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Summary Resource histories determine how particular parts of the environment come to be defined as valuable. As elsewhere, protected areas in Latin America link the governance of people, territory, and resources by reinterpreting and reclassifying practices and environments. Set in highland Peru, the article focuses on how such revisions imply contestation of both history and future. It explores particular modes of claiming space through an archeology of the claims to knowledge and legitimacy put forward by a national park and a campesino community, respectively. Claims to space entwine with social struggles about local development where territorial claims are based on different notions of history and interpretations of the esthetic and productive values of the landscape. While the park officials navigate interests of conservation, tourism, and extraction, the campesino community mobilizes a different set of values and interests based on their historical occupation of the territories. These processes of contestation over authority and legitimacy highlight different views on the role of landscapes in the history and progress of local communities. Conservation may not only dispossess people of their land and natural resources, but also of labor and territorial sovereignty. This case shows how an Andean campesino community counters such movements by a wide repertoire of legal and social actions that works simultaneously in legal and extra-legal domains. Paper works mediate claims to territorial sovereignty, people, and resources. These claims involve contestations over interpretations of history which, besides their oral forms, materialize in paperwork such as official communications, community records, and cadastral maps, as well as in visual representations, internal statutes, and deliberate history writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Multianalytical study of a Moche funerary mask. • ED-XRF characterization of the metal alloy with Monte Carlo simulation. • Characterization of adhesive material and its components belonging to Moche culture. • Py-GC/MS and GC/MS were used for the chemical characterization of adhesive material. • SEM-EDS and ATR-FTIR were applied to characterize inorganic filler. The aim of this paper is to characterize materials belonging to one of the masks coming from the Lord of Ucupe's tomb in the region of Lambayeque in Peru. The mask belongs to the Moche culture which lived in the north of Peru since 100 CE. Along with the study of the extraordinary metal alloy technique using X-ray fluorescence (ED XRF) integrated with the Monte Carlo simulation, this paper investigates the blackish material used as an adhesive for its inlaid eyes. This material was analysed through the ATR FT-IR and characterized through Py-GC/MS and GC/MS for the organic components and SEM-EDS for the inorganic components. The chemical characterization of the adhesive material coming from this type of artefact, based on our knowledge of current literature, is the first on this material and allows us to take a further step into the understanding of the constituents used for this purpose. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study focuses on the nexus between bilingual education and child labor. • Relationship between bilingual education and child labor is conceptually ambiguous. • Study exploits an education program for indigenous children in Peru. • It uses a difference-in-difference approach. • Bilingual education lowers child labor. This paper investigates the effect of bilingual education reform in Peru on child labor. The reform aimed to improve access to schooling for indigenous children in rural areas with greater integration of education providers and the delivery of lessons and material in vernacular indigenous languages. The core specifications use child-level panel data from the Young Lives Study and a two-way fixed effects difference-in-difference approach to test the causal effect of the program on child labor. The results show evidence to suggest that access to bilingual education has a negative and statistically significant effect on the extensive margin of child labor, with some specifications showing consistent results for its intensive margin counterpart. The preferred estimates are sizeable, with some specifications showing a decrease in the likelihood that an indigenous child enters child labor by between 12 and 18 percentage points. The findings are robust to several specifications including randomized inference techniques, synthetic difference-in-difference, and placebo tests. The paper also shows that concurrent policies, including Peru's conditional cash transfer program, are unlikely drivers of the core results. The paper's findings also suggest that the program resulted in greater inputs (i.e., time) into schooling and improved outcomes of education for indigenous children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Combined with field test and numerical simulation, the rock damage characteristics around peripheral hole are fully analyzed. • The influence of explosive spacing, blasthole spacing and smooth blasting layer thickness on different damage indexes of rock mass is analyzed, and the influence of boundary conditions is discussed. • Considering the influence of explosive spacing and blasthole spacing, a mathematical model is established firstly to predict the rock damage range and applied to engineering practice. • The research method in this paper provides a solution to similar engineering problems. The control of overbreak in blasting excavation is a significant technical challenge and a subject of extensive research in the field of engineering. This study examines the damage characteristics of the surrounding rock in a tunnel section through blasting test and numerical simulation conducted as part of the San Gavan diversion tunnel project in Peru. The orthogonal test of peripheral holes under the influence of explosive spacing, blasthole spacing and smooth blasting layer thickness was designed to analyze the characteristics of rock damage under different parameter combinations and the influence of various factors on rock damage. Based on the USBM formula, this paper deduces a mathematical model considering blasthole spacing and explosive spacing to predict the rock damage range. The main conclusions are as follows: on the tunnel section, the average damage range of vault and arch springer is slightly larger than that of spandrel and haunch. For a single blasthole, the rock damage range in different sections is: explosive > air > stem, and the degree of rock damage at the bottom of blasthole is the highest. Smooth blasting layer thickness has a significant effect on rock damage rate on the side of non-reflect boundary. When smooth blasting layer thickness is 45 cm and 55 cm, the boundary conditions of numerical model have a significant effect on the rock damage. The reflection of blasting stress wave on the free surface leads to the further increase of rock damage range. The blasthole spacing and explosive spacing have a significant effect on rock damage range on the side of non-reflect boundary, and both show a negative correlation. Based on the prediction model of rock damage, the combination of peripheral hole parameters satisfying the standard is obtained, which provides guidance for blasting design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the complexities of assessing educational performance and efficiency in the context of education governance. We propose a novel perspective on how governing features of educational systems influence their efficiency, focusing on the key features of public bodies responsible for local education management in Peru, known as UGELs. We characterize the educational production function using three inputs: planning conditions, human resources, and accountability mechanisms; and two outputs: student achievement and educational progress. Our efficiency estimation utilizes Robust Free Disposal Hull, Robust Data Envelopment Analysis, and Stochastic Non-parametric Envelopment approaches, leveraging unique government data from 2014. Additionally, we explore potential factors like infrastructure and internet access that could improve UGELs' efficiency through conditional DEA analysis. Our findings highlight the need for nuanced methodologies in evaluating educational performance and reveal a significant gap in existing literature. This paper addresses this gap by offering a comprehensive evaluation framework, emphasizing the importance of thorough assessments for gauging educational institution efficiency. As policymakers increasingly rely on evidence-based decision-making, our research provides valuable insights that can inform and shape education policy decisions, making it a significant contribution to the field of education policy and governance. • Aim : Assessing educational performance and efficiency from governance perspective. • Focus : Local bodies (UGELs) in Peru. • Analysis : Inputs (planning, resources, accountability) & outputs (achievement, progress). • Advanced methods : FDH, DEA, StoNED & conditional DEA. • Impact : Comprehensive evaluation framework for educational governance assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peru is the world's leading exporter of organic coffee. Peruvian organic coffee is largely marketed through farmers' cooperatives which have helped small farmers transition to organic production, earn price premiums over conventional coffee, and access extension services and finance. However, rising temperatures, increasingly volatile rainfall patterns, and the proliferation of pests and diseases make organic production riskier, as organic farmers cannot rely on agrochemicals to protect their farms against production shocks. If members of organic coffee cooperatives respond to production shocks by increasing their sales to private buyers ('side-selling'), then cooperatives' financial health could be threatened through reduced bargaining power with buyers and a decrease in scale economies. This paper explores the theoretical incentives for members to side-sell in response to production shocks and gives empirical evidence of how production shocks influence side-selling using panel data from members of two Peruvian specialty coffee cooperatives in 2013 and 2015. The study period coincides with a widespread production shock – the Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) epidemic of 2012/13 – that decimated coffee production in Peru. We find suggestive evidence that the incidence of CLR on farms is correlated with increased side-selling. Particularly, members with high risk tolerance and high levels of non-coffee income increase side-selling when affected by production shocks. This paper contributes to a growing literature on the determinants of side-selling in agricultural cooperatives by examining the role of production shocks, extending existing theoretical frameworks, and analyzing determinants using panel data