vol. 13 núm. 19 (2011)

This article presents some of the results of the research entitled: “Public Politics for population with disability in Colombia. Institutional failure or non-existent reality?”, advanced by the authors in development of their work for the Masters degree in Economic Sciences, advanced in the University of Santo Tomás. In Colombia, disability manifest enormous dimensions; according to the information of the last general census of population, about seven of every hundred inhabitants are affected by some type of disability, which represents near 3 million persons; disabilities that go from problems to move or walk, to relate to others, to understand or to learn, up to other limitations of permanent character. Most of these persons, are vulnerable, live in conditions of poverty, which spread to their families, they have a low labor participation and are excluded from the economic system, reason why they present high levels of dissatisfaction of their basic needs. All this demands that the State adequates its role as inspector in the economy by restructuring the institutional design for the disability as soon as possible because right now a serious emptiness of institutional order is present. Moreover, in the plans of territorial development and their budgets, actions and resources are required for the attention of these disabled vulnerable populations.

The development of the communities through the ages has depended on the political, economical, cultural and technological changes available for infrastructure projects that facilitate the improvement of living conditions for the citizens. Models applied in Latin America to achieve development have not always been due to rational decisions based on scientific analysis; in some situations, personal interests of inexperienced governments promoted their improvised implementation and their effects have been negative because these models have been imported from elsewhere. Solving the problems that affect the population is a matter of the states, specially the problems related with utilities that will allow to improve the life quality. Natural resources have become in this new century, the most valuable products to pursue the race for technological development, presumably with the intention of seeking the common good as Tomas de Aquino said. In the new century, human security seeks to establish the human being as the center of global interest.

One of the most significant changes that is enshrined in the Constitution of 1991 was the recognition of certain levels of autonomy in specific matters to local authorities, seeking to carry out the postulate of administrative decentralization as a model of state property. One of those spheres, where the Constituent Assembly wanted that local authorities may enjoy a margin of autonomy in the area of jurisdiction, was in tax issues, emphasizing that this effect this kind of entities are entitled to decree enforcement tax, which must have been created or authorized in advance by the legislature at the national level. The blatant purpose of this work is to scrutinize the nature and extent of that fiscal autonomy of local authorities in the context of the Social State of law, as a political and legal model fathered by the Constituent and the impact of this symbiotic center-periphery relationship, in the tax becoming of the State, facing the process of administrative decentralization and the deepening of participatory democracy, calling for it to jurisprudencial production generated in this area.

The rational choice theory, RCT, is insufficient as explanation of economic behavior, even in its extended account. The RCT is based on maximizing self-interest as a criterion of choice and attributes its origin to the thought of Adam Smith. Amartya Sen has been a strong critic of this pattern traditionally used in economics and this paper contributes to a better understanding of the notion of rationality in Sen and its relationship with Smith’s thought. Three basic ideas are developed in this paper: (1) the rationality is a fundamental procedure of justice, (2) rationality has been a central concern in Sen’s work, and 3) Sen believes that his interpretation of rationality is an extension of Smith’s thought.

This article analyzes changes in male and female participation in the Uruguayan labor market from 1991 to 2009. We estimate labor market participation probability, the uncompensated wage elasticity of market work hours and determinants changes and their incidence through time, both for participation decisions and working hours. The results show a decline in the incidence of factors which inhibit women participation. On the other hand, they allow verifying the higher sensitivity of female labor supply to changes in wages, as well as the differences in significance and incidence of sociodemographic variables among women and men. These differences are relevant for designing labor policies taking into account gender differences.

This paper seeks evidence on the presence of partisan or opportunistic political cycles with regard to the management of tax policy in Colombia and the effect on income distribution. In order to do this an econometric model is used taking into account variables such as total tax revenue, direct and indirect, the real GDP cycle and inflation, by means of annual data for the period 1905- 2006. We also used dummy variables to represent the presidential periods, by political party and periods close to elections. These variables also represent election periods to Congress. Once the political cycles are studied, we analyze the impact this has on the distribution of income for the period from 1976 to 2006. The results show an opportunistic management with regard to tax policy, but changes in income distribution are due more to a partisan court management

The Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) is a measurement to quantify the effect of a specific sanitary intervention on mortality and morbidity. EuroQol 5D (EQ5D) is a measurement instrument for QALYs. This article presents an introduction for its use in assessing health technologies in Colombia.

Virtually all so-called developing countries have adopted the free market model as the way to achieve high levels of income per capita and transform their nations in civilized societies. Within such a system in which decisions are based on an expectation of benefit, lack of trust prevents the resources from being used appropriately and fully. A possible solution to unemployment and poverty generated by the lack of private investment is government intervention, either through direct investment or favoring the generation of capital (human and physical) in accordance with social needs using strategic planning. Kaleckians schemes, concepts and developments will allow us to demonstrate the way in which government spending financed through taxes far from curbing private action will stimulate investment, employment and aggregate demand.