The impact of trade liberalization on skill upgrading. Evidence from Argentina

In this paper I study the effects of a regional free trade agreement on the demand for skill. I start by documenting a series of facts to shed light on the determinants of a steep increase in the relative demand of skilled labor in a panel of Argentinean industrial firms covering the trade liberalization period. First, this is not explained by labor reallocation across industries or firms but by skill upgrading within firms. Second, exporters upgrade skill faster than non exporters. Third, firms upgrading skill also upgrade technology. These findings are consistent with a model where a reduction in trading partner’s tariffs induces the most productive firms (exporters) to adopt skill-intensive production technologies. Indeed, I find that the reduction in Brazil’s tariffs induces the most productive Argentinean firms to upgrade skill, while the least productive ones downgrade. One third of the increase in the relative demand for skill can be attributed to the reduction in Brazil’s tariffs.

A Dynamic Theory of Common Law Courts

We develop a model that determines when and how time-consistent and forward-looking courts should set and reform legal rules (a normative theory for dynamically efficient courts). We explicitly take into account that: 1) the optimal rules most likely are not the same for all periods of time; 2) courts can only rule at trials; 3) the enforcement strategies of courts determine the litigation strategies of present and future parties in conflict; and 4) the parties in conflict can contract around the rules. As main results, we show that: 1) courts should set those rules that maximize the value of the present parties in conflict (statically efficient rules) only under extreme circumstances; 2) if legal rules are the only control variables, courts should adjust the unconstrained first-best rules for society in order to give the parties incentives to partially correct an inefficient frequency of litigation; 3) there always exists a distribution of the litigation expenses between the parties that generates an optimal frequency of trials in which case courts don't need to bias the rules. The model allows us to analyze the social desirability of two commonly suggested strategies to increase the frequency of shareholders' litigation: adding ambiguity to the law or involving public prosecutors as the N.Y.A.G.'s office or agencies as the S.E.C. In addition, the model also allows us to discuss when courts should set contingent rules (rules that adapt to the states of nature) instead of rigid rules (rules that don't adapt to the states of nature).Efficiency of the law, myopic courts, forward-looking courts, optimal enforcement strategies, optimal frequency of trials, rigid and contingent rules

SANTA CRUZ FARM: DIRECT AND NICHE MARKETING IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO

Agribusiness, Marketing,

Valparaíso declaration for improved scientific communication in the electronic medium

On January 14 and 15,2004, on the campus ofthe Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV) in Valparaiso, Chile, a workshop was held on the possibilities of electronic publication, in which 120 delegates from 15 countries participated. At the end it was written a Declaration in favour of the scientific rigor, quality, professionality, and open access