Asymmetries in Business Cycles

Esta disertación busca estudiar los mecanismos de transmisión que vinculan el comportamiento de agentes y firmas con las asimetrías presentes en los ciclos económicos. Para lograr esto, se construyeron tres modelos DSGE. El en primer capítulo, el supuesto de función cuadrática simétrica de ajuste de la inversión fue removido, y el modelo canónico RBC fue reformulado suponiendo que des-invertir es más costoso que invertir una unidad de capital físico. En el segundo capítulo, la contribución más importante de esta disertación es presentada: la construcción de una función de utilidad general que anida aversión a la pérdida, aversión al riesgo y formación de hábitos, por medio de una función de transición suave. La razón para hacerlo así es el hecho de que los individuos son aversos a la pérdidad en recesiones, y son aversos al riesgo en auges. En el tercer capítulo, las asimetrías en los ciclos económicos son analizadas junto con ajuste asimétrico en precios y salarios en un contexto neokeynesiano, con el fin de encontrar una explicación teórica de la bien documentada asimetría presente en la Curva de Phillips.

Trastornos musculo-esqueléticos y la relación con la carga postural asociada a la labor de cosechero de palma aceitera en una plantación del Meta, Colombia 2015

Resumen: INTRODUCCIÓN: Las personas dedicadas a la cosecha del fruto de la palma de aceite durante el desarrollo de sus labores, adoptan diversas posturas y realizan movimientos repetitivos e incluso ejecutan manipulación de cargas, las cuales varían según las características del lugar y la naturaleza del trabajo. Labores de corte del fruto, poda de cada una de las plantas o la recolección y acopio del producto, pueden acarrear desordenes musculares y/o trastornos esqueléticos. En Estados Unidos, el Instituto Nacional para la Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional (NIOSH) precisa que los trastornos musculo-esqueléticos (TME) involucran nervios, tendones, músculos y estructuras de soporte; por tanto es conveniente identificar signos y síntomas y la carga física de esta población trabajadora. Los trastornos musculo-esqueléticos (TME) como menciona la Agencia Europea para la Seguridad y la Salud en el Trabajo, son un problema grave. Para el trabajador causa dolor y pérdida de ingresos, para los empleadores reducen la eficiencia operacional y para el país incrementan los gastos de la seguridad social. En su informe final, Ramírez Vargas destaca la presencia de Colombia como principal productor de aceite de palma con el 38% de la producción de Latinoamérica. Estima que en este oficio hay más de 1950 cosecheros en la región del Meta, departamento de la zona oriental donde se presenta el mayor crecimiento con un área cultivada al año 2011 de 163.447 hectáreas y un promedio de 16 trabajadores por 100 hectáreas. METODOS: Estudio de corte transversal en 204 trabajadores en los cuales se identificaron síntomas y factores de riesgo ergonómico existentes en el puesto de trabajo por medio de una encuesta con base en el modelo de Ergonomía Participativa (ERGOPAR) y la evaluación biomecánica por medio del método Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) en cosecheros de una plantación de palma aceitera en el departamento del Meta 2015. RESULTADOS: El total de cosecheros fueron hombres y su promedio de edad es de 36,4 años cumplidos. El promedio de la permanencia en centro de trabajo es de 19,1 meses y una media de 7 años de experiencia en el oficio en diferentes centros. El 31,9% de los trabajadores encuestados refirieron molestias y el 30,9% dolor en la espalda baja o región lumbar, mientras que en la evaluación biomecánica en aspectos referentes a la carga física de los trabajadores con el método REBA, arrojo niveles de riesgo altos en el 59,1% de la población y riesgo medio en el 43,1%. CONCLUSIONES: La labor de cosechero involucra cargas posturales en todas las zonas evaluadas por la metodología REBA ya sea por posturas o movimientos, la manipulación de carga, la fuerza de mayor o menor magnitud y el agarre; encontrando que los brazos tienen un mayor compromiso en cuanto a la exigencia física, influenciada por la altura de la palma, la cual incide desfavorablemente para la presentación de TME a nivel de tronco en zona lumbar y dorsal La ergonomía participativa puede convertirse en una habilidad empresarial, inducir a los trabajadores para que formen parte de la unión entre el ejercicio ergonómico empresarial y la participación del grupo de implicados, harán que en conjunto se encuentren soluciones específicas enfocadas a la prevención de TME generados por el ambiente laboral, bajo la premisa del empoderamiento de la población para controlar que las medidas acordadas terminen en su verdadera aplicación.

