Students Working in Carpentry Shop at the New York Trade School

This black and white photograph shows students at work benches in part of the carpentry workshop at the New York Trade School. Beyond the benches two students can be seen working on framing in the rear of the classroom.

Electrical Students Working

Students learning about electrical work in the New York Trade School are shown working in a classroom. Black and white photograph.

Students Working on a Model House at the New York Trade School

Students, likely studying carpentry, are shown working on the roof of a model of a house in a classroom at the New York Trade School. Black and white photograph.

Students working in Piano Crafts Department

Three students are shown working in the Piano Crafts Department at the New York Trade School. The two students in the foreground appear to be working on the construction of a piano. Black and white photograph.

Three students working on a project in the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Department of the New York Trade School

This shows three students working on a unit in the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Department of the New York Trade School. Black and white photograph.

Closed-circuit Television Student Working

A student is show working with closed-circuit television at the New York Trade School. Black and white photograph.

Data Processing Student Working

A student from the Data Processing program at the New York Trade School is shown working. Black and white photograph with some edge damage due to writing in black along the top.

Sign Painting Student Working Outside

A Sign Painting student from the New York Trade School is pictured working outside on scaffolding on an AMOCO sign. Black and white photograph.

Students Working in New York Trade School Library

Students are depicted reading and studying at tables in a section of the New York Trade School Library. Black and white photograph.

Working on a Lathe in the Carpentry Department of the New York Trade School

A student or teacher at the New York Trade School is shown working on a lathe in the Carpentry Department. Black and white photograph credited to the New York City Works Progress Administration.

Land taxes in a Latin American context

Since Henry George (1839-1897) economists have been arguing that a tax on unimproved land is an ideal tax on efficiency grounds. Output taxes, on the other hand, have distortionary effects on the economy. This paper shows that under asymmetric information output taxes might be used along with land tax in order to implement an optimal taxation scheme in a Latin American context, i.e., where land rental markets are relatively thin, land property provides non-agricultural payoffs and there is nonrevenue objectives of land taxation. Also, the model has two implications that can be tested empirically: (i) there is evasion when schemes based only on land taxes are implemented; (ii) this evasion is more severe for large landholders.

Factors affecting the technical efficiency of production of the Brazilian banking system : a comparison of four statistical models in the context of data envelopment analysis

This paper uses an output oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) measure of technical efficiency to assess the technical efficiencies of the Brazilian banking system. Four approaches to estimation are compared in order to assess the significance of factors affecting inefficiency. These are nonparametric Analysis of Covariance, maximum likelihood using a family of exponential distributions, maximum likelihood using a family of truncated normal distributions, and the normal Tobit model. The sole focus of the paper is on a combined measure of output and the data analyzed refers to the year 2001. The factors of interest in the analysis and likely to affect efficiency are bank nature (multiple and commercial), bank type (credit, business, bursary and retail), bank size (large, medium, small and micro), bank control (private and public), bank origin (domestic and foreign), and non-performing loans. The latter is a measure of bank risk. All quantitative variables, including non-performing loans, are measured on a per employee basis. The best fits to the data are provided by the exponential family and the nonparametric Analysis of Covariance. The significance of a factor however varies according to the model fit although it can be said that there is some agreements between the best models. A highly significant association in all models fitted is observed only for nonperforming loans. The nonparametric Analysis of Covariance is more consistent with the inefficiency median responses observed for the qualitative factors. The findings of the analysis reinforce the significant association of the level of bank inefficiency, measured by DEA residuals, with the risk of bank failure.