The political economy of industrial policy in Peru and Ecuador: 1980-2010

This dissertation focuses on industrial policy in two developing countries: Peru and Ecuador. Informed by comparative historical analysis, it explains how the Import-Substitution Industrialization policies promoted during the 1970s by military administration unravelled in the following 30 years under the guidance of Washington Consensus policies. Positioning political economy in time, the research objectives were two-fold: understanding long-term policy reform patterns, including the variables that conditioned cyclical versus path-dependent dynamics of change and; secondly, investigating the direction and leverage of state institutions supporting the manufacturing sector at the dawn, peak and consolidation of neoliberal discourse in both countries. Three interconnected causal mechanisms explain the divergence of trajectories: institutional legacies, coordination among actors and economic distribution of power. Peru’s long tradition of a minimal state contrasts with the embedded character of Ecuador long tradition of legal protectionism dating back to the Liberal Revolution. Peru’s close policy coordination among stakeholders –state technocrats and business elites- differs from Ecuador’s “winners-take-all” approach for policy-making. Peru’s economic dynamism concentrated in Lima sharply departs from Ecuador’s competitive regional economic leaderships. This dissertation paid particular attention to methodology to understand the intersection between structure and agency in policy change. Tracing primary and secondary sources, as well as key pieces of legislation, became critical to understand key turning points and long-term patterns of change. Open-ended interviews (N=58) with two stakeholder groups (business elites and bureaucrats) compounded the effort to knit motives, discourses, and interests behind this long transition. In order to understand this amount of data, this research build an index of policy intervention as a methodological contribution to assess long patterns of policy change. These findings contribute to the current literature on State-market relations and varieties of capitalism, institutional change, and policy reform.

Design of information architecture of the web site of the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Tourism of the Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas (Cuba)

The information architecture supports information retrieval by users in Web environment. The design should be center in the information user, favoring usability. The Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Tourism of the Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas, lacks a site that enhances the disclosure of information to its members. Are presented as objectives of the study: 1) conduct a user survey to identify information needs of users, 2) establish guidelines for information architecture for the institution focused on users, 3) designing the information architecture for the institution and 4) designed to evaluate the proposal. Are presented as objectives of the study: 1) to realize a user study to identify the information needs of users, 2) establish guidelines for information architecture for the institution focused on users, 3) to design the information architecture for the institution and 4) to evaluate the proposal designed. To obtain results are used methods in the theoretical and empirical levels. Besides, are use techniques that favored the design and evaluation. Is designed the intranet of the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Tourism. Is evaluated the proposed design for the validation of the results.

Twenty years of the Foundation of the School of Library, Documentation and Information of the National University Intellectual Property in Costa Rica - The information technology environment

This year the School of Library, Documentation and Information is twenty years from its beginning as Unit Library.

Implicaciones tributarias en la determinación del impuesto a la renta como resultado de la revaluación de propiedad, planta y equipo en el sector industrial, en el cantón Cuenca a partir de la implementación de las NIIF en el Ecuador

En el Ecuador, a partir del año 2010, por resolución de la Superintendencia de Compañías, las compañías que se encuentran reguladas por este organismo, deben aplicar de manera obligatoria las Normas Internacionales de Información Financiera (NIIF), cuyo objetivo fundamental es que los Estados Financieros reflejen la realidad de la compañía y puedan ser comparables a nivel mundial, permitiendo una mayor competitividad y mejor toma de decisiones. La exención de la NIIF 1 permite optar en la fecha de transición a las NIIF por la medición de una partida de propiedad, planta y equipo por su Valor Razonable, y utilizar este valor como Costo Atribuido lo que implica contablemente un incremento en el valor tanto del activo como del patrimonio así como el reconocimiento de impuestos diferidos. Las NIIF no están diseñadas para realizar reportes impositivos por lo que la revaluación en los elementos de propiedad, planta y equipo generó implicaciones tributarias en la determinación del Impuesto a la Renta sobre todo en el sector industrial porque las compañías que pertenecen a este sector tienen en sus activos un valor significativo en propiedad, planta y equipo. El presente trabajo de investigación se lo realizó a través de un estudio de caso a una de las compañías objeto de estudio así como también a través de la aplicación de encuestas a las compañías que pertenecen al sector industrial del Cantón Cuenca y del análisis de la información que consta en la página de la Superintendencia de Compañías de dichas compañías.

Property cash flow studies : focusing on model consistency and data accuracy

The high degree of variability and inconsistency in cash flow study usage by property professionals demands improvement in knowledge and processes. Until recently limited research was being undertaken on the use of cash flow studies in property valuations but the growing acceptance of this approach for major investment valuations has resulted in renewed interest in this topic. Studies on valuation variations identify data accuracy, model consistency and bias as major concerns. In cash flow studies there are practical problems with the input data and the consistency of the models. This study will refer to the recent literature and identify the major factors in model inconsistency and data selection. A detailed case study will be used to examine the effects of changes in structure and inputs. The key variable inputs will be identified and proposals developed to improve the selection process for these key variables. The variables will be selected with the aid of sensitivity studies and alternative ways of quantifying the key variables explained. The paper recommends, with reservations, the use of probability profiles of the variables and the incorporation of this data in simulation exercises. The use of Monte Carlo simulation is demonstrated and the factors influencing the structure of the probability distributions of the key variables are outline. This study relates to ongoing research into functional performance of commercial property within an Australian Cooperative Research Centre.