Determinantes estructurales de la sindicalización en Colombia

Las causas y los efectos de la asociación sindical han sido ampliamente estudiados por la literatura económica; no obstante en el caso colombiano existe un claro sesgo hacia el estudio de los efectos sobre el salario. Este documento presenta un estudio de los determinantes estructurales de la tasa de densidad sindical para Colombia incluyendo algunos aspectos particulares como los efectos regionales y sectoriales utilizando la Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares 2007. Se encuentra que la densidad sindical está determinada por factores semejantes a los de otros mercados de trabajo con patrones similares de negociación sindical, como los reportados por Johnson (2005). Finalmente, dadas sus cifras de asesinato de sindicalistas, consideramos que los determinantes de la afiliación sindical para el caso Colombiano son más complejos que los de otros países latinoamericanos

Catholic worker movement: un análisis desde la acción política no violenta y la lógica transnacional de los movimientos sociales

El Catholic Worker Movement se ha caracterizado por enmarcarse en las dinámicas de movilización social y acción política no violenta, que respondían, desde su creación en 1933, a un conjunto de problemáticas sociales y económicas sobre las cuales la sociedad civil se interesó y dio inicio a su actividad en escenarios de la política doméstica de Estados Unidos. Pese a ser un movimiento que surgió en un contexto nacional con fundamentación religiosa, el CWM alcanzó el desarrollo de lógicas transnacionales que contribuyeron a la defensa de su causa y a la reivindicación de valores y principios que motivarían posteriormente a la búsqueda de recursos para reforzar su lucha. Así, el proceso de evolución del movimiento tomó dirección en torno a fenómenos como la difusión, la adquisición de repertorios de acción colectiva correspondientes a la no violencia, y al aprovechamiento de factores exógenos y endógenos representados en distintas formas de oportunidad política y capacidad organizativa.

Democratic Deficit in the EU : Towards Parliamentary Democracy?!

Nowadays, the western societies are based on parliamentary democracy. Therefore, weak legislative power of the European Parliament is alleged for the democratic deficit in the EU. How it can be possible that the parliamentary democracy which is practiced on the national level can be achieved beyond the nation-states without diminishing the democracy at the nation-states? If not, how legitimacy can be obtained so that the continued existence and expansion of the EU should be justified? Since expectations for democratization of the EU are still unmet, finding answers to the actual questions is a great appeal. The thesis will explore the fundamental debates and arguments contributing to the democracy in the EU through the parliaments. I will try to reflect to the different ways of thinking and the prospects of establishing parliamentary democracy beyond the nation states.

Public policies impacts on Latin American labor structures, preparing for integration

One of the Main Subjects to Be Discussed, in Order to Adjust Latin American Economies to a Regional Integration Network, as Imposed By Mercosul or Other Economic Common Markets, is Related to the Employment and Other Labor Markets Public Policies. the Question to Be Posed Is: Having in Mind the Characteristics of Different Labor Markets and Labor Forces, What are the Impacts of Governmental Measures Presented in the Diverse Economic Conditions of Those Countries. Having in Mind These Impacts, This Paper Aims to Examine the Requisites to Adjust the Labor Structure Standards of Latin American Countries and What Would Be the Reforms to Be Performed By These Countries in Order to Prepare These Markets and Labor Forces to Adapt to Regional Integration Networks Represented By Mercosul, Alca or Other Common Markets. There are Evaluated the Impacts of the Globalization Process, Economic Stabilization and Reform Policies Undertaken By Some Selected Latin American Countries Since the Eighties on the Labor Structure Standards, Considering the Specific Adjustment Measures to Cope With the Negative Effects of These Policies. Next, Some Cases of Europe Union (Eu) Countries Measures to Prepare to Integration is Examined, in Order to Provide Some Elements to Better Understand the Possibilities to Handle With the Extensive Changes in External Conditions. in Sequence Some Statistical Indicatives of the Impacts of These Measures on the Occupational Structuring are Analyzed For a Group of Selected Latin American and Eu Countries.

