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This paper presents the characteristics and baseline use of refrigerant gas in the meat, dairy, and fruit and vegetable sectors. The data are based on different sources of primary information starting from a survey of the companies that constitute the three chains in different departments of Colombia. The results show that the management, use and handling of refrigerants is similar among the three productive sectors and that the most commonly used refrigerant gases are R22, R404, R507, and R134A. Moreover, 80% of refrigerants are traditional and 20% are natural refrigerants, especially in large companies that have managed to migrate to cleaner technologies that have less of an impact on the environment. The food sector with the highest use of refrigerant gas is the meat industry, followed by the dairy and fruit and vegetable industries. Except in the fruit and vegetable chain, the refrigerant charge for these sectors is less than 100 kilograms and refrigerant changes are performed in a period of six to twelve months. A consensus was reached that preventive maintenance and timely detection of leaks is essential for the efficient and rational use of refrigerant, and its reuse is not a practice that is evident in these sectors. The findings of this study are important for analysing how companies in the food sector, have implemented environmentally friendly practices related to vital refrigeration processes for the processing and conservation of products and for identifying controls and maintenance processes that generate refrigerant changes and reduce environmental impacts.

The main sources of input for an economy are environmental and natural resources, especially in biodiverse countries. Given this, such resources are associated with competitiveness and efficiency in that natural resources are a factor for production that affects productivity and growth. Moreover, changes resulting from natural resources becoming scarcer must be anticipated to prevent a decrease in competitiveness. Within this context, analysing competitiveness and its relationship to environmental performance is critical, especially for emerging economies with high levels of biodiversity, as a means to promote environmental care, prevent environmental damage and to improve competitiveness. This study evaluates the effects of environmental performance on competitiveness by applying a stochastic frontier approach, the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index and various environmental variables, and in turn, it elucidates how environmental performance affects competitiveness in Colombian regions, which are characterized by economic and social disparities. The results of this study highlight the importance of environmental performance on increasing competitiveness. Improved environmental performance should lead to an increase in competitiveness. It is important to mitigate regional disparities through the use of political instruments that promote adequate environmental measures and that consider competitiveness and innovation to promote sustainable development and the responsible use of natural resources. The findings of this study will be critical to the design of adequate instruments that consider environmental performance and competitiveness as key elements in promoting sustainability, growth and welfare in Colombian regions.

Antecedentes: Actualmente, la mayor parte de la población mundial vive en ciudades, y la rápida urbanización de la población está impulsando aumentos en la demanda de productos, bienes y servicios. Para diseñar eficazmente políticas de sostenibilidad urbana, es importante comprender las tendencias de los flujos de energía y materiales a medida que entran y salen de una ciudad. Este El conocimiento es fundamental para determinar los elementos clave que caracterizarán el futuro crecimiento urbano y abordarán el futuro. desafíos de suministro. Métodos: Este trabajo presenta un análisis de los flujos de energía y materia en la ciudad de Bogotá a lo largo del tiempo. de 2001 a 2017. Los flujos urbanos también se caracterizan en función de su evolución temporal con respecto a la población crecimiento para comparar e identificar cambios en los principales flujos de insumos, producción de riqueza, emisiones y residuos en el ciudad. Resultados: Los resultados del análisis se comparan luego con los de otras grandes aglomeraciones urbanas seleccionadas en América Latina y el mundo para resaltar similitudes y hacer inferencias. Los resultados muestran que en Bogotá había disminución de algunos de los flujos de materiales, como el consumo de agua y la generación de vertidos, en los últimos años, mientras que hubo un incremento en el consumo de energía y cemento y en la producción de emisiones de CO2 y materiales de construcción. La producción de residuos sólidos se mantuvo relativamente estable. En comparación con las otras grandes ciudades. considerado, observamos que las tasas de crecimiento de 10 años de los flujos en relación con el crecimiento de la población son más bajas en Bogotá, particularmente si se compara con otras aglomeraciones urbanas de América Latina. Conclusiones: Los hallazgos de este estudio son importantes para avanzar en las caracterizaciones de las tendencias de materiales y los flujos de energía en las ciudades, y contribuir al establecimiento de un referente que permita definir y evaluar los diferentes impactos de las políticas públicas y promover la sostenibilidad de Bogotá en las próximas décadas. Background: Currently, most of the world’s population lives in cities, and the rapid urbanization of the population is driving increases in the demand for products, goods and services. To efectively design policies for urban sustainability, it is important to understand the trends of fows in energy and materials as they enter and leave a city. This knowledge is essential for determining the key elements characterizing future urban growth and addressing future supply challenges. Methods: This paper presents an analysis of the energy and material fows in the city of Bogotá over the time span from 2001 to 2017. Urban fows are also characterized in terms of their temporal evolution with respect to population growth to compare and identify the changes in the main input fows, wealth production, emissions and waste in the city. Results: The results of the analysis are then compared with those for other selected large urban agglomerations in Latin America and worldwide to highlight similarities and make inferences. The results show that in Bogotá, there was a decrease in some of the material fows, such as the consumption of water and the generation of discharge, in recent years, while there was an increase in the consumption of energy and cement and in the production of CO2 emissions and construction materials. Solid waste production remained relatively stable. With respect to the other large cities considered, we observe that the 10-year growth rates of the fows with respect to population growth are lower in Bogotá, particularly when compared with the other urban agglomerations in Latin America. Conclusions: The fndings of this study are important for advancing characterizations of the trends of material and energy fows in cities, and they contribute to the establishment of a benchmark that allows for the defnition and evaluation of the diferent impacts of public policy while promoting the sustainability of Bogotá in the coming decades.

