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La región del sur del departamento de Córdoba, Colombia, en los últimos diez años ha presentado un crecimiento en el cultivo del cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) como alternativa de sustitución de cultivos ilícitos y de mejoras en la calidad de vida de las familias que han atravesado el conflicto  armado. El sistema de producción ha mostrado  potencialidad dado sus rendimientos que superan al promedio nacional; sin embargo, no se evidencia la presencia de un estudio que indague acerca de la eficiencia en la asignación o inversión de recursos. Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo determinar la eficiencia técnica de este cultivo con información obtenida de una encuesta estructurada y aplicada a 158 cacaoteros de los municipios de Puerto Libertador, Montelíbano, Tierralta y Valencia. La información obtenida contenía variables técnicas y socioeconómicas que permitieron calcular el estado actual de la eficiencia técnica del cultivo del cacao para esta región, del país. La técnica que se usó fue la de frontera estocástica a través de la estimación de parámetros por el método de mínimos cuadrados a una función de producción tipo Cobb Douglas. A pesar de que los rendimientos no son bajos, los resultados muestran que el agricultor presenta una eficiencia técnica del 39%, lo cual se atribuye a la subutilización de factores y ocasiona una brecha en la producción. Se concluye que esta ineficiencia también está asociada a factores sociales como edad avanzada de los agricultores y los bajos niveles de escolaridad principalmente.

This book brings together Professor Arthur’s pioneering article and provide a comprehensive presentation of his exciting vision of an economics that incorporates increasing returns. After a decade of resistance from economists, these ideas are now being widely discussed and adopted, as Kenneth Arrow recounts in his foreword. In fundamental ways they are changing our views of the working economy.

Food is a permanent reason for discussion between the different sciences, considering that it not only affects people's health, but also has an impact on the environment, thus making food overproduction and food insecurity two sides of the same coin. The objective of this work was, on the one hand, to describe the effect of food overproduction at a global and local level and to identify companies or organizations that contribute to reducing hunger in Asunción. For this purpose, the bibliographic-documentary modality was used and semi-structured interviews were carried out. The main results indicate that greenhouse gas emissions derived from food production and the subsequent disposal of unconsumed food contributed significantly to global warming and climate change. Regarding the situation of food insecurity, in Asunción there is a single company dedicated to the rescue and redistribution of food for people in vulnerable situations. In conclusion, it can be indicated that the incidence of Mboja'o in the vulnerable population of Asunción has been increasing since its foundation, which shows that food recycling is a sustainable alternative to reducing hunger. A alimentação é motivo permanente de discussão entre as diferentes ciências, tendo em vista que não só afeta a saúde das pessoas, mas também tem impacto no meio ambiente, tornando assim a superprodução alimentar e a insegurança alimentar duas faces da mesma moeda. O objetivo deste trabalho foi, por um lado, descrever o efeito da superprodução alimentar a nível global e local e identificar empresas ou organizações que contribuem para a redução da fome em Assunção. Para tanto, utilizou-se a modalidade bibliográfico-documental e foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os principais resultados indicam que as emissões de gases com efeito de estufa provenientes da produção de alimentos e a subsequente eliminação de alimentos não consumidos contribuíram significativamente para o aquecimento global e as alterações climáticas. Quanto à situação de insegurança alimentar, em Assunção existe uma única empresa dedicada ao resgate e redistribuição de alimentos para pessoas em situação de vulnerabilidade. Concluindo, pode-se indicar que a incidência de Mboja'o na população vulnerável de Assunção vem aumentando desde a sua fundação, o que mostra que a reciclagem de alimentos é uma alternativa sustentável para reduzir a fome. A alimentação é motivo permanente de discussão entre as diferentes ciências, visto que não só afeta a saúde das pessoas, mas também tem impacto no meio ambiente, tornando a superprodução alimentar e a insegurança alimentar duas faces da mesma moeda. O objetivo deste trabalho foi, por um lado, descrever o efeito da superprodução alimentar a nível global e local e identificar empresas ou organizações que contribuem para a redução da fome em Assunção. Para tanto, utilizou-se a modalidade bibliográfico-documental e foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas.  Os principais resultados indicam que as emissões de gases com efeito de estufa provenientes da produção de alimentos e a subsequente eliminação de alimentos não consumidos contribuíram significativamente para o aquecimento global e as alterações climáticas. Quanto à situação de insegurança alimentar, em Assunção existe uma única empresa dedicada ao resgate e redistribuição de alimentos para pessoas em situação de vulnerabilidade. Concluindo, pode-se indicar que a incidência de Mboja'o na população vulnerável de Assunção vem aumentando desde a sua fundação, o que mostra que a reciclagem de alimentos é uma alternativa sustentável para reduzir a fome.

