The impact of state-level R&D tax credits on the quantity and quality of entrepreneurship

The acceleration of start-up activity is often cited as a rationale for the R&D tax credit, a key innovation policy instrument adopted increasingly by US states over the past quarter century. While there is a strong empirical base linking the R&D tax credit to increased R&D expenditures and innovation, prior work has not provided causal evidence that this policy effects the rate of formation and growth potential of new businesses. This paper combines data from the US Startup Cartography Project with the Panel Database on Incentives and Taxes to implement a difference-in-differences estimate of the impact of the R&D tax credit on the quantity and quality-adjusted quantity of entrepreneurship. Our key finding is that the R&D tax credit is associated with a significant long-term impact on both the overall quantity and quality-adjusted quantity of entrepreneurship, with the bulk of the effect materializing more than five years after the policy is enacted. These findings stand in contrast to an analysis of the adoption of state-level investment tax credits. There, we observe no long-term impact on the quantity of entrepreneurship but a marked decline in the rate of formation of growth-oriented startups over time. Combined with other evidence regarding the efficacy of R&D tax credits in spurring innovative investment, our results shed light on the potential for this fiscal policy to also stimulate the formation of growth-oriented start-ups.Ewing Marion Kauffman FoundationPublished versio

The Impact of Capital Expenditure on the Probability of Reelection of Mayors at the District Level in Peru

Abstract. Until recently, elected authorities in Peru were allowed to run for re-election. The objective of this study is to test whether voters reward (or punish) elected authorities according to expenditure performance. In particular, I measure the probability of a mayor being reelected subject to their capital expenditure throughout the four-year term. I study the two most recent electoral terms: 2006-2010 and 2010-2014. To deal with the endogeneity of capital expenditure, the model controls for a number of characteristics of the elected authority and his or her political party (including the share of voted obtained in the previous election), for district characteristics and for other characteristics of the municipality. I find that mayors who get reelected for another four-year termare characterized by high levels of capital expenditure throughout the periods of 2007-2010 and 2011-2014. In particular, the years before the electoral processes, 2009 and 2013, seem to be of vital importance to determine the outcome of an election. A more refined question is answered by looking at both timing and type of expenditure which reveals that the electorate values the provision of public goods such as security, electrification, education, health and roads during the electoral term. Voters tend to punish projects related totransportation, communications and plumbing, which are characterized by the destruction of roads in the electoral years.Keywords. Reelection, Decentralization, Public capital expenditure, Local governments.JEL. D72, D73, H70

Addicted to Punishment: The Disproportionality of Drug Laws in Latin America

In Latin America, trafficking cocaine so it can be sold to someone who wants to use it is more serious than raping a woman or deliberately killingyour neighbor. While it may seem incredible, that is the conclusion of arigorous study of the evolution of criminal legislation in the region, which shows that countries' judicial systems mete out harsher penalties for traffickingeven modest amounts of drugs than for acts as heinous as sexua lassault or murder.How have we reached such an unjust and irrational point? In recent decades, especially the 1980s, Latin American countries, influenced by aninternational prohibitionist model, fell -- ironically -- into what we mightmetaphorically call an addiction to punishment.Addiction creates the need to consume more and more drugs, whichhave less and less effect; ultimately, the problematic user simply consumesdrugs to avoid withdrawal. Drug legislation in Latin America seems to have followed a similar path. Countries have an ever-growing need to add crimes and increase the penalties for drug trafficking, supposedly to control an expanding illegal market, while this increasingly punitive approach has less and less effect on decreasing the supply and use of illegal drugs.This report explores whether the recent evolution of criminal legislation in Latin American countries with regard to drug-related conducts respects these minimal guarantees to which criminal law should be subject, and especially whether that criminal legislation can be considered proportionate to the harm caused by prohibited conducts. Ultimately, the question is whether the crimes and punishments outlined in national legislation are proportionate. If the answer is no, the conclusion should be that they may even be unconstitutional within the framework of a constitutional state.To address this question, the report explores the recent development of criminal laws on drug-related crime in seven Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Mexico. These countries were chosen based on two basic criteria. First, they are of academic importance, because they have different drug-related problems, different geographic locations, diverse contexts and different political systems. According to traditional categorization, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia are considered producer countries; Mexico and even Brazil are considered trans-shipment countries. They also represent the different regions of Latin America,from the Southern Cone to the furthest Spanish-speaking country in North America.This report has three main parts. The first provides a conceptual and methodological overview of the elements that form the basis of the analysis.The second describes the principal recent trends in criminal drug legislation in Latin America. The third analyzes the proportionality of drug-related crimes and punishment in the countries, comparing them with penalties for other serious crimes, followed by some conclusions

Environmental Law and Free Trade in the Americas

This July, the Dominican Republic-Central America-US Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) commemorated its tenth anniversary. The member states –the United States, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic-- reaffirmed their shared commitment to promote sound environmental policies that ensure high levels of environmental protection while encouraging trade and investment that is in line with such polices. To its CAFTADR partners, the United States represents their most significant economic partner. Yet, many of these countries face similar challenges associated with the degradation of natural resources, the management of water resources, the enforcement of environmental laws, the illegal trade of wildlife, including marine resources, and the conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems that call for the promotion of regional initiatives that enhance national capacities to address these challenges. The discussants will focus on: What role CAFTA-DR’s environmental mandate has played in promoting best practices in the context of trade and investment in the treaty’s first decade. This program will provide a timely discussion as free trade agreements, such as the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, are facing hostility among the U.S. public today

Síntesis y extracción de sustancias húmicas a partir de residuos orgánicos compostados provenientes de la industria alimentaria Lima, Perú 2022

En el Perú el volumen de residuos orgánicos alimentarios está entre el 47% y el 50% del total de residuos sólidos proveniente de la industria alimentaria y otros eslabones de la cadena, siendo las causas de este problema el inadecuado manejo integral y su disposición final. En ese sentido objetivo fue evaluar la síntesis y extracción de sustancias húmicos del compost de residuos orgánicos señalados. La metodología consistió en la compostación vertical (120 días) de 4 pilas más microorganismos activados, el agua en la remoción y ventilación; luego siguió la humificación por 60 días más. En los resultados finales las cuatro (4) pilas de compostación tuvieron valores de síntesis en ácidos húmicos (%) 3.44±0.5; 3.30±0.5; 3.56±0.5; 2.54±0.5; y en ácidos fúlvicos: (%) 1.31±0.3; 1.46±0.3; 1.28±0.3; 0.83±0.3; con rendimientos de compost por encima del 35% y una humedad sobre el 49%. Los valores del pH están 5 y 7. Con respecto a la capacidad de intercambio catiónico más baja y la más alta fue 51.3 meq/100g. Finalmente el compost obtenido proporcionó un buen índice de germinación en el maíz

Influencia del origen del jefe de hogar en el destino vacacional de las familias pertenecientes al G.S.E. alto y medio de Talca.

97 p.Este estudio tiene por objetivo principal investigar la posible relación entre el origen (rural o urbano) del jefe(a) de hogar, con el destino vacacional elegido. Para lograr este objetivo se aplic6 un cuestionario, basado en un muestreo aleatorio estratificado aproporcional (M.A.E.A), a 162 jefes(as) de hogar de los grupos socioecon6micos(G.S.E) ABC1(alto) y C2C3(medio) de la ciudad de Talca. La mitad de los jefes de hogares estuvieron compuestos por personas de origen rural y la otra mitad de origen urbano. El diseño muestral asumió inicialmente varianza máxima, un nivel de confianza(1- x) de 95% y un error muestral (e) final de 7,7%. Los resultados (sin agrupar los destinos vacacionales) indican que los turistas al elegir sus destinos vacacionales prefirieron la playa. Al agrupar Ios destinos vacacionales, en "rurales" (Campo, lago, rió, pueblo, montaña, parque y terma) y "no-rurales" (playa y ciudad) se apreci6 una tendencia por elegir un destino vacacional de acuerdo al origen del jefe de hogar. Es decir, el jefe de hogar de origen rural se inclin6 por el destino vacacional rural, en cambio el de origen urbano por el destino vacacional no-rural. Por ende, la investigaci6n exploratoria indica que el origen del jefe de hogar esta asociado con el destino vacacional elegido. Así, se estableci6 la relación origen-destino. Por lo tanto, es factible la segmentación del mercado turístico en base al origen del jefe de hogar

Aprendizaje de Vocabulario a través de Videos instructivos subtitulados

This quantitative and qualitative research paper attempts to demonstrate to what extent instructional subtitled videos influence students’ vocabulary learning. The main objective is to know how this visual strategy contributes to increasing students’ new vocabulary power in meaningful contexts. This is an action–research study, which is based on the use of qualitative and quantitative methods. The applied data collection techniques included the following: a) a pre–test, in order to identify students’ difficulties regarding vocabulary, b) three classroom observations in which three lesson plans, based on ESA (Engage, Study, and Activate) Model,  were done;  c) a teacher-researcher’s diary to reflect about students’ performance in the whole implementation process was used, d) a semi-structured interview was designed in order to collect participants’ comments on subtitled videos,  and e) a post-test by measuring students’ vocabulary knowledge for language improvement. The analysis of the data showed that the use of instructional subtitled videos helped students to learn vocabulary. The intervention stage helped participants to perform better on the post-test than the pre-test. The target words were contextualized and presented through the combination of sounds, images, and text, simultaneously. The data also showed that the participants considered that the videos were useful to remember the new words and to use them in meaningful communicative contexts. After discussing the findings of the study in the light of the theory, its implications and limitations, as well as some considerations for further research, were presented