Colonial Origins of Inequality in Hispanic America? Some reflections based on new empirical evidence

This paper attempts at contributing to the ongoing debate on the historical roots of the high economic inequality of contemporary Iberian America. Basically empirical, our approach departs from mainstream scholarship. We show new data on wages and heights in several viceroyalties that: 1) suggest relatively medium to high levels of material welfare among the commoners in Bourbon Hispanic America; 2) allow us to build indexes of economic inequality. An international comparison of those indexes casts some doubts on the widely accepted view that Viceroyal America’s economy was exclusively based on extremely unequal or extractive institutions, as it has been popularized by the influential works by Engerman and Sokoloff (1994, 2002, 2005), Acemoglu et al. (2002).economic inequality, Iberian America, Viceroyal America’s economy

Colonial Origins of Latin American Inequality? Some Reflections Based on New Empirical Evidence

This paper attempts at contributing to the ongoing debate on the historical roots of the high economic inequality of contemporary Iberian America. Basically empirical, our approach departs from mainstream scholarship. We show new data on wages and heights in several viceroyalties that: 1) suggest relatively medium to high levels of material welfare among the commoners in Bourbon Hispanic America; 2) allow us to build indexes of economic inequality. An international comparison of those indexes casts some doubts on the widely accepted view that Viceroyal America’s economy was exclusively based on extremely unequal or extractive institutions, as it has been popularized by the influential works by Engerman and Sokoloff (1994, 2002, 2005), Acemoglu et al. (2002).[RESUMEN] Este trabajo pretende contribuir al debate sobre las causas históricas de la alta desigualdad económica en la Iberoamérica contemporénea y lo hace en forma básicamente empírica, lo que es bastante inusual. En él se muestran nuevos datos sobre salarios y estaturas de varios virreinatos que: (1) sugieren niveles de bienestar material relativamente medios o altos para grupos no privilegiados de la Hispanoamérica borbónica; y (2) permiten la construcción de índices de desigualdad económica. La comparación internacional de esos índices arroja dudas sobre la verosimilitud del ampliamente extendido supuesto de que la economía de la América española se basada exclusivamente en instituciones extremadamente desiguales o extractivas, que ha sido popularizada por los influyentes trabajos de Engerman y Sokoloff y Acemoglu et al

Colonial Origins of Inequality in Hispanic America? Some Reflections Based on New Empirical Evidence

Special Issue on Latin American Inequality.This paper attempts to contribute to the ongoing debate on the historical roots of the high economic inequality of contemporary Iberian America. Our approach, which is basically empirical, departs from the mainstream scholarship. We show new data on wages and heights in several viceroyalties that (1) suggest relatively medium-to-high levels of material welfare among the commoners in Bourbon Hispanic America; and (2) allow us to build indexes of economic inequality. An international comparison of those indexes casts some doubts on the widely accepted view that Viceroyal America’s economy was exclusively based on extremely unequal or extractive institutions, as it has been popularized by the influential works by Engerman and Sokoloff and Acemoglu et al.Este trabajo pretende contribuir al debate sobre las causas históricas de la alta desigualdad económica en la Iberoamérica contemporánea y lo hace en forma básicamente empírica, lo que es bastante inusual. En él se muestran nuevos datos sobre salarios y estaturas de varios virreinatos que: (1) sugieren niveles de bienestar material relativamente medios o altos para grupos no privilegiados de la Hispanoamérica borbónica; y (2) permiten la construcción de índices de desigualdad económica. La comparación internacional de esos índices arroja dudas sobre la verosimilitud del ampliamente extendido supuesto de que la economía de la América española se basada exclusivamente en instituciones extremadamente desiguales o extractivas, que ha sido popularizada por los influyentes trabajos de Engerman y Sokoloff y Acemoglu et al.The financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under Grant ECO2008-01989/ECON

Niveles de óxidos de nitrógeno en construcción de túneles con el NATM durante el periodo de transición de la Directiva 2017/164/EU