There are not many books that are genuine classics, and only a handful in business and management whose insights and ideas last for over 50 years. This book is one of the very few 'must reads' for anybody seriously interested in the role of management in the firm. A new introduction recounts Penrose's extraordinary life and assesses her key ideas.

The conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is understood in portions of academia and sometimes acknowledged in political circles. Nevertheless, there is not a unified response. In political and policy circles, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is posited to solve the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. In academia, however, the EKC has been deemed fallacious in macroeconomic scenarios and largely irrelevant to biodiversity. A more compelling response to the conflict is that it may be resolved with technological progress. Herein I review the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation in the absence of technological progress, explore the prospects for technological progress to reconcile that conflict, and provide linguistic suggestions for describing the relationships among economic growth, technological progress, and biodiversity conservation. The conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is based on the first two laws of thermodynamics and principles of ecology such as trophic levels and competitive exclusion. In this biophysical context, the human economy grows at the competitive exclusion of nonhuman species in the aggregate. Reconciling the conflict via technological progress has not occurred and is infeasible because of the tight linkage between technological progress and economic growth at current levels of technology. Surplus production in existing economic sectors is required for conducting the research and development necessary for bringing new technologies to market. Technological regimes also reflect macroeconomic goals, and if the goal is economic growth, reconciliatory technologies are less likely to be developed. As the economy grows, the loss of biodiversity may be partly mitigated with end-use innovation that increases technical efficiency, but this type of technological progress requires policies that are unlikely if the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation (and other aspects of environmental protection) is not acknowledged.

With a longitudinal data base for Colombia we show that entry firms in general do not have a higher total factor productivity than exit firms; and more important, that the growth of total factor productivity goes hand in hand with size. We show that entry and exit do not account for a substantial fraction of total factor productivity growth while the increase in size accounts for nearly all of the increase. We show that firms are created and grow in the same sectors that others shrink and exit. In most sectors we find both small, low productivity enterprises and large, high productivity firms. These latter firms self select into the export market. Thus, the relationship between size, productivity and exports is explored. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Este trabalho investiga a existência de economias de escala nos gastos públicos municipais no Brasil e o impacto da reeleição de prefeitos sobre os padrões de despesa. Utilizando um modelo de dados em painel com 5.416 municípios de 2005 a 2018, os resultados indicam que o aumento populacional reduz os gastos per capita até certo ponto, após o qual podem surgir deseconomias de escala. Municípios mais densamente povoados também apresentam menores custos per capita, reforçando a relação entre estrutura demográfica e eficiência fiscal. Além disso, observa-se que a reeleição de prefeitos está associada a maiores gastos per capita, sugerindo que a continuidade política influencia as decisões orçamentárias. Esses resultados contribuem para o debate sobre a sustentabilidade financeira dos municípios pequenos, especialmente no contexto da PEC 188/2019, ressaltando que a fusão municipal não garante, por si só, maior eficiência fiscal, tornando essencial uma avaliação criteriosa dos diferentes fatores envolvidos.

En el departamento de Chocó, Colombia, está la principal extracción aluvial de metal del platino en América Latina teniendo al oro como metal asociado. Dichos metales son explotados por organizaciones artesanales e informales de pequeña escala. Este ensayo examina el desarrollo sostenible de la minería en Chocó, para ello, cataloga sus dimensiones como unidades de análisis: En la ‘social’ evidencia pobreza generalizada. En la ‘ambiental’, determina mega-diversidad dañada y en riesgo. Y en la ‘económica’, dilucida dependencia a la minería informal e ilegalidad. Así, se argumenta que “La informalidad económica impide el desarrollo sostenible de la minería del platino y el oro”, y se discuten los elementos para su transformación.

