Essays on Development Economics

Developing countries face numerous challenges that can impede their economic growth and development. These challenges manifest in several areas, including firms, governments, and households. Firms operating in these environments often encounter significant constraints, such as limited access to credit, poor contract enforcement, political instability, and inadequate infrastructure for transportation. For governments, resources are typically scarce, and information asymmetries can be high due to the prevalence of informal economies. Meanwhile, households often struggle to access quality education and healthcare, leading to lower levels of human capital. Taken together, these factors can significantly hinder opportunities for economic progress. This thesis focuses on three critical issues in developing countries, with a special emphasis on Mexico. The first chapter investigates the prevalence of small firms in Mexico's retail sector. It argues that high transport costs result in smaller effective market sizes, leading to the proliferation of smaller and lower-quality firms. In the second chapter, a framework is developed to guide the existing literature on social protection. It reviews and discusses the design and implementation of redistribution and income support programs in an environment with a large informal sector. Lastly, the third chapter examines the impact of expanding low-cost private healthcare access in Mexico. It finds a decrease in public healthcare usage but the results on which types of visits are being substituted away imply efficient sorting of patients and suggest that expanding low-cost alternatives can improve access and the allocation of care. By examining these issues, I aim to shed light on some of the challenges faced by firms, governments, and households in developing countries and discuss paths forward. JEL Classification: I130,I380,R110Ph.D

The concept and current state of legal regulation on staffing of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine

Ukraine has been reforming the penitentiary system for several years in order to humanise and bring it in line with European standards, and even today, in the face of a full-scale Russian military invasion, the processes of transformation and improvement of this system in our country have not stopped, as evidenced by the emergence of an updated strategic course for further changes and development of the national penitentiary system. Over the past few years, important positive results have already been achieved on this path, but a number of problems remain unresolved, slowing down the reform process and the achievement of its goals. It has been noted that a proper transformation of the penitentiary system of Ukraine is impossible without improving the mechanism of the staffing of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine, the effectiveness of which, in turn, depends on the state of legal regulation of the social relations which are part of the above-mentioned staffing process. Scientific approaches to the definition of the concept of legal regulation, understanding of its essence, characteristic features and role in the organisation of public life have been considered. The author’s own definition of legal regulation of staffing of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine has been formulated. It has been emphasised that the central place in the regulation of relations concerning this staffing is assigned to administrative law, since these relations are mainly of a managerial nature. The state of legislative regulation on staffing of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine has been analysed and its problematic aspects have been highlighted. It has been noted that there are no clearly defined conceptual foundations for the organisation and implementation of staffing of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine at the legislative level. Attention has been drawn to the scattering of norms on the issues of the said staffing in legal acts of various levels. And the author presents his own vision of possible steps to improve the regulatory and legal framework for staffing the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine

The concept and features of staffing of the State Criminal Executive Service and probation bodies in Ukraine

