Emotional intelligence (EI) is a fundamental skill related to different aspects of human life, such as psychological well-being or mood states. The present study has a triple objective: first, to explore the psychometric properties of the TMMS-24 in three Spanish-speaking countries (Argentina, Ecuador, and Spain); second, to examine the relation of EI with mood and avoidance of responsibility; and finally, to analyse the influence of sex, age and national differences on EI. The relevance of this study is given by the need for tools to assess EI in different cultures. A sample of 1048 adults (M_age = 21.11 years, SD = 5.84; 52.3% male) was selected by convenience sampling. The psychometric properties of the TMMS-24 were adequate, and the Spanish sample showed lower levels of EI than the Argentinian and Ecuadorian ones. EI was associated with mood and the avoidance of responsibility, with higher levels in women in all cases. Regarding the national and sex-specific differences, the Spanish sample showed significant differences in attention and repair, with men exhibiting higher scores in attention and women having higher scores in repair. In the Argentinean sample, no significant differences were found, and in the Ecuadorian one, women presented higher scores in attention than men. The TMMS-24 can be considered a useful, practical tool to assess EI in adults in different cultures and with different languages.

The objective of this study was to establish the relationship between certain institutional variables and the effectiveness of fiscal decentralisation in Latin America. To fulfil this objective, we took a sample of 15 Latin American countries for the years 1996 to 2020 to estimate the logarithm of GDP per capita based on the level of fiscal decentralisation, as well as its interaction with six institutional variables plus three control variables. The results show that institutional variables always modulate the effects of fiscal decentralisation, in most cases significantly and negatively, the exceptions being accountability with a positive result and government effectiveness with a non-significant result. It was concluded that in the presence of weak regulations, political conflicts, and corruption, fiscal decentralisation can worsen social or economic circumstances in Latin America.

El objetivo de este artículo es establecer el nivel de eficiencia del gasto público sanitario en América Latina y comprobar su relación con determinadas características institucionales como calidad regulatoria, participación del sector privado, descentralización o tamaño de la burocracia. Se estima una frontera estocástica de verdaderos efectos aleatorios que relaciona el gasto público en salud per cápita frente a la tasa de mortalidad neonatal e infantil y la esperanza de vida después de los sesenta años. Se regresan las ineficiencias resultantes respecto del conjunto de variables institucionales explicativas. Se evidencia el importante papel del gasto público sanitario en la obtención de determinados niveles de realización sanitaria. Sin embargo, su eficiencia es mejorable, especialmente a partir de optimizar la calidad regulatoria del Estado. Latinoamérica ha configurados sistemas sanitarios complejos, pero no han logrado mejorar la coordinación entre sus actores, lo que explica su ineficiencia. La rectoría del gobierno es esencial. Abstract The objective of this article is to establish the level of efficiency of public health spending in Latin America and verify its relationship with certain institutional characteristics, such as regulatory quality state, participation of the private sector, decentralization and size of the bureaucracy. A stochastic frontier of true random effects is estimated, which relates per capita public spending on health to the neonatal and infant mortality rate and life expectancy after sixty years. The resulting inefficiencies are returned with respect to the set of institutional explanatory variables. It is evidenced the important role of public health spending in obtaining certain levels of health performance. However, its efficiency can be improved, especially via optimizing the regulatory quality of the state. We conclude that Latin America have created complex health systems, but have failed to improve coordination between the system’s actors, which explains inefficiencies. Government stewardship is essential.

El objetivo del presente estudio es determinar la relación entre el gasto público social y la cobertura de agua y de saneamiento en América Latina (19942014). Seestiman cuatro modelos por mínimos cuadrados generales que vinculan los porcentajes de cobertura de las poblaciones urbanas y rurales con el gasto público social y otras variables de control. También se verifica su cointegración. La evidencia indica que el gasto público social tiene una relación positiva y superconsistente con el nivel de cobertura de las poblaciones rurales, que suelen asumir altos costos de acceso, por lo que los aumentos de cobertura han requerido de la intervención estatal.

El artículo explora la relación entre algunas variables representativas del bienestar social y la descentralización fiscal controlada por un conjunto de factores ambientales. Se estima un modelo econométrico para un panel de datos de 17 países de Latinoamérica para el periodo 1990-2009, en una forma restricta o irrestricta, dependiendo del número de factores ambientales incluidos. A pesar del heterogéneo efecto que parece tener estos últimos, ya que ninguno destaca en la totalidad de estimaciones realizadas, en general es posible establecer una relación robusta y positiva entre descentralización y bienestar social.

This study validates the Mood Questionnaire for adults in three Spanish-speaking countries: Argentina, Ecuador, and Spain. It then analyzes the influence of gender and cultural differences on mood, and whether there is a relationship between mood, emotional intelligence, and the Avoidance of Responsibility. A convenience sample of 1048 adults, with a middle-class socioeconomic background, was selected from three Spanish-speaking countries (Spain, Argentina, and Ecuador). The psychometric properties of the Mood Questionnaire are adequate, which is particularly interesting given the need for transcultural tools to evaluate moods. Moreover, the mood was associated with avoidance of responsibility and emotional intelligence. In addition, differences in mood were observed according to country and gender. These findings are interesting because the Spanish version of the Mood Questionnaire has been validated for children but not for adults, and it compares three Spanish-speaking countries. The use of this diagnostic tool with Spanish adults can be justified according to these results.