A Generic Four-step Methodology For Institutional Analysis

The central hypothesis of this paper is that there may be situations in which the traditional approach to institutional analysis is of limited applicability. Such an approach, which has been called 'comparative institutional analysis', consists of comparing institutional environments and institutional arrangements in terms of specific economic or other efficiency criteria to see which one performs better. However, because of limitations to accurately predict the future performance of alternative institutional settings, comparisons are not always possible. Furthermore, in most cases the only information available is the performance of the current institutional setting. To account for this methodological deficiency, a generic methodology for institutional analysis, which consists of four steps (institutional structure, institutional efficiency, institutional choice, and institutional change), is proposed in this paper. Accordingly, the emphasis switches from evaluating alternative institutional choices to improving current scenarios. To show the validity of this methodology, some results of its application to a case study are presented. Although more research on this four-step methodology is needed, it proved to be robust when applied to the analysis of the governance of irrigated agriculture in the Peninsula of Santa Elena, Ecuador.New Institutional Economics, Governance structures, Institutional Change., Institutional and Behavioral Economics, B52, D02, Q25,

ANÃLISIS DE FACTIBILIDAD PARA LA INTRODUCCIÓN DEL BIODIESEL EN ECUADOR

Increases in petroleum prices have affected the prices of its derived products. In addition, the interest in issues related to the environment and energy security at world-wide level has been increased. All of these factors have contributed to the development of alternative fuel such as the ethanol, biodiesel and natural gas. This study analyzes the main agricultural products used to produce biodiesel, their production costs and the utilization of those inputs in other industries. This study will also include a brief summary of different legislations in those countries under analysis. On the other hand, we will find break-even points and apply a sensibility analysis associated with distinct scenarios in terms of input-output prices.Biofuels, biodiesel, feasibility, legislations, break-even points., Agribusiness,

4to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

Este volumen acoge la memoria académica de la Cuarta edición del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2017, desarrollado entre el 29 de noviembre y el 1 de diciembre de 2017 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) en su sede de Guayaquil. El Congreso ofreció un espacio para la presentación, difusión e intercambio de importantes investigaciones nacionales e internacionales ante la comunidad universitaria que se dio cita en el encuentro. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas para la gestión de los trabajos de investigación como la plataforma Open Conference Systems y la web de presentación del Congreso http://citis.blog.ups.edu.ec/, hicieron de CITIS 2017 un verdadero referente entre los congresos que se desarrollaron en el país. La preocupación de nuestra Universidad, de presentar espacios que ayuden a generar nuevos y mejores cambios en la dimensión humana y social de nuestro entorno, hace que se persiga en cada edición del evento la presentación de trabajos con calidad creciente en cuanto a su producción científica. Quienes estuvimos al frente de la organización, dejamos plasmado en estas memorias académicas el intenso y prolífico trabajo de los días de realización del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad al alcance de todos y todas

ANÁLISIS DE FACTIBILIDAD PARA LA INTRODUCCIÓN DEL BIODIESEL EN ECUADOR

Increases in petroleum prices have affected the prices of its derived products. In addition, the interest in issues related to the environment and energy security at world-wide level has been increased. All of these factors have contributed to the development of alternative fuel such as the ethanol, biodiesel and natural gas. This study analyzes the main agricultural products used to produce biodiesel, their production costs and the utilization of those inputs in other industries. This study will also include a brief summary of different legislations in those countries under analysis. On the other hand, we will find break-even points and apply a sensibility analysis associated with distinct scenarios in terms of input-output prices

Diagnostico tecnico y transferencia de tecnologia en el manejo del cultivo de arroz para la zona de santa lucia

TRABAJO QUE PROVEE DE UNA GUIA TECNICA PARA LA OPTIMIZACION DE LOS RECURSOS A EMPLEARSE EN LA PRODUCCION ARROCERA EN LA ZONA DE SANTA LUCIA. PARA LA CONSECUCION DE ESTE TRABAJO FUE NECESARIO REALIZAR UN DIAGNOSTICO TECNICO MEDIANTE ENCUESTAS Y ANALISIS DE CAMPO, LUEGO DE ESTO SE HICIERON INTERPRETACIONES DE LOS RESULTADOS, RECONOCIENDO LAS FALENCIAS TECNICAS QUE SE PRESENTABAN. CON ESTA INFORMACION SE LEVANTO UNA GUIA DEL CULTIVO PARA ESTA ZONA, LA CUAL SE BASO EN LA TOPOGRAFIA DEL TERRENO, IRRIGACION, ANALISIS DE SUELOS, ANALISIS FOLIARES. CULMINANDO CON TRANSFERENCIA DE TECNOLOGIA, DIFUSION DE LAS TECNICAS PROPUESTAS A TRAVES DE CHARLAS Y TALLERES A LAS PERSONAS INVOLUCRADAS DIRECTAMENTE

The Non-event of Produce and NAFTA: Technical Annex

This document is the technical annex to the full paper "The Non-event of Produce and NAFTA" which is available separately

