Family Ownership and Firm Performance: A Closer Look at the Evidence from Public Companies in Chile

We revisit the evidence presented in Martinez et al. (2007) using new data and estimation techniques that take into account unobserved firm heterogeneity. The results of the earlier study are found to be robust to the new procedures since performance of family firms continues to be superior to non-family firms. We then add the risk dimension to the earlier analysis using a risk-adjusted ROA variable, and family firms again performed better. A test of the standard deviations of ROA for both firm categories revealed that family firms not only perform better but also show less volatility in their returns.Family firms, performance.

Análisis jurisprudencial comparativo del delito de robo con violencia e intimidación en las personas, entre el antiguo y el nuevo proceso penal: en Calama, Antofagasta, Coquimbo, La Serena, Ovalle, Angol y Temuco

80 p.La presente memoria trata del delito de Robo con Violencia e Intimidación en las personas en su tipo simple, y el objetivo es establecer los elementos básicos del delito y determinar cuál es el criterio de los tribunales de justicia, antes y después de la Reforma Procesal Penal que comenzó a regir en octubre de 2001, en algunas regiones de Chile. Para lograr dicho objetivo se analizará primeramente la doctrina sobre el tema. Luego se realizará un análisis jurisprudencial comparativo entre sentencias anteriores a la entrada en vigencia de la Reforma y sentencias posteriores a ella, determinando si el criterio de los tribunales ha variado o no al respecto. Finalmente se agregará un cuadro estadístico de las sentencias analizadas incluyendo detalles importantes de ellas

La corrupcion y los delitos cometidos por funcionarios publicos consagrados en los Tratados Internacionales

62 p.La presente memoria constituye un trabajo de investigación jurídica realizado para optar al grado de Licenciado en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales que, a su vez, forma parte de un proyecto FONDECYT, dirigido por el Dr. Raúl Carnevali y por el Dr. Jean Pierre Matus Acuña como coinvestigador. Esta investigación está orientada a revisar y clasificar los instrumentos internacionales, tratados y convenios sobre corrupción y delitos cometidos por funcionarios públicos, incluyendo otros instrumentos que por su relevancia es imposible excluir. La corrupción es un problema complejo, desarrollado a nivel local, regional, nacional y global, abarcando los sectores gubernamentales y los actos que esencialmente son de carácter público, siendo vital su regulación en los instrumentos internacionales. Por todo esto, la presente investigación busca sistematizar estos instrumentos, distinguiendo entre los que constituyen simples invitaciones a observar un comportamiento determinado y aquellos que establecen una obligación concreta de modificar o adecuar la legislación interna

Indice de desarrollo regional.

303 p.La región más desarrollada de Chile es la Metropolitana esto se desprende del Índice de Desarrollo Integrado, IDI, el cual se presenta en este trabajo. El IDI se construyó tomando en cuenta las variables o dimensiones que luego de entrevistar a “expertos” y revisar la bibliografía especializada, se creen describen el desarrollo económico social de una región. Es así, como este indicador está compuesto por las áreas Salud, Educación Infraestructura, Vivienda, Economía y Medio Ambiente. Se buscaron las variables dentro de cada dimensión que mejor representan al comportamiento de ella. Por ejemplo, el área Educación está compuesta por las variables: Tasa de Alfabetismo, Años Promedio de Escolaridad y la Cobertura del Sistema Educacional en la región. Dichas variables como las de otras dimensiones, y sus respectivas ponderaciones en el IDI, se obtuvieron en base a la utilización del método Delphi. Se recolectó Información de las catorce variables que en total suma el índice, en los años 1982 y 1992, únicos años en los cuales existe información disponible de ellas para todas las regiones del país, y luego se procedió a Jerarquizar dichas regiones. Es aquí donde saltan a la vista que las regiones más desarrolladas de Chile son aquellas que además poseen los mayores porcentajes de su población incorporadas a la vida urbana. Regiones como la Metropolitana, la de Atacama y la Primera ocupan los primeros lugares en 1992 en cuanto al desarrollo alcanzado. Por el contrario, la Octava, Décima y Novena regiones muestran los peores desempeños de Chile en dicho año. El resultado específico región por región se muestra en el capítulo número siete. Además se realizarán algunas asociaciones entre los resultados que entrega nuestro IDI con aquellos que entregan otros estudios y otras medidas de desarrollo comúnmente usadas y aceptadas. Aquí cabe resaltar la asociación entre Pib per cápita e IDI así como también la ya mencionada entre desarrollo De acuerdo al IDI y Urbanidad Ruralidad. Es nuestra más sincera ambición que el presente estudio motive otros posteriores, y que en lo posible, las autoridades lo usen como forma de orientar y focalizar

Habitat type drives the distribution of non-indigenous species in fouling communities regardless of associated maritime traffic

