INSTITUTIONS, CONTRACTS AND REGULATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN ARGENTINA

Massive privatization in the Argentine infrastructure and public service sectors gave an opportunity to explore why we observe notorious differences in regulatory design choices and performance outcomes across sectors, under the umbrella of similar nation-specific institutional characteristics -same federal government producing reform during a short period of time (1990-95)-. Following the Levy and Spiller (1996) conceptual framework, we propose that some institutional characteristics (namely the nature of conflicts among groups affected by reform and administrative capabilities) determined a wide variety of government choices for regulatory incentives, producing different outcomes across sectors. Despite the will of the executive power to respect stable "rules of the game", episodes of government opportunism appeared in most sectors. Poor regulatory incentive design and weak agencies, on the other hand, prompted ex-post opportunistic behavior from regulated firms, which renegotiated contractual conditions to their favor.regulation; institutional economics; post-privatization; infrastructure; utilities

Diversity of Safety Arguments in the Validation of a Sounding Rocket Destruction System

This work describes an approach for the validation of a software system responsible for the destruction of the sounding rocket VS-40X. The process of validation uses three different techniques ranging from the automatic state exploration to the laborious failure analysis. The purpose of the exercise was to obtain diverse arguments in the provision of evidence that the safety properties of the sounding rocket destruction system are always maintained. The software system is modeled using a co-operative architecture, which contains abstractions for modeling and analyzing the interactions between components. The safety analysis is performed using model checking, a technique that exhaustedly explores the state space to determine whether the system satisfies a safety property. The combination of co-operative architectures and model checking has shown effective when modeling and analyzing the interactive behavior between components. However, caution must be taken over the (false) confidence that can be obtained when employing solely model checking for the safety analysis. In order to compensate this deficiency we have to seek diverse sources of evidence to build trustworthy arguments about the safety of the system. The model checking was substantiated using laborious deductive and inductive analysis techniques

Regulation, institutions, and commitment : privatization and regulation in the Argentine telecommunications sector

In 1990, Argentina privatized its state-owned telephone company, ENTel. Shifting telecommunications to the private sector was one of the first actions taken under the reform program of the new president, Carlos Saul Menem. In privatizing ENTel, the government focused on privatization as a way of establishing its reform credentials. Establishing a post-privatization regulatory regime was given lower priority. A well-defined regulatory regime was not in place before the sale, but privatization took place nonetheless. The authors find that despite the delay in implementing a regulatory regime, ENTel's privatization appears to have had a net positive impact, both on Argentina's reputation and on welfare. The reform program had its own virtuous cycle, creating and reinforcing credibility in the short run. But the neglect of the regulatory regime appears to have been costly in terms of the sale price that the government received and the tariff levels that investors demanded. In the long run, this neglect, if it persists, may have a negative impact on the telecommunications sector's performance. Regulation plays an important role in the private provision of telecommunications. Many argue that competition should be limited to allow economies of scale. But limited competition can lead to abuses of monopoly power and to demands from customers and suppliers for a regulatory regime to protect them from such abuses. In addition, the sector requires high sunk costs and asset specificity and the assets'owners are particularly exposed to the risks of expropriation - either outright (through nationalization) or gradual (through service requirements or low tariffs). A stable, credible regulatory environment reduces the risk of investment in this sector and reduces the expected rate of return that private investors would require to participate. Establishing a stable, credible regulatory regime before privatization increases the value of a privatized telecommunications firm to potential purchasers by reducing the risk associated with the purchase. This in turn affects the price generated by the selling government. By failing to establish such a regime in advance, the Argentine government received a lower sale price and increased the probability that buyers would capture windfall profits.ICT Policy and Strategies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Parliamentary Government,National Governance

Mediciones alternativas de la cobertura escolar al final de un largo periodo de crecimiento sostenido

Mediciones alternativas de la cobertura escolar al final de un largo periodo de crecimiento sostenido

Taxonomic studies of the genus Phymaturus (IGUANIA: LIOLAEMIDAE): Description of four new species.

