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Abstract: One of the pillars of the educational voucher system is that competition among schools to attract students would improve the quality of the education. Surveys to parents and previous work suggested that families rank the distance of the school from their home as the most important factor for choosing a school. They also suggest that parents largely ignore the results of standardized tests. We use a novel data-set which includes precise measures of the distance between homes and schools to analyze the determinants of school choice in Chile. Economic theory suggests, and the estimations confirm, that parents consider quality and the location when choosing schools. The paper quantifies the relevant trade-offs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Aysén Region, located in the Chilean Patagonia, is a territory of 11 million of hectares inhabited by nearly 90 thousand of people. This region has faced the possible construction of one of the biggest smelter aluminium plant in the world. The project would produce irreversible changes to the region''s development path. The authorization of the Chilean environmental authorities, based on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project, is needed to carry out the plan. However, the problem structuring of the EIA System (EIAS) procedure is inadequate to understand and resolve complex problems. The improvement of this kind of decision-making processes, implemented in more than 100 countries, is then needed. This paper proposes the Social Multi-criteria Evaluation (SMCE) framework [Munda, G., 2004. Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation (SMCE): Methodological Foundations and Operacional Consecuentes. European Journal of Operacional Research, vol. 158/3, pp. 662–677] to deal with this kind of situations. SMCE calls for a decision-making process using information coming from a multi/inter disciplinary work and participatory approaches. Then, the problem is structured in a multi-criteria fashion considering several perspectives. The case study is used to illustrate this suggested process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper we compare the distributions of ADR returns and the returns of the locally traded shares between Chile and Argentina. This comparison is interesting because both countries are emerging economies with a similar free market orientation and the trading hours in both countries virtually coincide with the trading hours in New York. Argentina and Chile differ, however, in two important aspects: During our sample period: (1) The Argentinean market was completely under a fixed-exchange rate system, while Chile maintained a flexible exchange rate regime; and (2) Argentina did not impose any restrictions on foreign investments, while Chile did. We find that the return distributions of the Chilean ADRs are significantly different from the distributions of the returns on the respective underlying Chilean shares. While the mean returns are the same, the return''s S.D. are significantly different. In contrast, the hypothesis that the distributions of the returns on the Argentinean ADRs and the returns on their respective underlying shares are the same cannot be rejected. We then use a threshold model to estimate the transaction costs of trading the ADRs and the locally traded shares. We find that the transaction costs that must be added to the returns spread before arbitrage is possible were between 100 and 200 basis points for Chilean ADRs. It was between 66 and 165 basis points for the Argentinean ADRs. The daily return spread reversion caused by arbitrage activities was estimated to be approximately 30% for Chilean ADRs and 40% for Argentinean ADRs. Finally, we cannot reject the hypothesis that low liquidity was a major factor in the cost difference between the two countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper explores the complexities associated with globalization within the context of salmon farming in southern Chile, specifically whether the high levels of foreign investment and exponential growth in the industry have had a positive or negative impact on the people and communities of the archipelago of Chiloé. It is our argument that the responses to this issue require a subtle understanding of both the dynamics of community and the dialectics of modernity. We find substantial evidence that surplus labor, low wage levels, and poorly enforced or nonexistent health and safety standards are conditioning factors in the success of salmon farming in southern Chile. We conclude that a "sustainable community" approach is preferable to a "social sustainable" approach as the former focuses attention on the entire range of issues important to communities and the options open to them in confronting wider structures that affect their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]