Essays in Behavioral Public Economics

This dissertation uses detailed micro data to shed light on issues affecting decision making in the administration of public resources. By helping to understand these dynamics, it informs the design of more effective policies, which ultimately translates into an increase in social welfare. In particular, it studies the role of cognitive limitations and social dynamics on the collection and use of public resources. The analysis of this question is carried out in three separate chapters, using administrative data at the sub-national level in a variety of settings. The first chapter analyzes the presence of interactions between economic agents on the expenditure side of public finances. Specially, it studies the presence of fiscal interactions on the expenditure decisions of local governments in Colombia. The next two chapters focus on the revenue side of public finances, and analyze the role of social norms and cognitive limitations on individual compliance in two different settings. The second chapter studies the role of intergenerational transmission of social norms on property tax compliance in Argentina. Finally, the third chapter investigates the effect of salience and information simplification on timely compliance for the payment of speeding tickets in the Czech Republic

Prospective Scenarios on Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions in the EU Iron & Steel Industry

This document analyzes on the basis of a detailed bottom-up model the role of technology and its diffusion on energy consumption and CO2 emissions at plant level in the EU-27 Iron & Steel industry. Main current processes of all plants and the cost-effectiveness of their retrofit with Best Available Technologies and Innovative Technologies is analyzed up to 2030. The baseline scenario considers the demand for steel and prices of fuels and resources evolve according to the projection of Primes. Two alternative scenarios vary linearly several times by 2030 some of the main drives of technology change, such us the cost of CO2 allowances, fuels and price of the resources. The reduction ranges for the specific CO2 emissions varies between 14% and 21%. The range for the variation in specific energy consumption goes from 7 to 11%. The higher values rely on the successful market roll-out by 2020 of some key innovative technologies, underlining the importance of the successful conclusion of the research ongoing in those technologies. In the recycling route the results indicate potential improvements between 2010 and 2030 in the specific energy consumption and specific CO2 emissions of about 6% and 11%, respectively.JRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio

Optimal versus realized policy rules in a regime-switching framework

In this paper we compare a deterministic model and a Markov switching model to analyze the behavior of the US economy and the Federal Reserve. We examine both optimal and empirical monetary policies for the US Federal Reserve between 1960 and 2008. We compare the optimal monetary policy to the actual interest rates and to the empirical reaction function. We also evaluate the sensitivity of the results to the preferences assigned to each objective. We find that there is no unique optimal solution that fits the Federal Reserve behavior over the entire period. The best fit to the actual interest rates is obtained by an optimal policy with preference switches following the rule: a high-volatility regime coincides with a priority on inflation alone while in a low-volatility regime there is equal policy priority on output stabilization and inflation.

An analysis for new institutionality in science, technology and innovation in Colombia using a structural vector autoregression model

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to analyze the strengths and the institutionality of the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MSTI) in increasing investments in research and development as well as promoting the generation of knowledge. Design/Methodology/Approach: We use structural vector autoregression (SVAR) and structural vector error correction (SVEC) to examine the effects of institutionality in science, technology and innovation in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MSTI) using three variables (i.e., investments in activities of science, technology and innovation (STIA), investments in research and development (R&D) and independence index). Findings: The results indicate that increasing the independence and transparency of the MSTI leads to higher investments in STIA and R&D over time. SVAR and SVEC models were used to assess the robustness and reliability of the results. Practical Implications: The results are important for assessing the effective governance and functionality of the new MSTI and its mission to adopt new policies and instruments that may strengthen science, technology and innovation in Colombia as the country migrates to a knowledge-based society. Originality/Value: In this context, Colombia opted to implement this model; using law 1951 of 2019, the country created this ministry. It is important to analyse the implications and key elements that allow the ministry to operate and achieve better investments to promote research, innovation, and the application of new technologies.peer-reviewe

Fast Synthetic Dataset for Kitchen Object Segmentation in Deep Learning

Object recognition has been widely investigated in computer vision for many years. Currently, this process is carried out through neural networks, but there are very few public datasets available with mask and class labels of the objects for the training process in usual applications. In this paper, we address the problem of fast generation of synthetic datasets to train neural models because creating a handcraft labeled dataset with object segmentation is a very tedious and time-consuming task. We propose an efficient method to generate a synthetic labeled dataset that adequately combines background images with foreground segmented objects. The synthetic images can be created automatically with random positioning of the objects or, alternatively, the method can produce realistic images by keeping the realism in the scales and positions of the objects. Then, we employ Mask-RCNN deep learning model, to detect and segment classes of kitchen objects using images. In the experimental evaluation, we study both synthetic datasets, automatic or realistic, and we compare the results. We analyze the performance with the most widely used indexes and check that the realistic synthetic dataset, quickly created through our method, can provide competitive results and accurately classify the different objects

Best available technologies for the heat and cooling market in the European Union

Every year, over 40% of the total energy consumed in Europe is used for the generation of heat for either domestic or industrial purposes whereas the cooling demand is growing exponentially. The importance of the heat and cooling sector is underlined in the EU energy policy initiatives. This emphasize the role of technologies based on renewable energy sources combined with high-efficiency energy technologies, to meet the heat and cooling demand in Europe more sustainably in the future. In this context, the JRC led study, which was undertaken with two partners , to identify the current best available technologies (BATs) which can contribute to improve the energy efficiency and reduce the CO2 emission in the heat and cooling market in the EU.JRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio

