Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Environmental Policy, Mergers and Environmental R&D with Spillovers Author-Name: Chenyu Wang Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha 410079, China Abstract: This project lies at the frontier between environmental economics and industrial organization. We use a duopoly setting of a three-stage game; in the first stage, the government chooses an emission tax and aims for maximizing welfare; in the second stage, firms use R&D to reduce their emissions; in the last stage, firms compete a la Cournot with differentiated products. We focus on two policy regimes and three scenarios, namely regimes of competition and merger and scenarios of commitment, non-commitment, and exogenous tax. The study focuses on two major questions: (1) what is the effect of merger on R&D, and the effect of commitment on R&D? (2)what is the effect of merger and commitment on the economy? Results are obtained through numerical simulations of the model. We find that: (i) Merger has a positive effect on R&D under non-commitment and the exogenous tax scenarios. (ii) Under commitment, if goods are imperfect substitutes or homogenous, merger has a negative effect on R&D; if goods are complements or independent, merger has a positive effect on R&D. (iii) For any types of goods under any regime, commitment has a negative effect on R&D. Classification-JEL: L50; O30; Q58 Keywords: Environmental Economics; Industrial Organization; Environmental R&D; Environmental Modelling Journal: Revista Economia Year: 2020 Issue: 86 Volume: 43 Pages: 1-38 File-URL: https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/economia/article/view/22531/21721 File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:pcp:pucrev:y:2020:i:86:p:1-38 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Development of Regional Economics Studies in Peru: Contributions and Criticisms Author-Name: Juan Palomino Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, PUCP, Lima, Perú Abstract: This research presents an overview of the evolution of regional economic studies in Peru. After a brief introduction, the document presents a summary of the different conceptions of space inRegional Economics through time. In addition, the document shows the origins of RegionalEconomics, as well as the factors that explain the interest in the development of regional studies in the Latin American context. This document also explains the importance of the geographical space of Peru for regional research. Indeed, the country is the perfect setting because Peru has a wide geographic diversity (ecosystems, microclimates) throughout its territory, it has implemented a variety of public policies to propose economic growth measures, and it has many social issues to propose territorial policies (migration, crime, health, employment, among others). Despite these characteristics, regional research in Peru is relatively less than in other Latin American countries.Finally, the document offers the contributions and criticisms of the regional studies in the Peruvian context. Classification-JEL: R10; R12; R50 Keywords: Regional economics; Regional studies; Space; Geography; Regional growth and development; Peru Journal: Revista Economia Year: 2020 Issue: 86 Volume: 43 Pages: 39-56 File-URL: https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/economia/article/view/22664/21814 File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:pcp:pucrev:y:2020:i:86:p:39-56 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Local Public Investment Drivers in Peru Author-Name: Alvaro Jimenez Author-Workplace-Name: Fiscal Council of Peru Author-Name: Christian Merino Author-Workplace-Name: Fiscal Council of Peru Author-Name: Juan Carlos Sosa Author-Workplace-Name: Fiscal Council of Peru Abstract: Around half of Peru’s public investment is made by local governments. Through the estimationof a dynamic panel data model for 1796 local governments between 2010 and 2018, we find that the most important drivers for local public investment are: (i) availability of funding sources, especially those associated to non-renewable natural resource revenues; (ii) variables associated with each local government’s capacity to plan, budget and execute public investment; and (iii)political budget cycle effects, especially during the year following local elections. Furthermore, we extend our analysis by differentiating between local governments with reelected and non-reelected authorities, and by grouping local governments according to their economic size. Most of our results are shown to be robust across different specifications. Results from this paper can be used as a starting point to design mechanisms that make public investment more stable and predictable in a context where reelection banning can further deepen public investment’s fall. Classification-JEL: H70; H72; R53 Keywords: Public investment; Subnational governments; Political budget cycles Journal: Revista Economia Year: 2020 Issue: 86 Volume: 43 Pages: 57-78 File-URL: https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/economia/article/view/22814/21914 File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:pcp:pucrev:y:2020:i:86:p:57-78 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: School Effect and Student Performance: a Latin American Assessment from PISA Author-Name: Fabiana A. Alves Author-Workplace-Name: Anísio Teixeira National Institute of Educational Studies and Research, Brazilian Ministry of Education, Brasilia, DF, Brazil Author-Name: Osvaldo Candido Author-Workplace-Name: Graduate School in Economics, Catholic University of Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, Brazil Abstract: Combining data from the last three editions of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) with a multilevel approach, we aim to assess the effect of Latin American schools on student attainment and identify factors that contribute to their performance. It is found that fam-ily background, students’ characteristics and school community profile (peer effect) are paramount in explaining student performance. Regarding the school facilities, the disciplinary climate in the classroom and the existence and adequacy of pedagogical resources are the determinants that stood out the most. Moreover, the use of a multilevel approach is of utmost importance, since a considerable part of student performance variation is explained by differences among schools (school effect). Finally, the peer effect and the school effect suggest that the socioeconomic inequality inLatin American countries is quite important in determining the students’ performance. Classification-JEL: C3; I2; O5 Keywords: Student attainment; Multilevel model; School effect; Peer effect Journal: Revista Economia Year: 2020 Issue: 86 Volume: 43 Pages: 79-99 File-URL: https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/economia/article/view/23017/22015 File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:pcp:pucrev:y:2020:i:86:p:79-99