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Affirmative action: does it really counteract racism? Is it morally justifiable? In her timely and tough-minded book, Gertrude Ezorsky addresses these central issues in the ongoing controversy surrounding affirmative action, and comes up with some convincing answers. Ezorsky begins by examining the effectiveness of affirmative action as a remedy for institutional racism in the workplace. She analyzes the ways in which common practices-selection of employees based on personal connections, qualification, and seniority standards-perpetuate the injurious effect of past racial discrimination, and she assesses the rationale for such affirmative action measures as objective job-related testing, numerical goals, and preferential treatment for basically qualified blacks. To illuminate the social reality in which affirmative action takes place, she draws on recent work by social scientists and legal scholars. Turning to the moral issues, Ezorsky posits two basic justifications for affirmative action: first, looking backward-to provide deserved compensation for past racial injustice that was sanctioned, practiced, and encouraged by our government; second, looking forward-to promote racial desegregation in the American workplace. Unlike some supporters of affirmative action, she does not deny that preferential treatment may place an unfair burden on white males. Indeed, she suggests specific practical measures for spreading that burden more equitably. Clear-headed, well-reasoned, and persuasive, this book will be read eagerly by everyone from students to legislators, by anyone concerned with racial justice in America

Cette thèse présente trois chapitres sur l'analyse microéconométrique. Dans le premier chapitre, nous étudions l'impact de la discrimination à l'encontre des personnes handicapées sur l'efficacité des politiques publiques (subventions salariales) qui favorisent leur emploi. En effet, au cours des dernières décennies, de nombreux pays ont adopté des politiques importantes pour réduire les inégalités sur le marché du travail entre les personnes vivant avec et sans incapacités avec très peu de succès. Nous sommes convaincus que la présence d'une discrimination importante à l'encontre des personnes avec incapacités peut expliquer l'inefficacité de ces politiques. Pour ce faire, nous développons d'abord un modèle de recherche d'emploi avec appariement et négociation qui tient compte des décisions de participation en présence de discrimination basée sur les goûts des employeurs. Ce modèle nous permet de séparer et d'estimer l'effet de la discrimination de l'effet de la différence de productivité. Nous estimons le modèle en utilisant les données de l'Enquête sur la Dynamique du Travail et du Revenu (EDTR) au Canada. Nos estimations suggèrent que la discrimination de l'employeur est le principal facteur expliquant les inégalités sur le marché du travail entre les personnes handicapées et non handicapées. Nos estimations montrent que 57% des employeurs ont des préjugés envers l'embauche des hommes avec incapacités et 62% pour les femmes avec incapacités. Nous avons ensuite simulé un contrefactuel pour estimer l'impact d'une politique de subvention salariale sur les taux d'emploi en utilisant les paramètres estimés du modèle. Nous constatons que l'effet de la subvention est très faible en présence ou en l'absence de discrimination, et que la subvention compense légèrement l'effet de la discrimination sur l'écart entre les personnes handicapées et non handicapées sur le marché du travail. Cela illustre la mesure dans laquelle les efforts doivent être réorientés afin de réaliser une efficacité significative de nos ...

This paper is a critical study of the Drug Courts in Chile. To this end, it analyses the regulatory context in which they were created within the criminal legislation regarding illicit drug trafficking. Without questioning the merits of drug treatment, the idea that drug courts are a valid alternative to incarceration is here challenged. Rather, they widen the punitive net that complements the extreme punitiveness of criminal drug legislation. Furthermore, the eligibility requirements established in Chile's drug courts prevent many people who might need it from the possibility of accessing treatment, given that as they are presently structured, drug courts combine and confuse public health criteria with notions of dangerousness. In the conclusion, maintaining and even increasing the budget of drug treatment is recommended. Nevertheless, the separation of criminal law assessments or charges from public health criteria is proposed. Likewise, as a public policy in criminal matters on drugs, it is recommended the decriminalisation of behaviours and the reduction of penalties in order to build a real path that is decriminalising and respectful of human dignity. ; Este trabajo es un estudio crítico sobre los Tribunales de Drogas (TTD) en Chile. Para esto, se analiza el contexto normativo en el que nacen dentro de la legislación penal en materia de tráfico ilícito de estupefacientes. Sin perjuicio de valorar la existencia de tratamientos contra las drogas, cuestionamos que los TTD sean una alternativa al encarcelamiento. Más bien, se trata de un aumento de la red punitiva que sirve de complemento al punitivismo extremo en la legislación penal sobre drogas. Asimismo, por los requisitos de elegibilidad establecidos en los TTD chilenos, se impide la posibilidad de un tratamiento para muchas personas que podrían requerirlo, toda vez que en la forma actual los TTD combinan y confunden criterios de salud pública con nociones de peligrosidad. En las conclusiones recomendamos la mantención y el aumento presupuestario de los ...

