Optimal Minimum Wage in a Competitive Economy: an Alternative Modelling Approach

This paper analyzes whether a minimum wage can be an optimal redistribution policy when distorting taxes and lump-sum transfers are also available in a competitive economy. We build a static general equilibrium model with a Ramsey planner making decisions on taxes, transfers, and minimum wage levels. Workers are assumed to differ only in their productivity. We find that optimal redistribution may imply the use of a minimum wage. The key factor driving our results is the reaction of the demand for low skilled labor to the minimum wage law. Hence, an optimal minimum wage appears to be most likely when low skilled households are scarce, the complementarity between the two types of workers is large or the difference in productivity is small. The main contribution of the paper is a modelling approach that allows us to adopt analysis and solution techniques widely used in recent public finance research. Moreover, this modelling strategy is flexible enough to allow for potential extensions to include dynamics into the model.

La Constitución Romana como mecanismo de inclusión y exclusión

Ejemplar dedicado a: "La ecúmene romana: espacios de integración y exclusión".

A note on bargaining power and managerial delegation in multimarket oligopolies

In a two-stage delegation game model with Nash bargaining between a manager and an owner, an equivalence result is found between this game and Fershtman and Judd's strategic delegation game (Fershtman and Judd, 1987). Interestingly, although both games are equivalent in terms of profits under certain conditions, managers obtain greater rewards in the bargaining game. This results in a redistribution of profits between owners and managers.

Adaptive Scalable SVD Unit for Fast Processing of Large LSE Problems

Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is a key linear algebraic operation in many scientific and engineering applications. In particular, many computational intelligence systems rely on machine learning methods involving high dimensionality datasets that have to be fast processed for real-time adaptability. In this paper we describe a practical FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) implementation of a SVD processor for accelerating the solution of large LSE problems. The design approach has been comprehensive, from the algorithmic refinement to the numerical analysis to the customization for an efficient hardware realization. The processing scheme rests on an adaptive vector rotation evaluator for error regularization that enhances convergence speed with no penalty on the solution accuracy. The proposed architecture, which follows a data transfer scheme, is scalable and based on the interconnection of simple rotations units, which allows for a trade-off between occupied area and processing acceleration in the final implementation. This permits the SVD processor to be implemented both on low-cost and highend FPGAs, according to the final application requirements.

Effects of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage in Germany on European Electricity Exchange and Welfare

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Barrios con privación y exclusión social. Estructura de oportunidades y aislamiento institucional

El número de la revista en el que está incluido este artículo ha sido publicado como monografía con el título de: Ciudades globales y culturas locales 2

Efectos macroeconómicos de la progresividad en los sistemas de seguridad social: una aplicación al caso de los Estados Unidos

[ES] Este trabajo estudia los potenciales efectos macroeconómicos de una reforma que aumente la progresividad del sistema de Seguridad Social de los Estados Unidos de América. Condicionados por los supuestos del modelo, los resultados abogan por un aumento en el bienestar social con un determinado aumento de la progresividad. Esto es debido a que la redistribución total de la renta de los más pudientes a los que cuentan con menos recursos origina un contexto de menor bienestar social. Además, los resultados respaldan la validez del tipo de cotización como herramienta para ajustar el nivel de progresividad del sistema y rechazan la tasa de reemplazo de la pensión como mecanismo para conseguir dicho fin.

Income tax progressivity, growth, income inequality and welfare

This paper analyzes the effects of personal income tax progressivity on long-run economic growth, income inequality and social welfare. The quantitative implications of income tax progressivity increments are illustrated for the US economy under three main headings: individual effects (reduced labor supply and savings, and increased dispersion of tax rates); aggregate effects (lower GDP growth and lower income inequality); and welfare effects (lower dispersion of consumption across individuals and higher leisure levels, but also lower growth of future consumption). The social discount factor proves to be crucial for this third effect: a higher valuation of future generations' well-being requires a lower level of progressivity. Additionally, if tax revenues are used to provide a public good rather than just being discarded, a higher private valuation of such public goods will also call for a lower level of progressivity.