Parental altruism under imperfect information: Theory and evidence

Can we reconcile the predictions of the altruism model of the familywith the evidence on intervivos transfers in the US? This paper expandsthe altruism model by introducing e ?ort of the child and by relaxingthe assumption of perfect information of the parent about the labormarket opportunities of the child. First, I solve and simulate a modelof altruism under imperfect information. Second, I use cross-sectionaldata to test a prediction of the model: Are parental transfers especiallyresponsive to the income variations of children who are very attached tothe labor market? The results suggest that imperfect information accountsfor several patterns of intergenerational transfers in the US.

The marginal propensity to spend on adult children

We examine how much of an extra dollar of parental lifetime resources willultimately be passed on to adult children in the form of inter vivostransfers and bequests. We infer bequests from the stock of wealth late inlife. We use mortality rates and age specific estimates of the response oftransfers and wealth to permanent income to compute the expected presentdiscounted values of these responses to permanent income. Our estimatesimply parents pass on between 2 and 3 cents out of an extra dollar ofexpected lifetime resources in bequests and about 2 cents in transfers.The estimates increase with parental income and are smaller for nonwhites.They imply that about 15 percent of the effect of parental income onlifetime resources of adult children is through transfers and bequestsand about 85 percent is through the intergenerational correlation inearnings, although these estimates are sensitive to assumptions about theintergenerational earnings correlation, taxes, and the number of children.We compare our estimates to the implications of alternative computablebenchmark models of savings behavior in order to assess the likelyimportance of intended bequests for the wealth/income relationship.

Parental altruism under imperfect information: Theory and evidence

Can we reconcile the predictions of the altruism model of the family withthe evidence on parental monetary transfers in the US? This paper providesa new assessment of this question. I expand the altruism model by introducingeffort of the child and by relaxing the assumption of perfect informationof the parent about the labor market opportunities of the child. First,I solve and simulate a model of altruism and labor supply under imperfectinformation. Second, I use cross-sectional data to test the following prediction of the model: Are parental transfers especially responsive tothe income variations of children who are very attached to the labor market? The results of the analysis suggest that imperfect informationaccounts for many of the patterns of intergenerational transfers in theUS.

Life-time redistribution effects of the Spanish public pension system

The paper analyses the inter and intragenerational redistribution effects ofthe public pensions system in Spain. This is achieved by first comparing the expected present value of life-time income transfers (PVT) and internalrates of return (IRR) of different population cohorts. Secondly, we study the intragenerational aspects of the Spanish public pensions by calculating PVTs the IRRs for workers of different categories, grouped by earnings, gender and marital status.The results obtained show the nature of the important intergenerational effects of the Social Security System in Spain. The oldest 1935 cohort clearlybenefits in relation to the youngest 1965 cohort. This is basically due to thegap between current wages and the contribution bases established in the 60s and 70s in Spain during the early stages of the Social Security System, and to the worsening shortfall in Social Security funding, combined with the longer of life expectancy.In addition, intragenerational effects exist by income levels. For contributors who pay between the minimum and the maximum allowable contribution bases, net transfers and rates of return are higher in actuarial terms for high incomecontributors. The social security `dealï is again more profitable for highincome individuals since they contribute at the maximum basis, with respect tolow income contributors at the minimum basis. This is due to the late entry and a higher survival rate for high income contributors.The system tends to favour women, given that they generally live longer than men and this factor is only partially offset by their lower wages. Married males, given the fact that they have longer life expectancy and leave a pension to their spouse, obtain higher present net transfers too than do single contributors.We close the paper with some comments on the slight impact and moderate effects of proposals for Social Security reform and on how these may change the previously observed redistribution effects.

The impact of women's educational and economic resources on fertility. Spanish birth cohorts 1901-1950

In this chapter we portray the effects of female education and professional achievementon fertility decline in Spain over the period 1920-1980 (birth cohorts of 1900-1950).A longitudinal econometric approach is used to test the hypothesis that the effectsof women s education in the revaluing of their time had a very significant influence onfertility decline. Although in the historical context presented here improvements inschooling were on a modest scale, they were continuous (with the interruption of theCivil War) and had a significant impact in shaping a model of low fertility in Spain. Wealso stress the relevance of this result in a context such as the Spanish for which liberalvalues were absent, fertility control practices were forbidden, and labour forceparticipation of women was politically and socially constrained.

