Aggregate effects of imperfect tax enforcement:

"This paper studies an economy in which the government is not able to perfectly enforce tax compliance among operating firms, and compares it with a similar economy but with perfect tax enforcement. I develop a competitive general equilibrium model where imperfect tax enforcement may affect aggregate outcomes through two mechanisms. First, it may distort firms' optimal output level as long as the probability of avoiding tax compliance is related to the firm's size. Second, poor tax enforcement may lead to a low provision of the public goods that complement firms' productivity. The results for a calibrated version of the model suggest that in economies with tax enforcement problems, aggregate output might be reduced by 12 percent. I also conclude that sizable aggregate effects can be obtained only when the public goods mechanism is at work. " from authors' abstractTax enforcement, Public goods, Informal sector, Size distribution of firms, Social protection, Institutions, Market development, infrastructure,

On the importance of direct detection combined limits for spin independent and spin dependent dark matter interactions

In this work we show how the inclusion of dark matter (DM) direct detection upper bounds in a theoretically consistent manner can affect the allowed parameter space of a DM model. Traditionally, the limits from DM direct detection experiments on the elastic scattering cross section of DM particles as a function of their mass are extracted under simplifying assumptions. Relaxing the assumptions related to the DM particle nature, such as the neutron to proton ratio of the interactions, or the possibility of having similar contributions from the spin independent (SI) and spin dependent (SD) interactions can vary significantly the upper limits. Furthermore, it is known that astrophysical and nuclear uncertainties can also affect the upper bounds. To exemplify the impact of properly including all these factors, we have analysed two well motivated and popular DM scenarios: neutralinos in the NMSSM and a Z' portal with Dirac DM. We have found that the allowed parameter space of these models is subject to important variations when one includes both the SI and SD interactions at the same time, realistic neutron to proton ratios, as well as using different self-consistent speed distributions corresponding to popular DM halo density profiles, and distinct SD structure functions. Finally, we provide all the necessary information to include the upper bounds of SuperCDMS and LUX taking into account all these subtleties in the investigation of any particle physics model. The data for each experiment and example codes are available at this site http://goo.gl/1CDFYi, and their use is detailed in the appendices of this work.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures, 2 appendices. Minor text corrections. References adde

Percus-Yevick theory for the structural properties of the seven-dimensional hard-sphere fluid

The direct correlation function and the (static) structure factor for a seven-dimensional hard-sphere fluid are considered. Analytical results for these quantities are derived within the Percus-Yevick theoryComment: 3 pages, 2 tables, 1 figure; v2: minor changes; to be published in JC

Occupational Training to Reduce Gender Segregation: The Impacts of ProJoven

This paper discusses program evaluation for ProJoven, the Peruvian youth labor training program. Complementing detailed fieldwork, the econometric work implements a two-stage matching procedure on propensity scores, gender and labor income. This allows identification of differentiated program impacts on males and females and attacks the problem of Ashenfelter’s Dips. The evaluation shows substantial differences in ProJoven’s impact for males and females. Eighteen months after participation in the program, employment rates forfemales improve by about 15 percent (while employment for males reduces by 11 percent), gender occupational segregation reduces by 30 percent, and females’ labor income improves by 93 percent (while males’ earnings increase by 11 percent). Nonetheless, gender equality promotion represents only 1. 5 percent of ProJoven’s budget. These results suggest that labor-training programs that promote equal gender participation have disproportionately positive effects on outcomes for women trainees in a labor market with substantial gender differences.

Empty space as a structuring element of the built spaces in Labour Universities: the main square or courtyard and other courtyards

[Resumen] Las Universidades Laborales nacen con el objetivo de formar a las nuevas generaciones de trabajadores para el desarrollo industrial que se iniciaba en España en los años cincuenta. Llegarían a ser veintiún centros repartidos por todo el país, promovidos por el Estado y diseñados por arquitectos elegidos entre las fi guras de máximo prestigio nacional del momento, abarcando su construcción desde 1945 hasta 1976. En el conjunto de proyectos, el vacío destaca por su valor estructurante, bien a modo de plaza o patio de bordes defi nidos, de explanada o patio abierto o semiabierto, o de intersticios que relacionan unos edifi cios con otros.[Abstract] Labour Universities were born with the aim of educating and preparing new generations of workers for the industrial development that began in Spain in the fi fties. Th ey would become a group of twenty-one Centers located all over the country, promoted by the Government and designed by architects chosen among the most prestigious national fi gures of the time, spreading their construction from 1945 through 1976. In all the projects, the empty space stands out for its structuring value either as a square or courtyard of defi ned edges, or as an esplanade or as an open or half-open courtyard, or as interstices that relate some buildings to each other

Price, inventories, and volatility in the global wheat market

The study estimates a conditional mean model for international wheat prices and inventories. Endogenous price volatility and exogenous shocks in the price and inventory series are controlled for in estimation. Redressing the empirical linkage between volatility, prices, and inventories is important because volatility increases returns to inventories, which in turn may imply prices. The problem is also important from the regulator perspective, because publicly funded inventory programs have been traditional measures in stabilizing prices and improving food security by providing a buffer against adverse yield shocks and stock-outs. The structural model underlying the estimating equations is based on a dynamic inventory optimization problem. The data suggest that the price of both wheat and wheat inventories is nonstationary and that they are significantly linked to each other in the short run but do not exhibit a stationary long-run equilibrium relationship. Price volatility is an important determinant in the short-run conditional mean processes for both the price and inventories. The pairwise causal relationships have only one direction each. Inventories imply price volatility, price volatility implies price, and price implies inventories, but not vice versa. The parameter estimates suggest that when inventories decrease, price volatility increases. Thus, low inventories have likely been among the necessary conditions, but have not been a sufficient condition by themselves, for the price surge observed in 2008. The price and inventory movements have a significant negative relationship in the very short run, but it is leveled off over time. A decreasing price implies either inventory build-ups or postponement of inventory withdrawals. Overall, the current and past inventory and price movements are not very valuable in predicting the future price movements, and it is likely that the inventory information announced each month is already in the prices.international price, inventories, volatility, Wheat,

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