Reflexiones marginales sobre la corrupción

La corrupción, como fenómeno delictivo, previsto y penando en las leyes penales, no es nuevo; es un histórico fenómeno social y político. Sin embargo, es motivo de enorme preocupación. La razón estriba en que la corrupción, tanto la que tiene lugar en el sector público, como en el privado, y su cada vez más frecuente ligazón, corre el peligro de, por su reiteración, convertirse en sistémica, lo que le haría invulnerable a su erradicación y pondría en peligro la propia esencia de la sociedad actual. Por ello se hace necesario abordar desde una perspectiva político-criminal integral la lucha contra esta lacerante lacra que consume recursos humanos, sociales y económicos en una desmedida proporción. Así las cosas, se sostiene la tesis de que no es tan necesario la definición de nuevas infracciones -cosa relativamente simple-, sino que lo decisivo es abordar abiertamente desde las instancias implicadas este combate. Hará falta para ello, además de esta voluntad política y de los órganos de persecución (estrategias preventivas), una adecuación, reformulación y renovación de los diversos medios represivos con los que ya contamos (estrategia reactiva), de modo que las sanciones que se apliquen sean reales y efectivas y, por tanto, disuasorias, por un lado, de anuladoras de los efectos de la corrupción. Es esta tarea la que dista de ser un hecho en la realidad y que requiere su puesta en marcha cuanto antes

Child Care and the Welfare to Work Transition

We assess the role of child care in the welfare to work transition using an unusually large and comprehensive data base. Our data are for Massachusetts, a state that began welfare reform in 1995 under a federal waiver, for the period July 1996 through August 1997. We find that both the nature of the child care market and the availability of subsidized care and early education affect the probability that current and former welfare recipients will work. Regarding the child care market, we find that the cost, stability and quality of care matter. We also find that child care subsidies and some types of early education serve to increase employment. To be more specific, we find that increased funding for child care subsidies and the availability of full day kindergarten significantly increase the probability the current and former welfare recipients work.

Deep crustal electromagnetic structure of Bhuj earthquake region (India) and its implications

The existence of fluids and partial melt in the lower crust of the seismically active Kutch rift basin (on the western continental margin of India) owing to underplating has been proposed in previous geological and geophysical studies. This hypothesis is examined using magnetotelluric (MT) data acquired at 23 stations along two profiles across Kutch Mainland Uplift and Wagad Uplift. A detailed upper crustal structure is also presented using twodimensional inversion of MT data in the Bhuj earthquake (2001) area. The prominent boundaries of reflection in the upper crust at 5, 10 and 20 km obtained in previous seismic reflection profiles correlate with conductive structures in our models. The MT study reveals 1-2 km thick Mesozoic sediments under the Deccan trap cover. The Deccan trap thickness in this region varies from a few meters to 1.5 km. The basement is shallow on the northern side compared to the south and is in good agreement with geological models as well as drilling information. The models for these profiles indicate that the thickness of sediments would further increase southwards into the Gula of Kutch. Significant findings of the present study indicate 1) the hypocentre region of the earthquake is devoid of fluids, 2) absence of melt (that is emplaced during rifting as suggested from the passive seismological studies) in the lower crust and 3) a low resistive zone in the depth range of 5-20 km. The present MT study rules out fluids and melt (magma) as the causative factors that triggered the Bhuj earthquake. The estimated porosity value of 0.02% Hill explain 100-500 ohm•m resistivity values observed in the lower crust. Based on the seismic velocities and geochemical studies, presence of garnet is inferred. The lower crust consists of basalts - probably generated by partial melting of metasomatised garnet peridotite at beeper depths in the lithosphere - and their composition might be modified by reaction with the spinel peridotites

Adapting integrity checking techniques for concurrent operation executions

One challenge for achieving executable models is preserving the integrity of the data. That is, given a structural model describing the constraints that the data should satisfy, and a behavioral model describing the operations that might change the data, the integrity checking problem consists in ensuring that, after executing the modeled operations, none of the specified constraints is violated. A multitude of techniques have been presented so far to solve the integrity checking problem. However, to the best of our knowledge, all of them assume that operations are not executed concurrently. As we are going to see, concurrent operation executions might lead to violations not detected by these techniques. In this paper, we present a technique for detecting and serializing those operations that can cause a constraint violation when executed concurrently , so that, previous incremental techniques, exploiting our approach, can be safely applied in systems with concurrent operation executions guaranteeing the integrity of the data.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

La regulación del aborto en España tras la ley orgánica 2 de 2010.

