The e-Invoicing has become a subject of great importance and source of several benefits for the European industry, however there isn`t an realistic and clear view about the status of the e-Invoicing adoption in each country, by the contrary exists different figures and reports with unrealistic statistics and rates that creates uncertainty by the stakeholders inside the country. On this basis, this thesis pretends to go deeply in this subject, researching and analyzing the e-Invoicing European landscape, characterized with different regulations and conditions by each country, but without indicators and realistic figures to identify crucial factors and best practices that facilitate the interoperability and increase the adoption. The main objective of this research is to obtain a reliable and updated view of the e-Invoicing adoption in Europe, confronting the data with local stakeholders and establishing a methodology and criteria that permits compare and classify the different European countries and its behaviors and patterns. Is also a concern of this thesis, to identify the conditions, best practices, barriers and enablers that characterize the e-Invoicing in Europe with the aim of increase the interoperability and enable the interchange cross border of e-Invoices, especially in Italy. Contributing with the studies and research of The Observatory in Electronic Invoicing, in which the idea of this research was born and its support allowed the completion of this work. The methodology followed for perform this research is divided basically in two phases, the data collection and the empirical analysis that allows at the end identify summary notes, facts, measures that create awareness about the actual situation in Europe of the e-invoicing and suggestion to increase the adoption and diffusion of the e-Invoicing. Finally as part of the purpose of this thesis is to show and highlight the best practices, conditions and problems that have presented the electronic invoicing in Europe during the last years, in the summary notes are shown, analyzed and explained the most relevant results of this research that will be useful for further project of the observatory and also for the different experts and stakeholders of electronic invoicing in other countries that helped with this works and are interested in the results to take measures and propose new projects in their own countries. In this section also are described the different clusters and shown the countries that belongs to each one, highlighting the common facts, problems and conditions of the electronic invoicing in Europe. Also are identified and summarized the enablers and barriers of the electronic invoicing in Europe suggesting measures to incentive them and to overcome them respectively.

The shift from government to governance has committed its goal to realize a more inclusive and plural way to govern contemporary societies. It has allowed the different actors to interrelate themselves in decision-making processes around strategic metropolitan projects. Citizen participation is also increasingly playing a role in the planning domain, as the traditional role of government as the main decision-maker, becomes challenged or accompanied by new and emerging participatory structures. The recent literature on governance in the Latin American metropolitan context is just developing, as the term first appeared in the region in the 1990s. Although the region is advancing into the consolidation of governance structures, the metropolitan institutional framework is still deficient in the region for its short-lived background in democracy. By delving the context of the Aburrá Valley in Colombia, the present thesis is based on a single case study investigation which uses two frameworks: governance and citizen participation. The thesis aims to answer the question: How have the different actors been interrelated in the decision-making process of Parque del Río Medellín and what were the policy outcomes? Parque del Río Medellín is a project that not only aims to enhance the deficit of public space in the city and improve mobility and quality of life conditions for its inhabit-ants, but also to challenge the current land use model which has saturated to an almost un-sustainable point the slopes of the valley. The results of the investigation achieved through elite semi-structured interviews, show that public sector actors deploy enormous amounts of resources and decision-making capacity, while civil society actors mildly influence the decision-making process. On the other hand, the role of citizen participation around the project resembles classic ‘tokenism’ or symbolic participation achieved through ‘imaginary workshops’, ‘socializations’ or round tables. Finally, the investigation reveals the role of the municipal mayor and his ‘political’ will is crucial to understand the present and future a project, that while is strategic, paradoxically receives scarce attention on behalf of the citi-zens or other civil society actors.

This Masters thesis explores burnout syndrome in nonviolent activists, focusing mainly in its psychosocial dynamic. It does so by correlating the theories of strategic nonviolent action and diverse psychological paradigms. A gender sensitive perspective is maintained throughout the research, providing necessary criticism to a subject matter that is yet not entirely understood. Usually, burnout research studies the ?who” of the syndrome. That is, the intrinsic characteristic of the individual that is affected. In the context of nonviolent resistance, asking for the ?what” makes more sense. Congruently, this research covers the elements that are causing burnout at the individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels: common stressors, risky environments, idealism, strategic planning, sanctions, and trauma. Although it is not possible to reach absolute conclusions regarding the consequences that burnout might generate in nonviolent movements, it is possible to infer that the effectiveness of a movement is in part due to the psychological wellbeing of the men and women that work for it. Therefore, the value of psychosocial support groups is a relevant part of any movement’s organizational framework. After providing an analysis of the current theoretical understanding of nonviolence and other disciplines, a burnout measurement instrument was designed for both institutional predisposing factors and activist burnout. These instruments intend to measure the impact of burnout in nonviolent action settings, taking into account that traditional burnout scales are designed for people-work professions. Subsequently, a group of nonviolent activists was evaluated on their subjective burnout experience, that was later contrasted with the characteristics of the organization they work for. This research arrives to the conclusion that there are sufficient reasons to believe that burnout might be causing or aggravating factors that nonviolent action literature considers negative for the adequate functioning of any nonviolent struggle. Further research is considered necessary to analyze this phenomenon in a wider sample, as well as in a case to case basis.