Green growth and sustainable development goals (SDGs) are two strategies to improve the productivity and competitiveness of countries with respect to environmental protection. In these strategies, science, technology and innovation (STI) plays an important role in generating new knowledge. Colombia is a highly diversified country that is currently seeking to promote green growth initiatives and the SDGs through five axes: policy, new economic opportunities from the sustainable use of natural resources, the efficient use of natural capital and energy in production, business and human competences and capacities in STI. In this context, this study seeks to analyse the main contributions and adequate measures that determine the relationships between green growth, SDGs and STI in Colombia over recent years using different econometric models. The results of this study suggest the importance of STI in promoting green growth and achieving SDGs. In other words, higher investments in STI promote lower pollution and higher productivity, competitiveness and development, and new knowledge and technologies are found to be important to increasing the sustainable use of natural resources in productive processes. These results suggest policy implications with regard to energy use and conservation, resource efficiency, and the reduction of pollution. It is important to formulate and frequently measure the indicators of STI related to green growth and SDGs from a baseline, as this will allow us to analyse improvements in competitiveness and productivity from a sustainable development perspective.

It is widely recognized that the design and application of suitable and robust science, technology and innovation (STI) policies and appropriate STI institutions promote development, economic growth and competitiveness in the long run. This paper analyses the dynamics of STI in Colombia over the 1995–2019 period to determine its relationship with its most important determinants and its collateral relationship with economic growth as an input affecting different issues; this work takes into account the creation of the new ministry of science, technology and innovation (MSTI) and uses different time series techniques. According to the analysis, a positive relationship exists between investments in research and development, STI activities, and the independence and transparency of STI management by the new MSTI, which could generate higher productivity, technological change, economic growth and development. The results of the models also demonstrate the long-run relationship and short-run dynamics related to STI investment and research results and the importance of transparency and independence. It is important to establish adequate STI governance and allow new ministries to play an important role to achieve a society based on knowledge that produces relevant research, technology and innovation based on the needs and resources of the country.

This paper identifies the main determinants of errors in the allocation of spending by the Colombian Government. Using information from the Electronic Public Procurement System (SECOP), the determinants of the probability of an addition to a contract are identified. The errors of the government can be interpreted as an approximation of their corruption. The average income and educational level of a colombian department are found to directly influence the probability of an addition. Using the estimation of the binary choice models, the forecast error of an addition is estimated, it is found that public and civil works contracts have more forecast error, forming an ideal mechanism for thefts and accumulation of bribes. Our results show that predicting an addition can be done with high certainty., Corruption, Government, Binary Choice; Economics; Behavioral economics; Economic Development; Microeconomics; Econometrics

This research analyses the connection between homicides, corruption, and economic development in Colombian government departments. This empirical research explores the trends of homicides, corruption, and economic development utilizing different estimation techniques: DEA and econometric analysis with panel data. The DEA is applied to assess socioeconomic performance and interactions of homicides, corruption, and economic progress in Colombian, according to the rank and uncertainty of corruption and violence. Econometric models are Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimates to determine the incidence of some institutional and socioeconomic variables on the score range of uncertainty and risk generated by DEA in terms of the level of corruption and homicides. Estimates with DEA data envelopment analysis shows that the risk score associated with homicides and corruption has different tendencies, socioeconomic and political instability are causes that explain the behaviour of this variable over time. The results of the panel data estimation show that there are several hypotheses and theories that explain the effects of corruption and violence on the economic development of countries. This finding indicates the importance of developing effective policies that strengthen public administration, the judicial structure, and public social spending and thus rupture the cycles of corruption and homicides that prevent the creation of sustained economic growth and development.

