Audit risk and rent extraction: Evidence from a randomized evaluation in Brazil

We report results from a randomized policy experiment designed to test whether increasedaudit risk deters rent extraction in local public procurement and service delivery in Brazil. Ourestimates suggest that temporarily increasing annual audit risk by about 20 percentage pointsreduced the proportion of irregular local procurement processes by about 17 percentage points.This reduction was driven entirely by irregularities involving mismanagement or corruption. Incontrast, we find no evidence that increased audit risk affected the quality of publicly providedpreventive and primary health care services -measured based on user satisfaction surveys- orcompliance with national regulations of the conditional cash transfer program "Bolsa Família".

Saving lives: Evidence from a conditional food supplementation program

Many governments in developing countries implement programs that aim to address nutrionalfailures in early childhood, yet evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions is scant. Thispaper evaluates the impact of a conditional food supplementation program on child mortality inEcuador. The Programa de Alimentaci?n y Nutrici?n Nacional (PANN) 2000 was implementedby regular staff at local public health posts and consisted of offering a free micronutrient-fortifiedfood, Mi Papilla, for children aged 6 to 24 months in exchange for routine health check-ups forthe children. Our regression discontinuity design exploits the fact that at its inception, the PANN2000 was running for about 8 months only in the poorest communities (parroquias) of certainprovinces. Our main result is that the presence of the program reduced child mortality in cohortswith 8 months of differential exposure from a level of about 2.5 percent by 1 to 1.5 percentagepoints.

Eliciting and fostering learners' metacognitive knowledge about language learning in self-directed learning programs: a review of data collection methods and procedures

Són molts els estudis que avui en dia incideixen en la necessitat d’oferir un suport metodològic i psicològic als aprenents que treballen de manera autònoma. L’objectiu d’aquest suport és ajudar-los a desenvolupar les destreses que necessiten per dirigir el seu aprenentatge així com una actitud positiva i una major conscienciació envers aquest aprenentatge. En definitiva, aquests dos tipus de preparació es consideren essencials per ajudar els aprenents a esdevenir més autònoms i més eficients en el seu propi aprenentatge. Malgrat això, si bé és freqüent trobar estudis que exemplifiquen aplicacions del suport metodològic dins els seus programes, principalment en la formació d’estratègies o ajudant els aprenents a desenvolupar un pla de treball, aquest no és el cas quan es tracta de la seva preparació psicològica. Amb rares excepcions, trobem estudis que documentin com s’incideix en les actituds i en les creences dels aprenents, també coneguts com a coneixement metacognitiu (CM), en programes que fomenten l’autonomia en l’aprenentatge. Els objectius d’aquest treball son dos: a) oferir una revisió d’estudis que han utilitzat diferents mitjans per incidir en el CM dels aprenents i b) descriure les febleses i avantatges dels procediments i instruments que utilitzen, tal com han estat valorats en estudis de recerca, ja que ens permetrà establir criteris objectius sobre com i quan utilitzar-los en programes que fomentin l’aprenentatge autodirigit.

A proposal for a new specification for a conditionally heteroskedastic variance model: the Quadratic Moving-Average Conditional Heteroskedasticity and an application to the D. Mark-U.S. dollar Exchange Rate

Ever since the appearance of the ARCH model [Engle(1982a)], an impressive array of variance specifications belonging to the same class of models has emerged [i.e. Bollerslev's (1986) GARCH; Nelson's (1990) EGARCH]. This recent domain has achieved very successful developments. Nevertheless, several empirical studies seem to show that the performance of such models is not always appropriate [Boulier(1992)]. In this paper we propose a new specification: the Quadratic Moving Average Conditional heteroskedasticity model. Its statistical properties, such as the kurtosis and the symmetry, as well as two estimators (Method of Moments and Maximum Likelihood) are studied. Two statistical tests are presented, the first one tests for homoskedasticity and the second one, discriminates between ARCH and QMACH specification. A Monte Carlo study is presented in order to illustrate some of the theoretical results. An empirical study is undertaken for the DM-US exchange rate.