Resumen extendidoEn 2017, el porcentaje de personas viviendo en condición de pobreza monetaria en Santa Marta fue de 33%. Con este resultado, la ciudad se ubicó como la tercera con mayor pobreza en la región Caribe, superada solo por Riohacha y Valledupar. Esto contrasta con lo que se vivió tres décadas atrás. En 1985, el indicador de necesidades básicas insatisfechas (NBI) posicionó a Santa Marta como la ciudad con menor pobreza entre las ocho capitales de la costa Caribe. La pregunta es entonces: ¿cuándo inició el retroceso? En el periodo 1985-1993, mientras que Cartagena y Barranquilla redujeron su pobreza en 9 puntos porcentuales, la de Santa Marta aumentó en 1 punto porcentual. Siguiendo esta tendencia, Santa Marta sería superada por estas dos ciudades y esto se mantendría para el dato más reciente de pobreza por NBI de 2005.El estudio de la pobreza en Santa Marta es indispensable para plantear soluciones adecuadas que permitan avanzar en su superación. Este documento tiene tres objetivos principales: (i) realizar una caracterización espacial de la pobreza en Santa Marta, (ii) investigar las razones de su rezago relativo en reducción de pobreza y (iii) proponer una serie de inversiones para llevar la pobreza de la ciudad al promedio que tendrán las 23 ciudades principales e intermedias en 2030. La información espacial y los mapas son de gran utilidad para identificar los lugares donde se concentran los más pobres, así como para conocer sus principales necesidades. Por su parte, algunos antecedentes históricos de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, permiten tener una aproximación al retroceso vivido.El trabajo encuentra que uno de los hechos relacionados con el aumento relativo de la pobreza fue la llegada masiva de desplazados a la ciudad. Según el Registro Único de Víctimas, en el periodo 1985-2017, Santa Marta fue la tercera ciudad que más recibió desplazados en el país, solo después de Bogotá y Medellín. Este crecimiento poblacional resultó en la concentración de pobreza en las faldas de los cerros aledaños y en algunas zonas del casco urbano, en donde son recurrentes la falta de servicios públicos y el bajo logro educativo de la población. Precisamente, es en este último tema donde se encuentran los principales retos de la ciudad. Santa Marta ocupa los últimos lugares en indicadores de calidad educativa: en las pruebas Saber 11 de 2017 los estudiantes samarios solo superaron a los de Quibdó.Para superar el rezago en pobreza, se deben entonces priorizar inversiones en cuatro sectores: educación, vivienda, acueducto y alcantarillado, y empleo. El costo total aproximado de estas inversiones es de 433 millones de dólares en los próximos 12 años, los cuales se podrían financiar con un mayor esfuerzo fiscal local y una mayor calidad del gasto público. Implementar esta estrategia permitirá revertir la tendencia mencionada y llevar la pobreza de Santa Marta al promedio que tendrán las 23 ciudades principales e intermedias de Colombia en 2030. Abstract In 1985, Santa Marta was the city with the lowest level of structural poverty in the Caribbean region. Three decades later, in 2017, Santa Marta had the third highest monetary poverty rate in the region, only lower than Riohacha and Valledupar. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, to characterize poverty and its spatial dimension in Santa Marta. Second, to understand the causes of the lag in poverty reduction. And third, to propose a set of investments to overcome this lag. The analysis shows that one of the main factors associated with poverty in the city was the massive arrival of displaced people starting in 1990. The maps, meanwhile, show the appearance of misery belts in the surrounding foothills and in some areas inside the urban perimeter, where poverty is correlated with informality and low educational attainment of the population. All in all, results reveal investment priorities in four sectors: education, housing, water and sewage, and employment.

