Abstract: What some practitioners coyly called Industrial Revolution 4.0 some years ago is now a reality, and it is drastically changing the way businesses are done in many industries worldwide. The European Union is no exception. Despite being a powerful region, but with conservative, traditional industries, many of these have found it necessary to implement changes in their business models to survive the digital changes. Therefore, the European Commission has prioritized the digital development of the region and the growth of all industries leveraged on the information technologies that can have the most significant impact. As the literature indicates, business models and competitive advantage are complex systems that require essential elements to function synchronously and thus generate value. Hence, cutting-edge technologies play a unique role because they become elements that transform markets and complement the current capabilities of industries and take them to a new stage of development. Therefore, it is essential to know how the adoption of different technologies is related to the economic growth of industries, which technologies generate the most value, and what is needed to drive this growth. This study makes a theoretical review of the impact of ICTs on the European economy, the actions that the European Commission has taken to promote the digital transformation. Finally, it exposes which technologies indeed positively correlate with industries' added value.

Abstract: Este artículo analiza el impacto de la política costarricense de apoyo al turismo sostenible, y en particular con el sistema de Certificación para la Sostenibilidad Turística (CST) del Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) en la innovación en servicios, procesos, mercadeo y organización de las empresas hoteleras del país. Se indagaron las causas y motivaciones para hacer cambios e introducir nuevos atributos dentro de la empresa. En la primera fase, se condujo encuestas con el 27% de todos los hoteles con declaratoria turística en Costa Rica y el 48% de los certificados con CST, para investigar los determinantes de la innovación y de la búsqueda de la certificación de sostenibilidad. Se aplicaron herramientas estadísticas para analizar diferencias entre los hoteles con y sin CST, así como la correlación de los determinantes de la innovación con el grado de innovación. Posteriormente se entrevistaron a seis hoteleros de diversos tipos para profundizar sobre las innovaciones realizadas, los determinantes y motivaciones. Los resultados indican que la certificación es un instrumento para ayudar a los gerentes a mejorar sustancialmente sus empresas, en términos de servicios, procesos, estructura interna y ahorros en agua y energía. Los hoteles con CST demuestren una tasa de ocupación 8% más alto que los hoteles no certificados, con un valor de p=0,01. No se evidenció una diferencia en innovación en mercadeo entre los hoteles con y sin CST.

Abstract: One of the strategies to improve governments’ allocation of resources, particularly when these are insufficient to meet all the public needs, is the use of targeting indices. Generally, a targeting index is a linear combination of wellbeing indicators (for example years of education, dwelling conditions, and so forth) that orders the members of the population according to their living conditions to classify and identify the beneficiaries of social programmes. The weighting method that we propose maximises a function that depends on the number of poor beneficiaries, by income and/or expenditure, given some normative restrictions. Therefore, the indices designed with this method target poor people taking into consideration not only the income dimension, but also other dimensions, such as health, nutrition, and dwelling, although they are not correlated with income and/or correlated with one another. The method for taking these dimensions into account is to specify weighting restrictions by an indicator of wellbeing. In other words, we establish maximum and minimum values for the weights according to the number of indicators and the needs of social programmes. These values maintain the balance between income-based weights and normative weights. Because of these characteristics, we call our method Maximising Poor Beneficiaries with Normative Restrictions (MPBR). The algorithm behind MPBR can maximises or minimises any function. For instance, in the first exercise of this study, it exclusively counts the number of expenditure -poor beneficiaries, and in the second it contemplates both income-poor and expenditure-poor beneficiaries, given double weight to those that meet both conditions - thus the poorest of the poor households become the first beneficiaries of social programmes-. We find that when the function to maximise counts exclusively the number of income-poor (or expenditure-poor) households before a cutoff, it is equivalent to minimising the IE (Inclusion error) and EE (Exclusion error). In fact, we theoretically and empirically demonstrate that the models that minimise the IE and EE (considering income-poor or expenditure-poor households) are probabilistic models. Therefore, we conclude that probabilistic models are a useful tool to determine approximately the minimum IE and EE that can be obtained with a set of indicators. Applying MPBR, we find that when the increase in an indicator of wellbeing statistically increases the probability of not being expenditure-poor, the weight of the indicator converges to a specific positive value to maximise the number of expenditure-poor beneficiaries; in contrast, if the increase in an indicator statistically decreases this probability, the weight of the indicator converges to the minimum allowed weight. In the case in which the indicator is not statistically significant in the probabilistic model, its weight does not converge to a specific value. However, when the weighting restrictions become stronger (for example a greater minimum weight), most of the weights converge to a value. In a comparison of MPBR with other weighting methods (for example PCA and normative method), we conclude that the index estimated with MPBR has a smaller IE and EE and distributes the weights between indicators more equitably than the indices calculated with other methods.