The Directive 2017/164/EU will drastically reduce the NO and NO2 TLVs in underground mining and tunneling activities. There are concerns regarding the feasibility of the proposed levels and the Directive established a transitional period, ending on 21 August 2023 for the underground mining and tunnel construction sectors which provides for a reassessment of its applicability to these sectors before the end of this period. The study was carried out in a 2 km double highway tunnel, excavation cross-section 102 m2, excavation method NATM, the selected tunnel is representative of the tunnel construction system in Spain. This paper aims to analyses NO and NO2 gas levels during NATM tunnel construction and compare results with the actual levels and the levels proposed in the Directive 2017/164/EU. The report concludes that great efforts need to be made to reach the Directive levels in 2023. Recommendations are given to reach the proposed levels.La Directiva 2017/164/UE reducirá drásticamente los niveles de NO y NO2 en minería subterránea y construcción de túneles, existe preocupación con respecto a la viabilidad de los niveles propuestos y se estableció un período de transición que finaliza en agosto de 2023, está prevista una reevaluación de su aplicabilidad antes del final de este período. El estudio se realizó en un túnel de autopista de 2 km, sección de excavación de 102 m², método de excavación NATM, el túnel seleccionado es representativo del sistema de construcción de túneles en España. Este documento tiene como objetivo analizar los niveles de gas NO y NO2 durante la construcción del túnel y comparar los resultados con el nivel propuesto en la Directiva 2017/164/UE y los niveles vigentes. El informe concluye que se deben hacer esfuerzos para alcanzar los niveles de la Directiva en 2023. Se dan recomendaciones para alcanzar el nivel propuesto

Position Paper: Improving Source Code Reuse through Documentation Standardization

In the context of Software Reuse providing techniques to support source code retrieval has been widely experimented. However, much effort is required in order to find how to match classical Information Retrieval and source code characteristics and implicit information. Introducing linguistic theories in the software development process, in terms of documentation standardization may produce significant benefits when applying Information Retrieval techniques. The goal of our research is to provide a tool to improve source code search and retrieval In order to achieve this goal we apply some linguistic rules to the development process

Aspectos políticos de la dependencia financiera en los municipios mexicanos = Political aspects of financial dependence in mexican municipalities Political Aspects of Financial Dependence in Mexican Municipalities.

Resumen: La literatura especializada ha estudiado el impacto de las modificaciones en las instituciones fiscales el Sistema Nacional de Coordinación Fiscal (1980) y las reformas constitucionales al artículo 115 (1983 y 1999) sobre el grado de dependencia financiera de los gobiernos municipales y el desempeño gubernamental. Aunado a ello, el entorno político ha probado ser un determinante importante en dicho desempeño. En efecto, desde el enfoque de la economía política, diferentes estudios documentan los efectos del entorno político y las instituciones fiscales en variables fiscales -tales como el gasto y la deuda- en gobiernos nacionales y subnacionales. Con base en cuatro variables -la afiliación política del alcalde, la afiliación política del gobernador, la composición de los congresos locales y la celebración de elecciones locales-, los autores construyen indicadores de “confluencia política” a escala municipal y estudian la influencia sobre la dependencia financiera del grado de unificación del gobierno municipal, tanto con respecto al gobierno estatal como con respecto al congreso local, además de considerar la afiliación política del alcalde y el ciclo electoral local. A través de su enfoque analítico y sus hallazgos empíricos, este artículo amplía el alcance de los estudios empíricos sobre dependencia municipal fiscal. Así mismo, aporta al campo de la economía política y sus estudios sobre las finanzas públicas subnacionales. Abstract: Specialized literature has analyzed the impact of changes to fiscal institutions such as The National System of Fiscal Coordination (1980) and the constitutional reforms of article 115 (1983 and 1999) on the degree of financial dependence of local (municipal) governments and the governmental functioning. Political environment as well, affects to an important extent such functioning. Indeed, previous studies in the field of political economy point to the effects of political environment and fiscal institutions -such as public spending and debt- on national and sub-national governments. Based on four variables -political affiliation of the mayor, political affiliation of the governor, composition of local congresses and celebration of local elections-, the authors build indicators of “political confluence” at the municipal level. They study the effect that the degree of political unification at the municipal level has on the financial dependence with respect to the State government, and also to the local Congress. In their analysis, the authors also consider the political affiliation of the mayor and the local electoral cycle. Through its analytical focus and main empirical findings, this article contributes to broadening the scope of empirical studies of municipal financial dependence. Simultaneously, it adds to existing literature in the field of political economy that accounts for public finances at the sub-national level

Organic geochemistry, lithofacies and gas shale reservoir potential of cretaceous outcrops from Alto de los Caballeros section, Eastern Cordillera Basin – Colombia

