The Causal Effects of an Industrial Policy

Business support policies designed to raise productivity and employment are common worldwide, but rigorous micro-econometric evaluation of their causal effects is rare. We exploit multiple changes in the area-specific eligibility criteria for a major program to support manufacturing jobs ("Regional Selective Assistance"). Area eligibility is governed by pan-European state aid rules which change every seven years and we use these rule changes to construct instrumental variables for program participation. We match two decades of UK panel data on the population of firms to all program participants. IV estimates find positive program treatment effect on employment, investment and net entry but not on TFP. OLS underestimates program effects because the policy targets underperforming plants and areas. The treatment effect is confined to smaller firms with no effect for larger firms (e.g. over 150 employees). We also find the policy raises area level manufacturing employment mainly through significantly reducing unemployment. The positive program effect is not due to substitution between plants in the same area or between eligible and ineligible areas nearby. We estimate that "cost per job" of the program was only $6,300 suggesting that in some respects investment subsidies can be cost effective.industrial policy, regional policy, employment, investment, productivity

2+12+1 Covariant Lattice Theory and t'Hooft's Formulation

We show that 't Hooft's representation of (2+1)-dimensional gravity in terms of flat polygonal tiles is closely related to a gauge-fixed version of the covariant Hamiltonian lattice theory. 't Hooft's gauge is remarkable in that it leads to a Hamiltonian which is a linear sum of vertex Hamiltonians, each of which is defined modulo $2 \pi$. A cyclic Hamiltonian implies that ``time'' is quantized. However, it turns out that this Hamiltonian is {\it constrained}. If one chooses an internal time and solves this constraint for the ``physical Hamiltonian'', the result is not a cyclic function. Even if one quantizes {\it a la Dirac}, the ``internal time'' observable does not acquire a discrete spectrum. We also show that in Euclidean 3-d lattice gravity, ``space'' can be either discrete or continuous depending on the choice of quantization. Finally, we propose a generalization of 't Hooft's gauge for Hamiltonian lattice formulations of topological gravity dimension 4.Comment: 10 pages of text. One figure available from J.A. Zapata upon reques

Geração de mapa de declividades para o Estado do Maranhão como base para Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi apresentar metodologia empregada na geração de um mapa digital de declividades para o Estado do Maranhão, como base para o Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico. A base de dados foi gerada a partir de modelo digital de elevação SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) com correções realizadas pela FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). Foi utilizado o Sistema de Informações Geográficas ArcGIS 9.0 para o tratamento do modelo digital e geração das declividades em porcentagem, executando-se posteriormente os processos de filtragem, reclassificação e refinamentos para eliminação de áreas indesejadas. Os resultados mostraram que a metodologia de refinamento permitiu um delineamento eficiente das classes de declividades, denotando um predomínio de terras com baixa declividade. O mapa de declividades juntamente com o mapa pedológico e outras informações apoiarão o zoneamento a ser realizado

A greenhouse gas inventory in the municipal landfill of the city of Limeira, Brazil

Landfill main gases are methane and carbon dioxide, and result mainly from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste. The exact distribution of gases in the landfill varies with the landfill age among other factors such as waste composition, moisture, particle size, temperature, pH, age of waste, landfill design and operation. The current Brazilian environmental legislation has encouraged the municipalities to adopt measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from landfills. The implementation of projects to reduce GHG requires the estimation of the gases produced in the landfill. This research presents a GHG inventory performed in the landfill of the city of Limeira, located in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The inventory was conducted by using the Brazilian GHG Protocol that follows the methodology of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and also IPCC guidelines. The inventory comprised data from 1985 to 2013; however, data prior to 2000 were estimated, because until that year the landfill was in fact a dump, with no monitoring of the amounts of wastes disposed of. Three categories of emissions were considered: a) direct emissions of CO2 and CH4 from the decomposition of municipal solid waste (MSW) and non-hazardous industrial waste and the emissions produced from waste transportation within the landfill and landfill operation; b) emissions resulting from electricity consumption within the operating limits of the landfill; and, c) indirect emissions from waste transportation throughout the city to the landfill and also from industries to the landfill. The results showed that in the year 2013 were emitted 35,996.91 t of CO2 e into the atmosphere. From the total, 98.91 % of emissions were produced by MSW decomposition; 0.002 % by industrial waste decomposition; 0.332 % by burning fossil fuels during landfill operation; 0.003 % by electricity consumption of electricity in the landfill and 0.75 % by waste transportation.Landfill main gases are methane and carbon dioxide, and result mainly from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste. The exact distribution of gases in the landfill varies with the landfill age among other factors such as waste composition, moisture, part4320832088sem informaçãosem informaçã

The causal effects of an industrial policy

Business support policies designed to raise employment and productivity are ubiquitous around the world. We exploit changes in the area-specific eligibility criteria for a major program to support jobs through investment subsidies. Pan-European state aid rules determine whether a sub-national geographical area is eligible for subsidies, and we construct instrumental variables for area (and plant) eligibility based on the estimated parameters of these rule changes. We find areas eligible for business support create significantly more jobs (and reduce unemployment), and this is not due to job displacement between eligible and ineligible areas. An exogenous ten-percentage point increase in an area’s maximum investment subsidy stimulates about a 7% increase in manufacturing employment. The treatment effect exists solely for small firms – large companies appear to “game” the system, accepting subsidies without increasing activity. There are positive effects on net entry of new plants, firm investment but no effects on Total Factor Productivity

PINK1 homozygous W437X mutation in a patient with apparent dominant transmission of parkinsonism.

We analyzed the PINK1 gene in 58 patients with early-onset Parkinsonism and detected the homozygous mutation W437X in 1 patient. The clinical phenotype was characterized by early onset (22 years of age), good re- sponse to levodopa, early fluctuations and dyskinesias, and psychiatric symptoms. The mother, heterozygote for W437X mutation, was affected by Parkinson’s disease and 3 further relatives were reported affected, according to an autosomal dominant transmission

Geotecnologias na elaboração de material didático para o ensino fundamental: Atlas escolar da Região Metropolitana de Campinas.

Este artigo tem o objetivo de apresentar as etapas que levaram à construção do Atlas escolar da Região Metropolitana de Campinas. O recurso didático produzido pela equipe pode ser consultado e utilizado em escolas da região de Campinas e também pode servir de modelo para outras escolas interessadas em replicar a experiência

Organização de base de dados de indicadores sociais e econômicos sobre a Região Metropolitana de Campinas para uso em ambiente escolar.

Construir base de dados e série de mapas temáticos sobre indicadores sociais e econômicos da Região Metropolitana de Campinas (RMC) utilizando dados de acesso público e ferramentas de geotecnologias como contribuição à elaboração de material didático para o ensino fundamental.bitstream/item/84749/1/044-12.pd