A social welfare model for the evaluation of the spanish income tax system

In this paper we present a social welfare model for the evaluation of the Spanish income tax system in 1986 and 1988. The redistributive effect, capturing the improvement in vertical inequality, and the revenue effect, capturing the loss in mean disposable income as a consequence of the tax, are combined to produce a measure of social welfare change. Then, following Lambert and Ramos (1996) the redistributive effect is decomposed into a horizontal and a vertical contribution. The main novelties we introduce are the following three. (a) We adopt an absolute framework which is seldom used in the empirical literature. (b) We emphasize the differences between the horizontal inequality due to the exemptions and tax credits not based on equity considerations, and what we call unintended horizontal inequality arising from: i) the practice of applying a progressive tax schedule to unadjusted incomes followed by family tax credits, rather than applying directly the tax schedule to income adjusted by family circunmstances; ii) differences between the analyst's equivalence scale and the implicit fiscal scale, and iii) the existence of other eharaeteristies, ignored by the analyst but taken as ethieally relevant by the fiscal authority. Among other things, this breakdown allows us a more detailed explanation than previous studies of the inerease in the horizontal inequality in Spain between 1986 and 1988. (c) Finally, we highlight a fundamental diffieulty in all methods, including ours, that rely on the partitíon by similars for the measurement of horizontal inequality

Another Consequence of the Economic Crisis: A Decrease in Migrants’ Remittances

The effects of the current global economic crisis are widespread. The economic downturn has affected large sectors of the population in developed and developing countries and international immigrants have not been the exception. This paper documents the recent slowdown in workers’ remittances, the money that international immigrants send to their countries of origin. Current data indicates that remittance flows have decreased for all regions of the world. Latin America stands out by reporting an almost zero percent growth rate of remittances for 2008. Among Latin American countries, Mexico (the largest recipient of remittances in the region in terms of volume) seems to be the most affected with a decrease of more than US$900 million between 2007 and 2008. This article also presents evidence of the impact of some of the factors associated with the current economic crisis on remittances flows. The results indicate that there is a strong link between housing activity in the United States and remittances flows.

Technology Integration around the Geographic Information: A State of the Art

One of the elements that have popularized and facilitated the use of geographical information on a variety of computational applications has been the use of Web maps; this has opened new research challenges on different subjects, from locating places and people, the study of social behavior or the analyzing of the hidden structures of the terms used in a natural language query used for locating a place. However, the use of geographic information under technological features is not new, instead it has been part of a development and technological integration process. This paper presents a state of the art review about the application of geographic information under different approaches: its use on location based services, the collaborative user participation on it, its contextual-awareness, its use in the Semantic Web and the challenges of its use in natural languge queries. Finally, a prototype that integrates most of these areas is presented

Topological properties of modular networks, with a focus on networks of functional connections in the human brain

Complex network theory offers useful approaches to analyze the structural and functional properties of real life networks. In this work, we explore some of the mathematical concepts of network theory and study real life systems from a complex network perspective. We pay particular attention to networks of connections within the human brain. We analyze weighted networks calculated from full functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired during task performance. The first novelty of this study is the fact that we retain all of the connections between all of the voxels in the full brain fMRI data. We then evaluate the extent to which this rich dataset can be described by existing models of scale-free or exponentially truncated scale-free topology, comparing results across a large number of more complex topological models as well. Our results suggest that the novel model presented in this dissertation offers a significantly better fit at the voxel level. Structural characterization of the brain can also give insights into the effects of traumatic injuries. For our second study, we used brain networks to explore the topological consequences of brain damage in computational models. By simulating the effects of several traumatic brain injury (TBI) models we find a variety of disruptions in the modular structure and connectivity of the post-injury networks. In particular, we focused on the effects of focalized injuries, axonal degeneration and diffuse microlesions. Our results suggest that mathematical models can predict, to some extent, the structural and functional effects of TBIs based on the analysis of specific topological measures. Furthermore, these results may be correlated to known cognitive sequelae of TBI. In order to complement the set of topological properties studied, we review the concept of participation of a node in a modular network. The participation coefficient is often used to provide a ranking of the importance of a node; however, we propose a new measure, called the gateway coefficient, to assess the involvement of a node. Our results suggest that the gateway coefficient has a superior ranking power than the participation coefficient since it takes into account a variety of modular properties of the network. These results are illustrated with examples of simulations and real life datasets, such as the air transportation network and the human brain network

Small business financing sources and self -employment trends of mainland and island-born Puerto Ricans

A growing interest in studying the self-employment decision can be attributed to the conventional wisdom that small business formation is necessary for economic development. Extant research has also begun to explore the self-employment determinants of emerging populations, such as immigrants and African Americans, emphasizing that there is need for better policies aimed at helping these populations. Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans epitomize this need to pursue these two areas of research. To specifically address these areas, this dissertation pursues two objectives: (1) to empirically analyze the self-employment trends of Puerto Ricans and mainland Puerto Ricans against other groups (Dominicans, Cubans, Mexicans) in both Puerto Rico and the United States, and (2) to explain why differences exist in small business financing sources among various groups (Island-born Puerto Ricans, mainland Puerto Ricans and immigrants) in Puerto Rico. Econometric techniques such as switching regressions and multinomial logit models are employed for the stated purposes. Moreover, the econometric analysis draws upon several data sources: selected samples from both the United States and Puerto Rican Censuses of Population and Housing, and a small business survey developed by the Center for Economic Development at the University of Puerto Rico. Clearly, understanding the factors that may influence the self-employment decision among different ethnic groups in Puerto Rico and the United States can promote the creation of policy initiatives that foster entrepreneurial growth among these groups. In this light, the results from this study add to extant development literature regarding the role of small businesses on economic growth and to the importance of formulating adequate policies to ensure that small entrepreneurs have access to capital markets. The results of this dissertation suggest that in both Puerto Rico and the United States, Puerto Rican participation in the self-employment sector did not increase as rapidly as compared to Cubans, Dominicans/Mexicans, and other immigrants/Hispanics during the 1980s. Moreover, the analysis using the Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) data do not show evidence of selection into the self-employment sector among Puerto Ricans, although the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) sample does show a positive selection into the self-employment sector for the Puerto Rican sample during the 1980s. This dissertation then finds evidence to suggest that Puerto Ricans have lower levels of entrepreneurial involvement. The estimation results from a multinomial logit of financing sources, employing the aforementioned survey, support the hypothesis that mainland Puerto Ricans and immigrants have greater access to credit markets than Island-born Puerto Ricans. The results employing the Census data are also consistent with the view that Puerto Ricans and immigrants are negatively selected into the entrepreneurial sector

