Liberalization of trade in services: A CGE analysis for Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay

In this paper we use two computable general equilibrium models to evaluate gains of liberalization of trade in services for Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. We employ two CGE models for the calculations. For the Argentine and Uruguayan cases, we apply a model built by the authors (see Chisari (2009)) based on the MPSGE. For Brazil, our study uses the GTAP model – adapted by Rutherford (2005) that also works on an MPSGE platform. We also consider two basic cases of liberalization of trade in services: 1) mobility of goods, in which there is mobility of services across borders, as it is the traditional case of exports and imports of goods, and 2) trade presence, that is location in the domestic country of new operators with a new technology for producing services. We estimate the gains from improvements in efficiency, quality and productivity of the industries of services, due to more intense competition in the domestic market as well as from reductions in the implicit mark up on domestic services due to barriers to trade. Quality advancements lead to gains in welfare of a similar order, or even higher than expected in the case of productivity improvements. To address the case of trade presence, a latent technology is defined in situ, operative or not depending on relative prices (its market share in the overall equilibrium of the economy is endogenous). This is especially relevant for the case of telecommunications. We also observe that: 1) the economy’s specific endowment of factors will limit the expected gains of the liberalization if the latent technology is unsuitable or incompatible with them, 2) governments can face some dilemmas regarding domestic market regulations, if the liberalization of trade in financial services called for a change in regulations so that the domestic demand for government bonds were to fall.Computable general equilibrium; liberalization of trade; trade in services

Can the Gains from Argentina's Utilities Reform Offset Credit Shocks?

Computable general equilibrium, Regulation

The Cost of Capital in Regulated Firms: The Argentine Experience

The sustainability of service is one of the fundamental aims of any regulatory system, and this tends to be reflected in the general principles within the legal framework of each public service. The necessity to cover economic costs of service then follows, in order to cover costs in such a way as to guarantee the maintaining and continuity of the system as well as its expansion. These economic costs should necessarily include sufficient retribution for the capital used by investors: the cost of capital. In the case of Argentine regulation, it is usual practice to use an adapted form of the CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) to calculate the opportunity cost of equity, in such a way as to take the country risk into account. In this work we will analyse the components of the adapted formula for the cost of capital, discussing incentives which generate each of the possible outcomes for the regulated firms. Finally, we will present a model of dynamic optimisation for a regulated firm in a country such as Argentina.regulatory system; public service; CAPM; country risk

A Comparative Study of Adrenal Gland Development in Mouse and Chick Embryos

In this work, I describe in detail the development of cellular patterns in mouse and chick adrenals, in an attempt to discover the morphogenetic mechanisms that produce these patterns. Mouse adrenal gland tissues (chromaffin and cortical) are intermingled during embryonic life, but sort-out near the end of gestation into a central mass (medulla) of chromaffin tissue and a surrounding cortex. Once sorting out has occurred, the cells assemble into cortical zones and medullary cords. Chick adrenal gland tissues (chromaffin and cortical) are intermingled with each other during embryonic and post-hatching life. In mouse, the zona glomerulosa develops at day 1 and by day 4 both zona glomerulosa and fasciculata are obvious. By the end of the first week postnatal the cortex possesses three zones: zona glomerulosa, fasciculata and the developing X-zone. X-zone cells start to appear on the 4th day postnatal. The zona reticularis starts to develop while the X-zone is degenerating, about 32 days postnatal. An inner capsule is formed between the medulla and cortex of the male adrenal by 35 days postnatal (this process occurs later in females, during first pregnancy). Chromaffin cells start to be arranged in groups by 4 days postnatal and assume their final position in the centre of the gland (medulla) by 7 days postnatal. Different iation of chromaffin cells into A and NA cell types takes place in postnatal life. In chick, light and dark cortical cells are seen from 15 days of incubation up to and including 19 days. Zonation of cortical tissues is not seen. Differentiation of chromaffin cells into A and NA cell types takes place during post-hatching life. Sympathetic ganglion cells may contribute to the increased number of chromaffin cells by means of differentiation. At TEM level the cell surface of mouse adrenal tissues is smooth with little sign of elongated cellular processes, throughout the period when sorting out of the tissue types is occurring. Some elongated cells are seen during sorting out stages, but not later. The cell surfaces of chick adrenal cells were similar, but were not studied during stages when significant cell sorting was occurring. No obvious changes occur with respect to cell junctions (between like and unlike cells) in all stages studied in both mouse and chick adrenals. The distribution of fibronectin was analysed in embryonic mouse and chick by means of immunofluorescent labelling. Fibronectin was found in both mouse and chick embryonic adrenals at all stages studied, within the capsule, within blood vessels, around and between cortical cells, but only around groups of chromaffin cells, not within groups. There was no evidence for any quantitative variation in fibronectin that might have created an adhesive gradient to guide cell movement. An unexpected results of this work was the discovery of cell death in both cortical and chromaffin tissues in embryonic adrenals of mouse and chick. These findings have not been reported before. Morphometric analysis showed that mouse cortical tissue grows more rapidly than chromaffin during embryonic life and that mitosis is higher among corticals than chromaffins. It showed also that the medulla does not always form precisely in the centre of the gland. In a final discussion chapter, I consider the role of cell death in the embryonic adrenal, and suggest this may be to maintain a loose enough structure to allow active cell sorting. This chapter also discusses the possible mechanisms of cell sorting and concludes that the most likely process to be involved is differential adhesion. Suggestions are also made for further work on adrenal morphogenesis