After the study of a diverse collection of Phymaturus from three Argentinian institutions and additional samples collected in the last two years we discovered several populations of uncertain taxonomic status. Based on 93 morphological characters of squamation, color pattern, gular and nuchal folds, precloacal pores, and morphometric data, we conclude that at least four of those are independent lineages which require formal description. Characters related to sexual dimorphism and dichromatism as well as the ontogenetic change of several others, from juvenile to adult specimens, are described. According to the most recent revision of the genus (Lobo and Quinteros, 2005a) and considering the descriptions made in the last four years, the taxonomic composition of the genus was raised to 23 species. In this study we provide the formal description of four additional new taxa, including their diagnosis and detailed comparisons with other members of their species groups. Two new species belong to the patagonicus group (provinces of Chubut and Rio Negro, in Patagonia between 46° and 41° of latitude) while the other two belong to the palluma group (Neuquén and Catamarca provinces, western Argentina, 39° and 27‑26°30’of latitude respectively). With the exception of one case for which four localities are reported, all new species are restricted to their type localities. This fact confirms a common historical distributional pattern for most species of the genusPhymaturus from three Argentinian institutions and additional samples collected in the last two years we discovered several populations of uncertain taxonomic status. Based on 93 morphological characters of squamation, color pattern, gular and nuchal folds, precloacal pores, and morphometric data, we conclude that at least four of those are independent lineages which require formal description. Characters related to sexual dimorphism and dichromatism as well as the ontogenetic change of several others, from juvenile to adult specimens, are described. According to the most recent revision of the genus (Lobo and Quinteros, 2005a) and considering the descriptions made in the last four years, the taxonomic composition of the genus was raised to 23 species. In this study we provide the formal description of four additional new taxa, including their diagnosis and detailed comparisons with other members of their species groups. Two new species belong to the patagonicus group (provinces of Chubut and Rio Negro, in Patagonia between 46° and 41° of latitude) while the other two belong to the palluma group (Neuquén and Catamarca provinces, western Argentina, 39° and 27‑26°30’of latitude respectively). With the exception of one case for which four localities are reported, all new species are restricted to their type localities. This fact confirms a common historical distributional pattern for most species of the genuspatagonicus group (provinces of Chubut and Rio Negro, in Patagonia between 46° and 41° of latitude) while the other two belong to the palluma group (Neuquén and Catamarca provinces, western Argentina, 39° and 27‑26°30’of latitude respectively). With the exception of one case for which four localities are reported, all new species are restricted to their type localities. This fact confirms a common historical distributional pattern for most species of the genuspalluma group (Neuquén and Catamarca provinces, western Argentina, 39° and 27‑26°30’of latitude respectively). With the exception of one case for which four localities are reported, all new species are restricted to their type localities. This fact confirms a common historical distributional pattern for most species of the genus.Fil: Lobo Gaviola, Fernando Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; ArgentinaFil: Abdala, Cristian Simón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Valdecantos, Maria Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentin

The Buenos Aires water concession

The signing of a concession contract for the Buenos Aires water and sanitation system in December 1992, attracted worldwide attention, and caused considerable controversy in Argentina. It was one of the world's largest concessions, but the case was also interesting for other reasons. The concession was implemented rapidly, in contrast with slow implementation of privatization in Santiago, for example. And reform generated major improvements in the sector, including wider coverage, better service, more efficient company operations, and reduced waste. Moreover, the winning bid brought an immediate 26.9 percent reduction in water system tariffs. Consumers benefited from the system's expansion and from the immediate drop in real prices, which was only partly reversed by subsequent changes in tariffs, and access charges. And these improvements would probably not have occurred under public administration of the system. Still, the authors show information asymmetries, perverse incentives, and weak regulatory institutions could threaten the concession's sustainability. Opportunities for the company to act opportunistically - and the regulator, arbitrarily - exist, because of politicized regulation, a poor information base, serious flaws in the concession contract, a lumpy and ad hoc tariff system, and a general lack of transparency in the regulatory process. Because of these circumstances, public confidence in the process has eroded. The Buenos Aires concession shows how important transparent, rule-based decision-making is to maintain public trust in regulated infrastructure.Health Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water Conservation,Water and Industry,Decentralization,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water and Industry,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Water Conservation

A Discussion on Possible Effects of the Barbero-Immirzi Parameter at the TeV-scale Particle Physics

In this paper, we analyse a curvature- and torsion-square quantum gravity action with an additional Holst term minimally coupled to a massive Dirac field in four dimensions. The main purpose here is to try to estimate and compare the value of the Barbero-Immirzi (BI) parameter with its currently known results. To do that, we work out the physical mass of the fermion as a function of this parameter in a perturbative one-loop calculation, assuming the scenario of a physics at the TeV-scale.Comment: Seven pages, 1 figure. Accepted to be plublished in Physica Review

El tráfico marítimo por el puerto de Santiago de Cuba (1858-1868)

Santiago de Cuba desde su fundación logró establecer fluidas relaciones con el exterior y el resto de la Isla a través de su puerto como vía de comunicación más efectiva. Trataremos de ofrecer una somera visión acerca de la forma en que se manifestaron estos contactos con el Caribe, las Américas, Europa y otros puertos cubanos.\ud Escogimos la década de 1858 -1868 porque ésta comienza con la salida de una crisis económica de influencia mundial y termina en vísperas de otra, de carácter más local, pero también más intensa y devastadora para la región oriental de Cuba: el inicio, el 10 de octubre de 1868 de nuestra primera guerra\ud por la Independencia, la Guerra de los Diez Años