Nominal Wage Rigidities in Mexico: Evidence from Social Security Records

This paper analyses the existence and extent of downward nominal wage rigidities in the Mexican labor market using data from the administrative records of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). This longitudinal, firm-level dataset allows us to track workers employed with the same firm, observe their wage profiles and calculate the nominal-wage changes they experience over time. Based on the estimated density functions of nominal wage changes and other moments of the distribution, we are able to calculate several standard tests of nominal wage rigidity that have been proposed in the literature. Furthermore, we extend these tests to take into account the presence of minimum wage laws that may affect the distribution of nominal wage changes. The densities and tests calculated using these date are similar to those obtained using administrative data from other countries, and constitute a significant improvement over the measures of nominal wage rigidities obtained from household survey data. We find considerably more wage rigidity than previous estimates obtained for Mexico using data from the National Urban Employment Survey suggest. Furthermore, we find evidence that the extent of nominal wage rigidities has been falling over time. We also document the importance of minimum wages in the Mexican labor market, as evidenced by the large fraction of minimum wage earners and the widespread indexation of wage changes to the minimum wage increases.

Modelling the evolution of the Guadalquivir foreland basin (South Spain).

Previous quantitative studies dealing with the origin of foreland basins have focused primarily either on the rheological basis of the lithosphere mechanical response or on the relationship between orogenic loading and sediment geometry. To link the evolution of the Guadalquivir foreland basin (South Iberia) with the thermomechanical stratification of the Iberian lithosphere, we combine quantitative approaches to deep and shallow processes: thrust loading, lithospheric flexure, thickness changes of the crust and the lithospheric mantle, and surface mass transport. A planform flexural analysis of the present-day load distribution shows that basement subsidence is related not only to upper crustal thrusting but also to a deep-seated additional load. On the basis of the observed gravity and geoid fields, we propose this additional load to be related to a lithospheric mantle thickening larger than the coeval crustal thickening. Further modeling of the evolution of a basin cross section reveals that the architecture of the sedimentary basin is additionally related to the lithosphere rheological response. The quantitative study of the evolution of basement faulting and the forebulge uplift of Sierra Morena leads us to conclude that viscous stress relaxation and/or plastic yielding within the lithosphere are key processes to explain the flexural evolution of the basin

Quantifying image distortion based on Gabor filter bank and multiple regression analysis

Image quality assessment is indispensable for image-based applications. The approaches towards image quality assessment fall into two main categories: subjective and objective methods. Subjective assessment has been widely used. However, careful subjective assessments are experimentally difficult and lengthy, and the results obtained may vary depending on the test conditions. On the other hand, objective image quality assessment would not only alleviate the difficulties described above but would also help to expand the application field. Therefore, several works have been developed for quantifying the distortion presented on a image achieving goodness of fit between subjective and objective scores up to 92%. Nevertheless, current methodologies are designed assuming that the nature of the distortion is known. Generally, this is a limiting assumption for practical applications, since in a majority of cases the distortions in the image are unknown. Therefore, we believe that the current methods of image quality assessment should be adapted in order to identify and quantify the distortion of images at the same time. That combination can improve processes such as enhancement, restoration, compression, transmission, among others. We present an approach based on the power of the experimental design and the joint localization of the Gabor filters for studying the influence of the spatial/frequencies on image quality assessment. Therefore, we achieve a correct identification and quantification of the distortion affecting images. This method provides accurate scores and differentiability between distortions

Regional Convergence in Latin America: 1980-2000

The objective of the work is to determine the existence of convergence (absolute and conditional) for the region of Latin America and to determine the main variables that affect the economic growth of these countries. The main results are the following ones: there is empirical evidence of absolute and conditional convergence in the period from study to a rate very similar to found by other studies for other groups of countries or regions of the interior of a same country (around the 2 percent).Convergencia; crecimiento economico; capital humano; America Latina; Latinoamerica

A note on intellectual capital, core competencies and business performance

This paper seeks to test the existence of links between core competencies –grouped according to the dimensions of intellectual capital (Human Capital, Structural Capital and Relational Capital) and business performance. With information from a survey conducted among business managers, and business performance data for 2007 and 2008 obtained from the SABI database, non-parametric contrasts were performed in order to verify such links. The results show a positive and significant link of the ROA with the competencies linked to Human Capital in 2007 and 2008, and equally for 2008 with the competencies linked to Relational Capital. However, no significant relations were found between the competencies linked to Structural Capital and business performance. = Приводятся результаты исследований по выявлению связей между основными компонентами «интеллектуального капитала» (человеческий капитал, структурный и относительный капитал) и бизнес-процессами. Исследования проводились на основе социологического опроса руководящего состава предприятий и данных по бизнес-процессам (база данных SABI) за 2007–2008 гг

Cultivo en maceta de Iris xiphium L. (Iris de Holanda) con diferentes concentraciones de humus de lombriz y sus lixiviados

Se evaluaron tres variedades de Iris xiphium L. cultivadas en maceta en cuatro proporciones de humus de lombriz y se aplicaron los lixiviados diluidos como bioabono foliar. El experimento se realizó en un diseño completamente al azar con arreglo trifactorial y se midieron ocho variables: longitud de tallo (LT), longitud de botón (LB), longitud de flor (LF), diámetro de botón (DB), diámetro de flor (DF), biomasa (B), área foliar (AF) y días de cosecha (DDC). Los resultados indicaron que la variedad Telstar resultó ser la más precoz. El mejor tratamiento en dicha variedad para las variables LT, LB, B, DF y DDC correspondió a la proporción 30/70 (% lombrihumus / % suelo) y la dilución 1:10 de lixiviado; el segundo mejor tratamiento fue en la variedad Discovery en la proporción 40/60 (%lombrihumus / %suelo) y dilución 1:10 de lixiviado para las variables LT, AF y B. El presente trabajo aporta nueva información en cuanto al uso de sustratos y abono foliar orgánicos para el manejo sustentable, con bajo impacto ambiental, en cultivos florícolas

Facebook: Methodological strategic to enhance listening in english in 4th grade at Antonio Nariño high schol night shift

La población estimada para la ejecución y análisis de enfoque de este trabajo de investigación fue Los estudiantes de cuarto grado en la Escuela Secundaria Antonio Nariño en turno de noche, que se encuentra en el número 10 resort Engativá. Hay veinticinco miembros que componen la población total, aunque los miembros quince fueron tomadas con el fin de estudiar una muestra aleatoria, para mejorar las habilidades de escuchar en los estudiantes a través de tareas comunicativas utilizando videos, audios y podcasts utilizando la escucha activa y Facebook.The population considered for implementation and analysis approach of this research work was Fourth Grade students at Antonio Nariño High School at night shift, located in the resort number 10 Engativá. There are twenty five members that compose the complete population, although fifteen members were taken in order to study one random sample, to improve listening skills in students through communicative tasks using videos, audios and podcasts using active listening and Facebook