Inequality in Latin America : determinants and consequences

Latin America is together with Sub-Saharan Africa the most unequal region of the world. This paper documents recent inequality trends in the Latin American region, going beyond traditional measures of income inequality. The paper also reviews some of the explanations that have been put forward to understand the current situation, and discusses why reducing income inequality should be an important policy priority. In particular, the authors discuss channels through which inequality can affect growth and output volatility. On the whole, the analysis suggests a two-pronged approach to reduce inequality in the region that combines policies aimed at improving the distribution of assets (especially education) with elements aimed at improving the capacity of the state to redistribute income through taxes and transfers.Inequality,Rural Poverty Reduction,Economic Conditions and Volatility,Achieving Shared Growth,Poverty Impact Evaluation

Generalized construction of trend resistent 2-level split-plot designs

Common experimental practices suggest randomizing the order in which runs are performed. However, there may be situations in which randomization might not produce the most desirable order, especially in the presence of known trends. There has been research done on systematically designing experiments to be robust against trends. However, few studies address the additional dimensions that arise in nested designs such as split-plot designs. Split-plot designs have been used for many years in agricultural applications and are sometimes preferred where there are hard-to-change factors in industrial settings. There currently is no established methodology to produce split-plot designs that are robust to potential two-dimensional trends. The objective of this work is to develop a methodology to design run orders for two-level, split-plot (2w × 2s) designs that are robust or nearly robust against a set of trends. Two methods are developed in this work. A fold-over method that uses already established principles is extended for use in split-plot designs. The second method uses an integer linear programming approach to search for an optimal design that is resistant to specific trends. A comparison between the two methods is presented and evaluated with a proposed set of metrics

High temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells control for combined heat and power applications

Over the last few years, the research of new energy sources as a substitute for the current de-pletable ones has been increasing. One of these possible sources is hydrogen, one of the mostcommon elements in the planet. By using what’s called as a fuel cell, it can be used to efficientlygenerate clean electrical and thermal energy, as the only output is water.This project has been developed in the framework of the DPI2015-69286-C3-2-R MICAPEM (Pa-rameter estimation, diagnosis and control for the improvement of efficiency and durability ofPEM fuel cells) project, which aims to create an architecture and control of a system that will beable to supply electrical and thermal power to a typically-sized house using a Proton ExchangeMembrane Fuel Cell working at high-temperature (HT-PEMFC).To do so, a Model Predictive Control (MPC) will be used, capable of controlling the amountof hydrogen being consumed based on the prediction of the house’s electrical and thermal de-mand.The numerical computation system Matlab will be used for the creation of the MPC and itsSimulink tool, to model the PEMFC system. Then a series of simulations will be run, which willboth test the controller in several scenarios as well as to understand its behaviou

Down and out or up and in? Polarization-based measures of the middle class for Latin America

This document presents a systematic review of empirical approaches to the identification and measurement of the middle class as the concept is used in the applied literature. It then presents an arguably less arbitrary definition of the middle class which is based on sound principles of distributional analysis and derived from income polarization measures. The document illustrates the differences between the existing approaches and the proposed methodology with a comparative analysis of the extent and evolution of the middle classes since the early 1990s in six Latin American countries. The polarization-based measurements of the middle class are shown to exhibit a greater degree of homogeneity in terms of some key socioeconomic characteristics than other measures employed in the literatureFil: Cruces, Guillermo Antonio. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Departamento de Ciencias Económicas. Centro de Estudios Distributivos Laborales y Sociales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Calva, Luis Felipe. Banco Mundial; Estados UnidosFil: Battistón, Diego Ezequiel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Departamento de Ciencias Económicas. Centro de Estudios Distributivos Laborales y Sociales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin

Computation of conformal representations of compact Riemann surfaces

We find a system of two polynomial equations in two unknowns, whose solution allows to give an explicit expression of the conformal representation of a simply connected three sheeted compact Riemann surface onto the extended complex plane. This function appears in the description of the ratio asymptotic of multiple orthogonal polynomials with respect to so called Nikishin systems of two measures.Comment: To appear in Mathematics of Computatio

