This article presents the main results of the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA) for Costa Rica in 2009 and then goes on to analyse the gap
between the scores of students attending private schools and those attending public
schools. However, the estimation of an education production function using these
data shows that this gap is not entirely attributable to whether schools are public
or private, but that instead the students' family environment, personal traits and, in
particular, the student's grade level at the time that the PISA test was taken are all
quite in…
This article explores the connection between labour market segregation and
motherhood wage penalties in Argentina across the formal and informal sectors. It
uses ordinary least square and quantile regression estimation strategies and deploys
Blinder-Oaxaca and Ñopo decompositions to identify sources of wage differences.
The finding is that there is strong evidence of labour market segmentation and that
motherhood wage penalties differ substantively across the sectors and between
different wage quantiles. In particular, formal-sector working mothers do not
experience wage penalties, while infor…
Working from home is an option that differs from other forms of employment. This
type of employment is driven not only by globalization and outsourcing, but also by
unequal gender relationships within the home. Two multi-logistic regressions were
used to determine how the distribution of in-home working arrangements differs by
sex and by male/female age range, level of education, marital status and degree of
urbanization of the place of residence. The results suggest that these characteristics
have a differential influence on men's and women's employment decisions. The
results also i…
Regional and productive inequality may stem from the agricultural modernization
process, in which some agents are able to incorporate and absorb technological
content, while others are excluded, not only from the innovative organizational
environment, but also from learning processes and the dissemination of new
production techniques and knowledge. This paper analyses family farming, by
making comparisons in regional terms and by groups of producers using high,
medium and low technology. It also calculates the productive inequality index (Gini
coefficient of gross income) of the north, north-e…
No pricing system is likely to be able to do away with congestion in port cargo
transfer operations at peak times, since port use is determined not so much by
seasonal factors as, first and foremost, by the simultaneous arrival of vessels, which
results in rationing. This article shows that rationing, to be efficient, needs to go by
the value of the cargo transferred rather than following a first-come-first-served rule.
It demonstrates that efficient rationing gives priority to containerized cargo, followed
by break bulk cargo, with bulk cargo in last place. These findings are applied to
cargo…
This article analyses the performance of transnational corporations in Chilean
manufacturing industry. The findings show that while the productivity of subsidiaries
of foreign-owned firms is higher than that of local firms, the same is not true of
productivity growth. They also show that there are no significant differences in
market survival rates between transnational corporations and local firms. However,
firms under mainly foreign ownership that are small and have low productivity are
more likely to exit the market, displaying more footloose behaviour than their local
counterparts. This is…
Previous studies about the relationship between the cyclical components of Mexico's
output and unemployment suggest that it closely resembles that found in the
economy of the United States of America. This would indicate that the dynamics
between output and labour markets in the two economies are rather similar. However,
these estimates are puzzling for they do not correspond to a characterization made
to Mexico's labour market. Using a methodology first proposed by Clark (1989),
we find that the correlation between the transitory components of output and
unemployment is much lower t…
This article presents and discusses empirical evidence on external technology
absorption facilitated by activities performed inside firms. Indicators of internal
and external learning are developed and applied in statistical causality models, to
distinguish possible ways in which technology can be absorbed. Industrial activity
sectors at the three-digit level of the National Classification of Economic Activities
(NACE) are the basic reference units of the research, which uses the information
generated by Brazil's Survey of Technological Innovation (PINTEC). The results show
that in-house …
Most economic and labour studies focus on work in the market, leaving aside the great number of activities dedicated to personal, family and social well-being. In recent decades, many researchers have criticized the main thrust of employment studies that assimilate work with a paid activity performed for the market, demonstrating that paid participation in the production of goods and services is not enough to satisfy human needs and to preserve social cohesion.
For several decades now, time use studies have provided a mass of information on the manner in which people use their time, contributi…
En esta publicación se examina la forma en que la financiación de la deuda externa ha evolucionado en las últimas tres décadas. Se remonta 30 años y se analiza la trayectoria de la región de América Latina y el Caribe desde la singular perspectiva del acceso a los mercados financieros internacionales. Como el título indica, esta trayectoria ha sido una montaña rusa, con muchos altibajos, y momentos de angustia y pánico.
Los acontecimientos de las últimas tres décadas, tal como se describen en este libro, indican que un acceso más amplio y más barato a los mercados internacionales de capital pu…
The boom in international prices for metals, oil and other commodities was caused by the rising global demand for these items on the back of the extraordinary growth seen in China’s economy and in other emerging economies over the past decade, among other factors. Demand for iron, copper and aluminum, as well as other export minerals, is linked to construction, infrastructure and manufacturing growth (which require inputs such as steel, electrical conductors and industrial metals). These sectors expanded rapidly as emerging economies embarked on a path of accelerated economic development durin…
El auge que exhiben los precios internacionales de los metales, el petróleo y otros productos primarios está determinado, entre otros factores, por el incremento de la demanda mundial de estos bienes, a raíz de la extraordinaria expansión económica de China y otras economías emergentes durante la última década. La demanda de hierro, cobre y aluminio, entre otros minerales de exportación, está asociada al crecimiento de los sectores de la construcción, la infraestructura y la manufactura (que requieren acero, conductores eléctricos y metales industriales, entre otros). Estos sectores presentaro…
O auge dos preços internacionais dos metais, do petróleo e outros produtos primários é determinado, entre outros fatores, pelo aumento da demanda mundial desses bens, devido à extraordinária expansão econômica da China e outras economias emergentes durante a última década. A demanda de ferro, cobre e alumínio, entre outros minerais de exportação, está associada ao crescimento dos setores da construção, infraestrutura e manufatura (que requerem aço, condutores elétricos e metais industriais, entre outros). Estes setores apresentaram uma rápida expansão no âmbito do processo de aceleração do des…
El fortalecimiento del Fondo Latinoamericano de Reservas (FLAR) por la vía de expandir su tamaño y cobertura para incluir a un mayor número de países de la región sería un aporte importante a la provisión de un bien público regional y global como lo es la estabilidad financiera. Este trabajo intenta arrojar luz sobre la viabilidad, las implicancias y los desafíos, de una eventual ampliación del FLAR a otros cinco países de la región: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, México y Paraguay.…