Rapid advances in science, technology and innovation (STI) have transformed the management of cities, have great potential to improve the requirements of local governments and citizens, and can help generate sustainable urban development and equality, especially in developing countries, to decrease poverty and increase education and health. These topics note the importance of developing STI in urban policies as an integrative element to promote urban development based on the necessities of current and future societies and the importance of knowing the perceptions of different stakeholders in the city with respect to STI. Therefore, this study seeks to determine the STI public policy of a city in an emerging country by using a cross-impact analysis based on workshops and interviews with experts and interest groups. From this study, we want to develop recommendations to formulate new public policy regarding the state of science, technology and innovation in Bogota. The application of this methodology identified key policy factors, such as STI investment, regional vision, resource optimization, entrepreneurship, promotion of technological development centres and participation in peace scenarios. These factors require in-depth exploration in order to improve the quality of the policy. Finally, based on the results obtained in this study, we developed some thoughts and recommendations about Bogota’s STI public policy formulation that can be used as key input for policymakers and decision-makers to improve the promotion of STI to achieve sustainable development and the well-being of the population.

Research and development (R&D), especially in industry and technology, is a crucial component of innovation, productivity and effectiveness, as well as the generation of new competitive advantages that are reflected in the whole economy of a country. In this context and with the aim of improving the measurement of R&D, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development updated the Frascati Manual in 2015 to provide the main, globally applicable guidelines for national statistical offices and policy-makers to analyze trends and allow for international comparisons of science, technology and innovation. In developing countries, it is particularly important to determine different strategies to guarantee adequate R&D to inform the creation of policies and instruments to effectively promote knowledge and generate technological solutions to local problems. This chapter describes the development and application of the Frascati Manual (2015) in Colombia to measure investments in R&D and other scientific, technological and innovation activities in Colombia from the perspective of the requirements of the manual for government, higher education, business enterprises, the health sector and private non-profit institutions with an update for the entire 2000–2017 period. The results indicate that the new guidelines for quantifying investments in R&D guarantee greater reliability through the use of mixed methods involving administrative registers or surveys and control mechanisms with budget analysis. Moreover, it is important to analyze differences among sectors to adequately determine the specific factors related to scientific, technological and innovation activities with the aim of establishing the investments and expenditures in science, technology and innovation. During the period of study, Colombia maintained constant investment with a slight increase in the last year that was mainly due to found royalties. The resulting indicators of expenditure in R&D and other scientific, technological and innovation activities can be used to monitor and evaluate relevant policies that have been implemented, as well as to make international comparisons.

This chapter analyzes the effects of expenditures in science, technology and research and development (R&D) on technical change in countries with a high human development index in Latin America. We argue that with higher investments in science, technology and R&D, the productivity of Latin American countries should increase, thereby offering several advantages for the population. Moreover, we investigated the factors that determine the relationship between economic growth and development and technical change. In this study, we use a technological change model to determine the factors that influence the productivity conditions of every Latin American country analyzed. The findings show that the expenditures in science, technology, R&D and patents have a positive influence on the technological change of those countries.

This research outlines a number of different perspectives on the relationship between science, technology, and innovation in emerging economies. In it, the authors explore the aforementioned relationship as a pillar of economic development, driving growth in emerging economies. Employing a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, the authors work to determine the main related factors and outcomes of the relationship between science, technology, and innovation, ultimately seeking to guide public policies to enhance the welfare of the population of an emerging economy.

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between economic development, investments, savings, insecurity and social conditions in Colombian departments. Using a dynamic heterogeneous panel analysis, we study the effects of insecurity and social conditions on economic development through an estimation of panel data cointegration techniques. The models applied in this study suggest a long-term relationship among economic development, investments, savings, social conditions and insecurity. Investments, savings and human development index have a positive and significant coefficient, which indicates that these variables produce incentives for economic development, whereas GINI and homicides have a negative relationship, demonstrating that these variables undermine economic development. All findings are important in the design of strategies and policies that strengthen income distribution equality, a key factor that determines growth and development through adequate government expenditures that encourage savings and investment decisions with the aim to improve welfare and the standard of living. peerReviewed

