Social security, education retirement and growth

This paper analyzes, firstly, the expected effects of social security reforms that have been implemented in Spain after 2004 (and, secondly, the expected effects of reductions in the minimum pension) on retirement decision and human capital accumulation (and hence on growth and on income inequality). Individuals in our model economy differ in their innate ability and growth is a by-product of the most skilled individuals’ productivity. According to our model, i) increases in the minimum and normal retirement ages are expected to have a strong effect, not only on individuals’ retirement decisions, but also on their education investment; ii) augmented incentives to late retirement are not expected to have any effect; iii) reductions in the minimum pension are not expected to have a significant effect unless it is completely eliminated.Social Security; Pay-as-you-go; Voluntary Retirement; Human Capital; Minimum Pen

R&D policy in Economies with Endogenous Growth and Non Renewable Resources

The aim of this paper is to analyze how active R&D policies affect the growth rate of an economy with endogenous growth and non-renewable resources. We know from Scholz and Ziemens (1999) and Groth (2006) that in infinitely lived agents (ILA) economies, any active R&D policy increases the growth rate of the economy. To see if this result also appears in economies with finite lifetime agents, we developed an endogenous growth overlapping generations (OLG) economy à la Diamond which uses non-renewable resources as essential inputs in final good’s production. We show analytically that any R&D policy that reduces the use of natural resources implies a raise in the growth rate of the economy. Numerically we show that in economies with low intertemporal elasticity of substitution (IES), active R&D policies lead the economy to increase the depletion of non-renewable resources. Nevertheless, we find that active R&D policies always imply increases in the endogenous growth rate, in both scenarios. Furthermore, when the IES coefficient is lower (greater) than one, active R&D policies affect the growth rate of the economy in the ILA more (less) than in OLG economies.Crecimiento endógeno, I+D, recursos no renovables, sendas de crecimiento, estable,endogenous growth, R&D, non-renewable resources, overlapping generations, infinitely lived agents, balanced growth path.

Growth in an oil abundant economy: the case of Venezuela

Venezuela's growth experience over the past fifty years is characterised by a high economic growth rate from 1950 to 1977 and a low economic growth rate over the 1977-2003 period. In particular, we show that the country has been in a ‘great depression’ since the late seventies. We also show that although Venezuela has an oil abundant economy, this growth experience is largely due to the evolution of its real non-oil GDP. We perform a growth accounting exercise to quantify the extent to which the growth experience in the non-oil sector is a result of physical capital accumulation, finding that non-oil sector behavior can largely be explained by the evolution of TFP. Finally, we also make some correlations to determine whether the oil sector has affected the non-oil sector, either through its capital accumulation or through its TFP. We find that the correlation between oil revenues and capital per worker or non-oil TFP is always negative.Financial support received from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science through Projects SEJ2007-62081/ECON and SEJ2006-10827/ECON, the University of the Basque Country through UPV GIU06/41 and the Basque Government through HM-2007-1-4

R&D Policy in Economies with Endogenous Growth and Non-Renewable Resources

The aim of this paper is to analyze how active R&D policies affect the growth rate of an economy with endogenous growth and non-renewable resources. We know from Scholz and Ziemens (1999) and Groth (2006) that in infinitely lived agents (ILA) economies, any active R&D policy increases the growth rate of the economy. To see if this result also appears in economies with finite lifetime agents, we developed an endogenous growth overlapping generations (OLG) economy à la Diamond which uses non-renewable resources as essential inputs in final good’s production. We show analytically that a sufficient condition guaranteeing that an active R&D policy increases the growth rate of the economy actually implies a reduction of the use of the non-renewable resources. Numerically we show that in economies with low intertemporal elasticity of substitution (IES), active R&D policies lead the economy to increase the depletion of non-renewable resources. Nevertheless, we find that active R&D policies always imply increases in the endogenous growth rate, in both scenarios. Furthermore, when the IES coefficient is lower (greater) than one, active R&D policies affect the growth rate of the economy in the ILA more (less) than in OLG economies.Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, through Projects SEJ2006-12793/ECON, SEJ2007-62081/ECON and SEJ2006-10827/ECON, and Universidad del PaÌs Vasco through Grupo de InvestigaciÛn Consolidado UPV GIU06/41

Proyecto de intervenciòn psicoterapéutica y psicosocial a pìe de calli: “no pases de largo: historias del bottellòn” (Progetto di intervento psicoterapeutico e psicosociale di strada: “non girare alla larga: storie di bottiglia”

Riflessioni sull’articol

Análisis observacional de los movimientos ilegales en la iniciación al ajedrez:: identificando dificultades en el entendimiento del juego