International audienceAim: Biological invasions and changes in land and sea use are among the five major causes of global biodiversity decline. Shipping and ocean sprawl (multiplication of artificial structures at the expense of natural habitats) are considered as the major forces responsible for marine invasions and biotic homogenization. And yet, there is little evidence of their interplay at multiple spatial scales. Here, we aimed to examine this interaction and the extent to which the type of artificial habitat alters the distribution of native and non-indigenous biodiversity. Location: Southeast Pacific-Central Chilean coastline. Methods: Settlement plates were deployed upon two types of artificial habitats (floating and non-floating hard substrates) at a total of ten study sites, exposed to either international or local traffic. After colonization periods of 3 and 13 months, plates were retrieved to determine their associated fouling sessile assemblages at an early and late stage of development, respectively. Putative confounding factors (temperature, metal concentrations) were taken into account. Results: While traffic type had no detectable effect, there were strong differences in community structure between habitats, consistent across the study region. These differences were driven by non-indigenous species which contributed to 58% and 40% of the community structure in floating habitats after 3 and 13 months, respectively roughly 10 times greater than in their non-floating counterparts. Assemblages on floating structures also displayed a lower decline in similarity with increasing distance between sampling units, being thus more homogenous than non-floating habitats at the regional scale. Main conclusions: With the absence of international traffic effect, the colonization success by non-indigenous species appears to be mainly habitat-dependent and driven by local propagules. Floating structures not only provide specific niches but characteristics shared with major introduction and dispersal vectors (notably hulls), and in turn constitute important corridors to invasions and drivers of biotic homog-enization at multiple scales

Cambios en la cobertura de nieve y su relación con el caudal para la caracterización, monitoreo y gestión de las cuencas de montaña en los Andes extratropicales de Chile entre los 29° y 37°S utilizando teledetección

Central Chile (30°- 37° S), concentrates about 75% of the population of the country which translates into a huge demand for water. Much of the available water in this area comes from seasonal snow and glaciers located in the high mountain. In this context, climate change is positioned as a threat to water security through the decrease in rainfall and the acceleration of the melting of snows. It is necessary to have robust systems to monitor the spatial-temporal variability of snow patterns in order to quantify effects and map affected areas and to develop forecasting systems and prepare contingency plans. The present work establishes the relationship between snow cover and flow determining the spatio-temporal variability of subbasins of the extratropical Andes of Chile (29°- 37° S) between the years 2000-2020 using MODIS satellite images and climate variables through Google Earth Engine.The results account for the characterization of the hydrological regime and the seasonal pattern of the snow of the sub-basins studied, being those located in the central portion of the study area (30.5°- 35° S) of a snow regime, and at the edges (29° and 36° S) mixed regime. This configuration affects the annual flow dynamics where a lag period can be seen between the maximum continuous precipitation and the maximum flow rate. Likewise, there has been a constant decrease in snow coverduring the last 20 years being appreciable that in the central portion of the study area (that is, 33°- 35° S) this process occurs more severely. The experience gained from the analysis and the results of this work indicate the feasibility of using approximations associated with satellite remote sensing to estimate variations in the snow cover pattern and better characterize the hydrological regimes of basins with limited meteorological data to support water monitoring for the sustainability of the cryosphere and for the water security of the territories.Chile Central (30° - 37°S), concentra cerca del 75% de la población total del país, lo cual se traduce en una enorme demanda hídrica. Gran parte del agua disponible del área en cuestión proviene de la nieve estacional y los glaciares ubicados en la alta cordillera. En este contexto, el cambio climático se emplaza como una amenaza para la seguridad hídrica, mediante la disminución en las precipitaciones y la aceleración del derretimiento de las nieves. Se hace necesario contar con robustos sistemas de monitoreo de la variabilidad espacio temporal de los patrones de nieve de manera de poder cuantificar efectos y zonificar áreas afectadas para desarrollar sistemas de pronósticos y preparar planes de contingencia. El presente trabajo establece la relación entre cobertura nival y el caudal, determinando la variabilidad espaciotemporal entre el año 2000-2020 de subcuencas de los Andes extratropicales de Chile (29°-37°S), mediante imágenes satelitales MODIS y variables climáticas utilizando Google Earth Engine. Los resultados, dan cuenta a la caracterización del régimen hidrológico y el patrón estacional de la nieve de las subcuencas estudiadas, siendo de régimen nival las ubicadas en la porción central del área de estudio (30,5°-35° S), y las mixtas en los bordes (29° y 36° S). Esta configuración, repercute en la dinámica anual de los caudales en donde se aprecia un periodo de desfase entre el máximo de precipitación sólida y el máximo del caudal. Asimismo, se observó una disminución constante en la cobertura de nieves durante los últimos 20 años, siendo apreciable que en la porción central del área de estudio (i.e. 33° - 35°S) este proceso ocurre de forma más severa. La experiencia obtenida en función al análisis y resultados en este trabajo, indica la factibilidad de utilizar aproximaciones asociadas a la teledetección satelital a fin de estimar variaciones en el patrón de cobertura de nieve y caracterizar de mejor manera los regímenes hidrológicos de cuencas con datos meteorológicos limitados con el propósito de apoyar el monitoreo hídrico parala sustentabilidad de la criósfera y para la seguridad hídrica de los territorios

Quality control of multiplex antibody detection in samples from large-scale surveys: the example of malaria in Haiti.

