Las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y Uruguay en el largo plazo

During 2004 and 2005, the United States became the main importer of Uruguayan goods, which was unusual when compared to the recent past. This gave raise to a public debate about the future of commercial (and non-commercial) relationships with this important trade partner. The aim of this paper is to analyze the path of the commercial relationship between Uruguay and the United States during 1930-2005 in order to identify historical episodes when it acquired more significance. The evidence reported four main episodes in which both countries became closer during the period. Each one was featured by a particular institutional arrangement, based on the interaction of both strategic interests of the United States and the internal circumstances prevailing in Uruguay.trade, United States of America, Uruguay, institutional arrangements

Democracy and primary education spending in Spain, 1902-22

By the turn of the 20th century, nation-building reformers in Spain tried to stimulate schooling expansion to improve (or at least dignify) Spain’s position in the international arena. However, in this paper we find that democratic imperfections help explaining the modest spread of primary schooling after the 1902 reforms. Regression results show that the lack of effective electoral competition and political patronage lowered public primary education spending across Spanish provinces in 1902-22. Voter turnout had a positive impact but it was not big enough to compensate for this negative effect

Las necesidades financieras del sector público : Uruguay 1935-1953

This document describes the evolution of the public debt services, their incidence on the Central Government expenditure and their links to the budgetary imbalances in Uruguay, between 1935 and 1959. The extent up to which the public indebtedness has questioned the fiscal sustainability along the period is also explored.public debt services, fiscal sustainability

Total and social public expenditure: the Uruguayan case in the 20th century

This article discusses the evolution of the total and social public expenditure in Uruguay during the 20th century. It analyzes the growth path of the social public expenditure and the extent up to which it could be preserved from the cyclical economic downturns and the fiscal constraints of the Public Sector. The paper finds a low long-run elasticity of public spending to GDP – leading to a slow growth of social public expenditure and a remarkable procyclical pattern of total and social public expenditure. It also shows that social spending, especially education expenditure, has often been used as an instrument to curb budget deficits. No distinctive «fiscal regimes» for the period could be identified.Este trabajo describe la evolución del gasto público total y social de Uruguay en el siglo XX. Indaga sobre el ritmo en que el Estado destinó recursos al incremento del gasto social y sobre la medida en que logró preservarlo frente a las fluctuaciones cíclicas de la economía y los problemas de financiación del Sector Público. Los resultados muestran que la elasticidad del gasto público respecto al producto fue especialmente baja en Uruguay, lo que redujo la expansión del gasto social y que el perfil procíclico del gasto total y social se acentuó en el período. También se muestra que el gasto social, en particular la partida destinada a educación, con frecuencia se utilizó como instrumento de ajuste fiscal. No lograron identificarse comportamientos asociados a diferentes «regímenes fiscales» durante el período

¿El costo de la apertura comercial? Gasto público social para países de América Latina, en perspectiva comparada (1950-2008)

Las decisiones sobre los recursos fiscales que asignan los gobiernos a las áreas de educación y salud y seguridad social tienen una importancia clave en materia de crecimiento económico y bienestar y varían en el tiempo y entre países en respuesta a diversos shocks e influencias. Una amplia literatura ha discutido la incidencia específica de la apertura comercial en estas decisiones. La exposición al comercio internacional constituye una variable de contexto relevante para los países de América Latina, debido a que su rol ha sido central en el tránsito entre diferentes estrategias de crecimiento y desarrollo económico desde mediados del siglo XX. En este trabajo se analiza el efecto directo de esta variable en la asignación de recursos públicos al área social y cómo ha operado indirectamente afectando las restricciones fiscales de los gobiernos y el poder de negociación de la fuerza de trabajo. El análisis se realiza para 31 países de ingreso alto y medio alto entre 1950 y 2008, en base a modelos estáticos para datos de panel y hace foco en la experiencia de países de América Latina en comparación con otras regiones. Se encuentra que la apertura comercial ha jugado un rol negativo en la inversión social en países de la región en el largo plazo; ha contribuido a incrementar la vulnerabilidad del gasto social frente a otras variables fiscales y ha menguado la ya limitada incidencia de la fuerza de trabajo en las decisiones sobre este gasto. Las conclusiones del estudio llaman la atención sobre las continuidades encontradas en la gestión fiscal y en la prioridad del gasto social en distintas etapas de la historia económica de América Latin

Electoral politics and the diffusion of primary sch ooling : evidence from Uruguay, 1914-1954

Based on the compilation of Uruguayan department-level data, this paper argues that the extent of fiscal commitment to primary education during the first half of the 20th century can be explained by the interests of tactically motivated politicians. The empirical test relies on panel data fixed effects models covering 18 Uruguayan departments over 40 years. The main findings reveal that political motivations have had a significant role in schooling provision across the territory. Throughout the period, the incumbent government seems to have used the resource allocation in primary education both to reward its core supporters and to persuade political opponent

Higher education and economic development : can public funding restrain the returns from tertiary education?

This paper examines whether the contribution of tertiary education toeconomic growth and income per capita depends on the structure of publiceducation budgets. The analysis resorts to a panel of 41 countries over theperiod 1970-2010. The empirical approach is based on system GMMregressions and Hierarchical Linear Models, which allow dealing withendogeneity concerns and parameter heterogeneity. The estimates show thatbudget imbalances against basic schooling seem to undermine theachievement of productivity gains from higher education

Testing regional intergovernmental transfers asymmetries in Uruguay

In this paper we seek to complement the scarce empirical evidence for middle-income countries about the effects of unconditional central government transfers on subnational fiscal behaviour. To this end, we have used an unbalanced panel of 18 Uruguayan regional governments from 1991 to 2016. Our database includes data from the regional budget and other sources of information, which allows us to investigate the role of political economy factors. The application of panel data techniques with the use of instrumental variables highlights the presence of a sizeable flypaper effect and a significant role of variables related with the political economy design of sub-national finances

Testing regional intergovernmental transfers asymmetries in Uruguay

In this paper we seek to complement the scarce empirical evidence for middle-income countries about the effects of unconditional central government transfers on subnational fiscal behaviour. To this end, we have used an unbalanced panel of 18 Uruguayan regional governments from 1991 to 2016. Our database includes data from the regional budget and other sources of information, which allows us to investigate the role of political economy factors. The application of panel data techniques with the use of instrumental variables highlights the presence of a sizeable flypaper effect and a significant role of variables related with the political economy design of sub-national finances

The Killing vectors and symmetry in RR-spacetime

In this paper, the Killing vector will be constructed for the $R$-spacetime metric. The symmetry transformations corresponding to this vectors are obtained explicitly. Their coincidence with the transformations of the Poincar\'e group in a small neighborhood of the world point is shown.Comment: Latex, 13 page