This paper describes a new method for solving non-regular constrained optimization problems when standard methodologies do not work properly. Our method (the Rational Iterative Multisection Procedure, RIMP) consists of different stages that can be interpreted as different requirements of...

This paper compares the macroeconomic implications of taxing overtime and using two kinds of subsidies, an employment and a wage subsidy, in a model where team work and commuting costs subject to congestion are key determinants of the choice of the workweek. To obtain reliable estimates, I...

The entrepreneurial function as just one factor of production is actually being the point of a depth discussion in entrepreneurship research. It could be the cause of some confusion which impeders theoretical developments and it also makes difficult the effectiveness of pro-entrepreneurial...

This paper provides an approximation to the measurement of public sector wage gaps in Spanish regions. By using data from the European Community Household Panel, it is shown that the balance between what private firms pay in the local market and what the public sector pays, differs substantially...

This paper analyzes the relationship between Compromise Programming and a close relative called Composite Programming that is based on the use of composite metrics. More specifically, it focuses on the possibility that the results of Compromise Programming are equivalent to those obtained with a...

Social Accounting Matrices (SAM) are databases that complete the information provided by the input-output tables. They study the intersectorial relationships of an economy, the behaviour of consumers, the government or the foreign sector, while being able to close the income flow of rent. In...

In this paper, we study a model à la Rogoff (1990) where politicians distort fiscal policy to signal their competency, but where fiscal policy can be centralized or decentralized. Our main focus is on how the equilibrium probability that fiscal policy is distorted in any region (the political...

In this paper we study the possibility of estimating a monetary value for the QALY. Using two different surveys of the Spanish population (n=900), we try to establish whether willingness to pay (WTP) is (almost) proportional to the health gains measured in QALYs. We also explore whether...

This paper investigates several issues concerning persistence in inequalities of relative income per capita among the Spanish regions over 1980-2002. For that purpose we take a Bayesian approach which extends the work by Canova and Marcet (1995). Firstly, we study to what extent there exists a...

In this paper, we propose an indirect method to elicit nonlinear multiattribute utility functions which is based on duality results. The idea is to obtain a utility function which is compatible with the observed behaviour of decision makers. The paper builds on a previous work by André and...