Significant layers of shale are exposed in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. These Upper Cretaceous rocks from La Frontera and Conejo Formations in the Chécua-Lenguazaque Syncline, between Ubaté, Carmen de Carupa and Sutatausa towns, were evaluated using geochemical and petrographic analysis to determine their potential as gas shale reservoirs. This structure presents promising characteristics for developing a gas shale reservoir due to its areal extension, the existence of a thick layer of marine cretaceous sequence, and a near location to industrial areas, such as the colombian andean region. In La Frontera and Conejo Formations, the result of outcrop samples analysis indicates that some levels meet the geochemical characteristics required for the existence of potential gas shale reservoirs. One of these levels correspond to the base of La Frontera Formation, where limestones exhibit appropriated organic matter content and maturity conditions for gas shale. In addition, this limestone also presents micro-porosity associated with diagenetic processes and kerogen. The geochemical and petrographic features are similar to those found in the Barnett gas shale. The geochemical and petrographic characteristics reflected by the limestones of La Frontera Formation agree with the criteria described and evaluated internationally for unconventional gas shale reservoirs, similar to those found in the Barnett gas shale, and shows the best conditions for the development of these deposits. Nevertheless, it is necessary to evaluate other petrophysical properties, gas saturation, and effective gas permeability in reservoir condition in order to make a conclusive determination about gas shale potential.En la Cordillera Oriental de Colombia se encuentran expuestas extensas capas de shale; estas rocas de edad cretácico superior de las formaciones La Frontera y Conejo, en el sector Alto de los Caballeros, entre los municipios de Ubaté, Carmen de Carupa y Sutatausa, fueron evaluadas mediante análisis geoquímicos y petrográficos para determinar su potencial como reservorio de gas shale en el sinclinal Chécua-Lenguazaque. Esta estructura presenta características propicias para el desarrollo de un reservorio de gas shale debido a su extensa área, a la existencia de una gruesa secuencia cretácica de origen marino rica en materia orgánica y a su ubicación cercana a áreas industriales como la región andina colombiana. Los resultados de los análisis de muestras de afloramiento de las formaciones La Frontera y Conejo indican que algunos niveles cumplen con las características geoquímicas requeridas para los reservorios de gas shale. El intervalo de calizas en la base de la Formación La Frontera exhibe un contenido de materia orgánica y condiciones de madurez apropiados para el gas shale, además, esta caliza también presenta microporosidad asociada a procesos diagenéticos y a kerógeno. Las características geoquímicas y petrográficas reflejadas por las calizas de la Formación La Frontera se ajustan a los criterios descritos y evaluados internacionalmente para yacimientos no convencionales de gas shale, son similares a las encontradas en el reservorio Barnett gas shale, y evidencian las mejores condiciones para el desarrollo de este tipo de depósitos. Sin embargo, es necesario evaluar otras propiedades petrofísicas, saturación de gas y permeabilidad efectiva de los gases en condición de reservorio, para así contar con una caracterización completa sobre el potencial de gas shale

Controlling the intermediate conductance states in RRAM devices for synaptic applications

Producción CientíficaRRAM devices are promising candidates to implement artificial synaptic devices for their use in neuromorphic systems, due to their high number or reachable conductance levels. The capacitors used in this work (TiN/Ti/ HfO2/W) show resistive switching behavior and reachable intermediate conductance states. We can control the conductance states by applying voltage pulses to the top electrode. Different approaches to control the synaptic weight have been studied: applying pulses with different voltage amplitudes changes the synaptic weight variation in an exponential way, and applying pulses with different lengths changes the synaptic weight in a linear way. We can control the conductance values when applying depression pulses, but the potentiation characteristic is not linear, as for other synaptic devices, as PRAMs. Applying other voltage signals to the structure, as voltage ramps, can improve the potentiation characteristic.Ministerio de Economía, Ciencia y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project TEC2017-84321-C4-2-R

2020 IEEE Latin America Electron Devices Conference (LAEDC)

Producción CientíficaArtificial synaptic devices used in neuromorphic systems need a high number of reachable conductance levels. Resistive switching devices are promising candidates to implement these devices due to their reachable conductance levels. In this work, we have used TiN/Ti/HfO 2 /W capacitors to study the control of the intermediate conductance states using current pulses instead of the usual voltage pulses. Unlike the use of voltage pulses, in this case we can control the HRS to LRS transition (potentiation characteristic). The characteristic is clearly linear when applying current pulses with linearly increasing amplitudes. The potentiation characteristic is not affected by the pulse length, even for lengths lower than 1 μs. In terms of peripheral circuitry, it is desirable to use pulses with identical amplitudes, but in this case no accumulative behavior is observed, and one current pulse is enough to carry the device to the final conductance state achieved for the amplitude used. Finally, it is not possible to control the HRS to LRS transition (depression characteristic) using current pulses due to the abrupt reset transition. However, this transition can be well controlled using voltage pulses.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant TEC2017-84321- C4-2-R