methods. • Production shocks may increase organic coffee cooperative members' side-selling. • Coffee leaf rust (CLR) decimated Peruvian coffee production in 2012 and 2013. • Farmers have heterogeneous marketing responses to production shocks. • Farmers with higher non-coffee income side-sold more coffee when facing CLR. • Relatively risk-taking members increased side-selling during the CLR epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates hybrid TVP-VAR-SV models suggested by Chan and Eisenstat (2018a) to identify and quantify the impact of fiscal shocks on GDP growth in Peru between 1995Q1–2018Q2. According to Bayesian criteria, the best models exhibit time-varying dynamics, but not necessarily in all parameters. Considering this result, our findings suggest that: (i) fiscal shocks are significant in the whole sample according to impulse response functions, forecast error variance decomposition and historical decomposition of GDP growth; (ii) tax revenue shocks are the least important and their impact is model dependent; (iii) expenditure shocks are relevant drivers of GDP growth; and (iv) expenditure multipliers, mainly for capital spending, have been growing over the last 20 years. We recommend constant revision of estimated fiscal multipliers and suggest that, in following years, fiscal policy in Peru should be mostly driven by capital expenditure. • Estimates hybrid TVP-VAR-SV models to measure impact of fiscal shocks on GDP growth in Peru (1995Q1-2018Q2). • Expenditure shocks are relevant drivers of GDP growth. • Tax revenue shocks are the least important and their impact is model dependent. • Expenditure multipliers, mainly for capital spending, have been growing over the last 20 years. • Several robustness exercises reinforce the validity of the main results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive statistical framework in order to rigorously derive the correlation coefficient distribution between two independent chemical data sets. The novel approach not only allows for unequivocal interpretation of distribution parameters and confidence intervals but also the generalization of previous results for fixed size comparisons into the new and experimentally important case of variable dimension data assessments. Original theoretical results include an objective criterion ("number of nines") for the coefficient of multiple determination in mathematical model fitting (e.g. calibration curve acceptance in validation protocols) and the requirement of a minimum correlation coefficient match of approximately 70% in variable size evaluations. Significance tests have been applied to the drug profile linkage of 532 real case cocaine samples seized by the National Police of Peru between the years of 2021 and 2022. • A novel and comprehensive mathematical framework to rigorously derive the correlation coefficient distribution between independent data sets. • Generalization of fixed dimension comparisons into the new and experimentally important case of variable size assessments. • Explicit derivation of critical correlation coefficient values in terms of Excel® statistical functions. • Minimum correlation coefficient value of approximately 70% for variable size data evaluations. • Coefficient of multiple determination criterion for calibration curve acceptance in validation protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the creation of the district of Megantoni, home to vast reserves of natural gas currently exploited by the Camisea project, as an example of recent territorial ordering in Peru. We focus on the political conditions that enable communities to renegotiate potential advantages from existing extractive projects. We emphasize the politicization of collective identities as central for advancing the claims of diverse ethnic groups, while drawing attention to the conflation of contextual factors that made the mobilization of Indigenous communities for the creation of their own district more likely. These factors are related to Camisea's sustainable energy discourse, domestic security threats linked to political violence and drug-trafficking, and a political discourse based on social inclusion. The paper demonstrates the varied uses of territorial ordering outside resistance in the context of resource extraction. It also shows that Indigenous identity can be politicized for cooperation among diverse ethnic groups, and in this way, advance their territorial project and secure access to benefits from existing projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper confirms a positive relationship between the aggressiveness of bids and the probability of renegotiating concession contracts. We use a database of 113 concessions awarded in Peru, finding that a 1% increase in bidding aggressiveness increases the probability of contract renegotiation by 2.4%–3%. This impact is higher for the transportation sector. Our results are robust to several econometric specifications. These results confirm the hypothesis that bidders will submit aggressive bids to renegotiate contract terms once the government and concessionaire are tied, and competition is no longer possible. • This paper is framed within those that study the economic and institutional determinants of concession contract renegotiations. Specifically, our objective is to study empirically how aggressive bids in concessions induce a higher number of renegotiations of such contracts. • There are few papers showing the impact of aggressive bids on concession contract renegotiations. For this reason, we have chosen to review separately two bodies of literature. First, we review the contributions on the institutional determinants of concession contract renegotiations. Second, we review the few studies that show the relationship between aggressive bids and the consequent renegotiations of such contracts. In this sense, aggressive bids become another explanatory variable among the determinants of renegotiations that have been studied more extensively. • With respect to aggressive bids, we understand in this work that they are those whose winning bid differs substantially from the estimates indicated by Proinversión, according to the value of the awarded bid. Mathematically, we define aggressiveness of a bid as the absolute value of the following formula: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a developing region, South America's aviation industry has also developed rapidly, and its carbon emissions have a significant role in achieving carbon neutrality in the global aviation industry. However, the problem of carbon transfer caused by passenger flow on international routes has not been addressed, especially in South America. This paper uses the Modified Fuel Percentage Method (MFPM) method and the ICAO standard method to calculate the CO 2 emissions of international routes in South America, containing the emissions of each route and each airline. Then we calculate the carbon emissions transfer and carbon compensations generated from South American international routes. In addition, this paper reasonably predicts the carbon emission data from 2023 to 2027 under three different scenarios (L&2027&100%, M&2026&100%, and H&2027&90%). We find that the five countries receiving the most considerable amount of carbon compensation are Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Chile, which is different from the ranking in 2019–2021. In addition, frequently using old and low-efficient aircraft is also a fundamental reason for excessive carbon emissions. Therefore, this paper provides reliable data support and reasonable emission reduction suggestions for the carbon emission control of South America's aviation industry. • Calculated carbon transfers and offsets for South American international routes. • Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Chile are the five countries receiving the most considerable amount of carbon compensation. • The "H&2027&90%" scenario is optimal for South American aviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venezuela is currently experiencing the biggest crisis in its recent history. This has led more than 7.3 million Venezuelans to emigrate, at least 1.5 million of those to Peru, which amounted to an increase of over 4 percent in the Peruvian population. Venezuelan immigrants in Peru are relatively similar in cultural terms, but, on average, more skilled than Peruvians. In this paper, we first examine Venezuelans' perceptions of being discriminated against in Peru. Using an instrumental variable strategy, we document a causal relationship between the level of employment in the informal sector – where most immigrants are employed – and reports of discrimination. We then study the impact of Venezuelan migration on local's labor market outcomes, reported crime rates, and attitudes using a variety of data sources. We find that inflows of Venezuelans to particular locations led to increased employment and income among locals, decreased reported crime, and improved reported community quality. We conduct a heterogeneity analysis to identify the mechanisms behind these labor market effects and discuss the implications for Peruvian immigration policy. • We analyze the impact of Venezuelan immigration on the Peruvian labor market • We also study the labor market determinants of discrimination against Venezuelans. • Immigration has mostly positive effects on natives' labor market outcomes. • More informal labor market competition increases discrimination against immigrants. • We discuss the implications for Peruvian immigration policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• SDG15 indicators of forest extent are complemented with those of forest quality. • Indicators include naturalness, forest structure, fragmentation, and connectivity. • High quality forests were lost faster than forest extent during 2002–2021. • Indicators of forest quality improve SDG15 reporting. The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 15, termed Life on Land, is monitored by indicators and sub-indicators that largely deal with forest extent. In countries with structurally complex and species-rich forests, indicators and sub-indicators of forest quality are also needed to effectively monitor and sustain ecological integrity. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate the use of complementary sub-indicators of forest quality for SDG15 reporting and conservation planning. Our objective is to apply these sub-indicators within Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and evaluate spatial patterns and trends over time as a basis for revealing how the results complement the official indicators of forest extent and forest extent in protected areas in informing conservation. The sub-indicators of forest quality quantify naturalness, riparian forest, forest structure and integrity, forest fragmentation, and forest connectivity. We quantified change during 2000–2021 in these metrics and highlighted insights gained from the complementary sub-indicators of forest quality relative to the official sub-indicators based on forest extent, Forests covered about 60–70% of the forested ecoregions in each country in 2000 and this proportion declined in all three countries by approximately 4% by 2021. Only a subset of the forested area was of high forest quality. Natural forests represented about 40% of forests in Colombian and Ecuador in 2000 and 50% in Peru. Those proportions declined: by 6.3% in Colombia, 6.5% in Ecuador, and 3.4% in Peru. Even less of the forested area was Core Forest in 2013; less than 28% among countries. During 2013–2021, the proportion of forest that was Core decreased by 2.3% in Colombia, 4.5% in Ecuador, and 6.7% in Peru. Connected Forests were about 17–22% of forests among the countries in 2013 and declined 10.4% in Colombia, 1.6% in Ecuador, and 3.8% in Peru by 2021. Forests high in forest structure were 10–18% of forests in 2012 among the countries and increased by 1.1–2% by 2021. Forests of high integrity were 7–13% of forests in 2012 and increased by1.4–2% by 2021. Riparian forests represented less than about 7–9% among the countries and declined by 0.6–1.3% by 2021. Thus, the area of highly quality forest across the countries was substantially less than full forest extent and high-quality forest declined at a higher rate than forest extent during 2000–2021. Forest structure and integrity did increase slightly over this time period. Our results for trends in forest naturalness, riparian association, within stand structure, fragmentation, and connectivity demonstrate how consideration of forest quality provides a much stronger basis for evaluating success in meeting SDG15 targets than consideration of forest extent alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energies are a key to reducing carbon emissions and enabling access to affordable energy for rural populations in many low- and middle-income countries. For this reason, many governments have started to introduce auctions for off-grid renewable energy. Despite their relevance for clean, accessible energy, the factors for successful or failed off-grid renewable energy tenders have not been broadly studied yet. This paper investigates the success factors for the successful implementation of off-grid energy auctions to enhance rural energy access in low- and middle-income countries. For the scope of this research, the off-grid energy tenders are considered successful if they lead to cost-efficient outcomes, have a high implementation rate and improve the equality of access to energy. Using success measures and success factors from the state of knowledge on energy auctions, three real-world cases from Peru, Uganda and Senegal are analysed and compared. The investigations show that auctioneers should strike a balance between 1) economies of scale and streamlining administrative procedures, 2) allowing adequate product designs for a diverse group of beneficiaries and 3) attracting enough bidders in this relatively young sector. Moreover, this paper confirms that balancing the developers' risks and public risks is essential in designing off-grid energy tenders and that there are several ways to do this. Furthermore, the advantages and limitations of different support payment types are illustrated. Finally, regarding governance, the real-world cases in this research underscore the importance of clarity about responsibilities and procedures, without which significant delays can be incurred. • Off-grid energy auction organizers must balance developers' risks with public risks. • Fixed subsidies provide predictability to policymakers regarding public expenses. • Results-based financing encourages further expansion of projects. • Lack of clarity about responsibilities and procedures can lead to significant delays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal immunization rates and vaccine uptake in Latin America vary from country to country. This variability stems from factors related to pregnant women, vaccine recommendations from healthcare providers and the health system. The aim of this paper is to describe women's knowledge and attitudes to maternal immunziation, and barriers to access and vaccination related decision-making processes in Latin American countries. We conducted focus group discussions (FGD) with pregnant women in five middle-income countries: Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, Mexico and Peru, between July 2016 and July 2018. The FGDs were conducted by trained qualitative researchers in diverse clinics located in the capital cities of these countries. A total of 162 pregnant women participated in the FGDs. In general, participants were aware of the recommendation to receive vaccines during pregnancy but lacked knowledge regarding the diseases prevented by these vaccines. Pregnant women expressed a desire for clearer and more detailed communication on maternal vaccines by their healthcare professionals instead of relying on other sources of information such as the internet. Overall, participants had positive attitudes towards maternal immunization and were open to receiving vaccines in pregnancy based on general trust they have in recommendations made by their healthcare providers. The main obstacles pregnant women said they encounter were mainly centered around their clinical experience: long waiting times, vaccine shortages, and impolite behavior of healthcare providers or clinical staff. Important advances have been made in Latin America to promote maternal immunization. Results from this study show that an important aspect that remains to be addressed, and is crucial in improving vaccine uptake in pregnancy, is women's clinical experience. We recommend pregnant women to be treated as a priority population for providing immunization and related healthcare education. It is imperative to train healthcare providers in health communication so they can effectively communicate with pregnant women regarding maternal vaccines and can fill knowledge gaps that otherwise might be covered by unreliable sources dispensing inaccurate information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal immunization rates and vaccine uptake in Latin America vary from country to country. This variability stems from factors related to pregnant women, vaccine recommendations from healthcare providers and the health system. The aim of this paper is to describe women's knowledge and attitudes to maternal immunziation, and barriers to access and vaccination related decision-making processes in Latin American countries. We conducted focus group discussions (FGD) with pregnant women in five middle-income countries: Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, Mexico and Peru, between July 2016 and July 2018. The FGDs were conducted by trained qualitative researchers in diverse clinics located in the capital cities of these countries. A total of 162 pregnant women participated in the FGDs. In general, participants were aware of the recommendation to receive vaccines during pregnancy but lacked knowledge regarding the diseases prevented by these vaccines. Pregnant women expressed a desire for clearer and more detailed communication on maternal vaccines by their healthcare professionals instead of relying on other sources of information such as the internet. Overall, participants had positive attitudes towards maternal immunization and were open to receiving vaccines in pregnancy based on general trust they have in recommendations made by their healthcare providers. The main obstacles pregnant women said they encounter were mainly centered around their clinical experience: long waiting times, vaccine shortages, and impolite behavior of healthcare providers or clinical staff. Important advances have been made in Latin America to promote maternal immunization. Results from this study show that an important aspect that remains to be addressed, and is crucial in improving vaccine uptake in pregnancy, is women's clinical experience. We recommend pregnant women to be treated as a priority population for providing immunization and related healthcare education. It is imperative to train healthcare providers in health communication so they can effectively communicate with pregnant women regarding maternal vaccines and can fill knowledge gaps that otherwise might be covered by unreliable sources dispensing inaccurate information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has captured global attention and concern for decades. Policy makers and development practitioners routinely promote awareness campaigns and technical assistance to address mercury use in ASGM; however, this focus obscures other barriers that stand in the way of addressing mercury emissions from the sector. Focused on the town of Relave, in the Ayacucho Region of Southwestern Peru, this paper examines the perspectives and practices of some of the community members who are involved with ASGM activities. It highlights their own views of the challenges related to ASGM and explores the ways in which they are addressing these challenges. Despite their efforts, this paper reveals that there are two key barriers to controlling mercury use in Relave, which lie outside of the communities' lack of awareness and technological capabilities. These include the deprioritization of mercury use and pollution among community members as compared to other community and public health concerns and inequities in the supply chain that position miners and mineral processors with little to no control over the distribution, use, and emissions of mercury. The implications of these findings for policy decisions, regulatory schemes, and development initiatives are not only relevant to Peru, but are also significant for other countries committed to addressing mercury emissions from ASGM. Highlights • Small-scale gold miners are not aware of the exact mechanisms of mercury exposure. • Small-scale gold miners have challenges and priorities outside of mercury emissions. • The supply chain poses barriers to addressing mercury use in small-scale mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Well-being impacts of certification schemes need to be compared with alternative private governance strategies. • Inclusive business and solidarity economy constitute two contrasting private governance strategies. • Paper presents an exploratory comparative analysis of four cases from the cacao sectors of Peru and Switzerland. • Value chain actors combine elements of certification, solidarity economy, and inclusive business into portfolios of instruments. • These instruments may address some barriers of certification, but come with own risks and limitations. Certification of sustainability standards is an important governance strategy aimed at enhancing the human well-being outcomes of agri-food value chains. While the impacts of certification on well-being are positive for some farmers under certain conditions, they are insignificant or adverse for others. Many barriers can impede positive impacts of certification on well-being. Alternative or complementary strategies such