Within the observational methodology, and based on a detailed analysis of FIDE laws of Chess, an observation system has been developed ad hoc for analyzing the illegal moves that children commit in chess. The reliability of the resulting data was confirmed by analysis of interobserver agreement, using Cohen’s kappa statistic. The results of the generalizability study confirmed the generalizability of results and the validity of the observation instrument. A Lag Sequential Analysis was performed to identify significant associations between categorical variables in each of the seven types of illegal movements characterized (castling, pinned, king to threatened square, incorrect movement of piece, promotion, occupation, do not remove check). The results obtained in the analysis of illegal movements, reveal the difficulties that the child finds in the understanding and practice of chess.En el seno de la metodología observacional, y a partir de un pormenorizado análisis del reglamento -Leyes FIDE-, se ha elaborado un sistema de observación ad hoc que permite analizar los movimientos ilegales en el ajedrez de iniciación. La fiabilidad de los datos, en forma de concordancia inter-observadores, se ha garantizado mediante el coeficiente Kappa de Cohen. En el seno de la Teoría de la Generalizabilidad, se han realizado dos planes de medida que han permitido garantizar la generalizabilidad de los resultados obtenidos y la validez del instrumento de observación. Se ha realizado un análisis de residuos ajustados en la búsqueda de relación asociativa entre variables categóricas, en cada uno de los siete tipos de movimientos ilegales caracterizados (enroque; clavada; rey a casilla amenazada; movimiento incorrecto de pieza; promoción del peón; ocupación de casillas; no remover al jaque). Los resultados obtenidos en el análisis de los movimientos ilegales, revelan las dificultades que el niño encuentra en el entendimiento y práctica del ajedrez, constituyendo una valiosa información que contribuya a optimizar el proceso de iniciación de los niños en el ajedrez.Dentro da metodologia observacional, e com base em uma análise detalhada dos regulamentos -Leyes FIDE-, um sistema de observação ad hoc foi desenvolvido para analisar os movimentos ilegais no xadrez de iniciação. A confiabilidade dos dados, na forma de concordância interobservador, foi garantida pelo coeficiente Kappa de Cohen. Dentro da Teoria da Generalização, foram feitos dois planos de medição que asseguraram a generalização dos resultados obtidos e a validade do instrumento de observação. Uma análise dos resíduos ajustados foi feita na busca por uma relação associativa entre variáveis categóricas, em cada um dos sete tipos de movimentos ilegais caracterizados (roque, craving, rei a quadrado ameaçado, movimento incorreto da peça, promoção do peão, ocupação de caixas, não retire o cheque). Os resultados obtidos na análise de movimentos ilegais, revelam as dificuldades que a criança encontra no entendimento e na prática do xadrez, constituindo uma informação valiosa que contribui para otimizar o processo de iniciação das crianças no xadrez

Income Taxation and Finite Horizons in a Human Capital Model

We address the issue ofcapital vs. labor income taxation in an overlapping generationsmodel with a positive externality in the human capital production.We compare the performance of the economy in the steady stateunder different tax policies. Three results are obtained. First,the size of the tax revenue required strongly affects the optimal(welfare maximizing) capital-labor income tax portfolio. Inparticular, a zero physical capital income tax rate need notbe optimal. Second, the way in which the finite life cycle issplit between the working and the retirement period also matters.And third, the size of the externality in the human capital productionalso affects the optimal income tax rate mix. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2000human capital, income taxation, lifetime horizon,

Growth in an oil abundant economy: The case of Venezuela

Venezuela’s growth experience over the 56-year period from 1950 to 2006 was characterized by a high economic growth rate from 1950 to 1974 and a low economic growth rate from 1974 to 2006. We show that the country has been immersed in a ‘great depression’ since the mid-seventies. We also show that although Venezuela is an oil abundant economy, this growth experience is largely due to the evolution of its non-oil GDP. We perform a growth accounting exercise to quantify the extent to which the growth experience in the non-oil sector is a result of physical capital accumulation, finding that non-oil sector behavior can largely be explained by the evolution of total factor productivity (TFP). Finally, we calculate the correlations between oil rents and physical capital accumulation and TFP in the non-oil sector, finding a high positive correlation during the good performance period, but a negative correlation in the implosion period.growth accounting, TFP, oil rents

Growth in an oil abundant economy: The case of Venezuela

Venezuela's growth experience over the past fifty years has been characterized by a high economic growth rate during the period (1950-70), and a low economic growth rate in the last thirty years. Although Venezuela is an oil abundant economy, this growth experience is largely accounted for by the evolution of the real non-oil GDP. We use growth accounting to quantify to what extent the growth experience in the non-oil sector is due to physical capital accumulation and we find that whereas in the period 1950-1980 most of its growth experience is accounted for by the evolution of its TFP, this is not the case in the period 1980-1998. Nonetheless, the dynamics of the Venezuelan GDP is mainly driven by the non-oil GDP; the use of oil revenues by the Government may help to understand, at least in part, the growth experience of the non-oil sector of the venezuelan economy. Through the calculation of some correlations, we find that in quantitative terms the e.ect of the oil rents to physical capital accumulation is higher than its e.ect on the non-oil TFP. Finally, we have constructed a Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans model able to check the importance of Venezuelan public policies