On the Nature of Nonperturbative Effects in Stabilized 2D Quantum Gravity

We remark that the weak coupling regime of the stochastic stabilization of 2D quantum gravity has a unique perturbative vacuum, which does not support instanton configurations. By means of Monte Carlo simulations we show that the nonperturbative vacuum is also confined in one potential well. Nonperturbative effects can be assessed in the loop equation. This can be derived from the Ward identities of the stabilized model and is shown to be modified by nonperturbative terms.Comment: 20 pages in Latex and 4 figures in Postscript, IEM-FT-65/9

Monitoring a trans-border labour market in view of liberalization - the case of Ticino.

Switzerland has signed a treaty with the EU on free mobility. Beginning from the month of June 2004, this will replace the actual regulation based on quotas of foreign labor force and will facilitate the entrance of the Italian enterprises in the Ticino market. The evidence found when monitoring the Ticino economy for the period 1980 to 2002, is that the opening of the market has largely been anticipated and the regional economies, north and south of the border, seem to be converging at least from about two decades. The liberalization of the labor market will therefore accelerate an integration process already in action. This paper presents evidence on this process, based on the characteristics of the trans-border labor market (wage differentials, mobility, skills) and indicators on both supply and demand side of this specific regional market.

Segmentation by skills and wage discrimination in a trans-border labor market

Global markets, free mobility and political integration among nation states should have a relevant impact on key issues in regional labor market studies, such as immigration, segmentation and delimitation. This paper presents an economic analysis of the impacts on segmentation, salary and human capital of the tight Swiss regulation imposed in past on immigrant workers. The case studied is the canton Ticino, a labor market whose gravity center is located at 20 km form the Italian border and 50 km from the center of the agglomeration of Milan. This very specific location allows to study the differentiated impacts on salaries, contract duration and allocation to industries of trans-border commuters as compared to short and long term immigrants. First evidence indicates the presence of a relevant immigration surplus (Borjas 1995) for the Ticino economy in the case of commuters and seasonal immigrants on the lower scale of qualification. Concerning more qualified labor force, empirical analysis of wage functions indicate a segmentation with respect to duration of contracts, more stable contracts being offered to resident workers. Here, the benefits are reaped by the protected labor force while industry does not seem to realize a significant surplus. The paper end with a theoretical discussion of the possible changes provoked by the imminent change in regulation implied by bilateral treaties on free mobility with the EU entering in vigor this year and draws some conclusions on the future relevance of the concept of border regions in a labor market context.

Kinematic sensitivity to the Fierz term of β\beta-decay differential spectra

The current most stringent constraints on exotic scalar or tensor couplings in neutron and nuclear $\beta$ decay, involving left-handed neutrinos, are obtained from the Fierz interference term. The sensitivity to this term in a correlation coefficient is usually driven by an energy-averaged kinematic factor that increases monotonically toward smaller values of the $\beta$ endpoint energies. We first point out here that this property does not hold for certain differential observables that are directly sensitive to the Fierz term, such as the $\beta$ or the recoil energy spectrum. This observation is relevant for the selection of sensitive transitions in searches for exotic couplings through spectrum shape measurements. We then point out previous errors in the exploitation of measurements of the $\beta-\nu$ angular correlation coefficient and discuss their impact on the extraction of constraints on exotic couplings.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Higher wages, lower pay : public vs. private sector compensation in Peru

Do public sector employees earn less than their counterparts in the private sector? This paper addresses this question in the case of Peru, a country where civil service reform is being debated yet the only available empirical studies on wage differentials date back to the late 1980s. Using data from the 2009 national household survey, the authors perform a multiple step analysis. First, they estimate a single equation with a public sector dummy, which is found to be statistically significant and positive when only monetary wages are taken into account. However, when in-kind payments and bonuses are included to measure compensation, the analysis finds a private sector premium. Second, they estimate for public and formal private employees two distinct wage functions, including the inverse Mills ratio. This takes into account the selection bias resulting from workers self-selecting into the public or private sector. Third, these results are used to decompose wage differentials using the standard Oaxaca-Blinder approach. The results show that the compensation differentials are not significant except for the sub-sample of employees that achieved a postgraduate degree.Labor Markets,Public Sector Economics,Inequality,Public Sector Management and Reform,Education and Digital Divide