The Non-event of Produce and NAFTA

During negotiations leading up to NAFTA there was considerable opposition from produce producers in U.S. southern tier states. These producers feared that NAFTA, combined with Mexico's low labour and land costs, would unleash an unstoppable torrent of Mexican imports. Since enactment of NAFTA, Mexico's market share for produce in the U.S. has increased, while those of the southern tier producers have fallen. Seemingly this confirms earlier fears and threatens to harden sentiments against broader trade agreements. However, analyses of the volumes and distributions of produce shipments from 1985 through 1998 for southern tier states, Mexico, and, to facilitate comparisons, Canada and Chile, suggest that NAFTA had little, if anything, to do with these changes

A Generic Four-step Methodology For Institutional Analysis

The central hypothesis of this paper is that there may be situations in which the traditional approach to institutional analysis is of limited applicability. Such an approach, which has been called 'comparative institutional analysis', consists of comparing institutional environments and institutional arrangements in terms of specific economic or other efficiency criteria to see which one performs better. However, because of limitations to accurately predict the future performance of alternative institutional settings, comparisons are not always possible. Furthermore, in most cases the only information available is the performance of the current institutional setting. To account for this methodological deficiency, a generic methodology for institutional analysis, which consists of four steps (institutional structure, institutional efficiency, institutional choice, and institutional change), is proposed in this paper. Accordingly, the emphasis switches from evaluating alternative institutional choices to improving current scenarios. To show the validity of this methodology, some results of its application to a case study are presented. Although more research on this four-step methodology is needed, it proved to be robust when applied to the analysis of the governance of irrigated agriculture in the Peninsula of Santa Elena, Ecuador

Estudio de prefactibilidad para la producción de limon tahiti en la peninsula de Santa Elena

Según FAO la producción mundial de limas y limones en el año 2001 fue de 10.9 millones de toneladas. Los principales productores fueron México (14%), India (13%), Argentina (11%), España (9%), Estados Unidos (8%), Irán (8%), e Italia (5%). El limón Tahití se adapta mejor a condiciones tropicales; es muy afectado por épocas frías. Se exportaron 1.6 millones de toneladas de limas y limones en el año 2000, por un valor de US$726 millones. Los principales exportadores fueron España (31 En Ecuador se cultivan básicamente el limón “Sutil” para el consumo local y el limón “Tahití” para la exportación. Entre ambos habían 4,405 ha, en monocultivo, en 3,257 Unidades de Producción Agropecuarias (UPAs), según el Censo Agropecuario 2000, principalmente en las provincias de Pichincha, Manabí y Guayas; en las dos últimas se concentra la producción de limón Tahití. En el año 2001, Estados Unidos importó 142,000 t de “limas” (particularmente limón Tahití) por un valor de US$ 20.5 millones, sobre todo de México (99%); en menor escala participaron Ecuador, El Salvador y Honduras. Este estudio evalúa la producción de limón Tahití para la exportación en 25 ha de terrenos ubicados en la Península de Santa Elena. La inversión se estimó en US$370,612 incluyendo un crédito comercial de US$ 170,000 a un plazo de ocho años, con una tasa de interés anual de 15%. Se asume un rendimiento de 2 t/ha en el tercer año del cultivo, que va aumentando paulatinamente hasta estabilizarse en 10 t/ha a partir del octavo año. También se asume un precio de US$ 1/kg. El análisis financiero se realizó con el programa COMFAR III de las Naciones Unidas. Habrían oportunidades para exportar la producción de unas 500 ha de limón Tahití para el mercado de los Estados Unidos, y otras 1,000 ha para el mercado de Europa. Se debe seleccionar muy cuidadosamente el sitio donde se puede establecer una plantación de limón Tahití en la Península de Santa Élena, verificando que se cumplan los requisitos ambientales mínimos; se podría aprovechar el hecho que en dichos suelos no se han utilizado agroquímicos. También, se recomienda establecer esfuerzos de investigación y desarrollo con la Universidad de Florida, para asegurar un flujo continuo de nuevas tecnologías

Factors Affecting Land Use Decisions in The Peninsula of Santa Elena, Ecuador: A Transaction Costs Approach

Water scarcity has been appointed as the key-limiting factor for the development of agriculture in the Peninsula of Santa Elena. To solve this problem, the Ecuadorian government carried out the construction of one of the biggest irrigation projects. However, after two decades of functioning, less than 30% of its capacity is being used. This article analyzes factors associated to Transaction Costs (CT), which can influence land use decisions. Options studied are: to invest in agriculture or livestock production, or to speculate with its value through land sales. The landowner’s decision problem is analyzed following the Heckman’s two-stage estimation procedure, which allows differentiating between factors associated to fixed and variable TC. The hypothesis is that factors related to fixed-TC influence the decision to participate (that is, the decision to use the land productively or speculatively, which is modeled in the first stage of Heckman’s); while both, factors associated to fixed and variable TC, influence the level of participation (that is, decisions about land allocation to one or each decision option, modeled in the second stage). The results show that access to assets and access to information are among the more influential TC factors, which favor agricultural production instead of land speculation