Agriculture was the engine of growth for a more established communities, a symbol of progress that became an important step forward to a civilization. However, the growth of cities has been weakened the reciprocal relationships that existed between human settlements and farming. In Beijing’s green belt for instance, the urbanization phenomena colonized productive landscapes where farmland and nature areas have been replaced by dense cityscapes. Caochangdi village in northeast Beijing, illustrates a condition of a place which needs physical and social integration with the green belt where it is located. In this sense, this thesis describes a proposal that take advantage of Urban farming, bringing community together around food production, ecological practices and the capacity of environment transformation through the strategy based on The Continuous productive urban landscapes (CPULs). From this perspective, farming practice wherein an urban fringe context, pretends improve environmental and living conditions of their residents by recovering and adapting existing open areas that will work as a productive public spaces for them and also for people from metropolitan area, finding an alternative space to interact with agriculture but at the same time with people’s neighborhood. CPULs implementation will have the potential to be replicated along the green belt area through an agricultural infrastructure highly adaptive formed by scaffolding, integrating other settlements and recovering its former function towards a sustainable area. This will be part of dynamic of daily resident’s life, with the aim of building community identity and raising social cohesion among them and metropolitan people that visit and use the new area improved by urban farming. La agricultura fue el motor de crecimiento para comunidades más consolidadas, un símbolo de progreso que se convirtió en un gran paso hacia la civilización. Sin embargo, el crecimiento de las ciudades ha debilitado la relación reciproca que existía entre los asentamientos humanos y la agricultura. En el cinturón verde de Beijing por ejemplo, el fenómeno de la urbanización colonizó paisajes productivos donde áreas naturales y de cultivo han sido reemplazados por paisajes densos de ciudad. Villa Caochangdi al noreste de Beijing, ilustra la condición de un lugar que necesita una integración física y social al cinturón verde donde se encuentra ubicada. En este sentido, la esta tesis describe una propuesta que se aprovecha de la agricultura urbana, reuniendo a la comunidad alrededor de la producción de alimento, prácticas ecológicas y la capacidad de transformación del medio ambiente a través de la estrategia basada en Paisajes productivos continuos urbanos (CPULs). Desde está perspectiva, la practica de la agricultura en los limites urbanos, pretende mejorar las condiciones ambientales y de vida de sus residentes, recuperando y adaptando espacios abiertos existentes que servirían como espacios públicos productivos para ellos y para las personas del área metropolitana que visitarían y usarían las nuevas zonas mejoradas por la agricultura urbana.

In 2007, Mexico City legalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. By doing so, it became the first and only state in Mexico where abortion on demand is legal. In this paper, I use this natural experiment to estimate the effects of abortion legalization on child and maternal health. I perform Difference-In-Differences estimates using information from all births and deaths occurred between 2002 and 2012. My findings suggest that the change in the abortion legislation in Mexico City reduced the Infant Mortality Rate and the Under 5 Mortality Rate by approximately 2.3 and 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. Moreover, for the Maternal Mortality Rate I find that the estimations range from -5.49 to -6 deaths per 100,000 live births. These results are validated by the use of a more accurate control group generated by the Synthetic Control Method. To the best of my knowledge, this if the first paper that attempts to examine the effects of abortion legalization in Mexico City on child health. En el 2007, Ciudad de México legalizó el aborto en las 12 primeras semanas de gestación. Al hacerlo, se convirtió en el primero y único estado del país en donde el aborto voluntario es legal. En este artículo utilizo este experimento natural para estimar los efectos de la legalización del aborto en la salud materno infantil. Realizo estimaciones de Diferencias en Diferencias utilizando información de todos los nacimientos y muertes ocurridos entre 2002 y 2012. Mis hallazgos sugieren que el cambio en la legislación relativa el aborto en la Ciudad de México redujo la tasa de mortalidad Infantil y la tasa de mortalidad en menores de 5 años en aproximadamente 2.3 y 2.4 muertes por cada 1.000 nacidos vivos, respectivamente. Además, para la tasa de mortalidad materna, encuentro que las estimaciones oscilan entre -5,49 y -6 muertes por 100.000 nacidos vivos. Estos resultados se validan mediante el uso de un grupo de control más preciso, utilizando la metodología de control sintético. Según mi conocimiento, este es el primer artículo que intenta examinar los efectos de la legalización del aborto en la Ciudad de México sobre la salud infantil.

