Civil War and Foreign Influence

We study a symmetric information bargaining model of civil war where a third (foreign) party can affect the probabilities of winning the conflict and the size of the post conflict spoils. We show that the possible alliance with a third party makes peaceful agreements difficult to reach and might lead to new commitment problems that trigger war. Also, we argue that the foreign party is likely to induce persistent informational asymmetries which might explain long lasting civil wars. We explore both political and economic incentives for a third party to intervene. The explicit consideration of political incentives leads to two predictions that allow for identifying the influence of foreign intervention on civil war incidence. Both predictions are confirmed for the case of the U.S. as a potential intervening nation: (i) civil wars around the world are more likely under Republican governments and (ii) the probability of civil wars decreases with U.S. presidential approval rates.

Fiscal centralization and the political process

We study the dynamic support for fiscal decentralization in a political agency model from the perspective of a region. We show that corruption opportunities are lower under centralization at each period of time. However, centralization makes more difficult for citizens to detect corrupt incumbents. Thus, corruption is easier under centralization for low levels of political competition. We show that the relative advantage of centralization depends negatively on the quality of the local political class, but it is greater if the center and the region are subject to similar government productivity shocks. When we endogenize the quality of local politicians, we establish a positive link between the development of the private sector and the support for decentralization. Since political support to centralization evolves over time, driven either by economic/political development or by exogenous changes in preferences over public good consumption, it is possible that voters are (rationally) discontent about it. Also, preferences of voters and the politicians about centralization can diverge when political competition is weak.Decentralization, Centralization, Political agency, Quality of politicians, Corruption

Subsidy competition in integrating economies

Regional integration affects location decisions of MNCs and therefore influences each member country's provision of investment incentives, which in turn may trigger relocation. As a consequence, subsidy competition increases as integration proceeds. We analyze the welfare consequences of this phenomenon, modelling subsidization as a game between a MNC facing different location alternatives and governments that may deter or induce relocation by means of subsidies. We show that the combination of integration and subsidy competition may lead to an excess of subsidization. We also discuss how the interest of harmonizing subsidies, the net gains from integration crucially depend on technological differences, ownership and the absorption capacity of MNC profits by countries. Lastly, we find that the gain from supranational subsidy coordination increases with integration.multinational corporations ; regional integration ; FDI ; subsidy competition ; location choice

MIMAC potential discovery and exclusion of neutralinos in the MSSM and NMSSM

The MIMAC project aims to provide a nominal fluorine detector for directional detection of galactic dark matter recoil events. Its expected behavior reaches an important part of the predicted spin dependent elastic scattering interactions of the supersymmetric neutralino with protons. Hence, the parameter space in the MSSM and the NMSSM models with neutralino dark matter could be probed by such experimental efforts. In particular, a good sensitivity to spin dependent interactions tackles parameter space regions to which the predictions on spin independent interactions and indirect signatures are far below current and projected experiments.Comment: Proceedings of the 3rd International conference on Directional Detection of Dark Matter (CYGNUS 2011), Aussois, France, 8-10 June 201

Immigration and the School System

Immigration is an important problem in many societies, and it has wide-ranging effects on the educational systems of host countries. There is a now a large empirical literature, but very little theoretical work on this topic. We introduce a model of family immigration in a framework where school quality and student outcomes are determined endogenously. This allows us to explain the selection of immigrants in terms of parental motivation and the policies which favor a positive selection. Also, we can study the effect of immigration on the school system and how school quality may self-reinforce immigrants' and natives' choices.education, immigration, school resources, parental involvement, immigrant sorting.

Bienestar habitacional y mejoramiento de aislación térmica : estudio de vivienda social tipo 5, Villa Cervantes.