El aborto. Análisis crítico de la situación actual

The author begins this work by making an exposition of those facts which we could call fundamental from the biological point of view to understand and judge the different birth control methods in use today. From the very moment of the fertilization of the ovum by the spermatozoid. the development plans of a new organism become imprinted. This new organism is endowed with an extraordinary functional capacity whose determination is unaffected by the relations between the maternal organism and the fetal organismo These facts are so apparent that. Jf the beginning of Iife is not located in fecundation . there exist no concrete re· ferences as to when it does in fact take place. Abortive birth control methods are those which interrupt embryonic -or fetal- development. no matter the mechanism of action employed nor the time elapsed since the fertilization of the ovum. The spreading of these abortive methods has been noteworthy. with the proliferation of contraceptive methods -mainly the hormonal ones (the «pill .. )which have served as the key which has opened the door for abortion. Jt can be demonstrated how in these last fifteen years the relation between contraceptives and abortion is indeed intimate, and it beco mes difficult to separate them in practice. The laws promulgated in a large number of countries in recent years approving abortion have created in the public at large a conceptual confusion which makes that «Iegalized», .inducedD, «provoked», «criminal» ... abortions become differentiated only with sorne difficulty, whereas in point of fact the differences are quite c1ear. The only abortion which can be conside'red legal is spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) which occurs independently of the will of the mother and that of the doctor; all other cases deal with provoked abortion and signify the direct death of an individual. Jt is no doubt true that juridical legality do es not necessarily identify itself with ethical norms and that it cannot be the fundament of doctrinal norms of conduct; it is precisely from this that even «Iegalized» abortion continues to be a crime. Finally, the author makes reference to the relations between abortion and euthanasia which are increasing evident as time goes by. It is foreseeable that in the next few years the first laws allowing euthanasia will be approved, signifying yet a further step in the escalation of the anti-life movement

Related Lending

In many countries, banks lend to firms controlled by the bank?s owners. We examine the benefits of related lending using a newly assembled dataset for Mexico. Related lending is prevalent (20% of commercial loans) and takes place on better terms than arm?s-length lending (annual interest rates are 4 percentage points lower). Related loans are 33% more likely to default and, when they do, have lower recovery rates (30% less) than unrelated ones. The evidence supports the view that rather than enhance information sharing, related lending is a manifestation of looting.

Evaluación de los efectos de la urbanización en los arroyos de Tierra del Fuego

We set out to understand how urbanization affects streams in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Paired ttestsand linear regressions were used to compare physico-chemical stream habitat variables (i.e., temperature,turbidity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH) and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure (i.e.,density, taxonomic richness, Shannon-Weiner diversity) and function (functional feeding groups [FFG]) in fourwatersheds with urban and reference sites. We then calculated indices of biotic integrity for habitat (rapid visualassessment protocol [RVAP]) and benthos (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera richness [EPT], family bioticindex [FBI], rapid bioassessment protocol [RBP] and biotic monitoring Patagonian streams [BMPS]). Resultsindicated that urbanization negatively impacted these streams? underlying ecological condition, decreasingbenthic biodiversity and dissolved oxygen, while increasing conductivity and turbidity. FFG assemblagewas similar between both sites, but urbanization increased the existing dominance of collector-gatherers.Additionally, urban sites presented lower values in three of the benthic macroinvertebrate indices (EPT, RBP,BMPS, but not FBI) and also for habitat (RVAP). These data fill an existing gap in stream ecology for southernPatagonia and are useful to create monitoring tools. By incorporating urbanization as a driver of ecosystemchange, managers and planners will be better able to confront the issue of sustainable development in thisregion, which is considered one of the most pristine wilderness areas remaining on the planet but whosehuman population is concentrated in a few densely populated urban areas.Fil: Zagarola, Jean Paul A.. Bonneville Environmental Foundation; Estados UnidosFil: Martínez Pastur, Guillermo José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, María Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Anderson, Christopher Brian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentin