Semblanzas Ictiológicas: Matías Pandolfi

través de esta serie intentaremos conocer diferentes facetas personales de los integrantes de nuestra “comunidad”. El cuestionario, además de su principal objetivo, con sus respuestas quizás nos ayude a encontrar entre nosotros puntos en común que vayan más allá de nuestros temas de trabajo y sea un aporte a futuros estudios históricos. Esperamos que esta iniciativa pueda ser otro nexo entre los ictiólogos de la región,ya que consideramos que el resultado general trascendería nuestras fronteras

How tight should one's hands be tied? Fear of floating and credibility of exchange regimes.

The literature on exchange regimes has recently observed that officially self-declared free floaters strongly intervene their nominal exchange rates to maintain them within some unannounced bands. In this paper, we provide an explanation for this behavior, labeled by Calvo and Reinhart (2002) as fear of floating. First, we analyze the linkages between the credibility of the exchange regime, the volatility of the exchange rate and the band width of fluctuation. Second, the model is used to understand the reduction in volatility experienced by most ERM countries after their target zones were widened on August 1993. Finally, solving the model for a subgame perfect equilibrium, fear of floating can be viewed as the credible choice of a finite non-zero bandFear of floating, target zones, exchange rate arrangements, credibility

On the Choice of an Exchange Regime: Target Zones Revisited

From the classical gold standard up to the current ERM2 arrangement of the European Union, target zones have been a widely used exchange regime in contemporary history. This paper presents a benchmark model that rationalizes the choice of target zones over the rest of regimes: the fixed rate, the free float and the managed float. It is shown that the monetary authority may gain efficiency by reducing volatility of both the exchange rate and the interest rate at the same time. Furthermore, the model is consistent with some known stylised facts in the empirical literature that previous models were not able to produce, namely, the positive relation between the exchange rate and the interest rate differential, the degree of non-linearity of the function linking the exchange rate to fundamentals and the shape of the exchange rate stochastic distribution.Infrastructures, taxes, efficiency, social welfare

The optimal degree of exchange rate flexibility: A target zone approach

This paper presents a benchmark model that rationalizes the choice of the degree of exchange rate flexibility. We show that the monetary authority may gain efficiency by reducing volatility of both the exchange rate and the interest rate at the same time. Furthermore, the model is consistent with some known stylized facts in the empirical literature on target zones that previous models were not able to generate jointly, namely, the positive relation between the exchange rate and the interest rate differential, the degree of non-linearity of the function linking the exchage rate to fundamentals and the shape of the exchange rate stochastic distribution.Target zones, exchange rate agreements, monetary policy, time consistency.

Towards a Unified Framework for Declarative Structured Communications

We present a unified framework for the declarative analysis of structured communications. By relying on a (timed) concurrent constraint programming language, we show that in addition to the usual operational techniques from process calculi, the analysis of structured communications can elegantly exploit logic-based reasoning techniques. We introduce a declarative interpretation of the language for structured communications proposed by Honda, Vasconcelos, and Kubo. Distinguishing features of our approach are: the possibility of including partial information (constraints) in the session model; the use of explicit time for reasoning about session duration and expiration; a tight correspondence with logic, which formally relates session execution and linear-time temporal logic formulas

Ichthyological ecoregions of Argentina

The Argentine Republic is situated in the southernmost portion of the American continent, occupying over 2,785,600 km2 not including the Antarctic territory. The country ranges from subtropical areas (21º46’S) to subantarctic regions (55º03’S), extending latitudinally over about 4,000 km. It possesses significant latitudinal and altitudinal variation (33º of latitudinal range, and heights from Bajo de San Julián in Santa Cruz province at 105 m below sea level, up to Mt. Aconcagua, 6,959 m over sea level), as well as two gradients of physical variability, extending in north-south and east-west directions. Owing to these features, the country presents a wide range of climates and soil types, being one of the countries with greatest diversity of biogeographical units (Lean et al., 1990, In: Bertonatti & Corcuera, 2000). There are four main hydrographic systems: Río de la Plata basin, the Atlantic and Pacific drainages, and several endorrheic systems. Within these basins, the ichthyofaunistic assemblage is well represented, with different magnitude in accordance with the different taxonomic groupings and regions considered. From an ichthyogeographic standpoint, and according to the works of Ringuelet (1975) and Arratia et al. (1983), Argentina is included in the Brasilic and Austral Subregions. The first of these is represented by two domains: the Andean Domain, comprising the southernmost portion of Titicaca Province, and the Paranensean Domain, including part of Alto Paraná and Paranoplatensean Provinces. The Austral Subregion is represented in Argentina by the Subandean-Cuyan and Patagonian Provinces. The present survey indicates that there are about 441 fish species in Argentina, distributed throughout the country; this number represents less than 10% of the total fish species occurring in the Neotropical Region. There is a recognizable trend of faunal impoverishment, both in North-South and East-West direction, reaching its maximum expression in the provinces of Tierra del Fuego (situated at approximately 52º30’S to 55ºS, and 65ºS to 68º50’W) and San Juan (approximately 28º50’S and 67ºW to 70º45’W), which have 4 and 5 fish species respectively. In north-south direction, one of the regional indicators of this phenomenon is the Salado river basin in Buenos Aires province, which constitutes the southern distributional boundary for the majority of the paranoplatensean ichthyofauna; 12 of the families occurring in the Paraná-Plata system are absent from this pauperized paranensean ichthyofaunal assemblage. Most of the continental fish fauna of Argentina belongs to the primary division of Myers (1949), while some elements are included in the secondary division and others in an amphibiotic or ‘marine penetration’ category. This ichthyofaunistic scope encompasses a wide range of morphological, biological, ecological and ethological types (benthic and pelagic, migrating and sedentary, haematophagous or parasites, annual species, inhabitants of plains or heights, estivation-adapted, etc.) inhabiting different regions within the national territory

¿Porque el desempleo en Ibagué ha sido tan alto?

Hasta el año 2000, el desempleo de Ibagué era similar al de las otras ciudades. Sólo desde entonces, comenzó a exhibir niveles más altos y persistentes. En este artículo se sostiene que ese mayor desempleo se origina principalmente en factores de demanda. A diferencia de lo ocurrido en las demás ciudades, en Ibagué la crisis iniciada en la segunda mitad de los noventa fue más larga y más prolongada; apenas recientemente está saliendo de ella. La mayor participación laboral de la ciudad ha sido -no la causa del desempleo- sino más bien un síntoma de la depresión en que se sumió por largos años la economía moderna. El elevado y persistente desempleo que ha exhibido Ibagué ha sido una manifestación sistémica de la baja calidad del empleo (la alta informalidad); los bajos ingresos laborales y la pobreza de la ciudad y no admite soluciones particulares por grupos poblacionales. Para reducirlo hay que modernizar el empleo y elevar la productividad y los ingresos; se requiere de la movilización de las fuerza sociales locales y el concurso del Gobierno Nacional. Por el lado del desarrollo futuro y de los retos locales generados los diversos acuerdos de libre comercio en que se comprometa el país, es preciso afinar las prioridades y compromisos en materia de "Agenda Interna" para el Tolima y para Ibagué. Paralelamente, las autoridades locales deben -en colaboración con las fuerzas sociales y los gremios- elaborar un Plan de largo plazo contra la pobreza y en particular contra extrema que, debe hacer énfasis en la lucha contra el desempleo y complementarlo con algunas estrategias en materia educativa.Desempleo, participación laboral, Pobreza, Planificación regional Classification JEL: I32; J21; J64; P41