Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

 

Objective: Identify the knowledge on the characteristics related to the consumption of faba beans considered by housewives and the frequency of consumption, the most consumed dishes and the cooking appliances used in the preparation in the households of Puebla and Tlaxcala, Mexico. Methodology: In order to generate information a survey was used by applying a questionnaire to 50 housewives questionnaire to 50 housewives who prepare dishes with faba bean. The data was analyzed using frequencies, principal components and clusters, using SPSS program. Results: The characteristics considered by the housewives were divided into six principal components: Component I: Integrated characters related to dishes for preparing, major seasonal consumption and grain characteristics. Component II: Considered attributes related to fuel source and discomfort stomach. Component III: Related to the form of consumption, the amount of water to be used and the hardness of the testa. Component IV: Showed the type of cooking appliances used for cooking. Component V: Included the cooking time of the grain. Component VI: Was related to the frequency of consumption. As a result, of the use of the characters, significant diversity of varieties of faba bean has been generated with different expressions of the characters used to cook the different dishes, this resulted in 11 groups of varieties with differentiated characters. A 56% of the interviewed housewives consume faba beans once a month and only 2% consume them twice a week. The season of major consumption is during the Lent. The most used fuel for faba bean cooking is propane gas, the most used cooking appliance is the mud pot and the most consumed dishes are shrimp cakes with beans and faba bean soup. Limitations: No more agronomic and crop management characteristics were identified that could be considered in faba bean consumption, because housewives have a limited participation in these aspects. Conclusions: Housewives have developed knowledge to prepare and consume faba beans in different ways, contributing to their diet and this have influenced the culinary diversity expressed by the different cultivated varieties of faba bean.

Objective: This article critically analyses the development of industrial policy (IP) in Guanajuato, Mexico, through the reconstruction of its trajectory and the evolution of its approach. It focuses on the designed policy instruments to promote the automotive industry in this state, which has recently deployed a great dynamism, measured through the foreign direct investment attracted to the region. Methodology: The information presented is the result of the qualitative and interpretative analysis of specialized plans and programs. In order to analyse the evolution of industrial policy we reconstructed its trajectory through the consideration of legal landmarks and its policy approach (passive/active). Results: Two stages and their policy approach were identified: 1) Setting Basic Conditions-Passive Approach, and 2) Long-term Conditions-Active Approach. During the first stage IP focused on attracting FDI and building basic infrastructure; in the second stage, active instruments have been implemented which seek to promote specialized infrastructure, backward linkages, training, and technological transfer. Limitations: Information was gathered by the analysis of official documents and available statistics. It is important to carry out a critical analysis of the results of some of the established projects in the official documents through case studies or correlation studies between key indicators (eg. FDI vs employment, FDI vs insertion of local companies in the industry, among others). Conclusions: The policy instruments that have been implemented in Guanajuato have fomented the automotive industry consolidation in the region. Some positive economic results are: greater employment, advancement of local suppliers and training programs, among others. However, its influence on local development is weak. IP should focus on the building of local absorptive capabilities to benefit from the generated externalities from FDI.

Objective: to explore a theoretical and conceptual route that exhibits some moments in the evolution of Behavioral Economics (BE), through a variety of applications and obtained results, generated from the findings within this discipline. This method has become a useful tool in terms of public policy design in other regions of the world, but in Mexico is still an unexplored field, both in academia and in the governmental sphere, becoming an area of opportunity for these two instances.  Methodology: consisted in a review of literature on the subject, specific guides, conferences and articles from scientific journals. Results: It is verified that, with BE, is possible to complement the models of the mainstream economic with elements of psychology, generating an analytical pattern that confronts the anomalies of economic theory, with the findings of the individual economic behavior. From this, the knowledge on the subject of decision-making is broadened and, on this conceptual and methodological platform, government policies related to these effects can be redesigned eventually. Limitations. No literature was found that could shed light on the implementation of BE in Mexico's public policy, nor was experimentation or human capital formation detected for these purposes. Conclusion: There is a deficiency in the implementation of BE applications and methodology in our country. This makes it a fertile ground of opportunity, which results in a refinement of the understanding of human behavior, both in the academic field and for public policy designers.

Object: It determines the social and operational proficiency of agricultural, forestry and rural fishing (FND) financial for development of rural sector in Guasave, aimed to analyze the process of allocation and distribution of credits among farmers. Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative, as a study case of a causal correlational type. Surveys were applied (329) to farmers who are served by this institution. Results: Show that this institution achieves an operational efficiency through proper function as a financial institution, using the available resources. Since the perspective of farmers, the social efficiency was evaluated. Limitations: Distrust on the part of the producers, as well as the lack of access to information that should be public. Conclusions: FND doesn´t respond to criteria of social efficiency, because the financing is not enough and it never is given out on time causing it does not satisfactorily reach one of its main objectives to mitigate the social backwardness by financing the sector. Although, there farmers feel satisfied about the services provided by FND.