Сфера виконання кримінальних покарань у нашій державі вже не перший рік перебуває у стані реформування, навіть сьогодні, в умовах протистояння України відкритому повномасштабному військовому вторгненню російської федерації, робота щодо перетворення та вдосконалення вітчизняної пенітенціарної системи не зупинена. Українська влада у співпраці з міжнародною спільнотою, представниками науки та громадськості вже здійснила низку важливих кроків щодо гуманізації зазначеної системи. Водночас деякі доволі важливі проблемні питання на цьому шляху досі не отримали належного ані науково-теоретичного опрацювання, ані законодавчого врегулювання, зокрема це стосується проблематики кадрового забезпечення Державної кримінально-виконавчої служби України та уповноважених органів пробації. У чинній Стратегії реформування пенітенціарної системи України доволі поверхнево та фрагментарно викладені проблеми кадрового забезпечення, фактично все зведено до його мети і найбільш важливих завдань. Очевидно, що такий підхід не сприяє ані вдосконаленню засад і механізмів зазначеного забезпечення, ані ефективності та якості реформування пенітенціарної системи в цілому. Задля активізації науково-дослідної роботи в цьому напрямі розглянуто наявні підходи до визначення поняття кадрового забезпечення, виокремлено його основні ознаки та структурні елементи (складові), охарактеризовано зміст найбільш суттєвих властивостей. Звернено увагу на зв’язок і співвідношення кадрового забезпечення та кадрової політики, сформульовано визначення поняття кадрового забезпечення Державної кримінально-виконавчої служби України та уповноважених органів пробації. Наголошено на доцільності законодавчого закріплення поняття кадрового забезпечення органів і служб пенітенціарної системи України, а також на тому, що кадрове забезпечення має складну внутрішню структуру й управлінську природу. У зв’язку із цим наголошено на ролі засобів адміністративно-правового регулювання в організації та впорядкуванні відносин і процесів кадрового забезпечення в системі Державної кримінально-виконавчої служби України та уповноважених органів пробації.The sphere of criminal penalties in our country has been undergoing reform for many years, and even today, in the context of Ukraine's opposition to the open full-scale military invasion of the russian federation, the work on transforming and improving the national penitentiary system has not stopped. The Ukrainian government, in cooperation with the international community, academics and civil society, has already taken a number of important steps to humanise the system. At the same time, some rather important problematic issues on this path have not yet received proper scientific and theoretical study or legislative regulation, in particular, the problem of staffing the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine and authorised probation bodies. The current Strategy for Reforming the Penitentiary System of Ukraine describes the problems of staffing in a rather superficial and fragmentary way, in fact, everything is reduced to its purpose and most important tasks. Obviously, this approach does not contribute to the improvement of the principles and mechanisms of this provision, nor to the efficiency and quality of the reform of the penitentiary system as a whole. In order to intensify research work in this area, the existing approaches to the definition of the concept of staffing have been considered, its main features and structural elements (components) have been identified, and the content of the most essential properties has been characterised. Attention has been paid to the connection and correlation between staffing and personnel policy, and the definition of the concept of staffing of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine and authorized probation bodies has been formulated. Emphasis has been placed on the expediency of legislative consolidation of the definition of the concept of staffing of bodies and services of the penitentiary system of Ukraine, and on the fact that staffing has a complex internal structure and managerial nature. In this regard, attention has been paid to the role of administrative and legal regulation in organising and streamlining the relations and processes of staffing in the system of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine and authorised probation bodies.The sphere of criminal penalties in our country has been undergoing reform for many years, and even today, in the context of Ukraine's opposition to the open full-scale military invasion of the russian federation, the work on transforming and improving the national penitentiary system has not stopped. The Ukrainian government, in cooperation with the international community, academics and civil society, has already taken a number of important steps to humanise the system. At the same time, some rather important problematic issues on this path have not yet received proper scientific and theoretical study or legislative regulation, in particular, the problem of staffing the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine and authorised probation bodies. The current Strategy for Reforming the Penitentiary System of Ukraine describes the problems of staffing in a rather superficial and fragmentary way, in fact, everything is reduced to its purpose and most important tasks. Obviously, this approach does not contribute to the improvement of the principles and mechanisms of this provision, nor to the efficiency and quality of the reform of the penitentiary system as a whole. In order to intensify research work in this area, the existing approaches to the definition of the concept of staffing have been considered, its main features and structural elements (components) have been identified, and the content of the most essential properties has been characterised. Attention has been paid to the connection and correlation between staffing and personnel policy, and the definition of the concept of staffing of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine and authorized probation bodies has been formulated. Emphasis has been placed on the expediency of legislative consolidation of the definition of the concept of staffing of bodies and services of the penitentiary system of Ukraine, and on the fact that staffing has a complex internal structure and managerial nature. In this regard, attention has been paid to the role of administrative and legal regulation in organising and streamlining the relations and processes of staffing in the system of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine and authorised probation bodies

Nonstationary electrode processes in electronic science of materials

Available from VNTIC / VNTIC - Scientific & Technical Information Centre of RussiaSIGLERURussian Federatio

Bandas beyond their ‘Ethnographic Present’: Neoliberalism and the Possibility of Meaning in Mexico City

Mexico faced significant financial crises during the late seventies and early eighties emanating from the Mexico City, due to its centrality. These crises were connected to the introduction of neoliberal reforms in the country. Simultaneously, a form of children and youth organization appeared in some of the incipient and impoverished neighbourhoods in the West of the city, the bandas; parallel to the inception of ‘City Santa Fe,’ a luxurious utopia. Difficult urban and social conditions, violence and uncertainty not only gave birth to the bandas, but became their insignia. A temporal distance of nearly three decades from the birth of the bandas allows for a procedural analysis that overcomes the temptation to limit a research on youth groups to their ‘ethnographic present.’ The bandas’ members narrate their life trajectories as search for better scenarios and, along the way, find meaning and order in otherwise chaotic events. Belonging to a banda serves as a coordinate from where to array a set of events and processes, and assess their outcomes, a coordinate for framing certain ‘masculinity projects’, allowing feelings of progression, satisfaction and even redemption

Motivation Of The Russian Worker: An Evolutionary Process

This study set in St. Petersburg, Russia analyzed the internal and external motivational factors that appealed to the hospitality worker of the Grand Europe Hotel. In addition, the worker\u27s satisfaction with benefit package elements was also analyzed. This study indicates that motivation of the Russian worker has evolved from an external orientation to predominantly an internal orientation. Also, the current state of the economy appears to be correlated with a strong desire for safety and security (e.g., financially related factors) related benefits. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd

Development of an algorithm for energy efficient automated train driving

International audienceAutomated train driving function is greatly demanded in high-speed and commuter trains operated by Russian railways. Siemens Corporate Technology is involved in the development of such real-time function within a "robotised" train control system. The main intention of the system is not only to relieve the human driver from routine control over traction and brakes (allowing him to pay more attention to assurance of safety) but also to increase train efficiency by reducing the amount of consumed energy. The system under development is intended to be integrated into the existing architecture of Siemens high-speed trains as an additional function. Its environment is constituted mainly of control systems of a high safety integrity level. This on the one hand guarantees that the automated train driving system will not have any impact on train safety, but on the other hand it implies additional restrictions on the operation of the system to be fulfilled. This paper presents the experience in implementation and verification of automated train driving algorithms for Velaro RUS and Desiro RUS trains