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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Although the analysis of urban poverty has advanced towards the integration of objective and subjective approaches to assessing urban development, evaluation of quality of life in cities remains tied to a commodity framework which conceptualises it as the mere dotation of urban amenities. Multidimensional indicators of quality of life attempt to overcome this sort of restriction by considering broader informational spaces to assess well-being in cities. The capability approach has gone some way in addressing this as a multidimensional approach, however the interpretation of spatial phenomena has been absent from its application, meaning that the role of space in the configuration of urban poverty has been neglected. Drawing on cross-sectional data, this paper examines a multidimensional measure of urban poverty based on capabilities of young adults in Bogota in order to identify clusters of deprivation and affluence of well-being and determine levels of urban segregation based on this type of metric. The result is a spatialised index of capabilities that allow us to assess well-being from a perspective of socio-spatial differences. The findings support the importance of considering spatial patterning of capabilities in understanding poverty dynamics in cities. Spatialised capabilities may help to support urban policy design and promote greater understanding of spatial inequalities in cities.

Abstract: QoL studies conceptualise urban well-being as a multidimensional process that is influenced by personal and environmental factors. A much less explored field in QoL has to do with the notion of capabilities and functionings as measurements to evaluate the level of quality of life that people experience in cities. By investigating the young adults category, this article develops a measurement of QoL based on the normative framework of the Capability Approach (CA) to capture urban domains that affect quality of life in Bogota. This study introduces a quantitative methodology to use secondary aggregated data to build a QoL measurement based on capabilities. A nonlinear categorical principal component analysis was used to explore the underlying factor structure of a calibration sample (n=6,998). Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted to validate identified factors, revealing a good fit (SRMR=0.033, CFI=0.910). The result is a Young Adult Capability Index (YACI) that empirically explores the use of capability achievements as a space for evaluating urban QoL in young adults. A multiple linear regression was calculated to predict YACI based on additional variables which are sensitive to inequality for young adults. Results show that capability scores are lower once young adults enter adulthood. Women arrive with better capabilities from childhood and adolescence than men, but rapidly undergo a marked process of decapitalisation of capabilities during their transition to adulthood, suggesting the need for more attention in the elaboration of public policies for this type of population.

Abstract: The rapid and ongoing process of urbanisation in Bogota has brought about significant socio-spatial segregation between city-dwellers. Such segregation is becoming increasingly complex as patterns of fragmentation are evolving towards a more ‘cellular’ differentiation between rich and poor –urban segregation which changes in terms of scale: from macro (neighbourhoods) to micro scales (blocks, streets). Urban segregation has been associated as a barrier for disadvantaged communities, especially when it becomes an intensifier of inequalities. Unequal access to services, availability of local employment, urban facilities, opportunities and supportive social relationships are examples of how segregation affects the distribution of quality of life, undermines attempts for social inclusion and, ultimately, creates unjust geographies. Alongside this context, public policy and measurements of quality of life have frequently overlooked spatial contexts of inequalities since a utility-based definition of well-being is often taken for granted. With the city of Bogota as a testing ground, this thesis analyses how and to what extent new patterns of urban segregation affect the distribution of capabilities and quality of life among young adults. Based on a capability place-based approach to wellbeing, this research will attempt to conceptualise urban quality of life, look at how patterns of urban segregation affect urban functionings, and quantify to what extent microsegregation explains differentials in capability achievement of quality of life among young adults in Bogota.

Abstract: South Africa remains one of the most unequal countries in the world. The current levels of inequality are the legacy of the segregation and marginalization of the vast majority of its citizenry in every aspect of South Africa’s socio- economic development before and during apartheid. Contemporary inequality literature is unambiguous about the fact that such extremely high levels of inequality are detrimental to a country’s development path and stifle a country’s potential in multiple dimensions (Wilkinson and Pickett 2010). In South Africa, poverty and inequality are often mentioned in the same breath. This elides over important conceptual differences between poverty (measured by incomes at a particular threshold) and inequality (measured by gaps between groups or individuals). Poverty is analysed as an individualized metric, the income level of a person or the level of a multi- dimensional index relative to an income or multidimensional poverty line (for a fuller discussion on poverty in South Africa see chapter 8 of this volume). On the other hand, inequality is a relational concept; one is more or less equal in relation to another (Tilly 1998). As such the analysis of poverty cannot necessarily explain the forces reproducing intergenerational inequality or poverty. Analysing inequality is better suited to unveiling the societal processes driving the provision and allocation of assets, and services and the determinants of well- being, and can better describe the forces reproducing intra-generational and intergenerational inequality. This is the task of this chapter.