This paper uses microsimulation techniques to estimate the impact of gender discrimination in the labor market on the poverty rates of Colombia. We build four counterfactual household income distributions and poverty rates, each one addressing a particular feature of the inequality present in the Colombian labor market. Then, we compared this poverty rates to the observed one to compute the impact of each scenario on poverty reduction. We use data from the Quality of life survey for the years 2015 and 2003. Our findings show that a reduction of the inequality between women and men in their participation in the labor market is the most important feature, with the highest potential to reduce poverty. Este artículo utiliza técnicas de microsimulación para estimar el impacto de la discriminación de género en el mercado laboral en las tasas de pobreza de Colombia. Construimos cuatro distribuciones contrafactuales del ingreso de los hogares y de las tasas de pobreza, cada una de las cuales aborda una característica particular de la desigualdad presente en el mercado laboral colombiano. Luego, comparamos estas tasas de pobreza con la tasa observada para calcular el impacto de cada escenario en la reducción de la pobreza. Usamos datos de la encuesta de calidad de vida de los años 2015 y 2003. Nuestros hallazgos muestran que la reducción de la desigualdad entre mujeres y hombres en la participación en el mercado laboral es la característica más importante, con el mayor potencial para reducir la pobreza.

The inspiration behind this dissertation research derives from a simple, yet complex question, what makes the materiality of the computer screen you are reading this text different from the nearest wall or window you can look at? Is it the material? its connectivity? The size, or its volume? Are the sole attributes granted to a computer screen, a tablet, cell phone screen or any mobile and digital device that enable you to read this text, any different from to the plaster, paint, or any other material that surrounds you? The application of new technologies has been slow and underdeveloped in construction. In simple terms, building elements and materials have been considered as raw material or a tradeable commodity, but their potential to comprise Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis is still unexplored, and it’s their data emitting potential what will ultimately make them more valuable. Advances on the internet have enabled the invention of a IoT connected technologies, all of which have evolved thanks to the miniaturisation of devices, but these have not been included in the built components of construction. The Covid-19 Pandemic has placed a great burden over the way in which buildings are occupied, operated and maintained, but crisis provide opportunities, and the global problem seemed to evidence the profound obsolescence and fragility of our built infrastructure and is in the light of this events that could be a turning point for the adoption and development of these technological solutions. This dissertation will revise the existent literature review, extract the clues for the elements and frameworks from the studied authors who used IoT solutions and applications and from that knowledge, conduct a survey to obtain responses and explore in what ways, to apply these parameters as a set of problems or challenges, which will need to be assessed, in the reopening of office facilities and venues to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.

This dissertation explores consumer credit and its effects on the British economy and the British households. Chapter 1 offers a brief introduction to the issues around consumer credit that each of the subsequent chapters covers. Chapter 2 is the first empirical chapter and considers how the enactment of appropriate regulation can improve the understanding of the cost of credit. This chapter studies the effects of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 on the British economy through the introduction of the calculation and publication of the true cost of lending. Moreover, it tests the presence of a structural break in the relationship between the price and volume of consumer credit. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the effects of shocks to consumer credit on inflation and households’ savings. Chapter 3 turns to analyze the impact of consumer credit on households’ consumption and self-reported well-being across the income distribution. This chapter analyzes whether consumer credit can reduce consumption inequality by allowing poorer households to increase their consumption of consumer durables and leisure or, if on the contrary, it worsens self-reported measures of well-being. Next, chapter 4 studies households’ financial resilience and evaluates the role that consumer credit plays in affecting it. This chapter answers the question Is there a measure that correlates with households’ probability of falling into financial distress and, moreover, predicts the likelihood of these households over- coming said distress? To answer this question, this chapter proposes as a proxying measure the logarithmic ratio of households’ financial assets and short-term liabilities. Moreover, this chapter reports the asymmetries of ownership of financial assets and short-term credit across the income and wealth distributions. Then it analyzes the effects of said proxy on the occurrence probability of a series of financial resilience-related events. Finally, chapter 5 offers tentative overall conclusions and points to a future research agenda. Esta tesis explora el crédito al consumo y sus efectos sobre la economía británica y sus hogares. El capítulo 1 ofrece una breve introducción a los temas alrededor del crédito al consumo que se abarcan en cada uno de los capítulos siguientes. El capítulo 2 es el primer capítulo empírico y considera cómo la promulgación de una regulación adecuada puede mejorar la comprensión del costo del crédito. Este capítulo estudia los efectos de la Ley de Crédito al Consumo de 1974 sobre la economía británica, mediante el establecimiento del requerimiento del cálculo y la publicación del verdadero costo de los préstamos de consumo. Además, pone a prueba la presencia de una ruptura estructural en la relación entre el precio y el volumen del crédito al consumo. Así mismo, el documento analiza los efectos de perturbaciones en el crédito al consumo sobre la inflación y el ahorro de los hogares. El capítulo 3 pasa a analizar el impacto del crédito al consumo sobre el consumo de los hogares y el bienestar subjetivo a través de la distribución del ingreso. Este capítulo analiza si el crédito al consumo puede reducir la desigualdad del consumo al permitir que los hogares más pobres aumenten su consumo de bienes duraderos y ocio o si, por el contrario, empeora las medidas de bienestar subjetivas. A continuación, el capítulo 4 estudia la resiliencia financiera de los hogares y evalúa el papel que desempeña el crédito al consumo para afectarla. Este capítulo responde a la pregunta ¿Existe alguna medida que se correlacione con la probabilidad de que los hogares caigan en dificultades financieras y, además, prediga la probabilidad de que estos hogares sobrelleven dichas dificultades? Para responder a esta pregunta, el capítulo propone como medida de aproximación la relación logarítmica de los activos financieros de los hogares y sus pasivos a corto plazo. Además, este capítulo informa acerca de las asimetrías de propiedad de activos financieros y del crédito a corto plazo en las distribuciones del ingreso y la riqueza. Luego, analiza los efectos de dicha medida sobre la probabilidad de ocurrencia de una serie de eventos relacionados con la resiliencia financiera. Por último, el capítulo 5 ofrece conclusiones generales y propone una agenda de investigación futura.

