All-pay auction equilibria in contests

We analyze (non-deterministic) contests with anonymous contest success functions. There is no restriction on the number of contestants or on their valuations for the prize. We provide intuitive and easily verifiable conditions for the existence of an equilibrium with properties similar to the one of the (deterministic) all-pay auction. Since these conditions are fulfilled for a wide array of situations, the predictions of this equilibrium are very robust to the specific details of the contest. An application of this result contributes to fill a gap in the analysis of the popular Tullock rent- seeking game because it characterizes properties of an equilibrium for increasing returns to scale larger than two, for any number of contestants and in contests with or without a common value. Keywords: (non-) deterministic contest, all-pay auction, contest success functions. JEL Classification Numbers: C72 (Noncooperative Games), D72 (Economic Models of Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Elections), D44 (Auctions).

Estudio de sincronización cooperativa en redes de sensores

En este informe se estudia cómo es posible utilizar redes de sensores inalámbricos (WSN), para la localización de determinados eventos. Se hace un estudio previo de cómo una red de sensores puede llegar a estar sincronizada de una manera cooperativa, interactuando todos los sensores de la red entre sí. Primero se realiza el estudio para la sincronización de dos sensores con frecuencias diferentes, viéndose los parámetros que intervienen para que esta sincronización se realice con éxito, y también los efectos que en ella se produce al añadirle ruido. Seguidamente, se realiza el estudio para la sincronización de redes de N sensores, de manera que interactúen entre ellos de forma cooperativa. Se observan las características de la sincronización cuando todos los sensores llegan a consenso y, después, se busca la forma para que el consenso tienda hacia un valor determinado por mutuo acuerdo de los sensores. Finalmente, a partir de las características obtenidas en el consenso de N sensores, se realiza una aplicación práctica para la localización de eventos por medio del consenso de estas redes de sensores inalámbricos.

Ad-Pay: Programa de control de bons d'hores

Sistema de fidelització de clients mitjançant bons d’hores que el client anirà recarregant i del que se li descomptaran les feines que se li vagin fent. També ha d’ajudar a assegurar-se el cobrament de les feines realitzades. L’aplicació és capaç de mantenir una cartera de clients amb el seu saldo de bons, fer les imposicions de diners i introduir els albarans de les feines produïdes. També mostra dades interessants perquè el gerent de l’empresa client pugui treure les estadístiques necessàries per explotar al màxim la capacitat de la seva empresa.

The Part-time pay penalty in a segmented labor market

This paper is the first to examine the implications of switching to PT work for women's subsequent earnings trajectories, distinguishing by their type of contract: permanent or fixedterm. Using a rich longitudinal Spanish data set from Social Security records of over 76,000 prime-aged women strongly attached to the Spanish labor market, we find that PT work aggravates the segmentation of the labor market insofar there is a PT pay penalty and this penalty is larger and more persistent in the case of women with fixed-term contracts. The paper discusses problems arising in empirical estimation (including a problem not discussed in the literature up to now: the differential measurement error of the LHS variable by PT status), and how to address them. It concludes with policy implications relevant for Continental Europe and its dual structure of employment protection.

Sistema didàctic per millorar l'aprenetatge de la representació del espai arquitectònic amb ajuts "on line"

El projecte ha tingut com a finalitat cobrir un buit en la formació dels estudiants pel que respecta a les seves limitacions en l’aprenentatge de les diferents estratègies i metodologies de treball. Aquest buit ens ha fet pensar en l’elaboració d’un sistema didàctic que possibiliti una comunicació fluida amb l’alumne i que pugui anar més enllà de l’àmbit específic de les aules. Es per això que la nostra proposta té com a referent un aprofitament més racional del temps de treball de l’estudiant. Per tal d’arribar a aquesta finalitat ens hem plantejat un grup d’objectius concrets ordenats segons els dos nivells d’assoliment següents: Nivell 1: - Definir un material didàctic que pugui transmetre de la manera més objectiva possible les eines necessàries per tal que l’alumne resolgui un conjunt de problemes concrets. - Proporcionar a l’estudiant un procediment didàctic basat en un grup de tasques amb un material de suport on ha de posar a prova l’aplicabilitat dels conceptes donats a les classes teòriques. - Partir d’un sistema que permeti a l’alumne tenir una referència constant de recolzament teòric fora de les aules quan està resolent les pràctiques assignades en el curs. - Definir unes característiques funcionals del material utilitzat en l’activitat pràctica de tal manera que sigui un instrument efectiu per al control del propi estudiant sobre el seu procés d’avaluació. Nivell 2: - Fer servir una metodologia d’activitats pràctiques on es puguin accentuar les capacitats de resposta creativa individual de l’estudiant. - Plantejar l’intercanvi d’experiències i propostes d’estratègies per a la resolució dels temes pràctics mitjançant sessions de seminaris prèvies a les pràctiques. - Promoure unes relacions transversals amb altres àrees de coneixement de tal manera que l’alumne pugui vincular la seva resposta a les activitats pràctiques proposades per altres assignatures, amb els coneixements adquirits a la nostra assignatura.

