Essays on the Political Economy of Taxation

In this dissertation we analyze the role of parties’ electoral competition in aggregating voters’ preferences over policy and its impact on tax design. The representation of voters’ interests is central for the analysis of public finance since the issue of aggregation is closely linked to the tradeoff between efficiency and redistribution, and the size and composition of public spending. Parties’ aggregation of preferences is related to the mechanism in which policy makers (parties) weigh the relative merits of competing goals of the tax system (in our analysis, redistribution versus efficiency), and reveals the welfare calculus throughout parties identify groups of individuals who might be beneficiated (hurt) by policy changes. In the first essay we analyze the influence of voters in modifying tax policy through tax initiatives. In this essay we argue that the process of aggregation of preferences between the competition for votes in a representative democracy and the majority rule are different. This, in turn, might lead to the approval of a tax rate limit (TRL) initiative. We argue that the rationale for a TRL proposal is to substitute feasible tax structures rather than to constrain the government’s power to collect taxes. In addition, we provide a model that predicts the tax structure that would arise as a result of a TRL The second essay addresses the role of voters’ partisan attitudes in the determination of fiscal policies. We argue that partisan attitudes and its distribution across the electorate influence the proportion of the expected votes that different coalitions deliver in the election. We identify conditions in which voters’ partisan attitudes affect the provision of a public good and the redistributive properties of the tax structure. The third essay extends our previous analysis of the impact of voters’ partisan attitudes on tax design by incorporating parties that are policy motivated. In this setting, the relative merits of efficiency versus redistribution in designing the tax system are determined by the process of aggregation of voters’ preferences and parties’ preferences over policy. The conflict between parties and the electorate’s preferences over tax policy depends on voters’ partisan attitudes. In particular, voters’ party affiliation soft parties’ electoral constraints, allowing parties to advance the interests of their constituents. The model predicts that redistribution (efficiency) will play a more prominent role for a party that represents a coalition of low (high) income individuals with a high (low) taste for public goods

Rethinking the Political Economy of Decentralization: How Elections and Parties Shape the Provision of Local Public Goods

Decentralization is among the most important global trends of the new century, yet there is still no consensus on how to design political institutions to realize its benefits. In this paper, we investigate the political conditions under which decentralization will improve the delivery of public goods. We begin by incorporating insights from political science and economics into a rigorous and formal extension of the “decentralization theorem”. Our extension assumes inter-jurisdictional spillovers and suggests that the interaction of democratic decentralization (popularly elected sub-national governments) and party centralization (the power of national party leaders over subnational office-seekers) will produce the best outcomes for public service delivery. To test this argument empirically, we make use of a new dataset of sub-national political institutions created for this project. Our analyses, which allow us to examine educational outcomes in more than 125 countries across more than 25 years, provide support for our theoretical expectations

Una Comparacion Sobre la Percepcion de la Utilidad del Modelo ITIL por Usuarios y Consultores en Mexico

Information technologies (IT) have become a key factor for the optimal implementation of business processes, to a degree in which the IT department becomes a service provider for the other departments in the organization. In Mexico several business have adopted the ITIL services standard created by the Office of Government Commerce of the United Kingdom. ITIL is a compendium of best practices of great dimensions, requiring extensive training. Given this, the perceived usefulness of adopting the standard may vary among IT professionals. In this work we are currently investigating about the perceived value of ITIL for both consultants and final users. Our research in progress intends to assess the current position about this standard in Mexico. The expected results should impact consultant efforts for supporting ITIL, as well as educational programs based on the standar

Fiscal Institutions and the Size and Inter-Regional Distribution of Public Redistribution (Instituciones Fiscales y el Tamaño y Distribución Inter-Regional de la Redistribución Pública)

Abstract Fiscal institutions, which are responsible for the delegation of tax and spending powers among different tiers of governments, are important determinants of the size and efficiency of public redistribution. In this paper we develop a comparative analysis of the impact of fiscal decentralization vis-à-vis tax revenue sharing on the government’s effort to redistribute income. The main findings are: first, the size of the national budget for public redistribution is the same under fiscal decentralization and tax revenue sharing. Second, different fiscal institutions lead to different regional distributions of public transfers. Third, when choosing between decentralization and tax revenue sharing, there is a tradeoff between the efficiency and the regional effort of the government to redistribute income. Resumen Las instituciones fiscales, que determinan la responsabilidad del diseño de impuestos y gasto entre los diferentes niveles de gobierno, son importantes determinantes del tamaño y eficiencia de la redistribución pública. En este artículo, se desarrolla un análisis comparativo del impacto en el esfuerzo del gobierno en redistribuir el ingreso, entre la descentralización fiscal en y una política de compartir el ingreso fiscal. Los principales resultados son: primero, el tamaño del presupuesto en redistribución es el mismo para una economía con descentralización o en la que se comparte el ingreso fiscal. Segundo, las instituciones fiscales implican una asignación diferente en la distribución regional de transferencias públicas. Tercero, al escoger entre descentralización y el compartir el ingreso fiscal, existe un intercambio entre la eficiencia y la distribución regional de las transferencias públicas

Infection of laboratory-colonized Anopheles darlingi mosquitoes by Plasmodium vivax.

