This document describes the construction of a database of corporate bonds issued by firms in Argentina between 1989 and 2005. The database draws on two main sources, the Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires and the Comisión Nacional de Valores, while some additional information comes from the Mercado Abierto Electrónico. In all, we collected information on 1356 corporate bonds, though there are some bonds that have fields with missing information. Our data basically covers the characteristics of the bonds at time of issue.

Conventional theory leads to expect bonds to be a financing vehicle for large firms because of economies of scale and contracting costs. In this paper we present the results for Argentina of a survey of firms and of investors on the use of corporate bonds. The result of these surveys supports the idea that for Argentine firms, bonds are a financing vehicle of choice only for firms above a certain (large) size. This is independent of the criteria used for firm size. This result is similar to results in other countries such as the United Sates. 

In this paper we put forward an alternative approach to dealing with the Charter of any organization, that essential document which ought to be regarded as the mainstay of governance. In the first place, we show that an organization carries out its tasks by becoming a responsive mechanism to fulfill stakeholders’ demands as well as costly restraints stemming from transactional environments.

We describe the evolution of three types of corporate securities in Argentina, namely, corporate bonds, asset-backed securities and deferred checks. Corporate bonds (obligaciones negociables) were legally authorized in 1988, and after a tax reform in 1991 they became an important financing vehicle. Asset backed securities (fideicomisos), legally created in 1995, have been issued since 1996. They typically bundle together small credits of a similar category. Deferred checks (cheques de pago diferido) exist since 1993, alongside standard checks.

Conventional theory leads to expect bonds to be a financing vehicle for large firms because of economies of scale and contracting costs. We find both in our econometric evidence for firms quoted on Latin American stock exchanges, and in our survey results for Argentina, that size of assets is a robust determinant of the use of bond finance. This result, together with the fact that there are few firms that are large in terms of market value, can help understand why Argentina, as well as Latin America, has small bond markets in terms of the ratio of the stock of bonds to GDP.

En el documento de trabajo número 340 de esta serie presentamos la Parte I de una introducción al management japonés, basada en una revisión de la literatura. Completamos el estudio con esta Parte II, que considera aspectos innovadores, críticas y desafíos del management japonés. Presentamos la debatida cuestión sobre la creatividad japonesa y su potencial para la innovación; destacamos, en particular, la habilidad de la empresa para crear conocimiento para el diseño y la fabricación.

Este documento de trabajo reúne cinco propuestas pedagógicas reconocidas durante la primera edición de la Distinción a las Experiencias Didácticas Innovadoras de la UCEMA. Las iniciativas fueron seleccionadas por un jurado experto entre un conjunto de postulaciones docentes que presentaron intervenciones orientadas a renovar modos de enseñar y aprender en la universidad contemporánea.

Se analizan los cambios producidos en el modelo de relaciones laborales que muestran un creciente deslizamiento de las negociaciones colectivas hacia el nivel de la empresa o de la planta. Esto ha tenido un impacto en la actividad de los sindicatos con caídas en la tasa de sindicalización y la influencia sindical. Las organizaciones gremiales se han visto obligadas a recurrir a nuevas prácticas y actividades para no desaparecer. En la Argentina del siglo XXI parecería haberse vuelto al antiguo sindicalismo y prácticas de negociación.

This paper sets forth that sinking funds foster corporate governance, either when they intend to build up the principal of bonds and financial hybrids to be repaid at maturity date, or to plan ahead the purchase of fixed assets in the future. To lay foundations, firstly we expand on the logic of sinking funds, by reviewing the standard model of capital formation.

La desclasificación de papeles secretos de los archivos gubernamentales de los Estados Unidos y el Reino Unido permite documentar el uso instrumental de la causa de los derechos cívicos y humanos para la consecución de fines pragmáticos del gobierno norteamericano. A veces se trató de un instrumento de presión para alcanzar un objetivo propio de la política de ese país, como la ratificación del Tratado Interamericano de Asistencia Recíproca (TIAR) – alcanzado éste, se retribuía con el cese de la intromisión.