International convergence and local divergence

This work presents a north-south endogenous-growth model that reproduces some recent EU stylized facts: convergence between countries, divergence between the same countries, more spatial concentration of economic activity and higher growth rates. We claim that the ongoing technological reduction of transaction costs can conceivably spur those phenomena, specially if a regional productive duality within the less-developed countries were reinforced by a biased incidence of that fall in transaction costs. A key element is Grossman and Helpman's complementarity between innovation and imitation. The channels that allow for higher growth-rates are migrations and scale-effects in the industrialized regions of the poorest countries.

Trade and migration: a U-shaped transition in Eastern Europe

This paper proposes a 2-country 3-region economic geography model that can account for the most salient stylized facts experienced by Eastern European transition economies during the 1990s. In contrast to the existing literature, which has favored technological explanations, trade liberalization and factor mobility are the only driving forces. The model correctly predicts that in the first half of the decade trade liberalization led to divergence in GDP per capita, both between the West and the East and within the East. Consistent with the data, in the second half of the decade, internal labor mobility in the East reversed this process, and convergence became the dominant force. The model furthermore shows that the same U-shaped pattern applies to relative industrialization of West and East, although within the East the hinterland continued to lose industry throughout the decade.Trade liberalization; migration; convergence; welfare

Skill-Upgrading and the Savings of Immigrants

This note derives positive and normative implications about the effects of immigration on welfare and the skill composition of the labor force in receiving economies. The main channel through which immigration affects labor-market outcomes is the availability of new loanable funds for investment, which results in endogenous skill-upgrading. Given their high training costs and their lifelong working period, immigrants self-select as net lenders, which facilitates the upgrading of both new generations of natives and migrants. Under sufficient altruism towards future generations, this induces a Pareto-improvement among the current generations of natives.

Skill-Upgrading and the Saving of Immigrants

This note derives positive implications about the effect of immigration on labor income and the skill composition of the labor force in receiving economies. The novel mechanism through which immigration affects labor-market outcomes is the availability of new loanable funds for human-capital investment, which results in endogenous skill upgrading. Given their higher training costs in the host economy, immigrants usually do not acquire advanced academic skills, and they accordingly skip the financial costs of education at the college level. As a result, they self-select as net lenders, which reduces the equilibrium interest rates and facilitates the upgrading mostly of new generations of natives. Consequently, the aggregate labor income of natives increases with immigration.

International convergence and local divergence

This paper presents an East-West endogenous-growth model that reproduces recent stylized facts applicable to the trade liberalization process of many developing countries: convergence with the rest of the world, higher internal divergence, increasing spatial concentration of economic activity and higher growth rates. We claim that the ongoing reduction of manufacturing trade costs may generate a net inflow of global demand towards the industrialized cores of developing countries. This will induce a reallocation of labor from traditional to modern sectors. In turn, such a sectoral shift may enlarge the catch-up (imitation) potential of developing countries and raise global growth rates, due to Grossman and Helpman's complementarity between imitative and innovative activities. Although advanced economies may become relatively worse off, the effect on growth rates may allow them to gain in absolute terms.

Trade and Migration: a U-Shaped Transition in Eastern Europe

This paper proposes a 2-country 3-region economic geography model that can account for the most salient stylized facts experienced by Eastern European transition economies during the 1990s. In contrast to the existing literature, which has favored technological explanations, trade liberalization and factor mobility are the only driving forces. The model correctly predicts that in the first half of the decade trade liberalization led to divergence in GDP per capita, both between the West and the East and within the East. Consistent with the data, in the second half of the decade, internal labor mobility in the East reversed this process, and convergence became the dominant force. The model furthermore shows that the same U-shaped pattern applies to relative industrialization of West and East, although within the East the hinterland continued to lose industry throughout the decade.

Optimal foreign direct investment in the presence of human capital formation

This paper gives both theoretical arguments and econometric support to the notion of optimal FDI levels, from the viewpoint of human-capital formation in the host country. The optimality of a limited FDI level depends on the local incentives to get trained. Those incentives are formed in the face of uncertainty and asymmetric information between the multinational and its potential workers. Our estimates confirm the significance of a negative, non-linear impact of FDI per capita on tertiary schooling, both in developed and developing countries.FDI; Human-Capital Formation; Education; Skill Heterogeneity

Dynamics of neighborhood formation and segregation by income

This paper analyzes some determinant conditions under which neighborhood formation gives rise to segregation by income. In contrast to the literature, we explore the sequential arrival of poor and rich individuals to neighborhoods exploited by oligopolistic land developers. These developers try to maximize a discounted flow of lot prices during neighborhood formation, taking advantage of the local externalities generated by the rich and the poor. Under a speedy arrival of new potential inhabitants and/or low discount rates, competing developers are more likely to concentrate rich people in the same neighborhood. This happens because the benefits from early agglomeration are outweighed by a more profitable matching of rich neighbors within nearby lots.land developers; segregation; income distribution; arrival rates

Trade and migration: a U-shaped transition in Eastern Europe

This paper proposes a 2-country 3-region economic geography model that can account for the most salient stylized facts experienced by Eastern European transition economies during the 1990s. In contrast to the existing literature, which has favored technological explanations, trade liberalization and factor mobility are the only driving forces. The model correctly predicts that in the first half of the decade trade liberalization led to divergence in GDP per capita, both between the West and the East and within the East. Consistent with the data, in the second half of the decade, internal labor mobility in the East reversed this process, and convergence became the dominant force. The model furthermore shows that the same U-shaped pattern applies to relative industrialization of West and East, although within the East the hinterland continued to lose industry throughout the decade

Electrocardiografía en equinos fina sangre de carrera

The Thoroughbreds horses are highly competitive athletes under great physical demands. To achieve a good performance they need a constant adaptation process of the cardiovascular system to exercise. Within the routine examination of this system, a substantial number of cardiovascular abnormalities can be detected (arrhythmias, murmurs, splitting of heart sounds, etc.), since these animals are competing successfully, it is logical to think that these correspond to the expression of the adaptation process of the cardiovascular system to exercise and not necessarily organically based pathology. Therefore, a very important and useful tool is the collection and interpretation of an electrocardiogram (recording of electrical activity of the heart). Age, training, competition, gender, among others, are variables that affect some of the electrocardiographic parameters. To complete a proper interpretation of the electrical activity generated by cardiac mass, it is necessary to obtain a vector analysis of the electrocardiogram.    Los Equinos Fina Sangre de Carrera son caballos de alta competencia que se encuentran sometidos a grandes exigencias físicas. Para que estos ejemplares obtengan buenos rendimientos es necesario que en ellos ocurra un proceso constante de adaptación al ejercicio. Un número considerable de anormalidades cardiovasculares (arritmias, soplos, desdoblamientos de tonos cardíacos, etc.), pueden ser detectadas al realizar un examen cardiovascular de rutina. Sin embargo, muchos de los ejemplares a los cuales se les detectan dichas alteraciones, se encuentran compitiendo con éxito, por lo que resulta lógico pensar, que estas anomalías corresponden a la expresión del proceso de adaptación cardiovascular al ejercicio y no necesariamente a una patología de base orgánica. Por lo tanto, una herramienta muy importante es el registro e interpretación de un electrocardiograma (registro de la actividad eléctrica del corazón). La edad, entrenamiento, competencia, género, entre otras, son variables que pueden afectar los parámetros electrocardiográficos. Para completar el estudio de la actividad eléctrica generada por la masa cardíaca, es necesario realizar un análisis vectorial a partir del electrocardiograma.