Tesis (Ingeniero Constructor)RESUMEN: La escasez de equipamientos que proporcionan el bienestar habitacional en una edificación, es una problemática recurrente en la elaboración de viviendas sociales, generando falencias en la aislación térmica de la envolvente, iluminación natural al interior de la vivienda, aislación acústica exterior e interior, percepción de seguridad frente al fuego, comportamiento frente a sismos, y comportamiento de la vivienda frente a lluvias y humedad a lo largo de su vida útil. Esto afecta directamente, a los requerimientos de las necesidades básicas de comodidad, y de satisfacción psicológica/fisiológica de los usuarios de las viviendas. Este documento, tiene como objetivo, investigar las principales problemáticas de bienestar habitacional presentes en las viviendas en estudio, y mejorar las características de estas, acotando e interviniendo sus falencias bajo los criterios de bienestar establecidos por el FONDEF. Para ello, se determina un caso en estudio, al cual se le realiza un diagnóstico de su situación actual con un instrumento de encuesta y análisis de su tipología (materiales de construcción); a partir de esto se elabora una propuesta de intervención para la principal problemática (aislación térmica), donde se determinan los costos y beneficios del proyecto. Además, económicamente, el proyecto aquí descrito es factible de realizar con la complementación de un subsidio estatal, enfocado en “Obras de Innovación de Eficiencia Energética” (D.S. N°255), donde, al incorporar elementos de eficiencia térmica en la envolvente, se obtienen beneficios tanto económicos, como de bienestar habitacional para las familias. Con este proyecto, es posible disminuir el flujo térmico a través de la envolvente, el gasto mensual y el consumo de combustibles no renovables que afectan el medio ambiente. Palabras Clave: Bienestar habitacional, Viviendas Sociales, Eficiencia térmica, Envolvente.ABSTRACT: The shortage of equipment that provide well-being housing in a building, is a recurrent problem in the development of social housing, generating shortcomings in the thermal insulation of the envelope, natural lighting inside the home, acoustic insulation outer and inner, perceptions of fire safety, good resistance to earthquakes, and behavior of the house against rain and humidity throughout its life. This directly affects, to the satisfaction of the basic needs of comfort and psychological / physiological of the users of houses. This document has the objective to investigate the main problems of well-being housing, present in the homes-studio, and improve the features of these, delimiting its flaws and intervening under the criteria of well-being established for the FONDEF. For them, is determined a case to study, where makes a diagnosis of the current situation, using survey instrument, and analysis their materials; from this is developing a proposal of intervention for the main problem (thermal insulation), where is determined the costs/benefits of the project. Also, the project is economically feasible to do with a complementation of state subsidy, centered in “Innovation Works of Energy Efficiency” (D.S. N°255), where to incorporate elements of thermal efficiency in the covering, is obtained economic benefits and an increase in the well-being housing for the families. With this project, is possible decrease the heat flow through the wall, monthly expenditure per household and consumption of non-renewable fuels that affect the environment. Keyword: Wellbeing housing, Social housing, Thermal efficiency, Covering

Assessing the potential for reopening a building stone quarry : Newbigging Sandstone Quarry, Fife

Newbigging Sandstone Quarry in Fife is one of a number of former quarries in the Burntisland- Aberdour district which exploited the pale-coloured Grange Sandstone from Lower Carboniferous rocks. The quarry supplied building stone from the late 19th century, working intermittently from 1914 until closure in 1937, and again when reopened in the 1970s to the 1990s. The stone was primarily used locally and to supply the nearby markets in the Scottish Central Belt. Historical evidence indicates that prior to sandstone extraction, the area was dominated by largescale quarrying and mining of limestone, and substantial sandstone quarrying is likely to have begun after the arrival of the main railway line in 1890. It is probable that removal of the sandstone was directly associated with limestone exploitation, and that the quarried sandstone was effectively a by-product of limestone production. Sandstone extraction was probably viable due to the existing limestone quarry infrastructure (workforce, equipment, transportation) and the high demand for building stone in Central Scotland in the late 19th century. The geology within Newbigging Sandstone Quarry is dominated by thick-bedded uniform sandstone with a wide joint spacing, well-suited for obtaining large blocks. However, a mudstone (shale) band is likely to be present within a few metres of the principal (north) face of the quarry, around which the sandstone bed thickness and quality is likely to decrease. The mudstone bed forms a plane sloping at a shallow angle to the north, so that expansion of the quarry in this direction is likely to encounter a considerable volume of poor quality stone. Additionally, an east-west trending fault is present approximately 100 metres north of the quarry face, which is also likely to be associated with poor quality (fractured) stone

Sequential exporting: how firms break into foreign markets

Many countries are looking to their export sectors as a source of future growth, but how do domestic companies make a success of selling their output abroad? Research by Emanuel Ornelas and colleagues finds evidence of 'sequential exporting' - firms experimenting in nearby foreign markets before seeking to become big exporters.sequential exporting, international business