Barbados: public-private sector partnership

Includes bibliography

Poverty impacts of trade integration with the European Union: lessons for Ecuador

Includes bibliography

Democracy Reconsidered : Britain, France, Sweden, and the EU

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether some positions in democratic theory should be adjusted or abandoned in view of internationalisation; and if adjusted, how. More specifically it pursues three different aims: to evaluate various attempts to explain levels of democracy as consequences of internationalisation; to investigate whether the taking into account of internationalisation reveals any reason to reconsider what democracy is or means; and to suggest normative interpretations that cohere with the adjustments of conceptual and explanatory democratic theory made in the course of meeting the other two aims. When empirical methods are used, the scope of the study is restricted to West European parliamentary democracies and their international affairs. More particularly, the focus is on the making of budget policy in Britain, France, and Sweden after the Second World War, and recent budget policy in the European Union. The aspects of democracy empirically analysed are political autonomy, participation, and deliberation. The material considered includes parliamentary debates, official statistics, economic forecasts, elections manifestos, shadow budgets, general election turnouts, regulations of budget decision-making, and staff numbers in government and parliament budgetary divisions. The study reaches the following conclusions among others. (i) The fact that internationalisation increases the divergence between those who make and those who are affected by decisions is not by itself a democratic problem that calls for political reform. (ii) That international organisations may have authorities delegated to them from democratic states is not sufficient to justify them democratically. Democratisation still needs to be undertaken. (iii) The fear that internationalisation dissolves a social trust necessary for political deliberation within nations seems to be unwarranted. If anything, views argued by others in domestic budgetary debate are taken increasingly serious during internationalisation. (iv) The major difficulty with deliberation seems to be its inability to transcend national boundaries. International deliberation at state level has not evolved in response to internationalisation and it is undeveloped in international institutions. (v) Democratic political autonomy diminishes during internationalisation with regard to income redistribution and policy areas taken over by international organisations, but it seems to increase in public spending. (vi) In the area of budget policy-making there are no signs that governments gain power at the expense of parliaments during internationalisation. (vii) To identify crucial democratic issues in a time of internationalisation and to make room for theoretical virtues like general applicability and normative fruitfulness, democracy may be defined as a kind of politics where as many as possible decide as much as possible.

Understanding Recent Developments in the Turkish Labor Market: Empirical Essays with a Gender Focus

This dissertation comprises three essays on the Turkish labor market. The first essay characterizes the distinctive characteristics of the Turkish labor market with the aim of understanding the factors lying behind its long-standing poor performance relative to its European counterparts. The analysis is based on a cross-country comparison among selected European Union countries. Among all the indicators of labor market flexibility, non-wage cost rigidities are regarded as one of the most important factors in slowing down employment creation in Turkey. The second essay focuses on an employment subsidy policy which introduces a reduction in non-wage costs through social security premium incentives granted to women and young men. Exploiting a difference-in-difference-in differences strategy, I evaluate the effectiveness of this policy in creating employment for the target group. The results, net of the recent crisis effect, suggest that the policy accounts for a 1.4% to 1.6% increase in the probability of being hired for women aged 30 to 34 above men of the same age group in the periods shortly after the announcement of the policy. In the third essay of the dissertation, I analyze the labor supply response of married women to their husbands' job losses (AWE). I empirically test the hypothesis of added worker effect for the global economic crisis of 2008 by relying on the Turkey context. Identification is achieved by exploiting the exogenous variation in the output of male-dominated sectors hard-hit by the crisis and the gender-segmentation that characterizes the Turkish labor market. Findings based on the instrumental variable approach suggest that the added worker effect explains up to 64% of the observed increase in female labor force participation in Turkey. The size of the effect depends on how long it takes for wives to adjust their labor supply to their husbands' job losses.

Science and Democracy in Turmoil: The Fracturing of a Great American Relationship

On March 27, Kevin Knobloch, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists, delivered the 2012 Albert, Norma and Howard '77 Geller Endowed Lecture. The title is Science and Democracy in Turmoil: The Fracturing of a Great American Relationship, and the lecture was jointly sponsored by the Marsh and Mosakowski Institutes.

A Model of Endogenous Union Density and Membership

We develop a theoretical model of endogenously determined union density and union membership. A union is formed, continued, or dissolved by majority voting. Given the profitability, production technology, and labor and product market conditions, the union determines the reservation wage that is acceptable to the firm. Based on this reservation wage and other subjective factors, workers vote for or against the union. If the union is formed, the firm determines the employment level at the union wage.