Firm strategies in R&D: cooperation and participation in R&D programs

This paper presents empirical evidence on firms’ decisions to cooperate in R&D and the extent to which government sponsored R&D programs increase cooperation. Using a sample of firms from the Spanish innovation survey we jointly estimate the determinants of firm participation in R&D programs and of choice of cooperation partners. We find that (i) firms participating in national and European programs have different profiles, suggesting program complementarity; (ii) private-private and publicprivate cooperation are associated on average with firms with different characteristics, and (iii) national R&D programs seem to have a positive effect on all types of cooperation, but especially on public-private partnerships.

Who participates in R&D subsidy programs? The case of spanish manufacturing firms.

Empirical evidence on the effectiveness of R&D subsidies to firms has produced mixed results so far. One possible explanation is that firms and project selection rules may be quite heterogeneous both across agencies and across industries, leading to different outcomes in terms of the induced additional private effort. Here we focus on the participation stage. Using a sample of Spanish firms, we test for differences across agencies and industries. Our results suggest that firms in the same industry face different hurdles to participate in different agencies’ programs, that participation patterns may reflect a combination of agency goals, and that patterns differ across high-tech and low-tech industries.

What works best for getting the unemployed back to work: employment services or small-business assistance programs? evidence from Romania

Recent empirical evidence has found that employment services and small-business assistance programmes are often successful at getting the unemployed back to work. Â One important concern of policy makers is to decide which of these two programmes is more effective and for whom. Â Using unusually rich (for transition economies) survey data and matching methods, I evaluate the relative effectiveness of these two programmes in Romania. Â While I find that employment services (ES) are, on average, more successful than a small-business assistance programme (SBA), estimation of heterogeneity effects reveals that, compared to non-participation, ES are effective for workers with little access to informal search channels, and SBA works for less-qualified workers and those living in rural areas. Â When comparing ES to SBA, I find that ES tend to be more efficient than SBA for workers without a high-school degree, and that the opposite holds for the more educated workers.

Numerical simulation of combined heat transfer phenomena (conduction, convection, and radiation). Application to he optimisation of thermal systems

Thermal systems interchanging heat and mass by conduction, convection, radiation (solar and thermal ) occur in many engineering applications like energy storage by solar collectors, window glazing in buildings, refrigeration of plastic moulds, air handling units etc. Often these thermal systems are composed of various elements for example a building with wall, windows, rooms, etc. It would be of particular interest to have a modular thermal system which is formed by connecting different modules for the elements, flexibility to use and change models for individual elements, add or remove elements without changing the entire code. A numerical approach to handle the heat transfer and fluid flow in such systems helps in saving the full scale experiment time, cost and also aids optimisation of parameters of the system. In subsequent sections are presented a short summary of the work done until now on the orientation of the thesis in the field of numerical methods for heat transfer and fluid flow applications, the work in process and the future work.

Co-movements between US and UK stock prices: the roles of macroeconomic information and time-series varying conditional correlations

This paper provides evidence on the sources of co-movement in monthly US and UK stock price movements by investigating the role of macroeconomic and financial variables in a bivariate system with time-varying conditional correlations. Crosscountry communality in response is uncovered, with changes in the US Federal Funds rate, UK bond yields and oil prices having similar negative effects in both markets. Other variables also play a role, especially for the UK market. These effects do not, however, explain the marked increase in cross-market correlations observed from around 2000, which we attribute to time variation in the correlations of shocks to these markets. A regime-switching smooth transition model captures this time variation well and shows the correlations increase dramatically around 1999-2000. JEL classifications: C32, C51, G15 Keywords: international stock returns, DCC-GARCH model, smooth transition conditional correlation GARCH model, model evaluation.

