Convergence of Minima of Integral Functionals, with Applications to Optimal Control and Stochastic Optimization

Epi-convergence of integral functionals is derived under new conditions that can be used in the infinite dimensional case. Applications include: the convergence of the solutions of approximating optimal control problems and of stochastic optimization problems

How sensitive is regional poverty measurement in Latin America to the value of the poverty line?

This paper contributes to the methodological literature on the estimation of international poverty lines for Latin America based on the official poverty lines chosen by the Latin American governments and commonly used in the public debate. The paper exploits a comprehensive data set of 86 up-to-date official extreme and total urban poverty lines across 18 countries in Latin America, as well as the recently updated values of the national purchasing power parity conversion factors from the 2011 International Comparison Program, and a set of harmonized household surveys. By using 3 and 6 US dollars per person a day at 2011 PPP as the extreme and total poverty lines for Latin America, this paper illustrates the sensitiveness of poverty rates to changes of the values of the poverty lines as a result of the recent update of the PPP values, the period of reference, and the relative cost of living across the countries in the region. The poverty lines with the 2011 PPP values lead to an increase in total poverty rates in Latin America when compared to the 2005 PPP values, while they leave the extreme poverty rate unaffected. In general, country-specific poverty rankings remain fairly stable to the values of the poverty lines selected.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

How sensitive is regional poverty measurement in Latin America to the value of the poverty line?

This paper contributes to the methodological literature on the estimation of international poverty lines for Latin America based on the official poverty lines chosen by the Latin American governments and commonly used in the public debate. The paper exploits a comprehensive data set of 86 up-to-date official extreme and total urban poverty lines across 18 countries in Latin America, as well as the recently updated values of the national purchasing power parity conversion factors from the 2011 International Comparison Program, and a set of harmonized household surveys. By using 3 and 6 US dollars per person a day at 2011 PPP as the extreme and total poverty lines for Latin America, this paper illustrates the sensitiveness of poverty rates to changes of the values of the poverty lines as a result of the recent update of the PPP values, the period of reference, and the relative cost of living across the countries in the region. The poverty lines with the 2011 PPP values lead to an increase in total poverty rates in Latin America when compared to the 2005 PPP values, while they leave the extreme poverty rate unaffected. In general, country-specific poverty rankings remain fairly stable to the values of the poverty lines selected.Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS

Grandi e piccole imprese nel Centro-Nord e nel Mezzogiorno: un modello empirico dell’impatto occupazionale nel lungo periodo

Questo lavoro presenta una verifica dell'ipotesi formulata in Florio (1991, 1996) secondo cui le relazioni fra grandi e piccole imprese sono la risultante di due forze opposte. Da un lato le grandi imprese possono agire come propulsori di sviluppo locale secondo modelli di propagazione ben studiati dal punto di vista teorico ed empirico. D'altro canto le stesse grandi imprese, soprattutto in settori e contesti ambientali deboli, possono avere effetti di spiazzamento dell'offerta locale in particolare attraverso il reclutamento come dipendenti di potenziali piccoli imprenditori. Quale delle due forze prevalga non pu\uf2 essere detto in generale, ma va esaminato in diversi periodi, settori, contesti regionali. Il tema ha particolare rilevanza nel caso italiano sotto il profilo delle politiche pubbliche, in particolare del ruolo che le politiche di sviluppo regionale e per l'occupazione dovrebbero assegnare alle grandi imprese, anche in considerazione dei processi di ristrutturazione che le coinvolgono (Giunta, 1997). Fra queste politiche in Italia, ad esempio, vi sono i contratti di programma con i quali lo Stato sussidia grandi progetti industriali in aree depresse (Florio, Giunta, 1998). Il presente testo non intende rispondere in modo definitivo alla questione proposta, ma suggerisce una metodologia che potr\ue0 essere ulteriormente sviluppata. Per lo svolgimento dell'analisi \ue8 stata costruita una base-dati che comprende dati censuari e dati Inps a base provinciale. In particolare i dati dei censimenti sono stati raccolti dal 1951 al 1991, con una copertura quindi pari a mezzo secolo di storia economica nazionale, aggiornando e migliorando un analogo esercizio presentato in Florio (1991). Il lavoro \ue8 strutturato come segue: a) una prima sezione presenta alcune considerazioni suggerite dall'esame dei dati; b) la seconda sezione presenta un modello empirico; c) nella terza sezione sono esposti i risultati. In appendice, sono riportati per esteso i dati provinciali utilizzati. Gli autori saranno lieti di fornire tale base-dati su dischetto ad altri ricercatori che desiderino verificare o estendere l'analisi

Every animal matters! Evaluating the selectivity of a Mediterranean bottom trawl fishery from a species community perspective

Bottom trawl fisheries often catch several species simultaneously. However, most studies addressing the catch performance and selectivity of a specific trawl focus on a few commercially important or most vulnerable species requiring management measures. By contrast, the present study considers the multispecies nature of Mediterranean bottom trawl fisheries through a holistic approach that accounts for the full species community in the catches. Specifically, we evaluated and compared the catch performance of the two codends allowed for this fishery, made of 40 mm square (SM40) and 50 mm diamond (DM50) meshes. Results showed that 50 and 80% of the catch in weight and count numbers, respectively, consisted of species without commercial value, demonstrating that large proportions of the catch are not considered when using the existing approach to evaluate the ecological impact of the fishing activity. Significant differences in catch profiles between the two codends were observed, especially for two commercial flatfish species, Arnoglossus laterna and Citharus linguatula, with larger contributions in the SM40. Further, the SM40 codend had a significantly higher retention, compared to DM50 codend, for specific sizes of Merluccius merluccius and Mullus barbatus. The outcomes of the study can be useful for the Mediterranean bottom trawl fisheries management