New horizons shaping science, technology and innovation diplomacy: the case of Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union. EL-CSID Working Paper Issue 2018/20 • August 2018

Europe and the world face a moment of transformation. The global financial crisis wiped out years of economic and social progress, exposed structural weaknesses in world economies and emphasised the importance of the real economies and strong industries. Modernisation and digitalisation of the industrial base together with the promotion of a competitive framework for industry through research, technology and innovation are drivers for recovery. Innovation, and particularly open innovation, is a key factor of global competitiveness. The European Commission (EC) addresses international cooperation policy in a wider framework and adapts to the evolving needs of partner countries at different stages of development (EC, 2018a). Latin America and the Caribbean countries’ (LAC) and the European Union’s (EU) cooperation on science, technology and innovation has a long history based on cultural roots and common concerns. They share a strategic bi-regional partnership, which was launched in 1999 and stepped up significantly in recent years. The two regions co-operate closely at international level across a broad range of issues and maintain an intensive political dialogue at all levels. EU-LAC relationships are moving from a traditional cooperation model towards a learning model, where sharing experiences and learning from innovations appear to be decisive (OECD, 2014). This paper focuses on the challenges that innovation nowadays poses to international relations and diplomacy. It is based on the evidence gained by the research team from participation in several EULAC projects, especially the ELAN Network project coordinated by TECNALIA, the INNOVACT project as well as other projects and activities

- KUZNETS CURVE AND TRANSBOUNDARY POLLUTION.

This work presents a clearer way of solving the optimisation problem addressed by Selden and Song (1995)in order to derive the J curve for abatement. The proposed framework is also extended to a two-country model.Results are consistent, also for the two country case, with empirical evidence that shows a positive relationshipbetween environmental quality and economic growth for high income levels. A static comparative analysiscon¿rms that the smaller the rate of discount and/or the less polluting a technology is, the higher the steadystate stock of capital will b e. Moreover, the lack of coop eration is proved to result in smaller e¤ orts to abateemissions. Este trabajo presenta una forma más clara de resolver el problema deoptimización planteado por Selden y Song (1995) con el fin de obtener la curva en J para lasactividades de control de la contaminación. El esquema propuesto se extiende también a unmodelo de dos países. Los resultados son consistentes, también para el caso de dos países,con la evidencia empírica que muestra una relación positiva entre calidad medioambiental ycrecimiento económico para niveles altos de renta. Un análisis de estática comparativa confirmaque cuanto menor es la tasa de descuento y/o menos contaminante la tecnología utilizada,mayor será el stock de capital de estado estacionario. Además, se comprueba que la ausenciade cooperación se traduce en menores esfuerzos por controlar las emisiones.calidad medioambiental, crecimiento económico, control de la contaminación environmental quality, growth, pollution abatement

A KKM-RESULT AND AN APPLICATION FOR BINARY AND NON-BINARY CHOICE FUNCTIONS

By generalizing the classical Knaster-Kuratowski-Mazurkiewicz Theorem, we obtain a result that provides sufficient conditions to ensure the non-emptiness of several kinds of choice functions. This result generalizes well-known results on the existence of maximal elements for binary relations (Bergstrom, 1975; Walker, 1977; Tian, 1993), on the non-emptiness of non-binary choice functions (Nehring, 1996; Llinares and Sánchez, 1999) and on the non-emptiness of some classical solutions for tournaments (top cycle and uncovered set) on non-finite sets.Binary Choice Function; Non-Binary Choice Function

Nonparametric checks for count data models: an application to demand for health care in Spain

This paper presents model specification checking procedures for count data regression models which are consistent in the direction of nonparametric alternatives. The discussion is motivated in the context of a model of demand for health care in Spain. The parameters of the regression model are estimated by maximum likelihood based on Poisson and Negative Binomial specifications as well as by ordinary least squares and semiparametric generalized least squares. However, our interest is not only centered on the estimation ofthe regression parameters, but also the conditional probabilities of counts. Therefore, the specification of the conditional distribution function of counts is the main focus of attention. A useful preliminary diagnosis tool consists of comparing the conditional probabilities estimates by nonparametric regression and by maximum likelihood methods based on alternative models. We present formal specification procedures based on new developed testing methods for regression model checking. The test statistics are based on marked empirical processes which are not distribution free, but their critical values are well approximated by bootstrap. Such tests are valid for testing the functional form of the conditional mean and conditional probabilities resulting from alternative distributional specifications. In our health care demand model, the linear exponential regression model with a Negative Binomial seems to be appropiate for this data set

Affirmative Action and School Choice

This paper proposes a reform for school allocation procedures in order to help integration policies reach their objective. For this purpose, we suggest the use of a natural two-step mechanism. The (equitable) first step is introduced as an adaptation of the deferred-acceptance algorithm designed by Gale and Shapley (1962), when students are divided into two groups. The (efficient) second step captures the idea of exchanging places inherent to Gale’s Top Trading Cycle. This latter step could be useful for Municipal School Boards when implementing some integration policies.Integration Policy; School Allocation; Affirmative Action

I. Apples to apples A2A^2: realistic galaxy simulated catalogs and photometric redshift predictions for next-generation surveys

We present new mock catalogues for two of the largest stage-IV next-generation surveys in the optical and infrared: LSST and Euclid, based on an N-body simulation+semi-analytical cone with a posterior modification with \texttt{PhotReal}. This technique modifies the original photometry by using an empirical library of spectral templates to make it more realistic. The reliability of the catalogues is confirmed by comparing the obtained color-magnitude relation, the luminosity and mass function and the angular correlation function with those of real data. Consistent comparisons between the expected photometric redshifts for different surveys are also provided. Very deep near infrared surveys such as Euclid will provide very good performance ($\Delta z/(1+z) \sim 0.025-0.053$) down to $H\sim24$ AB mag and up to $z\sim3$ depending on the optical observations available from the ground whereas extremely deep optical surveys such as LSST will obtain an overall lower photometric redshift resolution ($\Delta z/(1+z) \sim 0.045$) down to $i\sim27.5$ AB mag, being considerably improved ($\Delta z/(1+z) \sim 0.035$) if we restrict the sample down to i$\sim$24 AB mag. Those numbers can be substantially upgraded by selecting a subsample of galaxies with the best quality photometric redshifts. We finally discuss the impact that these surveys will have for the community in terms of photometric redshift legacy. This is the first of a series of papers where we set a framework for comparability between mock catalogues and observations with a particular focus on cluster surveys. The Euclid and LSST mocks are made publicly available in the following link: http://photmocks.obspm.fr/.Comment: accepted in MNRAS. Mocks available in the following link: http://photmocks.obspm.fr