The Global Diffusion of Regulatory Agencies: Channels of Transfer and Stages of Diffusion

The autonomous regulatory agency has recently become the ‘appropriate model’ of governance across countries and sectors. The dynamics of this process is captured in our data set, which covers the creation of agencies in 48 countries and 16 sectors since the 1920s. Adopting a diffusion approach to explain this broad process of institutional change, we explore the role of countries and sectors as sources of institutional transfer at different stages of the diffusion process. We demonstrate how the restructuring of national bureaucracies unfolds via four different channels of institutional transfer. Our results challenge theoretical approaches that overemphasize the national dimension in global diffusion and are insensitive to the stages of the diffusion process. Further advance in study of diffusion depends, we assert, on the ability to apply both cross-sectoral and cross-national analysis to the same research design and to incorporate channels of transfer with different causal mechanisms for different stages of the diffusion process.

Implementation of IPM programs on European greenhouse tomato production areas: Tools and constraints

Whiteflies and whitefly-transmitted viruses are some of the major constraints on European tomato production. The main objectives of this study were to: identify where and why whiteflies are a major limitation on tomato crops; collect information about whiteflies and associated viruses; determine the available management tools; and identify key knowledge gaps and research priorities. This study was conducted within the framework of ENDURE (European Network for Durable Exploitation of Crop Protection Strategies). Two whitefly species are the main pests of tomato in Europe: Bemisia tabaci and Trialeurodes vaporariorum. Trialeurodes vaporariorum is widespread to all areas where greenhouse industry is present, and B. tabaci has invaded, since the early 1990’s, all the subtropical and tropical areas. Biotypes B and Q of B. tabaci are widespread and especially problematic. Other key tomato pests are Aculops lycopersici, Helicoverpa armigera, Frankliniella occidentalis, and leaf miners. Tomato crops are particularly susceptible to viruses causingTomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD). High incidences of this disease are associated to high pressure of its vector, B. tabaci. The ranked importance of B. tabaci established in this study correlates with the levels of insecticide use, showing B. tabaci as one of the principal drivers behind chemical control. Confirmed cases of resistance to almost all insecticides have been reported. Integrated Pest Management based on biological control (IPM-BC) is applied in all the surveyed regions and identified as the strategy using fewer insecticides. Other IPM components include greenhouse netting and TYLCD-tolerant tomato cultivars. Sampling techniques differ between regions, where decisions are generally based upon whitefly densities and do not relate to control strategies or growing cycles. For population monitoring and control, whitefly species are always identified. In Europe IPM-BC is the recommended strategy for a sustainable tomato production. The IPM-BC approach is mainly based on inoculative releases of the parasitoids Eretmocerus mundus and Encarsia formosa and/or the polyphagous predators Macrolophus caliginosus and Nesidiocoris tenuis. However, some limitations for a wider implementation have been identified: lack of biological solutions for some pests, costs of beneficials, low farmer confidence, costs of technical advice, and low pest injury thresholds. Research priorities to promote and improve IPM-BC are proposed on the following domains: (i) emergence and invasion of new whitefly-transmitted viruses; (ii) relevance of B. tabaci biotypes regarding insecticide resistance; (iii) biochemistry and genetics of plant resistance; (iv) economic thresholds and sampling techniques of whiteflies for decision making; and (v) conservation and management of native whitefly natural enemies and improvement of biological control of other tomato pests.

Generic optimality conditions for semi-algebraic convex programs

We consider linear optimization over a nonempty convex semi-algebraic feasible region F. Semidefinite programming is an example. If F is compact, then for almost every linear objective there is a unique optimal solution, lying on a unique \active" manifold, around which F is \partly smooth", and the second-order sufficient conditions hold. Perturbing the objective results in smooth variation of the optimal solution. The active manifold consists, locally, of these perturbed optimal solutions; it is independent of the representation of F, and is eventually identified by a variety of iterative algorithms such as proximal and projected gradient schemes. These results extend to unbounded sets F.