The present study adds to the current discussion regarding relations between self-regulatory process and academic achievement. We investigated whether behavior regulation mediates the relations between emotion-oriented strategies and mathematics achievement. Therefore, mediation models were tested cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Participants were (N=76) fourth graders (45 girls, 31 boys) in Time 1; and (N= 48) fifth graders (32 girls, 16 boys) in Time 2. Moreover, children’s mothers (N= 124) and teachers (N=29) from 11 primary schools in southern Germany took part in the study. Children’s use of emotion-oriented strategies (independent variable) was self-reported on the Questionnaire for the Measurement of Stress and Coping in Children and Adolescents (SSKJ 3-8). Teachers and parents rated children’s behavior regulation (mediator variable) with The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); whereas mathematics achievement (dependent variable) was assessed with standardized tests (DEMAT 4 and HST 4/5) and teachers’ ratings. Age and intelligence (CFT 20-R) were included as control variables. Mediation analyses using a bootstrapping method revealed that in Time 1 as well as in the longitudinal part of the study, the use of emotion-oriented strategies indirectly affected mathematic achievement via behavior regulation. Thus, it is suggested to further explore the mediational effect with larger samples from different contexts. El presente estudio se suma a la discusión actual sobre las relaciones entre el proceso de autorregulación y el rendimiento académico. Investigamos si la regulación de la conducta media las relaciones entre las estrategias de regulación orientadas a las emociones y el rendimiento en matemáticas. Modelos de mediación fueron probados de forma transversal y longitudinal. Los participantes fueron (N = 76) estudiantes de cuarto grado (45 niñas, 31 niños) en el Tiempo 1; y (N = 48) estudiantes de quinto grado (32 niñas, 16 niños) en el Tiempo 2. Además, las madres de los niños (N = 124) y los maestros (N = 29) de 11 escuelas primarias del sur de Alemania participaron en el estudio. El uso de estrategias orientadas a las emociones por parte de los niños (variable independiente) fue reportado en el Cuestionario para la Medición del Estrés y el Afrontamiento en niños y adolescentes (SSKJ 3-8). Los maestros y los padres calificaron la regulación del comportamiento de los niños (variable mediadora) con el Cuestionario de Fortalezas y Dificultades (SDQ); mientras que el rendimiento en matemáticas (variable dependiente) se evaluó con pruebas estandarizadas (DEMAT 4 y HST 4/5) y calificaciones de los profesores. La edad y la inteligencia (CFT 20-R) se incluyeron como variables de control. Los análisis de mediación revelaron que el uso de estrategias orientadas a las emociones afectó indirectamente el rendimiento en matemáticas a través de la regulación del comportamiento.