Job search and asset accumulation under borrowing constraints

In this paper I show how borrowing constraints and job search interact.I fit a dynamic model to data from the National Longitudinal Survey(1979-cohort) and show that borrowing constraints are significant. Agentswith more initial assets and more access to credit attain higher wagesfor several periods after high school graduation. The unemployed maintaintheir consumption by running down their assets, while the employed saveto buffer against future unemployment spells. I also show that, unlikein models with exogenous income streams, unemployment transfers, byallowing agents to attain higher wages do not 'crowd out' but increasesaving.

Against the mainstream: Nazi privatization in 1930s Germany

The Great Depression spurred State ownership in Western capitalist countries. Germany was no exception; the last governments of the Weimar Republic took over firms in diverse sectors. Later, the Nazi regime transferred public ownership and public services to the private sector. In doing so, they went against the mainstream trends in the Western capitalist countries, none of which systematically reprivatized firms during the 1930s. Privatization in Nazi Germany was also unique in transferring to private hands the delivery f public services previously provided by government. The firms and the services transferred to private ownership belonged to diverse sectors. Privatization was part of an intentional policy with multiple objectives and was not ideologically driven. As in many recent privatizations, particularly within the European Union, strong financial restrictions were a central motivation. In addition, privatization was used as a political tool to enhance support for the government and for the Nazi Party.

Delta(1232) isobar excitations and the ground state of nuclei

The influence of Delta isobar components on the ground-state properties of nuclear systems is investigated for nuclear matter as well as finite nuclei. Many-body wave functions, including isobar configurations and binding energies, are evaluated employing the framework of the coupled-cluster theory. It is demonstrated that the effect of isobar configurations depends in a rather sensitive way on the model used for the baryon-baryon interaction. As examples for realistic baryon-baryon interactions with explicit inclusion of isobar channels we use the local (V28) and nonlocal meson-exchange potentials (Bonn2000) but also a model recently developed by the Salamanca group, which is based on a quark picture. The differences obtained for the nuclear observables are related to the treatment of the interaction, the pi-exchange contributions in particular, at high momentum transfers.

Self-consistent medium polarization in spin-polarized 3He

A microscopic calculation of the residual particle-hole (p-h) interaction in spin-polarized 3He is performed. As a starting point the Brueckner G matrix is used which is supplemented by including the phonon exchange terms self-consistently. An important ingredient in this microscopic version of the induced interaction is the treatment of the full momentum dependence of the interaction. This allows a consistent description of the Landau limit (Pauli-principle sum rule for the Landau parameters is fulfilled) but also enables a detailed study of the p-h interaction at finite momentum transfers. A comparison with correlated basis functions results shows good agreement for momentum transfers larger than the Fermi momentum.

Laser-induced forward transfer of liquids: Study of the droplet ejection process

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is a laser direct-write technique that offers the possibility of printing patterns with a high spatial resolution from a wide range of materials in a solid or liquid state, such as conductors, dielectrics, and biomolecules in solution. This versatility has made LIFT a very promising alternative to lithography-based processes for the rapid prototyping of biomolecule microarrays. Here, we study the transfer process through the LIFT of droplets of a solution suitable for microarray preparation. The laser pulse energy and beam size were systematically varied, and the effect on the transferred droplets was evaluated. Controlled transfers in which the deposited droplets displayed optimal features could be obtained by varying these parameters. In addition, the transferred droplet volume displayed a linear dependence on the laser pulse energy. This dependence allowed determining a threshold energy density value, independent of the laser focusing conditions, which acted as necessary conditions for the transfer to occur. The corresponding sufficient condition was given by a different total energy threshold for each laser beam dimension. The threshold energy density was found to be the dimensional parameter that determined the amount of the transferred liquid per laser pulse, and there was no substantial loss of material due to liquid vaporization during the transfer.