La ironía en el transfer intercultural : aproximación pragmática en la traducción al castellano de relatos satíricos de Mijaíl Zoschenko y Mijaíl Bulgákov

El presente estudio está dedicado a analizar la traducción de la ironía en una obra de ficción literaria, más concretamente en los relatos satíricos de Mijaíl Zoschenko y Mijaíl Bulgákov en su versión castellana. Metodológicamente, el estudio presenta un enfoque pragmático, y se inscribe en las aportaciones pragmáticas de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, que permiten analizar el texto literario como un acto de comunicación y un discurso dialógico, inscribiéndolo en un contexto extralingúístico relevante. Abordaremos el análisis de lo "no dicho": el subtexto irónico que subyace como un significado implícito no-deducible de los medios lingüísticos en sí mismos, y donde cobran una gran importancia los factores comunicativos: la situación, la intención del hablante, el principio cooperativo (según Paul Grice) y toda una serie de presupuestos que pueden o no compartir los interlocutores. Partiendo del supuesto de la existencia de diferentes tipos textuales en toda traducción, la ficción literaria se abordará como un tipo de texto que presenta características particupares. En este sentido, el relato satírico de la época soviética se contempla como un género específico que implica, a su vez, una estrategia específica de traducción. Como es sabido, en los textos humorísticos predomina el efecto perlocutivo. Así pues, dependerá del tradutor que el texto transferido a otra cultura, y a menudo a otra época, consiga el mismo efecto humorístico, o similar, al que tuvo el original en su contexto histórico-cultural.

lntroducció de tècniques d'aprenentatge col·laboratiu en I'àmbit de bases de dades amb el suport de les tecnologies de la informació

Els canvi recents en els plans d’estudis de la UPC i la UOC tenen en compte el nou espai europeu d’educació superior (EEES). Una de les conseqüències directes a aquests canvis es la necessitat d'aprofitar i optimitzar el temps dedicat a les activitats d'aprenentatge que requereixen la participació activa de l’estudiant i que es realitzen de manera continuada durant el semestre. A més, I'EEES destaca la importància de les pràctiques, les relacions interpersonals i la capacitat per treballar en equip, suggerint la reducció de classes magistrals i l’augment d’activitats que fomentin tant el treball personal de l’estudiant com el cooperatiu. En l’àmbit de la docència informàtica d’assignatures de bases de dades el problema és especialment complex degut a que els enunciats de les proves no acostumen a tenir una solució única. Nosaltres hem desenvolupat una eina anomenada LEARN-SQL, l’objectiu de la qual és corregir automàticament qualsevol tipus de sentència SQL (consultes, actualitzacions, procediments emmagatzemats, disparadors, etc.) i discernir si la resposta aportada per l’estudiant és o no és correcta amb independència de la solució concreta que aquest proposi. D’aquesta manera potenciem l’autoaprenentatge i l’autoavaluació, fent possible la semi-presencialitat supervisada i facilitant l’aprenentatge individualitzat segons les necessitats de cada estudiant. Addicionalment, aquesta eina ajuda als professors a dissenyar les proves d’avaluació, permetent també la opció de revisar qualitativament les solucions aportades pels estudiants. Per últim, el sistema proporciona ajuda als estudiants per a que aprenguin dels seus propis errors, proporcionant retroalimentació de qualitat.

The size of the underground economy in Germany: A correction of the record and new evidence from the Modified-Cash-deposit-Ratio approach

Based on the Ahumada et al. (2007, Review of Income and Wealth) critique we revise existing estimates of the size of the German underground economy. Among other things, it turns out that most of these estimates are untenable and that the tax pressure induced size of the German underground economy may be much lower than previously thought. To this extent, German policy and law makers have been misguided during the last three decades. Therefore, we introduce the Modified-Cash-Deposit-Ratio (MCDR) approach, which is not subject to the recent critique and apply it to Germany for the period 1960 to 2008. JEL: O17, Q41, C22, Keywords: underground economy, shadow economy, cash-depositratio, currency demand approach, MIMIC approach