Strategy and Structure: Explaning the Diversification Discount

In this paper we provide an explanation based on the conflict of interes between top management, middle management and shareholders of why firms adopt different diversification strategies and how they structure themselves to manage those diversification strategies. It es shown that when objectives are fully aligued, a descentralization organizational structure coupled with a related diversification strategy is adopted. Whereas when objectives are not fully aligned, firms send to be more centralized and more focused than when incentives are aligned. We use these results to suggest an explanation for the existence of diversification discount; i.e., the empirical observation that conglomerate firms trade at a discount relative to a portfolio of stand-alone firms in the same business segments that do not depend on inefficient internal capital allocations.

Network Formation and Cooperation

In this paper we adopt Granovetter's view expressed in his famous article ''Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness'' , where he argues that the concept of man in economics is extremely undersocialized because it ignores the importance of social networks. In so doing the incentives to mutual cooperation in social matching games in which the social network is endogenously determined are studied. The main result shows that in atomized societies where there is no information flows between different pairs of individuals and the rest of the society, individuals choose either to form the maximal number of links possible or to form no links. Whereas in embedded societies where information transmission is allowed, the type of social networks that arise take different architectures some of them symmetric and some of the asymmetric. This allows us to improve our understanding of a wide variety of phenomena as occupational mobility, informal credit markets in rural areas, cooperative formation, social capital, segmented labor markets, international trade and so on. In partricular, the model results are used to explain the concept of social capital , its benefits and costsnetwork Formation, Cooperation, Social Capital

Vertical Integration and Shared Facilities in Unregulated Industries

I this paper we consider a market situation in which initially there is an unintegrated monopoly upstream entry and vertical integration. The equilibrium entry mode -sharing the incumbent facility or building a new facility- is derived as well as the equilibrium market structure. Several policy prescriptions are set forth.Esencial facilities, shared facilities agreements, vertical integration, strategic substitutes

Firm-Sponsored General Training in a Frictionless Labor Market

In this paper I show that, contrary to Becker's (1962) Human Capital theory and consistent with the evidence, in a frictionless labor market model firms pay for general training, while the worker receives the full return on general training, and the worker and the firm share the returns on specific investements. Furthermore, the presence of general training helps to alliviate the firms incentives to underinvest in specific training and that delayed general training helps to alleviate the worker´s incentives to underinvestment in specific training because general and specific training are strategic complements. I also show that these results are robust to long-term contracts and that several institutional arrangements that help to alleviate the underinvestment problem in specific training may also help to alleviate the underinvestment problem in general training.

The Cost of Moral Hazard and Limited Liability in the Principal-Agent Problem

Abstract. In the classical principal-agent problem, a principal hires an agent to perform a task. The principal cares about the task's output but has no control over it. The agent can perform the task at different effort intensities, and that choice affects the task's output. To provide an incentive to the agent to work hard and since his effort intensity cannot be observed, the principal ties the agent's compensation to the task's output. If both the principal and the agent are risk-neutral and no further constraints are imposed, it is well-known that the outcome of the game maximizes social welfare. In this paper we quantify the potential social-welfare loss due to the existence of limited liability, which takes the form of a minimum wage constraint. To do so we rely on the worst-case welfare loss-commonly referred to as the Price of Anarchy-which quantifies the (in)efficiency of a system when its players act selfishly (i.e., they play a Nash equilibrium) versus choosing a socially-optimal solution. Our main result establishes that under the monotone likelihood-ratio property and limited liability constraints, the worst-case welfare loss in the principal-agent model is exactly equal to the number of efforts available

Propuesta de diseño de una estrategia de formación mediada por las TIC para fomentar la lectura en los estudiantes de grado sexto del Colegio Celestin Freinet de Chía.

Este proyecto de investigación está enfocado en el diseño de una estrategia de formación a partir de la mediación de las TIC, para fortalecer el interés de los alumnos del colegio Celestin Freinet de Chía por la lectura. La realización de este proyecto tiene como fin lograr un impacto hacia la formación y el apoyo en los procesos pedagógicos en las aulas, aprovechando las nuevas tecnologías que permiten ejecutar un cambio favorable en la educación. Para alcanzar resultados significativos se apoya este trabajo en el modelo de investigación IAP (Investigación Acción Participativa), el cual maneja unas fases acordes a los objetivos que se plantearon para promover nuestra estrategia de mediación con las TIC en el aula de clase. Las fases del modelo IAP son: la planificación, la actuación, la observación y la reflexión, los cuales se van a describir a continuación

Relación entre la altura del salto vertical y la capacidad de recuperación posterior a un protocolo de esfuerzo y recuperación física

Tesis (Profesor de Educación Física para la Enseñanza Básica, Licenciado en Educación)Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio es determinar si existe alguna correlación significativa entre las variables altura del salto contramovimiento con brazos (Abalakov) y el porcentaje de pérdida de este. Metodología: Se apeló a interpretaciones de datos, que involucran principalmente la altura de diversos saltos y el nivel de recuperación presentado, al correlacionar estas dos variables se valoró el grado de relación. Se midió a la población la cual comprendió un total de 154 jugadores de basquetbol pertenecientes al club Universidad Católica, de los cuales la muestra estuvo compuesta por un total de 58 jugadores de las categorías sub-13, sub-15 y sub-17 respectivamente. Por lo tanto, nuestra muestra corresponde a una no probabilística o dirigida. Los datos presentados fueron procesados a través del software IBM SPSS y Excel, con la finalidad de determinar la existencia o no de relaciones, comparaciones y descripciones entre las variables de la investigación. Resultados: Se obtuvo una correlación negativa débil, por lo que se acepta la hipótesis nula de trabajo, indicando que no hay una correlación en la altura del salto vertical y la recuperación posterior a un estímulo fatigante y un minuto en la posición decúbito supino con pies en altura

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London