Incorporating variable viscosity in vorticity-based formulations for Brinkman equations

In this brief note, we introduce a non-symmetric mixed finite element formulation for Brinkman equations written in terms of velocity, vorticity and pressure with non-constant viscosity. The analysis is performed by the classical Babu\v{s}ka-Brezzi theory, and we state that any inf-sup stable finite element pair for Stokes approximating velocity and pressure can be coupled with a generic discrete space of arbitrary order for the vorticity. We establish optimal a priori error estimates which are further confirmed through computational example

Escala de actitudes hacia la tecnología en la labor docente aplicada a profesores de primaria de informática educativa en Costa Rica. Análisis de validez y confiabilidad

Artículo retractado. This paper examines the results obtained from the validity and reliability analysis of the constructed “Attitudes Toward Technology in Teaching” scale. Data were collected from 319 tutors and teachers of educational informatics working in Costa Rican public primary schools. The schools work under the National Program on Educational Informatics for grades I to VI of the Costa Rican Ministry of Education and the Omar Dengo Foundation. The scale was first composed of 115 items which sere divided into eleven categories. Further analysis allowed a reordering of the categories and the removal of several items with factor loadings lower than 0.4 and correlations lower than 0.3. The reliability analysis resulted in a Cronbach's coefficient alpha of 0.8985, leading to the conclusion that the scale is reliable. Finally, taking into account the obtained results, a new scales was constructed with 41 items, grouped in seven categories and subdivided into two dimensions.Artículo Retractado. En este documento se presenta el resultado del análisis de validez y confiabilidad de la Escala de Actitudes hacia la Tecnología en la Labor Docente, aplicada a 319 tutores y maestros de informática educativa de educación primaria pública en Costa Rica, cuyos centros educativos están adscritos al Programa Nacional de Informática Educativa para I y II Ciclos del Ministerio de Educación Pública y de la Fundación Omar Dengo. La escala inicial estuvo conformada por 115 ítemes divididos en once categorías. Los análisis realizados permitieron un reordenamiento de las categorías de la escala y desechar varios ítemes cuyas cargas factoriales eran inferiores a 0.4 y correlaciones inferiores a 0.3. En el análisis de confiabilidad se obtuvo un Alfa de Cronbach de 0.8985 para concluir que la escala final tiene una muy buena consistencia interna. Finalmente, con los resultados obtenidos se construyó una nueva escala con 41 ítemes agrupados en siete categorías y estas en dos dimensiones

Analogue-digital theaching application of new technologies to learning and continous evaluation in technical subjects in engineering and architecture higher education

Teaching technical subjects on Architecture and Engineering has been developed traditionally using lecture and master class methodology. During them, the professor presented the content using the resolution of practical problems as a complement for theoretical reasoning. This sessions were generally support by an analogic resource: the blackboard. In recent years, despite the introduction of new technologies in the classroom, this methodology has become more static. In most cases, explanations have been supported only by slides created with the assistance of computer programs, making into minority the use of the blackboard. This has produced the generalization of “death by PowerPoint” phaenomenon. With regard to evaluation systems, there have been no substantial changes between these two different teaching methods despite the widespread implementation of competency-based learning system introduced by European Higher Education Area (EHEA) since 1999. Learning of students continues being verified by the realization of a final exam about the theoretical and practical contents of the subject. This paper presents a teaching methodology focused on encouraging active student participation both during the course of the class and outside. The application of learning for information and communications technology (ICT) makes its essential basis. Simultaneously, a continuous evaluation system capable of maintaining the attention on the subject has been implemented. The static attendance combined with traditional evaluation systems by a final exam produces an accumulation of information by the student revised and learned just to pass the final exam. This scheme has been changed getting a higher motivation of students to the continuous learning process. This system has been applied since the 2012/2013 academic year in technical subjects of Bachelor in Architecture in the Universities of Malaga and Seville through an Educational Innovation Project financed by University of Malaga. Results obtained by this experience show an increasing involvement of students during the course of the classes as well as a better engagement during the whole semester. In addition the using of this methodology has had a positive impact on the pass rate of subjects being involved usually lower than the average of Bachelor and University degree.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Desafíos para asegurar la calidad del servicio de internet inalámbrico en la Universidad Francisco Gavidia

El proyecto “Aseguramiento de la conectividad de la red inalámbrica y calidad en el acceso al servicio de internet”, contempla el desarrollo de una solución a las necesidades de conectividad WiFi en la Universidad Francisco Gavidia. La UFG a partir del año 2008 instaló la primera infraestructura que permitió ofrecer el servicio de internet inalámbrico en su campus. Sin embargo, se tuvo que superar grandes desafíos para ofrecer un servicio que permita abarcar el mayor número de usuarios con un nivel aceptable de servicio y que contara con medidas de seguridad apropiadas para una institución de educación superior