Rius, Andrés

This “systematic review” focuses on the empirical research that evaluates the causal link between contract enforcement and investment. The evidence available in a variety of academic media, reviewed with established procedures, provides some but weak support for the existence of such link. During 1990–2010 we only found 19 independent studies that empirically test the relationship, and only one that directly examines the effects of an actual institutional reform. Few of the studies test alternative explanations, perform robustness checks, or critically assess the findings. In sum, the broadly accepted hypothesis of direct causation is still awaiting strong empirical backing.

Throughout the world, stable regional patterns relating to private savings are hard to access. This article revisits the hypothesis that, as there is evidence of emula-tion patterns between consumers, there might be international (macroeconomic) “emulation”. We test demonstration effect theories exploiting international data on savings, incomes, and means of global exposure. We use two methods of media communication given that their penetration peaked at different times in the sample period: TV and internet were a means of discovering foreign consumption standards. With the resulting country panels, we find some evidence in favour of a statistically significant negative association for the demonstration effect.

Idioma: Inglés

Idioma: Español

En este trabajo se analiza la experiencia de cooperación entre el Instituto de Economía (IEcon) de la Universidad de la República (UdelaR, Uruguay) y el Ministerio de Desarrollo Social (MIDES), para el diseño e implementación del “Plan Nacional de Atención a la Emergencia Social” (PANES) y su sucesor, el “Plan de Equidad”. En base a este caso, se busca reflexionar sobre las estrategias de gestión del conocimiento empleadas, a efectos de aportar lecciones al propio IEcon y a otros centros de investigación que puedan confrontar circunstancias similares.