Referee assignment in the Chilean football league using integer programming and patterns

This article uses integer linear programming to address the referee assignment problem in the First Division of the Chilean professional football league. The proposed approach considers balance in the number of matches each referee must officiate, the frequency of each referee being assigned to a given team, the distance each referee must travel over the course of a season, and the appropriate pairings of referee experience or skill category with the importance of the matches. Two methodologies are studied, one traditional and the other a pattern-based formulation inspired by the home-away patterns for scheduling season match calendars. Both methodologies are tested in real-world and experimental instances, reporting results that improve significantly on the manual assignments. The pattern-based formulation attains major reductions in execution times, solving real instances to optimality in just a few seconds, while the traditional one takes anywhere from several minutes to more than an hour.Fil: Alarcón, Fernando. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Duran, Guillermo Alfredo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Cálculo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Guajardo, Mario. Norwegian School of Economics; Norueg

Between the Workshop and the State: Training Human Capital in Railroad Companies in Mexico and Chile, 1850-1930

This paper analyzes the human capital training strategies adopted between the 1850s and 1930s by railroad companies in Mexico and Chile. These two countries enable one to contrast the different routes taken by the same type of firm, technology and labor force. A propos of this, we suggest that because of its complexity, capital intensity and new work methods, railway technology had a positive impact on human capital training in the cases studied. During the period when railways were the main form of land transport studied -covered by this study- they combined the labor force with foreign workers and modern technology and it was not until well into the 20th century that a formal system of technical schools was established. Instead, informal and formal learning cycles and routes tended to be followed. That is why this paper considers three aspects: I) the institutional and social factors that helped or hindered industrial operations, maintenance and production training; II) the way learning, training and talent retention cycles were shaped and talent migrated towards other activities or was dispersed or lost; and lastly, III) how training was institutionalized through what were known as “firm schools” responsible for training human capital as an internalization response to coping with shortages in the labor market

Between the Workshop and the State: Training Human Capital in Railroad Companies in Mexico and Chile, 1850-1930

This paper analyzes the human capital training strategies adopted between the 1850s and 1930s by railroad companies in Mexico and Chile. These two countries enable one to contrast the different routes taken by the same type of firm, technology and labor force. A propos of this, we suggest that because of its complexity, capital intensity and new work methods, railway technology had a positive impact on human capital training in the cases studied. During the period when railways were the main form of land transport studied -covered by this study- they combined the labor force with foreign workers and modern technology and it was not until well into the 20th century that a formal system of technical schools was established. Instead, informal and formal learning cycles and routes tended to be followed. That is why this paper considers three aspects: I) the institutional and social factors that helped or hindered industrial operations, maintenance and production training; II) the way learning, training and talent retention cycles were shaped and talent migrated towards other activities or was dispersed or lost; and lastly, III) how training was institutionalized through what were known as “firm schools” responsible for training human capital as an internalization response to coping with shortages in the labor market

Cuenta Corriente y Desvíos Transitorios en Términos de Intercambio y Volúmenes de Exportaciones: Chile 1985-1999

To limit the risks of a sudden stop in external financing that would jeopardize intertemporal consumption smoothing, the current account deficit should be limited to sustainable levels. However, the volatility of the terms of trade and some export volumes cause difficulties in assessing a sustainable current account level. This paper provides a "trend indicator" for the current account based on "normalized" external prices and export volumes. Thus, the exercise allows evaluating, in a simple and timely fashion, whether the deficit level is sustainable and, if not, demand adjustment measures are needed to correct it.

¿CABALLO DE TROYA O CABEZA DE TURCO?: LAS EMPRESAS PÚBLICAS CHILENAS EN LA GUERRA FRÍA, CA. 1940-1990

This paper analyzes the performance of Chilean state companies between the 1940s and the 1990s, arguing that they were neither the Trojan horse of a statist project nor to blame for the populist management of the economy seen in the past. They can be viewed as a tool used by governments of different political colors to implement diverse projects. By reconstructing the role played by state companies during the period in question, the paper shows that they were not in themselves of a populist, progressive or developmental nature but, rather, represented contrasting projects related to the state as producer, the social area of the economy, the integrated state and other categories seen through to the 1970s.El artículo analiza la trayectoria de las empresas públicas chilenas entre las décadas de 1940 y 1990. Se sostiene que las empresas públicas no fueron un Caballo de Troya que contenían un proyecto estatista, ni fueron culpables de una conducta populista de la economía en el pasado. Pueden ser consideradas como instrumentos que utilizaron gobiernos de distinto signo político para llevar a cabo proyectos diversos. A través de la reconstrucción del rol que jugaron las empresas públicas durante el período de estudio, se muestra que ellas no tuvieron un carácter populista, progresista o de desarrollo por sí mismo. Más bien, representaron proyectos enfrentados, entre lo que fue el Estado Empresario, el Área Social de la Economía, la Empresa Integrada y otras categorías presentes hasta la década de 1970

Programación del Fixture de la Segunda División del Fútbol de Chile mediante Investigación de Operaciones