as inclusive business and solidarity economy may challenge these barriers. However, since certification, inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies are studied in isolation, their precise similarities and differences, their interplay and their relative efficacy and limitations remain elusive. Therefore, this paper explores to what extent and how inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies may overcome the persistent governance and economic barriers that limit well-being impacts of certification. We explore four purposively selected cases of inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies from the cacao value chains connecting Peru and Switzerland. Results show that value chain actors combine different specific elements of the three strategies (certification, inclusiveness and solidarity) into portfolios of instruments, which reflect their value chain role and organizational missions. These instrument portfolios may address some of the barriers of certification schemes, but they come with their own challenges and limitations. We conclude that promising future research may use comparative research designs to disentangle specific instruments of inclusiveness, solidarity, and certification; to build typologies of instrument portfolios; to understand their interaction with systemic change in markets and land-use systems; and to specify the conditions under which value chain actors can use specific instruments to improve well-being outcomes of agri-food value chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale and pace of land tenure change for agricultural development, often known as 'land grabbing' or 'global land rush,' are historically unprecedented. Control over millions of hectares of land has shifted over the past decade for the production of food, fiber, and biofuel. However, the rapidly growing body of research on land tenure change provides few rigorous assessments of deforestation across multiple countries with distinct biophyisical and socioeconomic characteristics. In this paper, based on spatial boundaries of land transactions (LTs) in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Peru, we investigate their association with deforestation using a pixel-based matching approach. Our findings suggest that the context, size, and distribution of LTs and the associated deforestation patterns vary substantially across the four countries. Land tenure change significantly accelerates deforestation in Cambodia and Liberia, but such acceleration is insignificant in Ethiopia. In Peru, we observe the opposite trend, where areas adjacent to LTs experience higher deforestation than areas within. Our analysis reveals how patterns and outcomes of LTs are linked to country characteristics and contexts, and suggests that sweeping generalizations about positive or negative consequences of LTs on deforestation and possibly other socioenvironmental outcomes need to attend more closely to specific patterns and drivers of LTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rural poor in developing countries often save and borrow in the non-formal financial sector. Providing financial education and access to formal savings products can help to improve their livelihoods. Nonetheless, financial education has traditionally been delivered on a not-for-profit basis. This paper experimentally evaluates the impact of a free in-person financial education program for rural women in Peru, implemented by a for-profit microfinance institution along with the marketing for a new microsavings account. We find very high take-up of the free financial education program (57.7% participation in at least one session), and using data collected 3 to 6 months after the intervention we observe a significant increase in the familiarity with and trust in the implementing financial institution. Also, we observe a significant positive impact on formal savings with the implementing financial institution, but no significant negative impact on savings with other formal financial institutions. These findings suggest that free financial education provided by for-profit financial institutions, paired with financial products tailored to the target population, could be a viable alternative to promote formal savings among the poor. However, we do not observe a significant short-term impact of the program on credit, income, assets, consumption, poverty, or female empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Study on how certification affects farmer welfare in Peru. • Analysis using mediation models for multiple years (2015–2019), standards & crops. • Certification affects farmer welfare through increased prices, but cannot offset higher production costs. • Standards with quality-based price differentiation have the largest price effect. • Certification does not affect farmer welfare through yields, but has a large potential effect. Whether Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) - such as Fairtrade, GlobalGAP or Organic - may contribute to economic sustainability has been subject to vigorous debate over the past decades. To analyze the welfare effects of VSS for family farms, previous studies rely on single equation models which enable analyzing if (some) VSS affect welfare, but not how (some) VSS affect welfare – or not. Hence, little is known about the mechanisms and the relative importance of these different mechanisms by which VSS contribute to farmer welfare. In this paper, we analyze the channel of effects through which VSS affect net farm revenue, as a proxy of farmer welfare, of family farms in Peru. We use nationwide data from Peru's National Agricultural Survey covering five years, multiple agricultural commodities, and multiple VSS. We apply a multiple mediation model which allows to disentangle the main revenue-determining mechanisms and to compare their relative importance. We find that prices (and not yields) are the main channel through which VSS affect net farm revenue. However, higher prices cannot offset higher production costs, resulting in zero net revenue gains. We do not find an effect through yields, but identify a large potential effect on net farm revenue. We find heterogeneity in the effects by standard and crop, with crops certified to standards that apply a system of quality-based price differentiation having the largest impact on net farm revenue through a price effect. From a policy perspective, we highlight potential improvements in VSS design to effectively improve economic sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the reasons for discontinuation of the last contraceptive method used in women with a current unintended pregnancy.Study Design: We conducted a retrospective analysis using contraceptive calendar data from Demographic and Health Surveys from 36 low- and middle-income countries from 2005 through 2014. The prevalence of contraception utilization and the contribution of each reason for contraceptive discontinuation was calculated, at country level as well as for the pooled dataset, for 10,901 women aged 15-49 before the current unintended pregnancies.Results: Unintended pregnancies ranged from 5.5% of all pregnancies in the Kyrgyz Republic to 60.0% in Colombia and Peru. In Central Asian and in six African countries, over 80% of women with a current unintended pregnancy had not used any contraceptives in the previous five years. Use of long-acting modern methods remained consistently low across all countries. Among women who last used a traditional method, 83.8% discontinued due to failure. Among women who last used a long-acting modern method, 40.2% discontinued because of side effects.Conclusions: Our findings confirm that more than 65.0% of women with an unintended pregnancy in 36 low and middle-income countries were either non-users or using traditional methods. An additional 31.2% were using short-acting modern methods. Long-acting methods would have prevented the overwhelming majority of unintended pregnancies.Implications: This paper shows the need for the health system to support use of suitable methods, reduce switching failure and identify early when women are having concerns about the method they are using. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volcano monitoring and eruption forecasting are based on the observation and joined interpretation of several precursory phenomena. It is thus important to detect new types of precursor and to study their relationship with forthcoming eruptions. In the last years, variations of seismic velocity have been observed in some volcanoes, mainly basaltic, before eruptions. In this paper, we look for velocity variations and waveform decorrelations before the 2014 eruptive sequence of the andesitic Ubinas volcano in Peru. We compute velocity changes by using seismic ambient noise cross-correlation (between pairs of stations) and cross-components correlation (between vertical and horizontal components of single stations), as well as coda wave interferometry of seismic multiplets. With these different approaches, we show that the major explosions that occurred from 13 to 19 April were preceded by a clear velocity decrease and waveform decorrelation. The amplitude of velocity change is generally larger on single-station cross-components correlation than on two-station cross-correlation in all the frequency ranges tested (between 0.1 and 8 Hz). We highlight an apparent anisotropy of velocity change in single-station cross-components correlation, with larger amplitudes when correlating vertical and tangential components than using vertical and radial components with respect to the crater. The Mw = 8.1 Iquique earthquake on 1 April 2014 produced also a marked co-seismic velocity drop detected in a high frequency range(3–5 Hz) in both single-station cross-components correlation and cross-correlations. We locate in the horizontal plane and in depth the velocity perturbation and the structural change related with decorrelation. During the main phase of eruptive activity, the velocity decrease at low frequency (0.1–1 Hz) appears to affect the whole edifice mainly at depth of about 1 to 3 km below the surface. The structural perturbation is more concentrated on the south flank of the volcano, a zone that corresponds to an ancient collapse. We suggest that the observed velocity variations are due to the dilatation of the edifice and to microfracturation induced by magma pressurization. The structural change may be locally enhanced by a possible zone of material weakness in the southern sector. The co-seismic velocity perturbation is located mostly in the southeast flank, at depth smaller than 0.5 to 1 km, and may be related to the presence of the hydrothermal system of the volcano. • Noise correlation functions are calculated both on pairs of stations and on single stations. • Velocity decrease and waveform decorrelation are detected 3 weeks before eruption. • Velocity variations are larger when correlating tangential component than radial. • At higher frequency sharp velocity drop is induced by the M W = 8.1 Iquique earthquake. • Velocity and structural perturbations are located in the edifice at 1–3 km depth below crater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper presents the analysis of a nationwide survey that explored induced abortion among women using a ballot-box technique. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of abortion and the main characteristics of the procedure. We conducted surveys in households with 2400 women aged 18–49 from urban areas nationwide, between October 15 and 29, 2018. Data collection was overseen by the Instituto de Opinión Pública de la Universidad Católica del Perú. We performed a probabilistic, multistage, and socioeconomic level-stratified sampling. Our study used the "ballot-box technique" to ensure anonymity and reduce the risk of social desirability. We visited 15,433 houses nationwide. Among those households where surveys could not be conducted, it was due to abandoned or inaccessible property, unwilling to participate, absent members, out of quota, or inconclusive survey. On average, 19.0% of Peruvian women at all socioeconomic levels reported having had at least one abortion in their lifetime. Induced abortion is reported at all socioeconomic levels and reported age of the abortion is concentrated between 19 and 29 years old. In 57.7% of cases, women sought healthcare personnel for their last induced abortion. Among them, procedure abortion (45.3%) stands out over medical abortions (34.0%). Thirty-three percent of women who reported having had at least one induced abortion in their lifetime were admitted to a hospital after their last abortion. The illegality of abortion has not prevented its occurrence in Peru. Our results suggest that, in Peru, legal restrictions on induced abortion create an unfavorable context for women's health, exposing them to services whose safety is not guaranteed. Efforts should be made to increase awareness and education about contraception and family planning methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion. These findings should be considered in public policy discussions regarding abortion, since they might have a great impact for better decision making. They demonstrate that legal restrictions have not prevented the occurrence of abortion but has only created unsafe conditions around it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the mid-term effects of the de facto privatization that has taken place in the Peruvian educational system. It takes advantage of changes in educational market policies as well as two sources of variation, namely the geographical location of the new private schools and the year of birth of individuals. Both variables determine the degree of exposure to the private school expansion process. The results suggest that this phenomenon has contributed neither to increasing access to formal education nor to improving wages in the labor market. This evidence raises concerns about the impact of privatization on the quality of the education system as a whole, as well as the regulatory role of the State. • Privatizing education in Peru did not significantly increase access to formal education or improve wages in the labor market. • Private education in Peru has expanded the most in areas where the shares of private schools were already high. • The rise in low-fee schools, often associated with poor-quality educational provision, seems to explain these facts. • Findings spotlight concerns about the state's regulatory role and the effect of privatization on education quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological prospection of earthen buried structures, namely non-fired sun-dried mud bricks mixed with organic material, is a critical challenge to address. In fact, this building material exhibits a very low geophysical contrast compared to its surroundings and, therefore, earthen structures are very complex to be identified using remote sensing. In order to cope with this issue, in this paper, we focus on the evaluation of satellite X-band radar data (COSMO-SkyMed) capability for detecting earthen buried structures in a desert area. The results obtained from satellite radar data have been validated for a test site in Pachacamac (Peru) by using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and geomagnetic techniques. The test site is outside the fenced protected zone of Pachacamac, today in the tentative UNESCO list. This paper is the first attempt made until now in evaluating the detectability of earthen archaeological remains using satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Outcomes from our investigations clearly point out that the approach we adopted can be useful applied for preventive archaeology and for the planning of future excavation campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper studies the impact of mining activity on socioeconomic outcomes in local communities in Peru. In the 1990s and 2000s, the value of Peruvian mining exports grew by 15 times; and since the early 2000s, one-half of fiscal revenues from mining have been devolved to local governments. Has this boom benefitted people in local communities? Using the district-level “poverty map” of 2007 (the latest available with accurate data on consumption, poverty, and inequality) together with district-level data on mining production and fiscal transfers to local governments, we present some evidence to answer this question. We find that mining districts have larger average consumption per capita and lower poverty rates than otherwise similar districts. These positive impacts, however, decrease drastically with administrative and geographic distance from mining centers. Moreover, consumption inequality within mining districts is higher than in comparable nonproducing districts. This dual effect of mining is accounted for by, first, the better educated immigrants required and attracted by mining activity and, second, the jobs that some community natives obtain in industries and services related to mining. The inequalizing impact of mining, both across and within districts, may help explain the social discontent with mining in Peru, despite its enormous revenues. An area for future research highlighted in the paper regards the usefulness of fiscal transfers to local governments (the Mining Canon ), a key component of the fiscal decentralization reform of 2002. We find neither a detrimental nor a beneficial effect from the Mining Canon in Peru. Whether this is explained by our early measurement of results (5 years into the decentralization program) or by the lack of implementation capacity of local governments remains to be answered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic nests (or clusters) are typically defined as regions of high seismic activity at intermediate depths that do not move over time and are not associated with volcanic activity at the surface (e.g. Zarifi and Havskov, 2003; Zarifi et al., 2007; Prieto et al., 2012). In this study, we focus on a seismic nest located in central Peru beneath the Amazon basin city of Pucallpa. The location of this nest is just beyond the eastern-most extent of the Peruvian flat slab, similar to the settings of two other South American clusters, the Bucaramanga and Pipanaco nests. While the Pucallpa nest is visible in the figures of many earlier papers on intermediate depth South American seismicity, it has not to our knowledge been described as a seismic nest before. We present the first detailed description of the Pucallpa nest, compare it to other established nests, and discuss its implications for our understanding of the Peruvian flat slab. Our results indicate that the Pucallpa nest demarcates the northern margin of a sag in the horizontally subducting Nazca plate in central Peru. The position of the nest along the projected location of the downgoing Mendaña fracture zone is consistent with local variations in b-values and could help to explain both the nest's genesis and the co-located change in slab geometry. The nest is also spatially well correlated with the northern margin of the thick-skinned Shira Mountains and with the high heat flow associated with the Agua Caliente dome (Hermoza et al., 2006; Navarro Comet, 2018). Further study is needed to understand the effects of the complex Peruvian slab geometry on the formation of thick skinned deformation and heat flow anomalies on the overriding South American continent. • We present information on the previously undescribed Pucallpa nest in central Peru. • The location of the Pucallpa nest is at the eastern edge of the Peruvian flat slab. • The Pucallpa Nest comprises two legs with different source characteristics. • The nest is likely affected by both slab pull and the Mendaña fracture zone. • The nest aids our understanding of the Peru flat slab geometry and genesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines how property arrangements – a key determinant of rural income – influence armed conflict in the presence of commodity price shocks. Using detailed data on district level land tenure, crop produce, and conflict intensity in Peru and Colombia, estimates show that exogenous negative price shocks increase the intensity of conflict in districts with a greater presence of individual ownership, relative to other types of land tenure. The finding is consistent with small landowners in the export sector experiencing a sharper downturn in labor market outcomes thus reducing the opportunity cost of participating in insurgent groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When agricultural commodities are traded globally, consumer demand in one region influences the crops planted in another, often leading to widespread environmental and social transformation at the production sites. As a commodity crop that prospers in tropical environments, oil palm has become controversial for its role as a driver of deforestation and social conflict, especially in main producer countries in Southeast Asia. As suitable land for oil palm production in Southeast Asia is depleting, companies have begun to look to new production frontiers, such as Latin America. Colombia and Peru have the highest percentage growth in the sector in recent years, and the crop has become a dominant strategy for development in the Peruvian Amazon. Between 2000 and 2015, 40,000 hectares of old growth forest have been cleared for large oil palm plantations in Peru. Company-Community partnerships (CCPs) have been advanced as a potentially more socially and environmentally sustainable strategy, through their alleged capacity to provide greater productivity and more efficient land use on smallholder farms. This paper describes the social, political and deforestation impact of an oil palm CCP at the forest frontier in the Peruvian Amazon. An interdisciplinary and mixed methods research approach was employed, including long-term ethnographic work and visual measurement remote sensing of land use change on 2447 hectares of smallholder land in four villages/communities. The results show that the recent arrival of powerful private companies has caused a major socio-ecological shift on the ground, particularly through the CCP. On comparing participating farms to non-participating farms, we find significant deforestation 'spillage' out of the plantation into participating farms. A major underlying driver of the negative outcomes of the CCP is the neoliberal policy approach employed by the Peruvian government, which has outsourced basic rural public works to private companies. We conclude by discussing how a more socially and environmentally just oil palm production strategy in Peru and elsewhere might look. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an urgent need to improve the diagnostic capacity of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in rural health centers to improve the management of the disease in patients from remote regions where the infection is endemic. Microscopy of Giemsa-stained lesion smears is the standard-of-care diagnostic test in virtually all health centers, but its sensitivity is suboptimal (50–70%) and prone to false negative results. We evaluated the performance of a low-cost DNA extraction buffer (LAB) using a portable miniPCR™ equipment coupled with an inexpensive fluorescence viewer to detect Leishmania DNA with the naked eye or using a commercial photo app. Using ten-fold serial dilutions of Leishmania (V.) panamensis promastigotes the miniPCR-F test detected 10 parasites per µL, which was comparable to real-time PCR. Utilization of DNA from retrospective clinical samples preserved at -80 °C from Colombia (n = 28) or lesion exudate preserved in filter papers from Peru (n = 48) showed that the miniPCR-fluorescent test had a 100% sensitivity and > 90% specificity compared to real-time PCR. This study demonstrated the utility of LAB DNA extraction method for direct amplification of Leishmania using the miniPCR and reading of P51 results with the naked eye or via digital reading with a photo app. These preliminary results indicated that the miniPCR-F test workflow could be amenable to implementation in resource-limited health centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced dramatic adversities for public health around the world, especially in low and middle-income countries. While research has shown the pandemic to have direct effects on a variety of major economic and health crises, its impact on health-related behaviors is not clear. In this paper, I examine how exposure to the pandemic affects alcohol use and smoking in Peru, which experienced one of the highest COVID-related death rates albeit implementing one of the strictest lockdown policies in the world. I find that post pandemic consumption of alcohol and smoking in the last 30 days decreases by 41.3% and 44.1% respectively when compared to pre-pandemic rates. I also conclude that the intensity of engaging in these behaviors change such that the frequency of consuming alcohol in the last 30 days, binge drinking and the probability of smoking daily falls. While drinking behavior returns to pre-pandemic levels, the negative effect on smoking weakens but remains for almost two years preceding the pandemic. • Estimates changes in alcohol consumption and smoking due to the pandemic in Peru. • Alcohol use and smoking decreases at both the extensive and intensive margins. • The largest fall in drinking and smoking was immediately after the lockdown. • Alcohol consumption returns to the pre-pandemic level by the end of 2021. • The reduction in smoking weakens but perdures by the end of 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• OptimizatEqual contributipower flow (OPF) problem can use to determine the operating range of FACTS. • Two optimization problems based on BFM and BIM for dynamic reactive power compensation are compared in terms of computational time. • The total solve-time of the BFM problem is less than BIM; the time difference increases as the system size expands. • Algorithms based on BFM and BIM are applied to determine the optimal operating range of the FACTS to be installed in the future Ecuador-Peru 500 kV interconnection. Dynamic reactive compensation using Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) in power systems allows for regulation of the voltage within limits defined by the grid operator. Optimization algorithms that solve the optimal power flow (OPF) problem can be used to determine the operating range of a FACTS device. In this paper, we compare, in terms of total solve time, the solutions of two optimization algorithms for dynamic reactive power compensation, using the Branch Flow Model (BFM) and the Bus Injection Model (BIM) to represent the power flow equations. The algorithms to solve both problems have been compared using four cases: the adapted IEEE 14-Bus System, New England IEEE 39-Bus System, IEEE 118-Bus Test System, and the authors' proposed 20-Bus SNI-500 kV Ecuadorian System. The results allow us to identify that the convergence of BFM is achieved in less solve-time concerning BIM. Furthermore, both algorithms were applied to the case study of the future Ecuador-Perú 500 kV Interconnection, obtaining that the operating range of the SVC to be installed on the Peruvian side should supply between 58 MVAr and 209 MVAr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a stochastic benefit-cost analysis (BCA) using Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the probable values for net benefit and benefit cost ratio for a series of proposed strategic and operational water management options under climate change and socioeconomic development. The study is performed in the Tacna region in southern Peru, geographically within the Atacama Desert and under prevailing water scarcity conditions. We examined the benefits and costs to four main water users: urban, agriculture, mining and the environment over a 30-year time horizon. The main scenarios under consideration include reduced water demand from improved water use efficiency in the urban and agriculture sector, and investment in water supply infrastructure including inter-basin infrastructure and dams, a desalination plant, and increased groundwater extraction. Our findings suggest that implementation of demand-side management strategies, which in this instance is investment in water use efficiency technology and water conservation measures result in more favourable net benefit outcomes than investment in water supply infrastructures. The primary outcome of this study is to help the Regional Government of Tacna, Peruvian water authorities and water users, make more informed decisions about water investment options going forward, thereby supporting regional development opportunities. • This paper presents finding from a hydrological and economic model of drought management in Peru. • We performed a benefit cost analysis that accounts for uncertainty and stochasticity. • Our hydrological model includes operational protocols, existing and planned infrastructure, and demand management options. • Our findings suggest that demand-side management strategies are more favourable than water infrastructures investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conservation of archaeological heritage is of major importance for preserving the scientific, ethnographic and artistic values of past cultures. Once archaeological sites are exposed after being buried for centuries, they are subjected to natural hazards, which should be studied with up-to-date techniques. Moreover, conservation works are primarily focused on aesthetic aspects or on solving localized problems. In earthquake-prone areas, it is of extreme importance to carry out structural analysis studies for assessing the actual behaviour of archaeological constructions, and for proposing adequate intervention measures. This paper presents an extensive study on structural behaviour of archaeological building remains in Peru, based on in-situ non-destructive testing as well as on numerical approaches. The case of the Chokepukio Archaeological Site is presented, which was built between 1000 and 1450 AD in the Pre-Columbian era, with a mixed masonry of stone units and earthen mortar. The paper begins with a comprehensive description of the historical, architectural and structural aspects of the archaeological site. The possibility of applying operational modal analysis tests is then explored with reference to a representative wall of Chokepukio. The results of the experimental field campaign are used to develop calibrated finite element models of the wall, and to indirectly estimate mechanical characteristics of the masonry. Basing on the investigations performed, potential failure mechanisms are identified for the wall and validated by pushover analysis. Finally, the mechanisms are evaluated through kinematic limit analysis, to proceed with the seismic assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the cases of Perú and Ghana, this paper examines overlaps between the extraction of minerals, oil and gas on the one hand, and river basins, agricultural land use, and protected areas on the other hand. In particular the paper considers how far such overlaps can be revealed and analyzed on the basis of (relatively) accessible and affordable data, without having to use more expensive data generated by remote sensing or fieldwork. We use concessions as our indicator of the presence of extractive industry activity, focusing on both mineral and hydrocarbon concessions, and areas of exploration and of active resource exploitation. High portions of agricultural land use in both countries are located within areas that are subject to mineral or hydrocarbon concessions (38% in Perú, 39% in Ghana), predominantly within areas in which exploration activities are permitted or occurring (36% in Perú, 35% in Ghana). While overlaps between concessions and areas protected for conservation were much smaller (10% for Perú, 2% for Ghana), concessions overlapped with a larger portion of titled indigenous communities in Perú (35%). These findings help visualize the geographies of uncertainty and risk that the expansion of extractive industry creates for populations dependent on agriculture, land, water and other resources in areas affected by concessions. The visualizations – and the evidence of quite different degrees of overlap, depending on the type of resource in question – suggest the relative strength of different modes of land and resource governance in the face of extractive industry. Notwithstanding their well-documented fragilities, institutions for habitat conservation seem to have been better able to resist pressures on them from the extractive sector than do those for regulating water resources, agricultural land and indigenous communities which appear far less able to moderate the expansion of resource extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the relationship between GDP (gross domestic product), carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption of energy, total renewable electricity consumption, dry natural gas consumption, and total petroleum consumption (all variables are in per capita terms) for Peru during 1980–2011. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology was used to test a cointegration relationship, and the Granger causality test, based on the vector error correction model (VECM), was used to test for causality. An innovative criterion proposed by Narayan and Narayan (2010) was employed to test the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The study does not support an inverted U-shaped EKC relationship. For this reason, it is urgent that Peru designs environmental policies that minimize the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) using alternative energy sources e.g. solar, wind, hydraulics, among others. In addition, we found an unidirectional causality relationship between CO 2 emissions and their determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outburst floods originating in moraine-dammed lakes represent a significant geomorphological process as well as a specific type of threat for local communities in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru (8.5°–10° S; 77°–78° W). An exceptional concentration of catastrophic floods has been reported from the Cordillera Blanca in the first half of 20th Century (1930s–1950s), leading to thousands of fatalities. The main objective of this paper is to provide a revised and comprehensive overview of geomorphologically effective floods in the area of interest, using various documentary data sources, verified by analysis of remotely sensed images (1948–2013) and enhanced by original field data. Verified events (n = 28; 4 not mentioned before) are analysed from the perspective of spatiotemporal distribution, pre-flood conditions, causes, mechanisms and geomorphological impacts as well as socioeconomical consequences, revealing certain patterns and similar features. GLOFs are further classified according to their magnitude: 5 extreme events, 8 major events and 15 minor events are distinguished, referring to the quantified geomorphological and socioeconomical impacts. Selected moraine dams and flood deposits are dated using lichenometric dating. Special attention is given to moraine dam breaches - the most frequent type of water release with the most significant consequences. Selected major events and their consequences are studied in detail in a separate section. Finally, a general schematic model of lake formation, growth and post-flood evolution reflecting initial topographical setting and glacier retreat is introduced and the utilization of the obtained results is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumption of food away from home is rapidly growing across the developing world, and will continue to do so as GDP per person grows and food systems evolve. Surprisingly, the majority of household surveys have not kept up with its pace and still collect limited information on it. The implications for poverty and inequality measurement are far from clear, and the direction of the impact cannot be established a priori. This paper exploits rich data on food away from home collected as part of the National Household Survey in Peru, to shed light on the extent to which welfare measures differ depending on whether food away from home is accounted for or not. Peru is a relevant context, with the average Peruvian household spending over a quarter of their food budget on food away from home since 2010. The analysis indicates that failure to account for this consumption has important implications for poverty and inequality measures as well as the understanding of who the poor are. First, accounting for food away from home results in extreme poverty rates that are 18 percent higher and moderate poverty rates that are 16 percent lower. These results are also consistent, in fact more pronounced, with poverty gap and severity measures. Second, consumption inequality measured by the Gini coefficient decreases by 1.3 points when food away from home is included – a significant reduction. Finally, the inclusion of food away from home results in a reclassification of households across poor/non-poor status – 20 percent of the poor are different, resulting in small but significant differences in the profile of the poor in dimensions such as demographics, education, and labor market characteristics. Taken together, the results indicate that a serious rethinking of how to deal with the consumption of food away from home in measuring well-being is urgently needed to properly estimate and understand poverty around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper measures productivity of port terminals in Peru and Chile, and evaluates the influence of the certain specific explanatory variables that may explain their differences in productivity. In the first stage, a DEA-Malmquist model in a metafrontier framework is used to obtain the productivity scores. This approach lets us take the possible technological differences among the port terminals into account. In the second stage, an Arellano-Bond model was estimated, to explain the differences in productivity change. The empirical evidence shows that the Class 1 terminals produce output under certain less favourable technological conditions than the Class 2 terminals. Moreover, on average, both classes present positive evolutions of the catching up effect, which shows that the terminals as a whole are moving nearer to the efficiency metafrontier. We also observe a technological regress during 2004–2014 and that the terminals have been affected by the financial crisis which started in the United States in 2008. Finally, we identified that the container/bulk rate and that private management contribute positively to the change in productivity, whereas the bulk rate and the total factor productivity change lagged contribute negatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two novel profit scoring models were built using the TabNet algorithm. • Profit scoring model using XGBoost and all the features has the best performance. • SHAP framework was used to interpret the Multilayer Perceptron profit scoring models. • Monthly interest rate and Maximum days delinquent are the most significant features. • Profit scoring models allow financial inclusion. Credit unions are growing microfinance institutions that base their lending decisions on the judgment of their credit analysts. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to design 6 profit scoring models, capable of predicting the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of credit applications, using the multilayer perceptron, XGBoost and TabNet algorithms and thus serve as a support tool for the credit analyst. For this purpose, the least correlated and most independent features were selected from the dataset coming from a Peruvian credit union and composed of 36 402 observations. Then, the hyperparameters of all algorithms were tuned. Finally, the profit scoring models that considered only the selected features were compared to which considered all features. As results, it was obtained that the most significant features that determine the IRR of a loan are the effective monthly interest rate and the member's maximum or average days delinquent. The results obtained from the performance evaluation of the profit scoring models suggested the XGBoost as the best algorithm. In addition, the model that used the XGBoost algorithm and considered all the features had the best performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Participatory approaches have proven effective at producing more inclusive and democratic forms of development, in which marginalized groups are given increased recognition. However, these approaches can also reinforce social hierarchies and political exclusion if they are not developed and implemented carefully. In particular, participatory approaches can be problematic if they too simplistically conceptualize democratic engagement as the folding of individuals into pre-existing governance structures. Utilizing a combination of feminist and postcolonial theories, this paper argues that practitioners of participatory methods must extend their thinking to the ways in which their projects foster engagement across multiple social and epistemological perspectives. Participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) methodologies are particularly effective at enabling these cross-perspectival engagements—geospatial technologies have unique capabilities for storing and visualizing knowledge from different types of knowledge systems. These different forms of knowledge can not only be visualized as multi-facetted and multi-scalar layers, but they can be directly placed in conversation with one another within the space of the map. In this way, they can be used to fundamentally transform historically unjust governance practices, rather than simply folding new subjects into unjust political structures. The authors examine these claims in the context of a case study with the Maijuna indigenous group of the northeastern Peruvian Amazon. The authors collaborated with the Maijuna to create and use a digital, spatial database to influence policy decisions about land tenure and environmental management. We show that geospatial technologies were uniquely capable of encouraging dialog and integration across indigenous, Western scientific, and state-based perspectives of the Amazon. These technologies are particularly effective at empowering traditionally marginalized perspectives within governance processes. This project therefore offers lessons about the benefits and dangers of geospatial technologies and methodologies for improving the democratic potential of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the notion of mutual knowledge, an evidential category that has remained largely unexplored in the relevant literature. Mutual knowledge principally refers to knowledge which is jointly constructed through linguistic interaction and shared perceptual experience. Sources of information for mutual knowledge include the contributions of conversational participants, together with their jointly held beliefs and assumptions. Interlocutors use individual knowledge evidentials to introduce information and use mutual knowledge evidentials to establish facts by consensus. Once established, this shared knowledge is marked as such in subsequent speech. Evidentials are thus shown to be part of a system for building up the epistemic base shared between speakers in dynamic, interactive discourse. In South Conchucos Quechua and in Sihuas Quechua the individual and mutual knowledge categories are formally distinguished via dedicated enclitics in paradigmatic contrast. We describe and illustrate the five-choice evidential system of South Conchucos and the six-choice system of Sihuas, then compare the two systems with each other and with the more well-known three-choice system of Cusco Quechua, a system in which mutual knowledge forms have not been attested. The comparison of the three evidential systems suggests a sequence