Fuzzy Control of Chaos

We introduce the idea of the fuzzy control of chaos: we show how fuzzy logic can be applied to the control of chaos, and provide an example of fuzzy control used to control chaos in Chua's circuit

Higher wages, lower pay : public vs. private sector compensation in Peru

Do public sector employees earn less than their counterparts in the private sector? This paper addresses this question in the case of Peru, a country where civil service reform is being debated yet the only available empirical studies on wage differentials date back to the late 1980s. Using data from the 2009 national household survey, the authors perform a multiple step analysis. First, they estimate a single equation with a public sector dummy, which is found to be statistically significant and positive when only monetary wages are taken into account. However, when in-kind payments and bonuses are included to measure compensation, the analysis finds a private sector premium. Second, they estimate for public and formal private employees two distinct wage functions, including the inverse Mills ratio. This takes into account the selection bias resulting from workers self-selecting into the public or private sector. Third, these results are used to decompose wage differentials using the standard Oaxaca-Blinder approach. The results show that the compensation differentials are not significant except for the sub-sample of employees that achieved a postgraduate degree.Labor Markets,Public Sector Economics,Inequality,Public Sector Management and Reform,Education and Digital Divide

Unexpected lessons from Spain’s economic rise

Much of the debate about the Spanish economy in recent decades has focused on problems such as persistent unemployment. Drawing on a new book, Oscar Calvo-Gonzalez argues that setting these failures to one side and taking a fresh look at the country’s economic successes can provide some surprising insights

The political economy of conditional foreign aid to Spain, 1950-1963: relief of input bottlenecks, economic policy change and political credibility

This thesis advances our understanding of the effects of foreign aid programmes in the Spanish economy during the 1950s. It does so by concentrating on three aspects. First, it considers the contribution to economic growth of aid-financed goods by relieving input bottlenecks. Results from an input-output analysis downplay the alleged importance of aid in increasing Spanish output by providing raw materials and other inputs. Second, it discusses the extent to which foreign donors influenced Spanish economic policy-making. Based on original archival sources from both recipient and donors, it is argued here that the United States was particularly ineffective at imposing its economic policy agenda. Surprisingly, the best way to increase the likelihood of the adoption of economic policy reform was not to exercise outright leverage but to provide further unconditional aid disbursements. The analysis of the involvement of the International Monetary Fund and Organisation for European Economic Co-operation to underwrite the 1959 Spanish Stabilisation Plan suggests that the multilateral organisations were acutely aware of the overriding importance of a true commitment to the reforms by the local policy-makers. Rather than relying on formal conditionality, they ascertained such commitment by monitoring the internal support for the reform programme whilst carefully avoiding any instance that may jeopardise the cohesion of the domestic pro-reform coalition. Third, the dissertation motivates a 'credibility hypothesis' under which the American aid-for-bases programme improved the political credibility of the regime and with it private businesses' expectations. A range of both qualitative and quantitative evidence, of which the use of financial market data is paramount, supports the hypothesis. This result contributes to solving the puzzle of Spanish economic history during a period that sees the resumption of economic growth after a stagnant first decade under Franco's rule despite very limited policy change

Financial dollarization: the role of banks and interest rates

This paper develops a model to explain the determinants of financial dollarization. Expanding on the existing literature, our framework allows interest rate differentials to play a role in explaining financial dollarization. It also accounts for the increasing presence of foreign banks in the local financial sector. Using a newly compiled data set on transition economies we find that increasing access to foreign funds leads to higher credit dollarization, while it decreases deposit dollarization. Interest rate differentials matter for the dollarization of both loans and deposits. Overall, the empirical results lend support to the predictions of our theoretical model. JEL Classification:Financial Dollarization, Foreign Banks, Interest Rate Differentials, Transition Economies

RPAS's utilization for obtaining of geographical information for the generation of detailed studies of management of the municipal risk

La utilización de los RPAS en operaciones civiles cada vez son más comunes, de esta forma se plantea la utilización de estas herramientas para la captura de información que permita generar los insumos necesarios para la interpretación y análisis de la información generada por estas tecnologías para dar cumplimiento a los requerimientos legales y técnicos necesarios para realizar los planes detallados de gestión del riesgo municipal y los respectivos diseños para sus obras de mitigación según las medidas planteadas. Se proponen dos áreas pilotos para el análisis de los riesgos por inundación y movimientos en masa para realizar los modelos y análisis con los RPAS.The use of RPAS in civil operations is becoming more common, in this way it is proposed the use of these tools to capture information that allows generating the necessary inputs for the interpretation and analysis of the information generated by these technologies to comply To the legal and technical requirements necessary to carry out the detailed municipal risk management plans and the respective designs for their mitigation works according to the measures proposed. Two pilot areas are proposed for the analysis of flood risks and mass movements to perform the models and analysis with the RPA

Identify and mitigation of negative impacts of projects using heat maps and probability default

La preocupación actual de la sociedad debe ir encaminada a diseñar proyectos que sean social, económica y financieramente eficientes y equitativos, con el objetivo de identificar, reducir y mitigar en lo posible las externalidades o impactos negativos en la sociedad; en este articulo, se propone como definir y elegir una metodología acertada y acorde a las necesidades y alcance de cada proyecto, con el fin de poder hacer una evaluación completa, adicional, se aplicará el concepto de mapas de calor y se utilizará la teoría del cálculo de la probabilidad de default (PD) para obtener la probabilidad de ocurrencia de los impactos.The current concern of society must be pointed to design projects that are socially, economically and financially efficient and fair, this in order to identify, reduce, and mitigate as much as possible the externalities or negative impacts on society. This article specifies how to choose and define a methodology that fits with the needs and the scope of each project, this allows the team to have a full assessment prior to the implementation phase; in addition it should be applied the concepts of heat map and the Default theory of probability calculation (DC), to obtain the probability of the impacts occurrences's after the project is delivered

The EU budget – how much scope for institutional reform?

This paper reviews current discussions on reforming the European Union (EU) budgetary procedure and assesses the main reform proposals that have been suggested thus far. It argues that prospects for reforms are presently hampered by the complex interplay between supranational and intergovernmental decision modes and the requirement of any budgetary procedure to strike a balance between efficiency and legitimacy. The paper reviews the main criticisms of the present budgetary procedure and the related reform proposals, which are assessed on the basis of relevant theoretical literature as well as brief comparisons with the federal budget of the United States. The paper argues that the current EU budgetary procedure matches by-and-large the current equilibrium between all actors involved, given the present state of political integration in the EU. Significant modifications to the budgetary procedure would depart from that equilibrium.European Union, EU budget, budget process

The EU budget – how much scope for institutional reform?

This paper reviews current discussions on reforming the European Union (EU) budgetary procedure and assesses the main reform proposals that have been suggested thus far. It argues that prospects for reforms are presently hampered by the complex interplay between supranational and intergovernmental decision modes and the requirement of any budgetary procedure to strike a balance between efficiency and legitimacy. The paper reviews the main criticisms of the present budgetary procedure and the related reform proposals, which are assessed on the basis of relevant theoretical literature as well as brief comparisons with the federal budget of the United States. The paper argues that the current EU budgetary procedure maximises efficiency and legitimacy, given the present state of political integration in the EU. Significant modifications to the budgetary procedure would depart from that equilibrium.