Memoria y narración en la novela Sobre héroes y tumbas de Ernesto Sábato

Los personajes de la novela Sobre héroes y tumbas están atados a sus recuerdos, sumidos en la búsqueda de momentos, lugares y demás huellas del pasado que les permitan comprender su ser y existir en el mundo. Bruno y Martín persisten en el acto de rememoración que implica definirse en un tiempo y espacio particular, a través de la mirada ajena de los seres que han abandonado su mundo y marcado sus existencias. Este artículo se apuntala en el pensamiento de Paul Ricoeur y su texto La memoria, la historia, el olvido

Mundos posibles en la novela Sobre héroes y tumbas de Ernesto Sábato: retrato de una Argentina que está aún por contar

En el marco de las reflexiones y teorías sobre el carácter ficcional del texto literario desarrolladas por autores como Dolezel, Iser, Garrido Domínguez, Pozuelo, entre otros; se analiza el papel que desempeñan las visiones y versiones de la Argentina proyectadas en la obra Sobre héroes y tumbas de Ernesto Sábato, en la constitución de un espacio de comunicación literaria entre lo real ficcional-imaginario y lo real fáctico. Dichas visiones y versiones apremian la relación trágica y esperanzada que los personajes mantienen con su realidad, pues dinamizan el acto de recordar en la comprensión y construcción del presente memorioso que habitan.En el marco de las reflexiones y teorías sobre el carácter ficcional del texto literario desarrolladas por autores como Dolezel, Iser, Garrido Domínguez, Pozuelo, entre otros; se analiza el papel que desempeñan las visiones y versiones de la Argentina proyectadas en la obra Sobre héroes y tumbas de Ernesto Sábato, en la constitución de un espacio de comunicación literaria entre lo real ficcional-imaginario y lo real fáctico. Dichas visiones y versiones apremian la relación trágica y esperanzada que los personajes mantienen con su realidad, pues dinamizan el acto de recordar en la comprensión y construcción del presente memorioso que habitan

Reseña de "Blanco nocturno" de Ricardo Piglia

Blanco nocturno, la más reciente novela del escritor argentino Ricardo Piglia, publicada en 2010, es, sin duda, una propuesta narrativa profunda y muy bien lograda, pues el autor experimenta con el relato policial y la novela negra, para presentar un mundo posible de seres corruptos, abatidos y oscuros que están anclados en una atmósfera trágica de falsas esperanzas. Resulta interesante la manera en que Ricardo Piglia juega y transgrede las normas genéricas en su novela. En un comienzo, el lector tiene la sensación de encontrarse frente a un relato típicamente policial, que cumple con las claves propias de este tipo de novelas: el motivo que desencadena la narración es un crimen irresuelto del que se encarga un policía y su ayudante, quienes analizan los hábitos del difunto, así como de todas las personas que intervinieron en su vida, pues cualquiera resultaría sospechoso potencial del asesinato. Sin embargo, unos cuantos capítulos más adelante, el relato empieza a oscurecerse; pierde esa armonía y rigor científico, moral e intelectual que caracteriza a la novela policial —como lo reconoce el propio Piglia en su texto Critica y ficción— y poco a poco se devela una novela negra, compleja, salvaje, sombría, en la que el crimen no es resuelto mediante la deducción, sino a través de la intuición. No son reglas y procesos analíticos los que conducen la pesquisa, sino los pálpitos de un viejo policía, un hombre legendario por su fama de ecuánime adivinador y no de riguroso investigador