An investigation on the pay-off to generic competences for core employees in Catalan manufacturing firms

The aim of this paper is to measure the returns to human capital. We use a unique data set consisting of matched employer-employee information. Data on individuals' human capital include a set of 26 competences that capture the utilization of workers' skills in a very detailed way. Thus, we can expand the concept of human capital and discuss the type of skills that are more productive in the workplace and, hence, generate a higher payoff for the workers. The rich information on firm's and workplace characteristics allows us to introduce a broad range of controls and to improve previous research in this field. This paper gives evidence that the returns to generic competences differ depending on the position of the worker in the firm. Only numeracy skills are reward independent of the occupational status of the worker. The level of technology used by the firm in the production process does not directly increase workers’ pay, but it influences the pay-off to some of the competences. JEL Classification: J24, J31

Can You Home Again? Desertion and Control of Hometowns in Civil Wars

What allows an armed group in a civil war to prevent desertion? This paper addresses this question with a focus on control in the rearguard. Most past studies focus on motivations for desertion. They explain desertion in terms of where soldiers stand in relation to the macro themes of the war, or in terms of an inability to provide positive incentives to overcome the collective action problem. However, since individuals decide whether and how to participate in civil wars for multiple reasons, responding to a variety of local conditions in an environment of threat and violence, a focus only on macro-level motivations is incomplete. The opportunities side of the ledger deserves more attention. I therefore turn my attention to how control by an armed group eliminates soldiers’ opportunities to desert. In particular, I consider the control that an armed group maintains over soldiers’ hometowns, treating geographic terrain as an important exogenous indicator of the ease of control. Rough terrain at home affords soldiers and their families and friends advantages in ease of hiding, the difficulty of using force, and local knowledge. Based on an original dataset of soldiers from Santander Province in the Spanish Civil War, gathered from archival sources, I find statistical evidence that the rougher the terrain in a soldier’s home municipality, the more likely he is to desert. I find complementary qualitative evidence indicating that soldiers from rough-terrain communities took active advantage of their greater opportunities for evasion. This finding has important implications for the way observers interpret different soldiers’ decisions to desert or remain fighting, for the prospect that structural factors may shape the cohesion of armed groups, and for the possibility that local knowledge may be a double-edged sword, making soldiers simultaneously good at fighting and good at deserting.

Does it pay to be socially responsible? Evidence from spanish retail banking sector

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of strategic competition in retail banking when some of the financial firms are non-profit organisations that invest in social activities. Banking literature about competition is fairly large, but the strategic interaction between profit maximizing and non profit maximizers has not been extensively analysed except for Purroy and Salas (1999). In this paper, a completely different approach is taken. An adaptation of Hotelling’s two stage model of spatial competition is developed to take into account consumer perceptions respect to the two different types of financial institutions. The empirical analysis confirms that consumers take into account other features different from the price, such as social contribution or closer service to make a deposit or mortgage decision. These conclusions are of interest in the debate about a firm’s social or ethical activities. It is shown that if consumers value social activities, firms can improv

From severance pay to self-insurance: Effects of severance payments savings accounts in Colombia

In 1990 Colombia replaced its traditional system of severance paymentswith a new system of severance payments savings accounts (SPSAs). Althoughseverance payments often are justified on the grounds that they provideinsurance against earnings loss, they also increase costs for employersand distort employment decisions. The impact of severance payments dependslargely on how much of the costs to employers can be shifted to workers.The theoretical analysis in this paper shows that, in contrast to atraditional system of severance payments, the system of SPSAs facilitatesthe shifting of severance payments costs to workers in the form of lowerwages. Empirical results using the Colombian National Household Surveysindicate that the introduction of SPSAs shifted around 80% of the totalseverance payments contributions to wages and had a positive effect onweekly hours. Results using the 1997 Colombian Living Standards MeasurementSurvey suggest that, although SPSAs in part replaced employer insurancewith self-insurance, SPSAs continue to play a consumption smoothing rolefor the non-employed.

Do you work or do you study? Children's work in a comparative historical perspective

In this paper we compare two historical scenarios very different one to each other bothin institutional and geographical terms. What they have in common is the situation ofrelative poverty of most of the population. On the one side we are dealing withhistorical industrializing Catalonia in the North East of Spain, a country exhibiting pooreconomic yields in the context of European and non European industrializing nations inthe 19th century. We compare children s work patterns in 19th century Catalonia withthose of current developing countries in Latin America, Africa and South and East Asia.This kind of exercise in which the nexus of the comparison are the levels of wealth ofcountries that are unsuccessful to achieve high standards of economic growth allows usto combine the micro historical analysis (in the Catalan case) with the macrocomparative approach in current developing countries. By means of both, the microhistorical analysis and the macro regression analysis we obtain the result that adultwomen s skills and real wages are a key factor when we want to explain the patterns ofchildren work. While female real wages increased a sharp rate in 19th century Cataloniawe obtain very different results in the case of developing countries. This differentgender bias helps to explain why in some cases children continue to work and also whysome parts of the world continue to be poor according to our regression analysis.

Simple models for multi-attribute choice with many alternatives: When it does and does not pay to face tradeoffs with binary attributes

Working Paper no longer available. Please contact the author.

An attempt to go beyond conventional financial accounting information

Conventional financial accounting informationis slanted in favour of certain economic interests. This paper argues in favour ofaccounting information capturing and showingrelevant aspects of the economic-social situation,and of decision-making based on it allowingfor decisions to be taken with economic-social,and not purely economic-weighted, awareness.

Willigness to pay for long-term care coverage: the role of private information and self-insurance

Both public and private insurance for long-term care is undeveloped in some European countries such as in Spain and empirical evidence is still limited. This paper aims at exmining the determinants of the demand for Long Term Care (LTC) coverage in Spain using contingent valuation techniques. Our findings indicate that only one-fifth of the population is willing to pay to assure coverage decisions are significantly affected by private information asymmetry and housing tenure in giving rise to self-insurance reduces the probability of insurance being hypothetically purchased.