Objective: is to characterize, economically and socially, the Mexican households lacking energy-efficient refrigerators. Methodology: Using the information from the National Survey on Energy Consumption in Private Households 2018, a K-means Cluster Analysis was applied to identify groups of households based on the level of access to energy efficient refrigerators. Subsequently, a multiple correspondence analysis was applied to find the relationships between groups of households without energy efficient refrigerators, their socioeconomic stratum, the size of the community, as well as the size of the household. Results: Nearly nine million households without energy efficient refrigerators were identified, which were divided into four groups according to the following characteristics: displaced households, semi-urban poor, urban poor and middle classes. Limitations: The socioeconomic information offered by the data source consulted was limited, this prevented characterizing households in greater detail, nor did it allow analyzing other factors such as household spending, energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions. Conclusions: A scenario of social inequality was found regarding the access to energy efficient refrigerators. For these reasons, an energy sustainability policy is proposed that transversally incorporates the social dimension implicit in the use of refrigerators.

Objective: To analyze the socio-economic conditions and the economic efficiency of informal workers; as well as, determine the factors that contribute to the growth of informal employment in Mexico City. Methodology: Information was obtained from a questionnaire applied to informal workers considered subsistence and a Cobb-Douglas production function was estimated to determine the efficiency of informal activities. Results: Informal workers have various social deficiencies related to health services, housing, education, among others. It was also found that informal workers receive daily incomes higher than the national average and with the same hours worked. Limitations: Only a specific portion of the population was considered because the informal economy is complex and heterogeneous. However, the workers interviewed carry out their activity in precarious conditions and lack social protection, which is why they must be cared for by public policies. Conclusions: Informal activities with low investment are economically efficient, but the increase in their productivity is limited and therefore it is difficult for informal workers to improve their socioeconomic conditions. A policy focused on the creation of quality, well-paid formal jobs can influence the reduction of informal activity.

Objective: Analyze the main impacts caused by the disappearance of railway activity in the dawn of 2000, in two municipalities of Mexico: Empalme and Nuevo Casas Grandes. These municipalities were founded, precisely, thanks to the start of this activity. Methodology: Is the Human Poverty Index (UN) that allows obtaining a multidimensional measurement, in four aspects: income, education, housing and health. Additionally, we generated geostatistical maps for both municipalities, and the train route. Results: Point to an index of 24.06 % of human poverty for Nuevo Casas Grandes and 23.21 % for Empalme. To complement the work, the planning of local governments was incorporated, during the period of analysis (2003-2016), interested in detecting, what diagnoses, actions or proposals were carried out in relation to poverty. Limitations: The main limitation of the study is that the HPI does not cover all the qualitative elements that may influence in estimating or measuring a context of poverty, such as social programs and social cohesion, however, it takes up three commonly recurrent approaches to measure poverty and the Human Development Index (HDI). Conclusions: Allow us to affirm that the disappearance of the railway, without a doubt, affected the economic trajectory of the municipalities and reconfigured the productive activities towards other vocations, such as the maquiladoras and agriculture. Meanwhile, local governments have shown little interest in proposing actions to combat poverty.

Objective: Determine with an empirical study that the use of wastewater received by the agricultural sector of the Mezquital Valley in Hidalgo for more than one hundred years, from the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico without prior treatment, configured the agricultural space in this region not suitable for this activity due to its geographical and climatic conditions. Methodology: A review of the literature of the problem of wastewater in combination with quantitative information from different institutions to make and an analysis to the ecological economy discipline that identifies the factors that make it the trigger of important social and environmental problems. Results: It was identified that the use of this type of water in the agricultural sector of the region, contains a high pollutant load composed of organic material, some metals, bacteria and detergents, which allowed the development of the sector together with severe public health problems and soil degradation. Limitations: Lack of recent studies that document the implications on the health of the population and ecosystems of the region. Conclusions: The reconfiguration of spaces to determine regions does not necessarily imply social and environmental benefit in some cases it implies the detriment of the quality of life and degradation of the ecosystems. However, for part of the population of the region the use of this water has allowed them to leave the conditions of marginality in which they lived.

Objective: The objective was to analyze the behavior of the fruit and vegetable export from Mexico to the United States of America, and the elaboration of the horticultural export function of the Mexican Republic; the period analyzed was from 1993-2013. Methodology: The existing fruit and vegetable commercial situation between Mexico and the United States of America was characterized and the model used was the maximum likelihood method. Results: The results showed a horticultural trade surplus of Mexico over the period analyzed; in the model, it was found that the real price elasticity per ton of exports was 2.41 %, the income elasticity was 1.41 % and the real exchange rate of 1.02 %. The variable that had the greatest impact on horticultural exports was the price; an increase in the international price causes the growth of fruit and vegetable exports. Limitations: Variables such as distance and environmental factors were missing to explain the export of fruit and vegetables. Conclusions: It is expected that the surplus horticultural trade balance of Mexico will continue in medium term. The most effective trade policy instrument that the Mexican government can use to influence increasing exports in the short term is the real exchange rate. Mexico could diversify export markets if it takes advantage of the different commercial agreements that currently owns.