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Different bodies of literature emphasise the separate impact of the manufacturing sector and scientific capacity for competitiveness in developing countries. Scientific knowledge can increase productivity and promote innovation, while the manufacturing sector creates spillovers and generates processes of learning-by-doing. Yet, do these two processes complement each other? Do they, together, contribute to even higher international competitiveness? This paper explores these questions, drawing on an eleven-years panel data set for ten South American economies. We develop a moderation hypothesis model based on the congruence between science, industry, and international competitiveness. Our results support our hypothesis that scientific capacity and manufacturing development have a joint impact on international competitiveness that goes beyond their marginal effects and thus calls for future efforts to implement industrial policy.

The following paper studies the determinants of choosing a private pension fund institution by processing a questionnaire of 514 affiliates. The questionnaire attempts to measure perceptions of the consumer with respect to their private pension fund institution. Using a structural equation model, we found that socioeconomic variables are irrelevant but some perceptions like the return of portfolio and leadership of the private pension fund were relevant in the choice of a private pension fund institution. We contrast the model in two different periods of time between 2009 and 2016. The periods before and after financial turmoil in the stock market., El siguiente artículo estudia los determinantes de la elección de un fondo de pensiones privado, mediante el procesamiento de un cuestionario de 514 afiliados. El cuestionario intenta medir las percepciones del consumidor con respecto a sus AFPs. Usando un modelo de ecuación estructural, encontramos que las variables socioeconómicas son irrelevantes, pero algunas percepciones como el retorno de la cartera y el liderazgo del fondo de pensiones privado fueron relevantes en la elección de una institución de fondos de pensiones privada. Contrastamos el modelo en dos diferentes períodos de tiempo : 2009 y 2016. Estos son los períodos antes y después de la turbulencia internacional en el mercado de valores.

Cu2MnSnS4 shares several promising properties with the widely investigated Cu2ZnSnS4 for photovoltaic applications such as containing only earth abundant and non-toxic elements, and suitable absorption characteristics for absorber materials. Thin film Cu2MnSnS4 samples with various cation compositions are co-sputtered reactively followed by a high temperature anneal. Formation of Cu2MnSnS4 and co-existence of several secondary phases is verified by XRD and Raman. Our investigation of the crystal structure based on first-principles DFT confirms that stannite crystal structure is preferred over kesterite, although, further verification considering cation disorder is needed. The direct band gap of Cu2MnSnS4 is calculated as 1.52 eV (1.62 eV) for stannite (kesterite), which coincides with the range of the measured band gaps from spectrophotometry of 1.42-1.59 eV. After further annealing treatments below 240 degrees C, the absorption shows reversible changes: the band gap blue-shifts and the Urbach tail energy is reduced. It is concluded that, just like Cu2ZnSnS4, disorder also occurs in Cu2MnSnS4. The implications of our findings are discussed and related to the current understanding of cation disorder in Cu2ZnSnS4 and related compounds. Furthermore, for the first time first-principles DFT investigations are presented for the thiospinel Cu2MnSn3S8 which is observed experimentally as a secondary phase in Sn-rich Cu2MnSnS4 thin films.