Anopheles darlingi Root is the most important malaria vector in the Amazonia region of South America. However, continuous propagation of An. darlingi in the laboratory has been elusive, limiting entomological, genetic/genomic, and vector-pathogen interaction studies of this mosquito species. Here, we report the establishment of an An. darlingi colony derived from wild-caught mosquitoes obtained in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon region of Iquitos in the Loreto Department. We show that the numbers of eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults continue to rise at least to the F6 generation. Comparison of feeding Plasmodium vivax ex vivo of F4 and F5 to F1 generation mosquitoes showed the comparable presence of oocysts and sporozoites, with numbers that corresponded to blood-stage asexual parasitemia and gametocytemia, confirming P. vivax vectorial capacity in the colonized mosquitoes. These results provide new avenues for research on An. darlingi biology and study of An. darlingi-Plasmodium interactions

Fabrication of 2D based pn junctions with improved performance by selective laser annealing

There is a growing body of research on transistors based on nanomaterials such as 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) (WS2, MoS2, etc.) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Here we co-deposited MoS2 and WS2 as PN junctions. The deposition could be performed on a PCB (printed circuit board) with Cu electrodes. The current-voltage characteristics were obtained using an Arduino board. The effect of laser irradiation could be investigated by studying the IV curves and light sensitivity for the same kind of devices in which one of the Cu electrodes was modified by a laser. The IV curves from the devices with and without laser treatment could be compared to quantify the changes in performance

Suitability of equivalent linear soil models for analysing the seismic response of a concrete tunnel

Current methods of analysis for the seismic response of tunnels rely on linear elastic soil constitutive behaviour. This has obvious benefits in terms of minimising the number of soil parameters required and the complexity compared to more sophisticated soil models. However, it has recently become possible to parameterise sophisticated soil models using only routine data from boreholes or in-situ testing. This paper will therefore review the effectiveness of seismic analyses using an equivalent linear soil constitutive model, by comparison of 2D Finite Element simulations with those using an advanced non-linear elastic model with isotropic hardening plasticity. In the elastic case, the parameters have been estimated using Equivalent-linear Earthquake site Response Analyses software (EERA) and consideration will be given to the amount of sublayering that is required to match the variation of soil properties with depth. The tunnel considered is of horseshoe shape and sprayed concrete construction (New Austrian Tunnelling Method), based on metro tunnels in Santiago, Chile, subjected to the Llolleo ground motion from the 1985 Valparaiso Earthquake. The results will focus the differences in the induced structural forces within the tunnel lining and modification to the ground motion in the near-field of the tunnel, and discuss the implications of this for tunnel design

Effect of different organic amendments on yield, nutritional value and hygienic-sanitary quality in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)

La calidad y seguridad de los alimentos son motivo de preocupación en la población, lo que conlleva a una creciente demanda de alimentos orgánicos. El estudio se realizó en Viedma, durante los ciclos productivos otoño – invierno y primavera, entre 2007 y 2009. Se utilizaron diversos abonos orgánicos con diferentes dosis, incluyendo estiércol vacuno compostado, compost de cebolla- estiércol y un fertilizante orgánico comercial.Se evaluó el rendimiento del cultivo en cada ciclo, el contenido mineral en partes comestibles y en el momento de la cosecha, se determinó la calidad higiénicosanitaria de la espinaca, mediante análisis microbiológicos y el contenido de hierro y de vitaminas A y C.EEA Valle InferiorFil: Doñate, María Teresa. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Valle Inferior, ArgentinaFil: Sidoti Harttmann, Brunilda. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Valle Inferior, ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Raul A. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; Argentin

Gut Microbiome of an 11th Century A.D. Pre-Columbian Andean Mummy

The process of natural mummification is a rare and unique process from which little is known about the resulting microbial community structure. In the present study, we characterized the microbiome of paleofeces, and ascending, transverse and descending colon of an 11th century A.D. pre-Columbian Andean mummy by 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and metagenomics. Firmicutes were the most abundant bacterial group, with Clostridium spp. comprising up to 96.2% of the mummified gut, while Turicibacter spp. represented 89.2% of the bacteria identified in the paleofeces. Microbiome profile of the paleofeces was unique when compared to previously characterized coprolites that did not undergo natural mummification. We identified DNA sequences homologous to Clostridium botulinum, Trypanosoma cruzi and human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Unexpectedly, putative antibiotic-resistance genes including beta-lactamases, penicillin-binding proteins, resistance to fosfomycin, chloramphenicol, aminoglycosides, macrolides, sulfa, quinolones, tetracycline and vancomycin, and multi-drug transporters, were also identified. The presence of putative antibiotic-resistance genes suggests that resistance may not necessarily be associated with a selective pressure of antibiotics or contact with European cultures. Identification of pathogens and antibiotic-resistance genes in ancient human specimens will aid in the understanding of the evolution of pathogens as a way to treat and prevent diseases caused by bacteria, microbial eukaryotes and viruses