Making sense of immigration policy : Argentina, 1870-1930.

The aim of this paper is to disentangle the different forces shaping Argentine immigration policy from 1870 to 1930. Although immigration restrictions increased over time Argentina remained relatively open to mass migration until the 1930s in contrast with the United States. The quantitative evidence presented here suggests that there were economic reasons to restrict immigration prior to the 1930s, namely rising inequality and a declining demand for workers. Labour in Argentina would have been better off with a more restrictive immigration policy since 1900. However, labour interests could not be translated into Parliament in a direct way as in countries with a wide electoral franchise and high political participation like the United States. In Argentina a large share of workers did not have the right to vote simply because they were foreigners. Those negatively affected by massive immigration developed alternative actions: general strikes, labour unrest and violence. Political and social fear finally pushed those who had more to gain from an abundant supply of labour to introduce immigration restrictions.Immigration policy; Argentina; Political economy; International migration;

GMM estimation of a production function with panel data : an application to Spanish manufacturing firms

In this paper we consider the estimation of a Cobb-Douglas production function using a panel dataset of Spanish manufacturing firms. As it is stressed in the econometric literature, the use of standard GMM first differences estimators to eliminate the unobserved firm-specific effects may yield imprecise estimates, particularly in the case of the estimation of the production function. The reason is that the high persistence of output and inputs involved in the estimation of production functions make that their lagged levels to be weak instruments for the first differences of these series. The extended GMM estimator proposed by Arellano and Bover (1995) considers further orthogonality conditions based on lagged differences as instruments for the equation in levels. This approach has been applied to the estimation of technological parameters by Blundell and Bond (1999). Our estimation results, based on this approach, confirm the better performance of the extended GMM estimator compared to the standard first-differenced GMM estimato

Regional wage convergence in Spain : 1850-1930

Real wages PPP adjusted are used to analyse labour market integration in Spain. In contrast to earlier research analysing migration and nominal wages rates, our research seems to indicate that a well-integrated labour market had emerged in Spain by 1914 and substantial wage convergence happened from 1850 to 1914 with low rates of interna l migration. The shock of World War I and the subsequent globalisation backlash appear to disrupt this integrated market provoking a spectacular increase in wage differentials across regions and provinces. However, real wage convergence across Spanish provinces resumed powerfully over 1920s, this time accompanied by high internal migrations

Financial forecasts of SMEs in IPOs: fact or fiction?

Este artículo valora el proceso de previsión financiera de las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYME) en sus salidas a bolsa. Específicamente, se analiza la calidad de las previsiones de beneficios realizadas y se exploran los factores que determinan la precisión de tales previsiones. Este estudio considera todas las empresas que han salido a cotizar al Mercado Alternativo Bursátil español (MAB). Los resultados muestran que los directivos de las empresas del MAB han sido mayoritariamente optimistas y altamente imprecisos en la estimación de los beneficios futuros.This article assesses the financial forecasts of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their process of initial public offering (IPO). In particular, the quality of earnings forecasts is analysed and the determinants of accuracy of earning forecasts are explored. To this end, the empirical study considers all the companies listed on the Spanish Alternative Stock Market (MAB). The results show that managers of newly listed Spanish SMEs have mostly been optimistic and highly inaccurate when estimating their future earnings

Regional wage convergence in Spain : 1850-1930.

Real wages PPP adjusted are used to analyse labour market integration in Spain. In contrast to earlier research analysing migration and nominal wages rates, our research seems to indicate that a well-integrated labour market had emerged in Spain by 1914 and substantial wage convergence happened from 1850 to 1914 with low rates of interna l migration. The shock of World War I and the subsequent globalisation backlash appear to disrupt this integrated market provoking a spectacular increase in wage differentials across regions and provinces. However, real wage convergence across Spanish provinces resumed powerfully over 1920s, this time accompanied by high internal migrations.

Regional wage convergence in Spain : 1850-1930.

This paper presents a new regional database on real wages for Spain from 1850 to 1930. This evidence is used to analyze the evolution of wages across regions and occupations. Sub stantial wage convergence occurred from 1850 to 1914, despite low rates of internal migration. World War I and the subsequent globalization backlash were associated with a spectacular in crease in wage differentials. However, real wage convergence across Spanish provinces re sumed during the 1920s, this time accompanied by high rates of internal migrationWage convergence; Labor markets; Migration; Growth regressions;

The balanced scorecard of public investment in sport: proposal for change

Introduction – 1. Management tools for evaluating public initiatives – 2. Performance indicators for investment in sport – 3. Proposed indicators for public investment in sport – Conclusion – References

GMM ESTIMATION OF A PRODUCTION FUNCTION WITH PANEL DATA: AN APPLICATION TO SPANISH MANUFACTURING FIRMS

In this paper we consider the estimation of a Cobb-Douglas production function using a panel dataset of Spanish manufacturing firms. As it is stressed in the econometric literature, the use of standard GMM first differences estimators to eliminate the unobserved firm-specific effects may yield imprecise estimates, particularly in the case of the estimation of the production function. The reason is that the high persistence of output and inputs involved in the estimation of production functions make that their lagged levels to be weak instruments for the first differences of these series. The extended GMM estimator proposed by Arellano and Bover (1995) considers further orthogonality conditions based on lagged differences as instruments for the equation in levels. This approach has been applied to the estimation of technological parameters by Blundell and Bond (1999). Our estimation results, based on this approach, confirm the better performance of the extended GMM estimator compared to the standard first-differenced GMM estimator

ChPT parameters from tau-decay data

Using the updated ALEPH V-A spectral function from tau decays, we determine the lowest spectral moments of the left-right correlator and extract dynamical information on order parameters of the QCD chiral symmetry breaking. Uncertainties associated with violations of quark-hadron duality are estimated from the data, imposing all known short-distance constraints on a resonance-based parametrization. Employing proper pinched weight functions, we obtain an accurate determination of the effective chiral couplings L10 and C87 and the dimension-six and -eight contributions in the Operator Product Expansion.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, QCD2015 Montpellie