We analyze the Mexican market for pension retirement funds from a supply perspective. We focus on the effect different output definitions have on the cost structure of the firms in the market. We propose new definitions for the output produced by firms in this market. We use as outputs 1) the average amount of money in the account per month per affiliate; 2) the firm’s market share measured with the number of affiliates; and 3) the firm’s market share measured with the amount on money in the individualized accounts. We look at the presence of economies of scale with these new definitions. We estimate Cobb Douglas and Translog variable cost functions accounting for endogenous variables. The parameter estimates fall in line with expectations from production theory, however, we find the presence of increasing returns to scale is sensitive to the output definition. T hus, economic policy should consider not only the possible presence of economies of scale, but also the output definition of the firms in the market to archieve greater efficiency.// Analizamos el mercado mexicano de fondos para el retiro desde la perspectiva de la oferta. Nos concentramos en el efecto que tienen las distintas definiciones de producto en la estructura de costos de las empresas del mercado. Proponemos nuevas definiciones del producto generado por las empresas de este mercado. Empleamos como productos i) el monto promedio mensual que hay en la cuenta de cada afiliado; ii) la participación de mercado de la empresa medida según el número de miembros, y iii) la participación de mercado de la empresa medida según los montos de las cuentas individuales. Exploramos la presencia de economías de escala con estas nuevas definiciones. Estimamos las funciones de costos variables Cobb-Douglas y Translog según las variables endógenas. Los parámetros estimados concuerdan con las expectativas de la teoría de la producción; sin embargo, encontramos que la presencia de rendimientos crecientes a escala es sensible a la definición del producto. Por tanto, la política económica debería considerar no sólo la posible presencia de economías de escala sino también la definición del producto de las empresas del mercado para lograr una mayor eficiencia.

The turbulence of the current times has dramatically transformed the world’s economic geographies. The scale and scope of such changes require urgent attention. With intellectual roots dating to the nineteenth century, economic geography has traditionally sought to examine the spatial distributions of economic activity and the principles that account for them. More recently, the field has turned its attention to a range of questions relating to: globalization and its impact on different peoples and places; economic inequalities at different geographic scales; the development of the knowledge-based economy; and the relationship between economy and environment. Now, more than ever, the changing fortunes of peoples and places demands our attention. Economic Geography provides a stimulating and innovative introduction to economic geography by establishing the substantive concerns of economic geographers, the methods deployed to study them, the key concepts and theories that animate the field, and the major issues generating debate. This book is the first to address the diverse approaches to economic geography as well as the constantly shifting economic geographies on the ground. It encompasses traditional approaches, albeit from a critical perspective, while providing a thorough, accessible and engaging examination of the concerns, methods and approaches of the ‘new economic geography’. This unique introductory text covers the breadth of economic geography while engaging with a range of contemporary debates at the cutting-edge of the field. Written in an accessible and lucid style, this book offers a thorough and systematic introductory survey. It is enhanced by pedagogical features throughout including case studies dealing with topics ranging from the head office locations of the Fortune 500, Mexico’s maquiladoras to China’s investments in Southern Africa. This book also contains exercises based on the key concepts and annotated further reading and websites. \"Wood and Roberts have produced a refreshing and comprehensive introduction to how economic geographers try to understand the changing world. This book, wide ranging both in its theoretical coverage and use of examples from diverse contexts, illustrates how more recent approaches have drawn from and reacted to previous rounds of theoretical endeavour and economic change. From understanding the roots of economic geography through to current cutting edge debates, students will find this book an invaluable aid.\" Dr Jane Pollard, CURDS, Newcastle University, UK. \" Economic Geography is the only contemporary text to engage constructively between the different approaches that characterize 'economic geography'. Clearly written and replete with up to date examples, students are challenged to deepen their understanding. Readers will appreciate the fundamental questions that economic geographers ask concerning the world and the economy, and gain novel insights into the uneven geographies of contemporary capitalist globalization.\" Professor Eric Sheppard, Department of Geography, University of Minnesota, USA. Andrew Wood is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky. He is an economic, urban and political geographer with research interests in urban and regional governance, the politics of local economic development and issues relating to competition and collaboration between firms. Sue Roberts is Professor and Chair of Geography at the University of Kentucky where she is also affiliated with the Gender and Women’s Studies Program and the Committee on Social Theory. Her research interests are in economic and political geography and development studies. 1. Introduction Part 1: Traditional Economic Geographies 2. Traditional Location Theory 3. Modeling Economic Geographies Part 2: Geographies of the Firm and Other Institutions 4. The Geographies of the Firm 5. Going Global Part 3: Geographies of Uneven Development 6. Geographic Inequalities 7. The Changing Fortunes of Local and Regional Economies Part 4: Geographies of Networks, Places and Flows 8. Economic Geography 'Unbound' 9. Conclusions