Measuring antimalarial antibodies can estimate transmission in a population. To compare outputs, standardized laboratory testing is required. Here we describe the in-country establishment and quality control (QC) of a multiplex bead assay (MBA) for three sero-surveys in Haiti. Total IgG data against 21 antigens were collected for 32,758 participants. Titration curves of hyperimmune sera were included on assay plates, assay signals underwent 5-parameter regression, and inspection of the median and interquartile range (IQR) for the y-inflection point was used to determine assay precision. The medians and IQRs were similar for Surveys 1 and 2 for most antigens, while the IQRs increased for some antigens in Survey 3. Levey-Jennings charts for selected antigens provided a pass/fail criterion for each assay plate and, of 387 assay plates, 13 (3.4%) were repeated. Individual samples failed if IgG binding to the generic glutathione-S-transferase protein was observed, with 659 (2.0%) samples failing. An additional 455 (1.4%) observations failed due to low bead numbers (<20/analyte). The final dataset included 609,438 anti-malaria IgG data points from 32,099 participants; 96.6% of all potential data points if no QC failures had occurred. The MBA can be deployed with high-throughput data collection and low inter-plate variability while ensuring data quality

Association between the proportion of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infections detected by passive surveillance and the magnitude of the asymptomatic reservoir in the community: a pooled analysis of paired health facility and community data.

BACKGROUND: Passively collected malaria case data are the foundation for public health decision making. However, because of population-level immunity, infections might not always be sufficiently symptomatic to prompt individuals to seek care. Understanding the proportion of all Plasmodium spp infections expected to be detected by the health system becomes particularly paramount in elimination settings. The aim of this study was to determine the association between the proportion of infections detected and transmission intensity for Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax in several global endemic settings. METHODS: The proportion of infections detected in routine malaria data, P(Detect), was derived from paired household cross-sectional survey and routinely collected malaria data within health facilities. P(Detect) was estimated using a Bayesian model in 431 clusters spanning the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The association between P(Detect) and malaria prevalence was assessed using log-linear regression models. Changes in P(Detect) over time were evaluated using data from 13 timepoints over 2 years from The Gambia. FINDINGS: The median estimated P(Detect) across all clusters was 12·5% (IQR 5·3-25·0) for P falciparum and 10·1% (5·0-18·3) for P vivax and decreased as the estimated log-PCR community prevalence increased (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for P falciparum 0·63, 95% CI 0·57-0·69; adjusted OR for P vivax 0·52, 0·47-0·57). Factors associated with increasing P(Detect) included smaller catchment population size, high transmission season, improved care-seeking behaviour by infected individuals, and recent increases (within the previous year) in transmission intensity. INTERPRETATION: The proportion of all infections detected within health systems increases once transmission intensity is sufficiently low. The likely explanation for P falciparum is that reduced exposure to infection leads to lower levels of protective immunity in the population, increasing the likelihood that infected individuals will become symptomatic and seek care. These factors might also be true for P vivax but a better understanding of the transmission biology is needed to attribute likely reasons for the observed trend. In low transmission and pre-elimination settings, enhancing access to care and improvements in care-seeking behaviour of infected individuals will lead to an increased proportion of infections detected in the community and might contribute to accelerating the interruption of transmission. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust

Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?

Correction: Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Article Number: 44 DOI: 10.1186/s13601-020-00351-w Published: OCT 26 2020Reported COVID-19 deaths in Germany are relatively low as compared to many European countries. Among the several explanations proposed, an early and large testing of the population was put forward. Most current debates on COVID-19 focus on the differences among countries, but little attention has been given to regional differences and diet. The low-death rate European countries (e.g. Austria, Baltic States, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia) have used different quarantine and/or confinement times and methods and none have performed as many early tests as Germany. Among other factors that may be significant are the dietary habits. It seems that some foods largely used in these countries may reduce angiotensin-converting enzyme activity or are anti-oxidants. Among the many possible areas of research, it might be important to understand diet and angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) levels in populations with different COVID-19 death rates since dietary interventions may be of great benefit.Peer reviewe