On blame-freeness and reciprocity: an experimental study

The theory of reciprocity is predicated on the assumption that people are willing to reward nice or kind acts and to punish unkind ones. This assumption raises the question as to how to define kindness. In this paper we offer a new definition of kindness that we call “blame-freeness.” Put most simply, blame-freeness states that in judging whether player i has been kind or unkind to player j in a social situation, player j would have to put himself in the strategic position of player i, while retaining his preferences, and ask if he would have acted in a manner that was worse than i did under identical circumstances. If j would have acted in a more unkind manner than i acted, then we say that j does not blame i for his behavior. If, however, j would have been nicer than i was, then we say that “j blames i” for his actions (i’s actions were blameworthy). We consider this notion a natural, intuitive and empirically relevant way to explain the motives of people engaged in reciprocal behavior. After developing the conceptual framework, we then test this concept in a laboratory experiment involving tournaments and find significant support for the theory.

Hacer ciudad en la gran ciudad: el desafío del Distrito Federal

Durante años, el Distrito Federal no contempló en su modelo de ciudad el espacio público como una prioridad. La base para crear el espacio público es el suelo y en el Distrito Federal este es un grave problema, pues nos enfrentamos a un suelo privatizado al cual no se le da tratamiento de bien público y existen grandes inequidades en la distribución del espacio público en la ciudad. No obstante, ya se reconoció en el gobierno del D.F. la importancia del problema, aunque es indispensable concretar esa preocupación en proyectos específicos y aún más desarrollar algunos instrumentos para poder ejecutar las obras necesarias. ¿Qué es espacio público? ¿Qué grupos sociales afecta? ¿Para qué función urbana? Son preguntas claves que se constituyen en el núcleo de la formulación de la política. Es necesario redimensionar el problema a partir de la definición misma de un modelo de ciudad, dándole a la problemática una perspectiva territorial que le permita cumplir la función social, establecer una normatividad clara y vigente, una política de suelo transformadora y conservacionista, dotar con instrumentos financieros viables y asumir un liderazgo capaz de sobrepasar los intereses particulares.---Building a city within the big city: Mexico City’s challengerFor years Distrito Federal in Mexico not covered by the model of city public space as a priority. The basis for creating public space is the ground and in Distrito Federal this is a serious problem. We face a privatized land which no treatment is given public good. There are great inequities in the distribution of public space in the city. Already City Government recognized the importance of the problem although it is essential to landing that concern specific projects, but more so to develop some tools to execute the necessary works. What public space? Which social groups affected? What urban function? There are key questions that are in the trunk of policy formulation. Doing nothing does not seem the best option given the scale of the problem, and therefore it becomes necessary to resize the problem from the very definition of a city model giving the issue a territorial perspective to discharge social function, the establishment providing a clear and current land policy processing and preservation, financial instruments, and a leadership capable of overcoming special interests. Key words: Public space, privatized land, inequity, urban function, city model, rules.---Fazer cidade na grande cidade: o desafio do Distrito FederalDurante anos, o Distrito Federal não contemplou em seu modelo de cidade o espaço público como uma prioridade. A base para criar o espaço público é o solo e no Distrito Federal este é um grave problema, pois nós enfrentamos a um solo privatizado ao qual não se lhe dá tratamento de bem público e existem grandes inequalidades na distribuição do espaço público na cidade. No entanto, já se reconheceu no governo do D.F. a importança do problema, ainda que é indispensável concretizar essa preocupação em projetos específicos e ainda mais desenvolver alguns instrumentos para poder executar as obras necessárias. O que é espaço público? Quais grupos sociais afeta? Para que função urbana? São perguntas chave que se constituem no núcleo da formulação da política. É necessário redimensionar o problema a partir da definição mesma de um modelo de cidade, dando-lhe à problemática uma perspectiva territorial que lhe permita cumprir a função social, estabelecer uma normatividade clara e vigente, uma política de solo transformadora e conservacionista, dotar com instrumentos financeiros viáveis e assumir uma liderança capaz de superar os interesses particulares.Palavras chave: Espaço público, solo privatizado, inequalidade, função urbana, modelo de cidade, normatividade.

Partial decentralization as a safeguard against favoritism

In this paper I investigate the optimal level of decentralization of tasks for the provision of a local public good. I enrich the well-known trade-off between internalization of spillovers (that favors centralization) and accountability (that favors decentralization) by considering that public goods are produced through multiple tasks. This adds an additional institutional setting, partial decentralization, to the classical choice between full decentralization and full centralization. The main results are that partial decentralization is optimal when both the variance of exogenous shocks to electorate’s utility is large and the electorate expects high performance from politicians. I also show that the optimal institutional setting depends on the degree of substitutability / complementarity between tasks. In particular, I show that a large degree of substitutability between tasks makes favoritism more likely, which increases the desirability of partial decentralization as a safeguard against favoritism.

Publicness of goods and violent conflict : evidence from Colombia

How the degree of publicness of goods affect violent conflict? Based on the theoretical model in Esteban and Ray (2001) we find that the effect of the degree of publicness depends on the group size. When the group is small (large), the degree of publicness increases (decreases) the likelihood of conflict. This opens an empirical question that we tackle using microdata from the Colombian conflict at the municipality level. We use three goods with different publicness degree to identify the sign of the effect of publicness on conflict. These goods are coca crops (private good), road density (public good subject to congestion) and average education quality (a purer public good). After dealing with endogeneity issues using an IV approach, we find that the degree of publicness reduces the likelihood of both paramilitary and guerrilla attacks. Moreover, coca production exacerbates conflict and the provision of both public goods mitigates conflict. These results are robust to size, geographical, and welfare controls. Policies that improve public goods provision will help to fight the onset of conflict.

Natural resource windfalls and efficiency of local government expenditures: evidence from Peru

We study the role of natural resource windfalls in explaining the efficiency of public expenditures. Using a rich dataset of expenditures and public good provision for 1,836 municipalities in Peru for period 2001-2010, we estimate a non-monotonic relationship between the efficiency of public good provision and the level of natural resource transfers. Local governments that were extremely favored by the boom of mineral prices were more efficient in using fiscal windfalls whereas those benefited with modest transfers were more inefficient. These results can be explained by the increase in political competition associated with the boom. However, the fact that increases in efficiency were related to reductions in public good provision casts doubts about the beneficial effects of political competition in promoting efficiency.

Asymmetrically fair rules for an indivisible good problem with a budget constraint

We study a particular restitution problem where there is an indivisible good (land or property) over which two agents have rights: the dispossessed agent and the owner. A third party, possibly the government, seeks to resolve the situation by assigning rights to one and compensate the other. There is also a maximum amount of money available for the compensation. We characterize a family of asymmetrically fair rules that are immune to strategic behavior, guarantee minimal welfare levels for the agents, and satisfy the budget constraint.

Libertades individuales y acción colectiva

Este libro resulta de una lectura crítica de la historia y la evolución que han tenido importantes discusiones teoricas acerca del liberalismo y la acción colectiva. Se destacan algunas relaciones entre los aportes de diversos autores de la economía, la sociología, la filosofía, la ciencia política y la psicología. En especial se ofrece una presentación analítica de algunas de las relaciones más relevantes entre las libertades individuales y las oportunidades factibles en procesos de escogencia y de acción individual y colectiva. La propia cosecha del autor permite seguir tres hallazgos, los cuales pueden generar nuevas perspectivas para investigadores interesados en estos temas, estos son: una propuesta conceptual sobre las características y los requerimientos de la libertad individual.

La pelota no se mancha: Un estudio histórico sobre el desarrollo y la política en FIFA

Esta investigación se centra en la Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) como organización política. Intenta responder dos interrogantes primordiales: 1) ¿cómo la FIFA ha constituido el poder que tiene actualmente y, así, hacerse del monopolio indiscutido del fútbol? Y 2) ¿cómo ha cambiado en el tiempo la política interna de FIFA y su vínculo con la política internacional? Para lograr esto, se realiza un estudio histórico, basado principalmente en documentos, que intenta caracterizar y analizar los cambios de la organización en el tiempo. Se enfatizan las últimas dos presidencias de FIFA, de João Havelange y Joseph Blatter, como casos de estudio.

La política comercial de Estados Unidos en el marco de la Organización Mundial del Comercio. Discurso vs. comportamiento con relación a prácticas anticompetitivas

El objetivo principal de esta monografía es identificar cuáles son las razones que justifican las contradicciones entre el discurso y el comportamiento de Estados Unidos en el marco de la Organización Mundial del Comercio, particularmente con relación a prácticas anticompetitivas derivadas del programa de protección a la agricultura del país. Para ello se analizan el interés nacional y los elementos de la seguridad nacional a partir de los cuales éste se ha construido. También se evalúan los procesos de formulación de política comercial y las interacciones entre los representantes políticos, las asociaciones de productores y el sector privado para mostrar como este comportamiento contradictorio corresponde a la legitimización de un interés particular.