as a whole: a lack of creativity on the part of students, and a lack of communication skills. Next, it examines the long process of selecting a dissertation, and shows advantages and disadvantages of mix of graduate schools. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations to solve the problems described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, Gonzalo Cataño examines the ideas on the State defended by the notable thinker and Colombian socialist leader: Gerardo Molina. The article presents a brief biography, followed by a study of his ideas concerning the functions of the State. Although a critical tone predominates all way through the article, it must be remembered that the limitations of an intelligent analyst of the public subjects are always more instructive than the correct considerations of a trivial expositor of the policy. The paper defines Provident State -- also known as Welfare State or Supportive State-- as a State that guarantees minimum standards of income, health, food, housing, education and labor, as political rights, not charity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the non compliance of the law in Latin America, particularly in Colombia. The core of the paper is the contrast between two different approaches: the strategic vision which argues that this failure is a consequence of the lack of institutional capacity to impose effective penalties; and the rebellion vision, which explains the failure as an expression of values or ideologies. The article examines the doctrinal roots related with the strategic vision --the social capital theories, studies in Law and economics and the new institutionalism-- their reception in our environment and their application in the context of the judicial reform. This critical examination highlights the analytical differences between these two visions and their implications in the justice system and the social law: even though both visions are partial, each one of them is partly true. Compliance of law can not be achieved only by imposing sanctions and incentives, or by promoting a unilateral favorable attitude for compliance of the law. Rational behavior must also be complemented by the perception of the legitimacy of the institutions. Market and the democracy are both equally essential for the existence of a Rule of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the presence of positive transaction costs, institutions and the architecture of organizations take on fundamental importance. This paper measures costs of opening firms in the Brazilian garment industry. The measure of costs to start up a new business in the garment industry in Brazil shows a large variation between regions in the same city and between different areas of the country. Nine different procedures were found along with a time span of 64 days and an average cost of 11,3% of the GDP per capita. Also 39% of the firms declared that they operated informally for some time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently a new approach to political economy has been consolidated. The political analysis of transaction costs is an attempt to solve some of the problems which arise in economic theories of public policy. This paper deals with the notions of transaction costs, institutional efficiency, governance structures and commitment value; and defines political interchange as political contracts. Political transactions have high transaction costs and the efficiency of the "political market" requires a democratic system with institutions that favour reasoned decisions and prevents democratic delegation from becoming abdication. This article surveys literature with a transaction cost perspective and shows that it has been very useful for the theoretical explanation of the role of political agents and the evolution of rules that guide their interaction. The main challenge is to provide empirical evidence to the theoretical proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present the main differences between New Institutional Economics, NIE, and Original Institutional Economics, OIE, and to question some of the proposals that call for the gap between the two approaches to be bridge. This does not preclude the possibilities of a dialogue. Without ignoring some important theoretical developments in North's work, the author claims that NIE is a school that operates in the periphery of the neoclassical economics paradigm, and shares its ontological and methodological foundations; however these are very different from the evolutionary (Darwinian) economics of Thorstein Veblen. Though the task of integrating the OIE and NIE seems impossible following the road of eclecticism, a dialogue between them could open new perspectives and enrich institutional economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space, geography and territorial organization have gained importance in recent studies on economical and political development. This reveals a (re)territorialization of the theoretical approaches of development. This paper systematically studies new theories of economic growth, analysis of State transformation, neoinstitutionalist approaches and the environmental perspective. Though these theories come from different disciplines, they converge in a new paradigm of development. In this new approach, the territory is not considered a receptacle-perimeter of productive activities and sociopolitical process, but as an explanatory element of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the main problems of the theory of games as a tool of economic analysis. It also points out the new perspectives of the solution concepts including their context and finally it presents some comments regarding the future of the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that credit is important has gained importance in the contemporary macroeconomic theory. However, almost all the models that explicitly include financial variables in their explanation of economic behaviour continue to differentiate between the monetary and the real economy in the long run. This paper proposes a relationship between credit restrictions and financial crisis based on postkeynesian theory. In this context, credit rationalization appears as a natural phenomenon in modern capitalist economies, and not as a result of the bankers' voluntary action will or their imperfect information due to the confidentiality of investors' knowledge. Financial crisis are endogenous, but they can be prevented by the correct behaviour of the economic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper, which is part of a broader research project, is to analyse the fluctuations of output in a framework of imperfect competition based on the stylised facts. We conclude that these movements can be originated by supply or demand shocks, or simply by the adjustment of the economy when goods or labor markets are not balanced because of price and wages rigidities. On the other hand, it justifies the Keynesian argument related to government interference in cases where the economy cannot overcome a recessive stage on its own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how some of the most important concepts of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) can be expressed in terms of Implementation Theory (IT). First, it explains some of the expressions used by the NIE, such as institutions, transaction costs, property rights and methodological individualism. Afterwards, it gives a wide definition of the IT in order to establish correspondences between both theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has recently been a resurgence of interest in how institutions affect economic performance. A review of this literature reveals that the concept of an 'institution' means different things to different scholars, both within economics and across the social sciences. This paper discusses what factors unify the different definitions of institutions, and develops a concept of institutions useful for the analysis of economic performance, and economic growth in particular. Specifically, it develops the notion of institutions as standard 'social technologies'. Economic growth results from the co-evolution of physical and social technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper criticizes multicausal and penal impunity explanations of violence and crime. It shows the analytical limits of identifying state and social institutional failure with