Do Quasi-Hyperbolic Preferences Explain Academic Procrastination? An Empirical Evaluation

Traditional neoclassical thought fails to explain questions such as problems of self-control. Behavioural economics have explained these matters on the basis of the intertemporal preferences of individuals and, specifically, the so-called (β, δ) model which emphasises present bias. This opens the way to the analysis of new situations in which people can adopt incorrect indecisions that make it necessary for the government to intervene. The literature which has developed the (β, δ) model and its implications has generated a categorisation of people that is widely used but which lacks a systematic empirical evaluation. It is important to value the need for this public action. In this article, we develop a method which makes it possible to verify the main implications that this model has to explain the procrastination of university students. Using an experimental time discount task with real monetary incentives, we estimate the students’ β and δ parameters and we analyse their correlation with their answers to a series of questions concerning how they plan to study for an exam. The results are ambiguous given that they back some of the model’s conclusions but reject others, including a number of the most basic ones, such as the relation between present biases and some of the categories of people, these being essential to predict their behaviour

Prácticas y Racionalidad Productiva. Estrategias de los Mazahuas de Ixtlahuaca

El presente artículo intenta hacer una aproximación a la evolución, características y dinámica de la vida económica de los mazahuas de Ixtlahuaca. A partir de los resultados obtenidos en campo, se tratará de determinar pautas sobre el comportamiento y prácticas campesinas que definen una relativa homogeneidad en las formas tradicionales de producción; pero que también señalan una gran variedad de comportamientos en sus estrategias ante estímulos internos y externos, así como las diferencias en los niveles de bienestar

Concepto y Dinámica Tradicional del Desarrollo en las Comunidades Mazahuas

The aim of this ar ti cle is to rec og nize and iden tify the cri te ria and judg ments of ap - praisal in the ru ral in dig e nous peo ple re lated with their com pre hen sion about de vel op ment. It is dis cerned about the per cep tion and expectatives of the Mazahuas in Ixtlahuaca re lated with its enviroment, com mu nity, ex ter nal fac tors and to its con di tion. Through tinterviews, the in - for mants re veal and ex hibit their com pre hen sion and the mean ing of change since their cul - tural spaces and iden tity

Reseña de "Nueva gerencia pública. Un análisis comparativo de la administración estatal en México" de José Martínez Vilchis

El servicio público, como actividad profesional de ejercicio de atribuciones, en los marcos de la institucionalidad gubernamental, adquiere particular importancia en tanto que de sus acciones, competencia y efectividad depende la capacidad del Estado para resolver y responder a las demandas ciudadanas en los ámbitos político, económico y social, así como se instituye en la garantía de gobernabilidad, estabilidad social y desarrollo