The belief that peers' characteristics influence the behavior and outcomes of students in school has been important in shaping public policy. How peers affect individuals depends on the educational system prevailing. I analyze two different systems: tracking and mixing, and I propose several...

We develop generalised indirect inference procedures that handle equality and inequality constraints on the auxiliary model parameters. We obtain expressions for the optimal weighting matrices, and discuss as examples an MA(1) estimated as AR(1), an AR(1) estimated as MA(1), and a log-normal...

This paper introduces a new methodology to target direct transfers against poverty. Our method is based on observable correlates and on estimation methods that focus on the poor. Using data from Tunisia, we estimate ‘focused’ transfer schemes that improve anti-poverty targeting performances....

The aim of this article is to provide additional evidence on the fulfilment of the Purchasing Power Parity hypothesis in the so-called Mediterranean countries. In order to test for the empirical validity of such hypothesis, we have applied two types of unit root tests. The first group is due to...

This paper introduces the notion of Market Equilibrium With Active Consumers (MEWAC), in order to characterize the efficiency of market outcomes in production economies. We show that, no matter the behaviour followed by the firms, a market equilibrium is efficient if it is a MEWAC. And also that...

In this paper we have introduced and parameterized the concept of ?group cohesion? in a model of local interaction with a population divided into groups. This allows us to control the level of ?isolation? of these groups: We thus analyze if the degree of group cohesion is relevant to achieve an...

So far, the Theory of Distributive Justice has tried to single out a unique criterion of Justice. In our opinion, we live in a world in which different people hold conflicting ideas about justice. We propose a procedure for representing these individual opinions, by means of what we call...

In this paper the profitability and stability of an International Environmental Agreement among N identical countries that emit a pollutant are studied using a standard quadratic net benefit function. The static analysis shows that only a bilateral agreement could be self-enforcing independently...

In this paper we explore the notion that players are decent, in the sensethat their choices are bound by certain unwritten social rules. We apply thisidea to two cases: bankruptcy and bargaining in exchange economies. Wecharacterize the results that are generated by such a behavior in the cases...

Nyholm (2002, 2003) [J. of Financial Research, 25, pp. 485; J. of Applied Econometrics, 18, pp. 457] has proposed a new procedure to infer the probability of informed negotiation on a trade-to-trade basis through a regime-switching model. We provide further empirical evidence about the performance...