Latin America's Intraregional Trade: Evolution and Future Prospects

This paper analyzes in detail the evolution of Latin America's international trade patterns, focusing on intraregional trade and on the formal attempts made to create free trade zones or custom unions. In particular, we assess the role of intraregional trade in the structural adjustment required by the Latin American debt crisis. The data analyzed show that the success of the commercial integration process has been quite limited. They also show that there has been no significant change in the DECO countries' share in Latin American imports or in the volume of intraregional trade flows since the early 1970s. Furthermore, the nature of the adjustment to the debt crisis of the 1980s indicate that Latin American markets possess a rather limited capacity to absorb a substantial increase in regional exports in the current context. Thus, we conclude that the success of the required expansion in Latin American exports will depend more on the region's ability to design innovative mechanisms to penetrate the markets of industrialized countries than on the deepening of any regional trade integration process.

Exchange Rates in Emerging Economies: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?

Exchange rates have been at the center of economic debates in emerging economies. Issues related to the feasibility of flexible exchange rates, the relationship between exchange rate volatility and growth, and the role of exchange rate overvaluation in recent crises, among other, have been extensively discussed during the last few years. In this paper we address some of the most important exchange rate-related issues in emerging economies. In particular, we deal with: (a) the merits of alternative exchange rate regimes: (b) the extent to which purchasing power parity holds in the long run in these countries; and (c) models to assess real exchange rate overvaluation. We also discuss future areas for research on exchange rates in the emerging nations.

Harnessing synthetic gauge fields for maximally entangled state generation

We study the generation of entanglement between two species of neutral cold atoms living on an optical ring lattice, where each group of particles can be described by a $d$-dimensional Hilbert space (qu$d$it). Synthetic magnetic fields are exploited to create an entangled state between the pair of qu$d$its. Maximally entangled eigenstates are found for well defined values of the Aharonov-Bohm phase, which are zero energy eigenstates of both the kinetic and interacting parts of the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, making them quite exceptional and robust against certain non-perturbative fluctuations of the Hamiltonian. We propose a protocol to reach the maximally entangled state (MES) by starting from an initially prepared ground state. Also, an indirect method to detect the MES by measuring the current of the particles is proposed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Returns to Tenure or Seniority?

This study documents two empirical regularities, using data for Denmark and Portugal. First, workers who are hired last, are the first to leave the firm (Last In, First Out; LIFO). Second, workers’ wages rise with seniority (= a worker’s tenure relative to the tenure of her colleagues). We seek to explain these regularities by developing a dynamic model of the firm with stochastic product demand and hiring cost (= irreversible specific investments). There is wage bargaining between a worker and its firm. Separations (quits or layoffs) obey the LIFO rule and bargaining is efficient (a zero surplus at the moment of separation). The LIFO rule provides a stronger bargaining position for senior workers, leading to a return to seniority in wages. Efficiency in hiring requires the workers’ bargaining power to be in line with their share in the cost of specific investment. Then, the LIFO rule is a way to protect their property right on the specific investment. We consider the effects of Employment Protection Legislation and risk aversion.irreversible investment, efficient bargaining, seniority, LIFO, matched employer-employee data, EPL.

Returns to Tenure or Seniority?

This study documents two empirical regularities, using data for Denmark and Portugal. First, workers who are hired last, are the first to leave the firm (Last In, First Out; LIFO). Second, workers' wages rise with seniority (= a worker's tenure relative to the tenure of her colleagues). We seek to explain these regularities by developing a dynamic model of the firm with stochastic product demand and hiring cost (= irreversible specific investments). There is wage bargaining between a worker and its firm. Separations (quits or layoffs) obey the LIFO rule and bargaining is efficient (a zero surplus at the moment of separation). The LIFO rule provides a stronger bargaining position for senior workers, leading to a return to seniority in wages. Efficiency in hiring requires the workers’bargaining power to be in line with their share in the cost of specific investment. Then, the LIFO rule is a way to protect their property right on the specific investment. We consider the e¤ects of Employment Protection Legislation and risk aversion.irreversible investment; efficient bargaining; seniority; LIFO

Returns to Tenure or Seniority?

This study documents two empirical regularities, using data for Denmark and Portugal. First, workers who are hired last, are the first to leave the firm (Last In, First Out; LIFO). Second, workers’ wages rise with seniority (= a worker’s tenure relative to the tenure of her colleagues). We seek to explain these regularities by developing a dynamic model of the firm with stochastic product demand and hiring cost (= irreversible specific investments). There is wage bargaining between a worker and its firm. Separations (quits or layoffs) obey the LIFO rule and bargaining is efficient (a zero surplus at the moment of separation). The LIFO rule provides a stronger bargaining position for senior workers, leading to a return to seniority in wages. Efficiency in hiring requires the workers’ bargaining power to be in line with their share in the cost of specific investment, Then, the LIFO rule is a way to protect their property right on the specific investment. We consider the effects of Employment Protection Legislation and risk aversion.irreversible investment, efficient bargaining, seniority, LIFO, matched employer-employee data, EPL