Na 1 Nachlass Max Horkheimer, 682 - "Antisemitism among American Labor" (p. IX 146.2-4 - IX 146.5-23)

"Antisemitism and American Labor. A Research Project of the Institut of Social Research", Januar 1944 (revised June 1944); a) als Typoskript vervielfältigt, 14 Blatt; b) Typoskript, 14 Blatt; Institut of Social Research: "Project an Antisemitism and American Labor", Januar 1944; a) Typoskript, 18 Blatt; b) Typoskript, mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 17 Blatt, c) Teilstück, Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 1 Blatt; d) Teilstück, Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 1 Blatt; e) Teilstück, Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 5 Blatt; f) Teilstück, Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 4 Blatt; "Project on Antisemitism an American Labor", Dezember 1943; a) Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 18 Blatt; b) Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen von Theodor W. Adorno, 17 Blatt; c) Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 12 Blatt; Memoranden 1941-1949; Adorno, Theodor W. to Löwenthal, Leo: "Supplement to the Memorandum of 7/28/49 by Pollock, Friedrich re Labor Study", 18.09.1949. Typoskript, 6 Blatt; Adorno, Theodor W.: "Memorandum re: Antisemitism among American Labor, as edited by the Bureau of Applied Social Research", 19.07.1949. Typoskript, 8 Blatt; "Expenses for Project: Antisemitism among Labor, june 1, 1944- May 31,1945". Typoskript, 1 Blatt; Institut of Social Research: "Interim Memorandum on Progress of Project on Antisemitism within Labor", 04.09.1944. Typoskript, 11 Blatt; Institut of Social Research: "Re: Project on Labor and Antisemitism. Difficulties to be expected", 21.03.1944. Typoskript, 3 Blatt; "Re: Project on Labor and Antisemitism. Plants to be Contacted", 21.03.1944. Typoskript, 2 Blatt; "Some Remarks to Dr. Gelle's Report 'Der deutsche Progrom, a, 10. November 1938'", 11.03.1944. Typoskript, 12 Blatt; Adorno, Theodor W. ?: "Adress to ameeting of the Jewish Labor Committee, January 20th, 1944, los Angeles". Typoskript mit eigenhändigen Ergänzungen, 2 Blatt; Pollock, Friedrich: "Re: Sherman", 31.12.1943, 1 Blatt; "Memorandum re: Jewish Labor Committee", 23.12.1943. Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 2 Blatt; "Tentative Budget for a Trial Survey on Antisemitism among American Labor", 23.12.1943. Typoskript, 1 Blatt; "Council for Democracy. Survey on Antisemitism. Hartford, Conn., late 1941". Typoskript, 4 Blatt; "Council for Democracy. Survey on Antisemitism. Terre Haute, Ind.". Typoskript, 2 Blatt; Horkheimer, Max: Eigenhändige Notizen zum Projekt, 3 Blatt; "Some heading lind", handschriftlichen Notizen, 1 Blatt; Institut of Social research: "Instructuins", Fragebogen, als Typoskript vervielfältigt, 3 Blatt; "Instructions for Interviews on Attitudes of Workers and White Collar Workers towards Jews". Als Typoskript vervielfältigt, 1 Blatt; Horkheimer, Max: 1 Briefentwurf an Friedrich Pollock, ohne Ort, ohne Datum, 1 Blatt; Pollock, Friedrich: 3 Briefe an Max Horkheimer, ohne Ort, 1943, 3 Blatt; Sherman, Charles B.: 1 Brief mit Unterschrift an Friedrich Pollock, New York, 23.12.1943; 3 Briefe von Friedrich Pollock, New York, 1943-1944, 5 Blatt;

Democracy in the healthcare workplace: A critical perspective

A review of existing literature revealed at least two distinct theoretical perspectives or schools of thought which are troubled by problems of the lack of participation in the workplace: Jurgen Habermas' ideal of communicative rationality (1984; 1987); and the field of workplace democracy. Whereas Habermas' ideal of communicative rationality establishes communication as necessary to attain a democratic workplace, the ideal of workplace democracy focuses on a participatory ideal in which conditions of open participation must be fulfilled in order to attain a democratic workplace. This study compared the strengths and weaknesses of the conditions proposed by Habermas with the strengths and weaknesses of the conditions selected to represent the workplace democracy ideal. Two incidents were selected for analysis which occurred within a period of one year within one large healthcare organization. The author was present as a participant-observer to assess these incidents. Each of the conditions for the ideal of communicative rationality and for the workplace democracy ideal was systematically applied to both incidents selected for analysis. The results of the analysis suggested that application of Habermas' theory provided more insight into potential distortions in communication than did the conditions selected to represent workplace democracy. Although the conditions of both models were frequently complementary and even overlapping at times, application of each theory to the same incident produced distinctly different results. ^