Universidad Sergio ArboledaTras la expedición de una nueva normativa en materia de aborto en Espa-ña, el presente estudio examina el bien jurídico vida a cuyo efecto abordatópicos como la inexistencia del rango de valor supremo de la vida, la notitularidad de ningún derecho por parte del nasciturus, la necesidad de teneren cuenta la dignidad y la libertad de la mujer, entre otros, no obstantelo cual el autor estima que el objeto de tutela es el interés demográfico de lasociedad. Además, explora los diversos tipos de esta conducta punible y losdistintos supuestos de despenalización, a la luz del nuevo diseño acogido porel legislador hispano

Citizens’ control and the efficiency of local public services [WP-IEB]

It is generally accepted that fiscal decentralization increases citizens’ control over politicians, fostering accountability and increasing efficiency. This article identifies the socioeconomic characteristics of citizens (potential voters) that increase their control over local policy-makers and thus generate greater efficiency in a decentralized context. We also highlight the fiscal characteristics of local governments that influence this control and efficiency. The study examines a sample of Spanish municipalities, applying a methodology based on the conventional procedure of two-stage estimation. In the first stage we estimate the efficiency of local public services by calculating a new version of a global output indicator using the DEA technique. In the second stage, using a Tobit type estimation (censored models) and bootstrap methods, we show how the factors mentioned may influence efficiency. The results suggest that strong presence of retailers, retired people, and people entitled to vote favour citizens’ control, which fosters accountability and efficiency. A factor that facilitates this control, and therefore greater efficiency, is the presence of low opportunity costs for obtaining information regarding local public service management

Citizens' control and the efficiency of local public services

Està àmpliament acceptat que la descentralització fiscal incrementa el control dels ciutadans sobre els polítics, fomenta el rendiment de comptes i augmenta l¿eficiència. Aquest treball té per objectiu identificar les característiques socio-econòmiques dels ciutadans (votants potencials) que generen un major control sobre els responsables polítics locals provocant, així, un major nivell d'eficiència en un context descentralitzat.També s'analitzen les característiques fiscals dels governs locals que fomenten aquest control i eficiència. L'estudi s'ha aplicat a una mostra de municipis catalans seguint la metodologia convencional basada en l'estimació en dues etapes. A la primera etapa s'estima l'eficiència en que operen els municipis mitjançant la tècnica DEA. La novetat rau en el càlcul d'una nova versió d'indicador global d¿output municipal. En la segona etapa, a través d¿una estimació tipus Tobit (models censurats) i de mètodes bootstrap, es mostra com els factors abans comentats poden influir sobre l¿eficiència. Els resultats suggereixen que la forta presencia de comerciants, jubilats i persones amb dret a vot afavoreixen el control dels ciutadans, el rendiment de comptes i l¿eficiència. Un factor que facilita aquest control, i per tant una major eficiència, és la presència de baixos costos d'oportunitat d'obtenir informació sobre la gestió local dels serveis públics

Population dynamics and seasonal trend of California red scale (Aonidiella aurantii Maskell) in citrus in Northern Spain

The California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell), was first detected in citrus groves in Catalonia, Northern Spain, in 2000, and has since spread slowly and irregularly. New foci of infestation are currently found in citrus-growing areas of southern Tarragona. As Catalonia is the northernmost citrus growing area in Spain, between 2002 and 2009, A. aurantii population dynamics and seasonal trends were studied in two citrus groves and compared with other regions and countries. The population dynamics showed that there were four male flights (including that of the overwintering generation): in May, mid June-mid July, August and October, the most abundant being that of August (over 60% of the males captured during the year). The thermal constant estimated between male flights, using 11.7°C as the lower threshold temperature, was 611.8 ± 35.5 degree-days. Three peaks of 1st and 2nd nymph instars were observed: in early June, late July-early August, and late September. The number of crawlers captured on sticky tapes reached a first maximum on 27th May (± 1.85 days). The male flight abundance showed a positive relationship between two consecutive generations, revealing the stability of A. aurantii populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effects of regional educational policies on school failure in Spain

This paper presents a regional analysis of the effects of educational policies implemented in Spain between 1992 and 2003, focusing specifically on school failure rates. We consider the impact of expenditure per pupil, class size, and pupil-teacher ratio on dropout rates at the end of compulsory education and on the proportion of early school-leavers in the 18-24 year age group. Our results indicate that higher levels of educational expenditure per pupil and lower class sizes and pupil-teacher ratios reduce rates of dropout and early school-leaving (although class-size is not always significant). However, the magnitude of the effects of these variables is small at the average level

La inviolabilidad domiciliaria y los controles administrativos. Especial referencia a la de las empresas

La relación entre Derecho penal y Derecho constitucional es algo evidente. Evidente es también que en materia de derechos y libertades públicas ambos sectores normativos no ofrecen magnitudes coextensas en todos y cada uno de los supuestos. Con todo, uno en el que sí parecen coincidir es el relativo a la protección del domicilio y a la concepción que del mismo se utiliza en ambos sectores jurídicos [..]