Presentamos en este trabajo la aplicación de técnicas de Investigación de Operaciones a la programación del fixture de la Segunda División del fútbol de Chile. Este fixture debe cumplir una serie de condiciones solicitadas por la Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP), entidad que organiza el torneo. El criterio geográfico es particularmente importante, debido a que la disposición de algunos equipos en lugares extremos del país implica largos desplazamientos, a menudo realizados por vía terrestre. Abordamos el problema mediante un modelo de programación lineal entera que define cuándo y dónde se juega cada partido del torneo, sujeto a que todas las condiciones se cumplen. Para las instancias más difíciles, desarrollamos un modelo adicional también de programación lineal entera que genera patrones de localías y los asigna a los equipos, previo a la ejecución del modelo que define la programación de los partidos. Los fixtures así generados han sido exitosamente utilizados en los cinco torneos de Segunda División que se han disputado entre 2007 y 2010, reemplazando la metodología aleatoria que la ANFP utilizaba anteriormente. Durante este período, el tipo de torneo ha sufrido diversas modificaciones, incluyendo un cuádruple round-robin y un torneo en dos etapas que considera fases regionales y nacionales. Hemos debido entonces adaptar nuestros modelos temporada tras temporada, según el tipo de torneo. Esta aplicación marca un nuevo avance en el uso de Investigación de Operaciones para la gestión del fútbol chileno, que se suma a otros proyectos desarrollados en la misma línea en los últimos años.Fil: Duran, Guillermo Alfredo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Matemática; Argentina. Universidad de Chile; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Guajardo, Mario. Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration; NoruegaFil: Wolf Yadlin, Rodrigo. Universidad de Chile; Chil

La industria de equipos ferroviarios en México: de los talleres a la producción transnacional

En este artículo se presenta una visión de largo plazo sobre cómo se conformó la producción y la industria de equipo ferroviario en México desde fines del siglo XIX hasta el año 2008. La producción arrancó y transcurrió débilmente en los talleres de las compañías ferroviarias hasta que en 1952 el gobierno mexicano creó una firma de construcción de furgones para eliminar las fugas de divisas por la renta e importación de vagones de carga desde los Estados Unidos. La fábrica estatal fue privatizada en la década de 1990 junto con el monopolio estatal ferroviario, con lo cual se abrió un período de llegada de inversiones privadas que conformaron un nuevo sector de firmas productoras y operadoras integradas a la economía de América del Norte. Abstract This article provides a long-term view of how the production and industry of railroad equipment in Mexico was shaped between the late 19th century and 2008. Production began and evolved slowly in railroad company workshops until 1952 when the Mexican government created a goods van construction firm to eliminate the foreign currency drain due to the rental and import of boxcars from the United States. The state factory was privatized in the 1990s, together with the state railroad monopoly, ushering in a period of private investment that created a new sector of production and operating firms integrated into the North American econom

Operations research techniques for scheduling chile's second division soccer league

In this paper, we use operations research (OR) techniques to schedule the Second Division of the Chilean professional soccer league. The solution must satisfy a series of conditions requested by league officials. Because the teams generally travel long distances by bus, geographical restrictions are particularly important. We specify the scheduling problem and solve it using an integer linear programming (ILP) model that defines when and where each match is played, subject to constraints. For the most difficult instances, we formulate a second ILP model that generates home-away patterns and assigns them to the teams; we then run the model, which determines the match schedule. Chilean league officials have successfully used the models to schedule all five Second Division tournaments between 2007 and 2010, replacing the random scheduling methodology that they used previously. Since 2007, the two formulations have been adapted to various formats with which the Second Division has experimented; these include a quadruple round robin and a two-phase tournament with zonal and national phases. The application we present is one of a number of such projects that the authors and their colleagues developed over the past few years, and it represents an expansion of the use of OR techniques for managing tasks in Chilean soccer.Fil: Duran, Guillermo Alfredo. Universidad de Chile; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Investigaciones Matemáticas "Luis A. Santaló". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Matemáticas "Luis A. Santaló"; ArgentinaFil: Guajardo, Mario. NHH Norwegian School of Economics; NoruegaFil: Wolf Yadlin, Rodrigo. Universidad de Chile; Chil

Evadiendo a la Historia de Chile: Los archivos de los Ferrocarriles del Estado

En este artículo se presenta un análisis exploratorio de una pequeña muestra de datos del archivo de personal de la Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado de Chile (EFE), que a fines de la década de 1980 fue considerado como “activo rescindible” en el marco de las políticas neoliberales de privatización y de autofinanciamiento del sector público. El estudio de la muestra y la historia de cómo se obtuvo abre algunas ventanas para entender el impacto multidimensional del  Estado chileno a través de los ferrocarriles, como la migración rural-urbana y la calificación técnica, entre otros muchos fenómenos. También se destacan los problemas de acceso a una documentación de primer orden para la historia de Chile, debido a la falta de una política de preservación, cuidado y difusión de los acervos de EFE, a diferencia de otros organismos públicos.&nbsp