A finite element method for fully nonlinear elliptic problems

We present a continuous finite element method for some examples of fully nonlinear elliptic equation. A key tool is the discretisation proposed in Lakkis & Pryer (2011, SISC) allowing us to work directly on the strong form of a linear PDE. An added benefit to making use of this discretisation method is that a recovered (finite element) Hessian is a biproduct of the solution process. We build on the linear basis and ultimately construct two different methodologies for the solution of second order fully nonlinear PDEs. Benchmark numerical results illustrate the convergence properties of the scheme for some test problems including the Monge-Amp\`ere equation and Pucci's equation.Comment: 22 pages, 31 figure

Analisis Kemampuan Ekonomi Rumah Tangga Petani Karet di Sumatera Selatan

Issue of this research is: (1) There is factors influence applied to forming of capital for rejuvenation of rubber plantation, (2) Does farmer have allocation ability of the earnings to forming of capital for rejuvenation of rubber plantation, (3) Does the residue of earnings that is not consumed (real saving) can be applied to forming of capital for rejuvenation of rubber plantation, (4) Is there is source of other business to add earnings of farmer to forming of capital for rejuvenation of rubber plantation. Analytical method used is regression and hypothesis test. The result of this research is: (1) Partially, household earning, residue of earnings that is not consumed (real saving), formal education of farmer, old worked as farmer, and rubber plantation wide variable have positive and significance effects to forming of capital for rejuvenation of rubber plantation, (2) Partially, household expenditure variable have negative and significance effects for forming of capital to forming of capital for rejuvenation of rubber plantation, and (3) Partially, sum of member of adult families and ownership status of rubber plantation variable have no significance effects to forming of capital for rejuvenation of rubber plantation

Metáfora, puesta en escena y público en Calderón

Alejandro Higashi revisa en su artículo los mecanismos desde los cuales un autor como Calderón conseguía escenificar una metáfora y propiciar una sugerente interpretación escénica del texto poético para alentar en el público la construcción del sentido y una comprensión coherente con el tejido histórico. Para lograrlo, Calderón aprovechaba las herramientas del lenguaje, de la representación y los recursos textuales y escénicos

Changes in Leaf and Shoot Water Statutes of Grapevines in Response to Contrasting Water Availability and Glycine Betaine Pulverization

Drought is one of the most widespread stress factors adversely affecting plant growth, crop yield and quality. In Subtropical region, on the face of global warming, temperature extremes aggravate the negative effects of drought. Increased resistance to stress has been achieved in several plants by exogenous application of various organic osmoprotectants. In this study, the role of glycine betaine (GB) as exogenous application, is aimed to investigate for increasing grapevine stress tolerance to drought. The grapevines of Alphonse Lavalléeʼ cultivar, grafted on the rootstock 41 B, were subjected to four different applications; (1) full irrigation (FI) as control (irrigation at field capacity level), (2) deficit irrigation (DI, 50% of FI), (3) DI plus 5000 ppm GB pulverization, and (4) DI plus 10000 ppm GB pulverization in a pot experiment under glasshouse condition. Leaf fresh weight of vines subjected to DI was 31.8% lower than those of FI vines. GB appeared to exert an influence on leaf water statute, slightly alleviating the leaf water loss resulting from water shortage. GB treatments, regardless of the concentration, slightly increased the fresh weight of the leaves (22.2% lower than FI). Investigations on leaf turgid weight and dry weight were also similar to those of fresh weight in that the highest and the lowest values were determined in FI and DI applications, respectively. Reduction in shoot water content in response to water deficit was closely related to the decrease in leaf water content