Chinese Penetration and Importer Country Wages: Microevidence From Chile

The increasing importance of China in the world trade raises important questions on its impact on importing countries. This paper studies how import competition from China has affected wages in the Chilean Manufacturing Industry. Using plant-level data for the period 1996-2005, we find that increasing imports from China have tended to depress real wages in manufacturing plants. This negative effect on manufacturing workers is heterogeneous. We find that firms in labor-intensive industries and smaller firms have been quantitatively more affected by Chinese competition. These results hold to correction for sample selection and alternative measures of import competition from low-wages countries.

Microeconomic Evidence of Nominal Wage Rigidity in Chile

This paper presents micro evidence on the degree of downward nominal wage rigidity in Chile and also explores its consequences in terms of employment. The data used corresponds to a new panel based on 440 thousand wage histories for the period 2001.12-2007.12. The results indicate a low degree of wage flexibility, the estimated length of wage adjustment for the whole economy being around nine quarters. In terms of the determinants of wage rigidity, the degree of flexibility depends negatively on the size of the firm, the percentage of female workers, the age of workers and white-collar participation at firm level. The econometric estimations indicate that the direct consequence of wage rigidity is a higher fluctuation of employment through the business cycle.

Welfare Implications of a Second Lender in the International Markets

The role of an extra lender in the international markets – such the IMF or another similar institution - has been widely covered in academic discussions and among policy makers. However, there is neither a clear answer nor a consensus about its welfare consequences. On the one hand, it is argued that the moral hazard consequences of an extra lender could be strong enough to offset any positive effect of an additional source of funding. On the other hand, it is argued that moral hazard consequences could be negligible and, therefore, the second lender’s presence could be welfare improving. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a numerical perspective about the welfare effect of an active second lender. Second, it sheds light on the debt dynamics in the two-lender case. The main result is that the second lender is not beneficial from a welfare standpoint for a wide range of parameters. Without coordination, the estimates imply welfare losses that range from 1.5% to 6% of GDP, depending on the severity of the second lender’s penalties. On the other hand, if a coordination mechanism is imposed, such as the second lender acting as a lender of last resort, then the model will mimic a one-lender model where the first lender is crowded out from the market. l II) could be helpful on this task.

The Long And The Short Of Emerging Market Debt

Emerging economies have tried to promote long-term debt since it reduces maturity mismatches and the probability of crises. This paper uses unique evidence from the leading case of Chile to study to what extent there is domestic demand for long-term instruments. We analyze monthly asset-level portfolios of Chilean institutional investors (mutual funds, pension funds, and insurance companies) and compare their maturity structure to that of US bond mutual funds. Despite being thought to invest long term, Chilean asset-management institutions (mutual and pension funds) hold large amounts of short-term assets relative to US mutual funds and Chilean insurance companies. Shorttermism is not driven by lack of instrument availability or tactical behavior. Instead, it seems to be explained by the desire to minimize inflation risk and, more importantly, by manager incentives that tilt demand toward short-term instruments. Extending the maturity of emerging market debt may require reducing risk and reshaping investor incentives.

The long and the short of emerging market debt

Emerging economies have tried to promote long-term debt because it reduces maturity mismatches and the probability of crises. This paper uses unique evidence from the leading case of Chile to study to what extent there is domestic demand for long-term instruments. The authors analyze monthly asset-level portfolios of Chilean institutional investors (mutual funds, pension funds, and insurance companies) and compare their maturity structure to that of US bond mutual funds. Despite being thought to invest long term, Chilean asset-management institutions (mutual and pension funds) hold large amounts of short-term assets relative to US mutual funds and Chilean insurance companies. Short-termism is not driven by lack of instrument availability or tactical behavior. Instead, it seems to be explained by the desire to minimize inflation risk and, more importantly, by manager incentives that tilt demand toward short-term instruments. Extending the maturity of emerging market debt may require reducing risk and reshaping investor incentives.Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,,Investment and Investment Climate,Deposit Insurance

Benjamin y la postmetrópolis constelaciones de dirección única

Las semejanzas que Walter Benjamin establece entre su performance textual y su modo de indagación histórica respecto de la realidad urbana moderna, han proporcionado importantes orientaciones para la compresión de las ciudades. Sin embargo, hemos querido invertir la dirección interpretativa de estos aportes que, por lo general, se han dirigido desde la filosofía benjaminiana hacia los estudios urbanos contemporáneos. por el contrario, y sin desestimar tales aportes, en este caso intentamos utilizar algunos recursos metodológicos de la investigación urbana actual para proponer un marco de lectura posible de uno de los textos más em- blemáticos donde Benjamin, precisamente, construye la semejanza entre escritura y ciudad: Calle de dirección única. partir de las complejidades de lo urbano para enfrentar la interpretación de esta obra no sólo es consecuente con dicha semejanza, sino que también asume el valor heurístico que esta perspectiva puede proporcionar para el trabajo filosófico

Poesía chilena del paisaje y la ciudad : cartografía de una tradición poética. Hacia una estética de la poesía postdictatorial

El presente artículo propone un recorrido por la poesía chilena reciente desde los años setenta hasta la poesía de la postdictadura. Los poemas se centran principalmente en el paisaje y en la ciudad como una forma de preservar la memoria tanto individual como colectiva.The present article aims to show a panoramic view of recent Chilean poetry, from the seventies until postdictatorship poetry on the nineties. The poems' focuses are mainly on the landscape and on the city, as a strategy to preserve both collective and individual memory

Ética en investigación: desde los códigos de conducta hacia la formación del sentido ético

Conscientes de la multiplicidad de factores a los que la investigación educativa contemporánea se encuentra expuesta, y de la existencia de problemas éticos específicos emergentes a raíz de los nuevos modos de producción de conocimiento, el presente artículo busca, desde la revisión de los principales códigos de ética existentes, comenzar a proponer medidas de protección frente a los comportamientos no éticos. Se presenta la formación de construcción del sentido ético (sensemaking) para la toma de decisiones en la investigación como una alternativa interesante, ya que permitiría adelantarnos a errores y faltas éticas eventuales, desarrollando de este modo prácticas de investigación éticas. Esto último se presenta como una obligación tanto hacia nuestra labor investigativa, como hacia nuestros participantes, hacia nuestra profesión y la educación en su conjunt