Against the mainstream: Nazi privatization in 1930s Germany

The Great Depression spurred State ownership in Western capitalist countries. Germany was no exception; the last governments of the Weimar Republic took over firms in diverse sectors. Later, the Nazi regime transferred public ownership and public services to the private sector. In doing so, they went against the mainstream trends in the Western capitalist countries, none of which systematically reprivatized firms during the 1930s. Privatization in Nazi Germany was also unique in transferring to private hands the delivery f public services previously provided by government. The firms and the services transferred to private ownership belonged to diverse sectors. Privatization was part of an intentional policy with multiple objectives and was not ideologically driven. As in many recent privatizations, particularly within the European Union, strong financial restrictions were a central motivation. In addition, privatization was used as a political tool to enhance support for the government and for the Nazi Party.

Creando comunidades de práctica y conocimiento en la Universidad: una experiencia de trabajo entre las universidades de lengua catalana

En la sociedad actual, la educación y la formación a través de comunidades de práctica, virtuales o presenciales, se convierte en una práctica habitual que, con mayor o menor fortuna, está siendo experimentada en diferentes ám- bitos formativos (en la universidad, en la empresa, en el sistema escolar, en la educación no formal, etc.). Partiendo de la idea de que la misión de la Universidad en los inicios del siglo xxi sigue siendo la difusión del conocimiento científico, consideramos que la creación de comunidades de práctica es un reto necesario a asumir por todos los profesionales de la educación y la formación, dado que a través de ellas se puede, por una parte, transferir y generar nuevo conocimiento y por otra, lograr mejores prácticas en el campo de la investigación y la docencia. Todo este planteamiento nos permite avalar la necesidad de desarrollar un trabajo que tenga como finalidad la conformación de una comunidad de práctica entre profesores universitarios, noveles y experimentados.

Claves pedagógicas que guían la práctica educativa de una maestra

La investigación El saber profesional en docentes de educación primaria y sus implicaciones en laformación inicial del profesorado: estudios de caso (Investigación financiada por el Ministerio deEconomía y Competitividad, actualmente en desarrollo, con diez docentes participantes) pretendeubicar el saber profesional de docentes en una relación pensante con lo que sucede ensus aulas, con su alumnado y con ellos mismos.El presente artículo centra el análisis en la investigación realizada con una docente deeducación infantil, Esther, maestra de Educación infantil, de una escuela pública de la localidadcatalana de La Garriga. Tiene a su cargo 13 niñas y 11 niños de 3 años. Se indaga los modosy maneras en como despliega el saber profesional desde una perspectiva analítica de suexperiencia, con la intención de descubrir las claves pedagógicas que guían su práctica, con el objetivo de transferir los conocimientos a la formación universitaria.

Claves pedagógicas que guían la práctica educativa de una maestra

La investigación El saber profesional en docentes de educación primaria y sus implicaciones en laformación inicial del profesorado: estudios de caso (Investigación financiada por el Ministerio deEconomía y Competitividad, actualmente en desarrollo, con diez docentes participantes) pretendeubicar el saber profesional de docentes en una relación pensante con lo que sucede ensus aulas, con su alumnado y con ellos mismos.El presente artículo centra el análisis en la investigación realizada con una docente deeducación infantil, Esther, maestra de Educación infantil, de una escuela pública de la localidadcatalana de La Garriga. Tiene a su cargo 13 niñas y 11 niños de 3 años. Se indaga los modosy maneras en como despliega el saber profesional desde una perspectiva analítica de suexperiencia, con la intención de descubrir las claves pedagógicas que guían su práctica, con el objetivo de transferir los conocimientos a la formación universitaria.

Space Manifold dynamics

The term Space Manifold Dynamics (SMD) has been proposed for encompassing the various applications of Dynamical Systems methods to spacecraft mission analysis and design, ranging from the exploitation of libration orbits around the collinear Lagrangian points to the design of optimal station-keeping and eclipse avoidance manoeuvres or the determination of low energy lunar and interplanetary transfers