This paper studies the socio-economic determinants of violence in the seven most important cities in Colombia. Derived from theories rooted in classic works, including Becker's paradigm, criminal inertia, social disorganisation, urbanism and strain, we formulate several hypotheses on the socio-economic determinants of violence. To test these hypotheses, a dynamic panel data analysis is employed. The analysis shows that cities’ deprivation and high population density are strong predictors of homicide rates. Comparing the results among Colombian cities, we find support indicating that city-level homicide rates are influenced by the city's level of development. Moreover, we find evidence that economic growth, inequality, poverty and human capital influence violence in the cities studied, which could generate negative effects on the economic and social development of Colombia. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper analyses some determinants of urban violence in seven major Colombian cities. The empirical research is intended to explore variations in violence across these Colombian cities and the influence of these variations on Colombia's economic development. In this study, several econometric data panel models and various estimate types are applied to control heterogeneity across the cities and to address endogeneity problems among the explanatory variables. The results show that education, poverty, inequality and the labour market are strong predictors of homicide rates in the seven Colombian cities. The results also demonstrate that city-level homicide rates depend on the city's level of development and the tendency of urban violence to persist over time. The findings thus demonstrate that factors such as inequality, poverty, education and the labour market influence urban violence, thereby generating negative effects on Colombia's economic and social development.

In this paper, we analyse economic development and growth through traditional measures (gross domestic product and human development index) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in Colombian departments over the period 1993–2007. We use a DEA model to measure and rank economic development and growth from different approaches such as poverty, equality and security. The results show considerable variation in efficiency scores across departments. A second-stage panel data analysis with fixed effects reveals that higher levels of economic activity, quality life, employment and security are associated with a higher efficiency score based on the standards of living, poverty, equality and security. All findings of this analysis should demonstrate that economic development and growth could be achieved most effectively through a decrease in poverty, an increase in equality, a reduction in violence, and improved security. This indicates the need to generate effective policies that guarantee the achievement of these elements in the interest of all members of society.

This article examines the management in Colombian industrial sectors using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). This method conceptualizes cases as combinations of attributes and use Boolean algebra to derive simplified expressions of combinations that lead to a specific outcome. In this analysis, we show the value of this method for studying the management in the industrial from different approaches. peerReviewed

This research evaluates the connection between corruption, economic development, and insecurity in several Colombian departments. This chapter explores the dynamics of these variables using two empirical techniques: the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Dynamic Panel Data Model (DPDM). DEA is performed to evaluate social performance in terms of corruption, economic development, and insecurity in Colombian departments with a higher level and risk of corruption and insecurity. Dynamic panel data analysis is performed to define the variables that affect corruption, insecurity, and economic development. The DEA model provides evidence that corruption and insecurity have different trends where economic development, natural resources, and political instability are key factors. The dynamic panel data model applied shows that Colombian departments with a higher level and risk of corruption and insecurity have lower economic growth, development, and social conditions, but higher levels of mineral resources and illegal drug activity, as well as the presence of irregular armed groups.

La idea general del documento hace referencia a la importancia que tiene el modelo de desarrollo y la política económica sobre la determinación de la senda de crecimiento del país. Los efectos en el crecimiento dependen de la naturaleza de los choques, ya sean permanentes o transitorios, y de ciertas condiciones de la economía: las intensidades relativas en capital de los sectores productivos, el grado de movilidad y restricción de la inversión, la dotación factorial, entre otras muchas variables. Para el caso colombiano, se realiza un análisis de la dinámica del crecimiento económico tanto a corto como a largo plazo, del desempeño macroeconómico y la incidencia de la inestabilidad en las políticas económicas en los últimos años. Se muestra como han sido los efectos de la política económica sobre la producción y el empleo en Colombia durante la última década.

Purpose The aim of this study is to describe the causal relationships between energy use, development, and productivity in Colombia.

This chapter seeks to determine and analyse the tendencies in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the industries of: Germany that has applied several measures to promote the shift towards a low-carbon economy and Colombia that has shown substantial improvements in the decline of CO2 emissions. This study applies panel data cointegration methods to evaluate the causality between CO2 emissions, production aspects and energy sources. The results indicate that the trend in the countries analysed in this study is to produce more output with less pollution. The trends in CO2 emissions also indicate that there are differences between the developed country and the developing country with respect to emissions levels. Moreover, the results of Germany demonstrate that to achieve economic growth and sustainable development are possible by the reduction of CO2 emissions. For Colombia, the reduction of CO2 emissions requires integral policies that include technical and economic programs and promote the use of new technologies and application of cleaner production.