Abstract: Physicians are no strangers to situations where they have to decide with resource restrictions and uncertainty on the relative needs of future beneficiaries of the scarce resources. We propose a lab experiment to understand if such an environment affects physicians' resource allocation decisions and how. When there are incentives to overtreat, we find that a patient tended by a constrained physician under uncertainty obtains higher benefits and receives allocations closer to her optimum than patients from physicians with no constraints or deciding under uncertainty alone. In addition, we observe a redistribution of resources when physicians decide with resource restrictions and uncertainty. In particular, when resources are scarce, physicians tend to allocate the limited services to patients with higher benefits in the absence of medical services, a higher capacity to benefit from the resources, the scantiest need for service units, and the lowest benefits at the optimum. Finally, we find that constraints, with or without complete information on patient characteristics, lead selfish physicians to approximate what is best for the patient. Resumen: Los médicos no son ajenos a situaciones en las que tienen que decidir bajo escasez de recursos e incertidumbre sobre las necesidades relativas de los futuros beneficiarios de servicios de salud. Proponemos un experimento de laboratorio para entender sí, y cómo, este entorno afecta a las decisiones de asignación de recursos de los médicos. Cuando hay incentivos para la sobre provisión de servicios médicos, encontramos que los pacientes atendidos por médicos que enfrenta restricciones e incertidumbre obtienen mayores beneficios en salud y reciben servicios de salud más cercanos a su óptimo, en comparación con los pacientes vistos por médicos sin restricciones o que deciden sólo bajo incertidumbre. Además, observamos una redistribución de recursos cuando los médicos deciden bajo restricciones e incertidumbre. En particular, cuando los recursos son escasos, los médicos tienden a asignar servicios de salud a los pacientes con mayores beneficios en ausencia de servicios médicos, con mayor capacidad para beneficiarse de servicios adicionales, con menores necesidades de tratamiento médico y con menores beneficios en el óptimo. Por último, encontramos que las restricciones, con o sin información completa sobre las características del paciente, llevan a los médicos egoístas a aproximarse a lo que es mejor para el paciente.

Abstract: Visionary Brazilian families have been instrumental in establishing the impact investing ecosystem in Brazil. Today Brazilian families are accelerating the impact investing sector by establishing new impact funds, testing new interventions and business models, engaging in field building, and transforming the impact of their operating businesses. There are a growing number of ways for families to create shared, sustainable prosperity in Brazil through business and investments. This report analyzes the history and current trends of how families are pursuing positive impact by aligning their investments and business activities with their values and legacy. The insights in this paper gathered from twenty-five leading families and ecosystem players provide inspiration and a path to action for families planning the next steps in their impact investing journey. This report outlines how the education, healthcare, and environmental preservation sectors are particularly well suited to attract impact investments in Brazil in the future. The challenges Brazil faces provide a diverse set of opportunities for families to deploy impact capital across asset classes, sectors, geographies, impact strategies, and return profiles. Resumen: Visionaras familias brasileñas han sido fundamentales en el establecimiento del ecosistema de inversión de impacto en Brasil. Hoy en día, las familias brasileñas están acelerando el sector de la inversión de impacto estableciendo nuevos fondos de impacto, probando nuevas intervenciones y modelos de negocio, participando en la construcción del ecosistema y transformando el impacto de sus negocios operativos. Hay un número creciente de formas en las que las familias pueden crear prosperidad compartida y sostenible en Brasil a través de negocios e inversiones. Este informe analiza la historia y las tendencias actuales de cómo las familias buscan un impacto positivo alineando sus inversiones y actividades comerciales con sus valores y legado. Los conocimientos en este documento recopilados de veinticinco familias líderes y actores del ecosistema brindan inspiración y un camino hacia la acción para las familias que planean los próximos pasos en su viaje de inversión de impacto. Este informe describe cómo los sectores de educación, salud y preservación del medio ambiente son particularmente adecuados para atraer inversiones de impacto en Brasil en el futuro. Los desafíos que enfrenta Brasil brindan un conjunto diverso de oportunidades para que las familias desplieguen capital de impacto en clases de activos, sectores, geografías, estrategias de impacto y perfiles de retorno.

Abstract: This work examines the existence of equity market timing attempts along with their short and long-term impacts on capital structure. Further dimensions of equity market timing are assessed in this study by comparing results across emerging and developed markets as well as between regions. In addition, this work examines market timing attempts via Initial Public Offerings as well as through subsequent equity issues. This study also aims at reconciling the findings from three main econometric approaches under the framework of equity market timing; cross-sectional estimations and panel data models are compared to assess the consistency of the findings, additionally, a 2-stage model is implemented to evaluate the existence of leverage targets and to further decant deviations from said objectives. At last, this work finds evidence in favour of long-term impacts on leverage derived from equity market timing for firms in emerging markets. On the contrary, firms from developed markets do not display persistent impacts -as well as weak effects in the short-run- from equity timing on their capital structure. The results from this study are consistent with the narrative in favour of considering equity market timing as a reason for managers to deviate from their leverage targets. Capital structure does not appear to be the sole outcome of previous market timing attempts.