objective causes of violence. But also highlights that impunity indicators cannot be confused with impunity itself. After showing those limits, it proposes an alternative approach based on two central facts that have been ignored: organized crime nature and the breakdown of colombian justice and security systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the relevance of Popper's Rationality Principle (RP) for the appraisal of the impressive mass work emerging, in recent years, in the fields of rationality, learning, evolutionary games and behavioral economic theory. In contradistinction to the well-known rigid criteria of the falsacionist Popper, the RP covers a large and diverse spectrum of behaviors compatible with the minimal idea of 'acting in accordance with the situation'. Its relevance to understand the formation of social conventions or how agents learn 'to play Nash equilibrium' is argued at length here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes theoretical models and empirical evidence concerning the political economy of public finances. It emphasizes political and institutional issues that influence different levels of public debt and fiscal deficits in countries and subnational entities with similar economic performance, and describes fiscal contract relationships between governors and voters using principal-agent theory. It then applies methods of experimental economics and game theory to evaluate how these relationships contribute to debt accumulation and fiscal unbalances, in a laboratory experiment in which participants act as agents (governors) and then as principals (voters). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under what circumstances is it necessary or convenient for an agent to rely on habits and rules? This paper focuses on the types of decision situation giving rise to their use. Even optimisation requires the development of rules, and for this reason mainstream economics cannot legitimately ignore these questions. It argues that habits and rules are ubiquitous in human activity, presents a new taxonomy and analyses seven types of decision situations classified according to the type of information problem involved. Neither neoclassical nor behavioural economics can provide a complete account of the bases of habits or rules in these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate regarding national government debt. It asks if government should excise public debt through inflation or pay it as it was stipulated, and argues that, from an economic and social point of view, what is desirable is the just fulfillment of State obligations. First section describes the evolution of national government finances over the last ten years. Second section shows different simulations to analyze the determinants of interest payments. Final section examines proposals that seek to reduce public debt though monetary emission and discusses some of its possible consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper parts from the work developed by Sen about metaorders and metapreferences to explain illegality as a rational problem. After showing the scope of this categories, the author exposes some limits of the benefit cost analysis of illegality. He continues suggesting that the concept of metapreferences contributes to understanding the fuzzy space that exists between legal and illegal frontiers, and between legitimacy and illegitimacy. González point out the necessity of a more detailed analysis of the way in which beliefs and desires shape individual and social preferences, if we don't want to fall in simplistic explanations of illegality based on an arbitrary criteria of the good. He concludes too that the inconsistency of metapreferences can explain why more expenditures in security and justice don't result in a reduction of impunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay analyzes liberal explanations of social order. Throughout exposition, Ovejero suggests the convenience of reviewing two central insights of liberalism, related with the way that the "problem" of social order is stated and its "solution" through the market. The "problem" is based on the unsustainable idea of presocial individuals inherent to liberalism. The article develops some arguments that shows why it has no sense to ask for the foundation of social order in that way. It supports that sociability can not be chosen, as the language can no be chosen either, in other words sociability can not be explained as a result of exchange or bargaining among individuals. The paper analyzes too the alternatives to explain the existence of social cement: passions, in terms of emotions and instincts, as the central basis that explains the way in which personal interests and the market would guarantee the social order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comparison between Adam Smith and David Ricardo's treatments of poverty in a capitalist society. The comparison focus on the different arguments they use to relate poverty to inequality and institutional realities. The discussion points out the life experiences of each author and their intellectual interests, taking into account that poverty was one of the most pressing social problems faced by England between the 18th and 19th century. Smith associates poverty with the stability of social order; while Ricardo postulates that poverty is a function of the distributive struggle and the forces of population growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The criminality rate in Colombia (crime/population) grew rapidly between the middle seventies and eighties, since then it had shown a declination, but the country still observes high indices of criminality, mostly in homicides and kidnapping. In a similar way defense, security and justice spending have grown. This paper will present some reasons that explain, from an economic point of view, the growth of these spending, the conditions that make it increase or decrease in an optimal way and which establish a complementary relation (marginal) between the magnitude and the efficiency of these spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an interpretation of John Locke's theory of political society. After reviewing the differences between Locke's and Hobbes' ideas of individual, government and the importance of a rational discussion about the construction of political society, the article shows the role of individual freedom and consent as basis for explaining the situation of men in political society. The analysis of Locke's social contract shows how the creation of government is the outcome of the search for economic efficiency, because it permits the reduction of transaction costs or what Locke calls "the inconveniences of the state of nature". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to point out and to correct some mistakes of the conventional theory of imperfect competition based on partial equilibrium analysis. It extends to imperfect competition the classical model of general equilibrium, signalling the interconnections between individual prices and between these and macroeconomic aggregates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to determine whether the use of Private Military and Security Companies strengthens military institutions and the provision of security or, on the contrary, questions the monopoly of the legitimate use of force and generates new challenges to the current role of the military. It analyzes three main realms within the military sphere where the presence of PMSCS may have a direct impact: the exercise of the monopoly of the use of violence, the professionalization of the military, and the process of enrollment of new recruits. The paper highlights that the presence of PMSCS does not affect the continuity of the state's monopoly of the legitimate use of force. It also argues that although PMSCS perform certain activities that enhance the provision of security in a state, the military should always be prepared to overtake those activities delegated to PMSCS and should avoid becoming excessively dependent on private companies to execute them. Likewise, the paper sustains that the privatization of security distorts the conception of professionalism put up front by CMR theorists. Finally, the paper states that the presence of PMSCS obliges today's military to strengthen its recruitment strategies and consolidate a sound enrollment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]