La incertidumbre y el riesgo juegan un papel preponderante en el momento de tomar la decisión de cobrar un tiro desde el punto penal. Las implicaciones de ganar un torneo de fútbol de alta competencia tienen efectos de señalización sobre los agentes que participan en los diferentes mercados. Este trabajo de investigación advierte que los cobros desde el punto penal no son una simple cuestión de azar y suerte, es una interacción que debe tener en cuenta entre otras muchas variables no solo la técnica, la preparación, las dotaciones de los participantes sino que debe ser una combinación de estrategias y probabilidades. Aplicando la Teoría de Juegos para los tres equipos más representativos de la liga de futbol de España, – Real Madrid, Barcelona y el Atlético de Madrid – y utilizando los datos de la Primera División de España, Copa del Rey, Mundial de Clubes y la Champions League, todas estas competiciones correspondientes a la Temporada 2015-16 y Temporada 2014-15, se determinan las distintas estrategias y probabilidades que el cobrador debe dilucidar para anotar el gol en un cobro desde el punto penal y con ello contrarrestar las diferentes probabilidades y estrategias de las que dispone el arquero para atajar el lanzamiento Uncertainty and risk play a leading role at the time of taking the decision to charge a shot from the penalty spot. The implications of winning a soccer tournament highly competitive signaling have effects on the agents involved in the different markets. This research warns that charges from the penalty mark are not simply a matter of chance and luck, it's an interaction that must take into account among other variables not only the technique, preparation, endowments participants but must be a combination of strategies and probabilities. Applying Game Theory to the three most representative teams of the football league of Spain - Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid - and using data from the First Division of Spain, Copa del Rey, Club World Cup and Champions League, all these competitions corresponding to the 2015-16 season and 2014-15 season, the various strategies and probabilities that the collector must clarify to score a goal from the penalty charge are determined and thus counteract the different probabilities and strategies available to tackle goalkeeper launch.

This work uses several empirical approaches to examine the effects of poverty and inequality on violence in the seven metropolitan areas in Colombia. To this end, this study describes the main determinants of violence in these cities; these determinants are all fundamental features of social instability. For this description, this paper uses several econometric approximations to compare and determine an adequate estimator for the analysis of Colombian urban violence. This hypothesis was supported by evidence showing that factors related to poverty, inequality, and education directly influenced violence in the cities. Because of their effects over time and their incidence rates across society, these factors also had negative effects on the economic and social development of every city analysed. peerReviewed

This research analyses the long run and short run relationships among economic growth, poverty and energy using the Colombian case. In this study, we use the time-series methodologies. The results regarding the relationship among economic growth, poverty and energy show that increases in gross domestic product and energy supply per capita should lead a decrease of poverty, which should demonstrate that access to modern and adequate energy services help to decrease poverty and to increase economic growth. Moreover, the improvements in energy efficiency have contributed to increase economic growth from an approach of sustainable development. These results are important for the adequate design, formulation and application of policies and strategies that encourage a better energy use to improve economic growth and decrease poverty, especially in developing countries. peerReviewed

This paper analyses that other variables besides the economical ones affect the productivity of factors. The document attempts to determine the incidence of violence and the instability in the Colombian economic growth during the last 50 years. The general statement of work makes reference to the importance of economic policies and the political, social and institutional forces in addition to other socio-political variables of unsteadiness on the determination of the growth path of the country. In order to incorporate these factors we fall back on a determined growth model, additionally to the traditional productive factors, by a component directly associated to productivity. Throughout the estimation of this component for the Colombian case we propose to determine the influence of variables such as the rates of homicides, kidnapping, terrorism, drug smuggling, among others, on the behavior of productivity of factors. The Estimations carried out in this work indicate that this last factor is affected by political forces, institutional agreements and social and economic instability.

El presente artículo explora la forma como se abordan desde distintas perspectivas los nexos que existen entre los Derechos Humanos de la primera generación y los elevados índices de violencia que se observan en Colombia. Se explora la idea según la cual las acciones en contra de los Derechos Humanos repercuten en la frecuencia y la acumulación de hechos violentos en un territorio, dando como resultado una interacción entre el crecimiento de la inestabilidad política y la inestabilidad social. Esto repercute en el tejido social y la cohesión de los grupos, lo cual genera violencia. El trabajo indica que la probabilidad de seguir siendo violentos en Colombia es alta, ante lo cual, medidas de política social encaminadas a reducir la exclusión social y la pobreza tendrían mayores efectos que las medidas de política económica.