On the Monotonicity of Process Number

International audienceGraph searching games involve a team of searchers that aims at capturing a fugitive in a graph. These games have been widely studied for their relationships with the tree-and the path-decomposition of graphs. In order to define de-compositions for directed graphs, similar games have been proposed in directed graphs. In this paper, we consider a game that has been defined and studied in the context of routing reconfiguration problems in WDM networks. Namely, in the processing game, the fugitive is invisible, arbitrarily fast, it moves in the opposite direction of the arcs of a digraph, but only as long as it can access to a strongly connected component free of searchers. We prove that the processing game is monotone which leads to its equivalence with a new digraph decomposition

Optimal versus realized policy rules in a regime-switching framework

In this paper we compare a deterministic model and a Markov switching model to analyze the behavior of the US economy and the Federal Reserve. We examine both optimal and empirical monetary policies for the US Federal Reserve between 1960 and 2008. We compare the optimal monetary policy to the actual interest rates and to the empirical reaction function. We also evaluate the sensitivity of the results to the preferences assigned to each objective. We find that there is no unique optimal solution that fits the Federal Reserve behavior over the entire period. The best fit to the actual interest rates is obtained by an optimal policy with preference switches following the rule: a high-volatility regime coincides with a priority on inflation alone while in a low-volatility regime there is equal policy priority on output stabilization and inflation

Urban Greening, readdressing a mechanism for sustainable cities, Rotterdam and Torino

La tesis aborda críticamente el “Urban Greening”, un fenómeno que transformó las áreas urbanas contemporáneas en el paisaje postindustrial. Después de una profunda exploración de la literatura y el trabajo de campo, esta investigación define tal tema como “un mecanismo acumulativo de traducción de la percepción y relación entre la sociedad y la naturaleza urbana”. Al investigar los mecanismos de verde urbano en los casos de Rotterdam y Turín, el trabajo propone un experimento de diseño para desafiar las formas actuales de producción de cuerpos verdes, fomentando nuevas relaciones en la esfera urbana. La primera parte de la tesis define el verde urbano a través de la literatura, definiciones y categorizaciones contemporáneas. Procurando una redefinición del concepto mediante la deconstrucción en sus principales componentes; sociedad, naturaleza, tiempo e interacciones. La investigación avanza directamente hacia una mejor comprensión de lo que pueden significar el verde urbano y la naturaleza, confrontando las ideas de algunos autores importantes, como Matthew Gandy, Phillippe Descola y Lucilla Barchetta, entre otros. La exploración entiende la relevancia de la “Urban Greening” como un término que ha cobrado impulso en las últimas décadas, con el declive del paisaje postindustrial y los crecientes procesos de degradación de las ciudades. Sin embargo, el enfoque general desea ir más allá de las nociones contemporáneas del verde urbano, como una de las promesas de la llamada “ciudad sostenible”, y explorar las construcciones y narrativas que han constituido su significado a lo largo del tiempo. La segunda parte de la investigación toma como estudio de caso dos ciudades contemporáneas: Rotterdam y Turín. Analizando su historia desde el término de “Urban Greening” y expansión urbana, para luego echar un vistazo al panorama actual en términos de administración, gobernanza y políticas en torno a las infraestructuras verdes. Además, confrontar esta agenda ecologista con los proyectos que marcarán el futuro de Rotterdam y Turín, evaluando su alcance, coherencia e implementación en términos de ciudad sostenible. Como resultado de la exploración de los estudios de caso, la tesis extrae una serie de consideraciones que sugieren nuevos tipos de relaciones en torno al reverdecimiento urbano. La última parte del estudio desea desafiar las formas actuales de reverdecimiento urbano, experimentando con una forma de planificación que se aleja de la objetivación de los elementos verdes y, con suerte, intenta integrar la espontaneidad en las relaciones urbanas.The thesis critically deals with Urban Greening, a phenomenon that transformed contemporary urban areas in the post-industrial landscape. After a deep exploration of literature and field fieldwork, this research defines such an issue as “an accumulative mechanism of translation of the perception and relationship between society and urban nature”. By inquiring greening mechanisms in the cases of Rotterdam and Torino, the work proposes a design experiment to challenge the current ways of production of green bodies, by fostering new relationships in the urban sphere. The first part of the thesis defines urban greening through literature, contemporary definitions, and categorizations. Aiming for a redefinition of the concept by means of the deconstruction into its main components; society, nature, time, and interactions. The research directly moves towards a better understanding of what greening and nature can mean, by confronting the ideas of some significant authors, such as Matthew Gandy, Phillippe Descola, and Lucilla Barchetta, among others. The exploration understands the relevance of greening as a term that has gained momentum in the past few decades, with the decline of the post-industrial landscape and the increasing degradation processes of the Anthropocene. However, the general approach, wishes to go beyond the contemporary notions of greening, as one of the promises of the so-called “sustainable city”, and explore the constructions and narratives that have constituted its meaning throughout time. The second part of the inquiry takes two contemporary cities as case studies: Rotterdam and Torino. By analyzing their greening history and urban expansion, to later take a look at the modern-day panorama in terms of administration, governance, and policies around green infrastructures. Moreover, confronting this greening agenda with the projects that will shape the future of Rotterdam and Torino, assessing their reach, coherence, and implementation in terms of the sustainable city. As a result of the case studies exploration, the thesis draws a series of considerations that suggest new types of relationships around urban greening. The last part of the study wishes to challenge current ways of urban greening, by experimenting with a form of planning that drifts apart from the objectification of green elements and hopefully tries to integrate spontaneity in urban relationships.Arquitecto (a)Pregrad