of stages in the development of mutual knowledge as a grammatical category. The findings presented here are primarily based on spontaneous conversation, the setting in which mutual knowledge forms principally reside and in which epistemic authority is carefully negotiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the use of sprinkles, or multi-micronutrients, distributed by the Peruvian state to children under three in response to high levels of iron deficiency anemia. Based on ethnographic research carried out in a subsistence farming village in the Ayacucho region, I will show that nutrition activities, other than sprinkles consumption, are taken up despite a problematic relation with the local health services. I will argue that reservations about using sprinkles, and public health services in general, are not to do with a rejection of biomedicine. With reference to Foucault’s work on medical surveillance, I will explore a specific area of the medicalization of rural women’s everyday life – the introduction of malnutrition - and will use the case of sprinkles to look at women’s relationship with the state, as manifest through the local health centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jaggery (also called organic sugar) is a concentrated product of sugarcane juice that is produced in rural communities in the highlands and jungle of Peru. In the last few years there has been an increase in the exports of jaggery and higher volumes of production are required driving this activity from a rural process with small production to an industry seeking greater productivity. In this framework, optimization of the use of energy becomes essential for the proper development of the process of production and the correct performance of the involved equipment. Open heat exchangers made of stainless steel are used in the production of jaggery. These heat exchangers containing sugarcane juice are placed over a flue gas duct. The thermal energy contained in the gas is used to evaporate the water contained in the sugarcane juice thickening the juice and after evaporating almost all the water, a pasty crystalline yellow substance is left in the boiling pan which becomes solid after cooling, this is the jaggery. The modeling and simulation of heat transfer between the combustion gases and the juice is very important in order to improve the thermal efficiency of the process. It permits to know with a high level of detail the physical phenomena of heat transfer occurring from bagasse combustion flue gases to sugarcane juice. This paper presents the results of the numerical simulation of heat transfer phenomena in the open heat exchangers and those results are compared to field measured data. Numerical results about temperature drop of flue gases in the several locations of the jaggery furnace are in good accordance with field measurements, validating the predictive capacity that Computational Fluid Dynamics model offers in the detailed representation of the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of such furnace, ensuring the design of future jaggery installations with higher thermal efficiency and sugarcane production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers need measures of vulnerability that are grounded in explicit theoretical and conceptual frameworks, that are sensitive to local contexts, and that are easy to collect. This paper presents the Index of Vulnerability (IoV), a quantitative yet anthropologically-informed method connecting social-ecological systems to mental and physical health outcomes. The IoV combines measures of five life domains; food insecurity, water insecurity, access to healthcare, social support, and social status. Scores on this index increase for each life domain where the individual falls into a “high risk” category. Thus, individuals with the highest IoV scores are those who are at risk across multiple life domains. This approach makes the IoV malleable to local contexts, as scholars can choose which measure of each life domain is most appropriate for their study population. An anthropological study conducted among 225 Awajún adults living in the Peruvian Amazon from March to November of 2013 showed that men with higher IoV scores had significantly lower summary fat skinfolds, lower triglyceride levels, and a greater probability of reporting moderate to severe somatic symptoms and poor perceived health. Awajún women with higher IoV scores had significantly elevated perceived stress levels and a greater probability of reporting poor perceived health and moderate to severe somatic and depressive symptoms. Importantly, comparing the IoV to its constituent parts shows that it predicts a wider range of mental and physical health outcomes than any of the life domains alone. The IoV is presented here in relation to the broader political-economic and cultural context of the Awajún, forwarding a critical biocultural approach within anthropology, and demonstrating the IoV’s utility for other scholars and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using wave data from 1960 to 1990 from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis ERA-40 dataset and the ERA-5 reanalysis dataset (1990–2018), this paper presents a comprehensive study on the spatial and temporal variability of wind sea wave height (Hw), swell wave height (Hsw) and mixed significant wave height (H s) in the Pacific during the warm (El Niño) and cold (La Niña) ENSO phases. The main findings show that During DJF, the Hsw is dominated by strong winds and large waves from extratropical cyclones in the North Pacific, especially from 1960 to 1990. However, from 1990–2018 these maximum values extend into the subtropical crest of the Pacific Ocean and the southeast trade winds increase during La Niña. The annual cycle of Hw, Hsw and Hs for specific points located from the west center toward the east center along the equatorial Pacific for the analyzed decades show a strong transition in the locations of the maximum and minimum values during the year. In this sense, the eastern point is more highly influenced by the swell systems that flow from the northwest and southwest of the southern hemisphere associated with the intensification of winds during the occurrence of La Niña. It is therefore not possible to determine a single period of maximum and minimum values. During the decades of 1990–2018, the difference in swell wave height during La Niña compared to El Niño increased throughout the year compared to 1960–1990. During the 1960–1990 period, the maximum values were detected in JJA for both El Niño and La Niña in an area that extends from Perú and ends toward the eastern center of the Colombian Pacific Basin. • Scalar parameters were studied for sea, swell and mixed waves during ENSO in the Pacific Ocean. • Around latitude 12°N, the energetic values of Hw were detected in DJF and MAM during La Niña. • During La Niña the trade winds from Southern Hemisphere intensify in MAM and JJA. • The annual cycle for Hsw of virtual buoy 1 (center west) has a bimodal period DJF during ENSO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of efforts to curb the global supply of illicit drugs and significant shifts in how those efforts are designed and implemented, illicit crop cultivation persists. In this paper, we examine state and international development efforts to eradicate coca in Peru, opium poppies in Laos, and cannabis in California, USA and the ever-changing discourses used to justify and design these interventions. Scholarship in political geography frames eradication interventions as serving ongoing efforts to extend state and market power into the regions in which illicit crops are grown and to marginalize the people growing them. We find that environmental discourses are increasingly used to assert the need for continued illicit crop interventions, and that these discourses articulate with historical and ongoing portrayals of smallholders as environmentally destructive. Environmental harm narratives that justify enforcement and eradication efforts under the guise of protecting ecosystems from illicit crop farmers can become self-fulfilling prophecies when they disproportionately impact smallholders and push them into marginal geographic and economic positions. Our cases illustrate that environmentally-justified interventions drive cycles of marginalization for illicit crop smallholders, often conditioned by race or ethnicity, who are then portrayed as environmental criminals. Meanwhile, new state-sanctioned spaces of opportunity and profit are created for more powerful actors who are able to capitalize on the removal of illicit crop growers from the land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper emphasises the importance of recognising the global South as a key site for understanding the patterning of geographies of health voluntarism. Feeding into a broader critique of neoliberal health and development policies, the paper explores what a case study of health promoters in a popular settlement in Lima, Peru, can add to our understanding of practices of health voluntarism rooted in distinct places, emphasising the uneven and gendered nature of such voluntary activity. In particular, the paper considers the ways in which urban community spaces are negotiated, inhabited and shaped by volunteer women health workers, arguing that an exploration of these everyday practices provides a more nuanced picture of the role of voluntarism in healthcare provisioning under neoliberal regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work introduces a computational tool, PETP V2.0.0 , which allows calculation and analysis of reference evapotranspiration through empirical formulas from: Thornthwaite, Hargreaves, Christiansen, Penman Monteith, Penman modified, Turc, Jensen-Haise, Stephens-Stewart, Linacre, Papadakis, Blaney and Criddle, Serruto, Priestley-Taylor, Makkink, Valiantzas, Garcia-Lopez, Turc (annual), Coutagne (annual), and Radiation. In addition, the software has tools for the analysis of ETo (selection of the best results for the study site) and export of results, among others, which are explained in detail in this paper. PETP V2.0.0 has been developed using the Basic programming language, under the Integrated Development Environment Visual Studio 2010, which allows to synthesize manual labor, as it allows to carry out calculations in an automatic and accurate way under different calculation conditions. The ETo parameter is important in calculating water demand, carry out hydrological studies, environmental studies and others, which is why this new computational tool is implemented. [Display omitted] • This paper reports on a computer program and interface to compute and analize ETo applying different calculation methods. • This new computational tool is aimed for use in academic situations and professional works. • PETP 2.0.0 was compared to other software obtaining similar results. • PETP V2.0.0 has been tested in various regions in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]