Abstract: Since the covid-19 pandemic, the ECB has conducted different measures in order to counter its harmful economic effects. The most notorious one is the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP). This paper aims at studying the impact of the PEPP announcement and its subsequent extension on the Eurozone corporate bond market. Using market data from Eikon and employing a difference-in-difference design, we find that the PEPP was successful in increasing prices and liquidity of eligible bonds. Nonetheless, in the medium term (after the second envelope extension) the impact of the programme on these bonds relative to the ineligible ones diminishes. Therefore, the results seem to indicate the existence of indirect effects, the idea of portfolio rebalancing mechanisms triggered by the PEPP release gives a possible explanation to these effects.

Abstract: This study presents the effect of dividend announcements on the share price of French companies from the luxury goods industry. The relevant theories used to explain this research were the “dividend irrelevance theorem” proposed by Miller and Modigliani (1961), where dividends do not have an impact in the share price; and the “dividend signaling hypothesis”, where the dividend policy affects the share price. The “dividend signaling hypothesis” was studied by Lintner (1956), Miller and Rock (1985), Grullon et al. (2002), Grullon et al. (2005), Flint et al. (2010), and Vazakidis and Athianos (2010). The application of this theories to the luxury industry was evaluated with statistical elements including the method of “event study”. Data was collected from Bloomberg, financial reports and reports of the general meeting of shareholders. The methodology proposed includes the quantitative analysis of the daily last price of the selected companies, their logarithmic returns as well as their abnormal returns, to demonstrate if they were statistically significant to accept or to reject the findings of Modigliani and Miller. All calculations and estimations were done by using Microsoft Excel®. The main conclusion of this study is that the theory of Miller and Modigliani is not applicable on the listed French luxury goods companies. And in terms of recommendations about the performance of the selected shares: the announcement of dividends has a negative impact between 3 or 4 days before the announcement, and a positive impact no later than 2 days after the announcement.

Abstract: This paper studies the potential drivers of governments’ approval rates in 18 Latin American countries using Internet search query data from Google Trends and traditional data sources. It employs monthly panel data between January 2006 and December 2015. The analysis tests several specifications including traditional explanatory variables of governments’ approval rates – i.e. inflation, unemployment rate, GDP growth, output gap – and subjective explanatory variables – e.g. perception of corruption and insecurity. For the latter, it uses Internet search query data to proxy citizens’ main social concerns, which are expected to drive governments’ approval rates. The results show that the perception of corruption and insecurity, and complaints about public services have a statistically significant association with governments’ approval rates. This paper also discusses the potential of Internet search query data as a tool for policy makers to understand better citizens’ perceptions, since it provides highly anonymous and high-frequency series in real-time.

Abstract: The present dissertation consists of three main chapters of self-contained works about international human migration and migrant's integration in the host society. The empirical studies can be read independently since each chapter addresses a research question and contains a specific literature review, methodology, empirical results, conclusions, and discussion of the results. As a summary: first, it estimates the joint effects of the preexisting stocks of migrant and ancestral distance to predict migration inflows. Second, it studies the children of migrants in the United States of America, their performance in high school when compared to the children of natives, and the role of educational aspirations and expectations as determinant factors behind their educational performance. Third, it examines international students and the role of financial aid on the successful completion of higher education abroad using data from Colfuturo's scholarship loan program. Resumen: La presente tesis consta de tres capítulos principales dedicados a estudiar la migración humana internacional y la integración de los migrantes en la sociedad de acogida. Los estudios empíricos se pueden leer de forma independiente ya que cada capítulo aborda una pregunta de investigación, contiene una revisión de literatura específica, metodología, resultados empíricos, conclusiones y discusión de los resultados. Como resumen: primero, esta tesis estima los efectos conjuntos de los stocks preexistentes de distancia migrante y ancestral para predecir los flujos migratorios. En segundo lugar, estudia a los hijos de migrantes en los Estados Unidos de América, su desempeño en la escuela secundaria en comparación con los hijos de nativos, y el papel de las aspiraciones y expectativas educativas como factores determinantes de su desempeño educativo. En tercer lugar, examina a los estudiantes internacionales y el papel de la ayuda financiera en la finalización exitosa de la educación superior en el extranjero utilizando datos del programa de becas / préstamos de Colfuturo.