Here, 15 LnF3 nanocrystals are synthesized using coprecipitation method with citrate stabilization to allow the fast, easy, and reproducible synthesis of several nanoscaled structures in water. General trends related to the behavior of LnF3 nanocrystals are highlighted due to their broad range of application in several fields (e.g., medical applications). The same nature for all Ln3+ cations is expected due to the internal role of f orbitals. However, we found that the use of different lanthanide elements is crucial in the final size, shape, assembly, and crystalline structure. In addition, the decrease of the cation size of the lanthanide series changes the behavior of these compounds, resulting in hexagonal, orthorhombic, and cubic crystalline structures. In addition, we are able to tune the cubic crystalline phase to pure orthorhombic by modifying the pH of the system using HBF4 instead of tetramethylammonium citrate. Via 11B NMR, we demonstrated the mechanism of HBF4 as fluorinating agent if an additional source of F– is not added during the synthesis. 1H NMR and IR techniques were performed to unravel the picture of the surface chemistry of the two representative metal cations (Y and La). Finally, HRTEM and SAED were performed to uncover the shape of the obtained nanocrystals and the preferential orientation of the assembled particles, giving crucial information on the involved mechanisms. This study reveals not only the dependence of the crystalline structure on the used metal and pH but also ability to achieve LnF3 assembled particles depending on the final shape and temperature. ; This work was supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the "Severo Ochoa" Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0496), CONSOLIDER Excellence Network (MAT2015-68994-REDC), COACHSUPENERGY project (MAT2014-51778-C2-1-R, cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund), and SUPERINKS project (RTC-2015-3640-3, cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund). We also acknowledge the support from the European Union for EUROTAPES project (FP7-NMP-Large-2011-280432) and from the Catalan Government with 2014-SGR-753 and Xarmae. The authors acknowledge the technical support of Servei de Microscòpia, NMR Service, and Servei de Difracció de Raigs-X, all at the UAB. Also, the support of Dr. Judit Oró from Microscopy Service and Dr. Anna Crespi from X-ray Diffraction Service at the ICMAB-CSIC is acknowledged. Finally, J.M.E. acknowledges the PIF predoctoral fellowship from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. We thank Justin J. Charette for help with English usage. ; Peer reviewed

Silvoarable agroforestry integrates the use of trees and arable crops on the same area of land, and such systems can be supported by national governments under the European Union's (EU) Rural Development Regulations (2014–2020). In order to improve the understanding of farmers' perceptions of such systems, detailed face-to-face interviews were completed with 15 farmers in Bedfordshire, England. Most of these farmers thought that silvoarable systems would not be profitable on their farms and that benefits would tend to be environmental or social rather than economic. Most farmers also thought that management and use of machinery would become more difficult. They felt that the tree component could potentially disrupt field operations and drainage and expressed concerns over the uncertain and long-term nature of timber revenue and the effect of intercrop yield reductions on crop revenue. Even so, 20% of the farmers stated they would use silvoarable systems if convinced that they were more profitable than conventional arable farming. A further 20%said they would farm the intercrop area belonging to someone else, if the rent was reduced to compensate for crop yield reductions. These results suggest that for most arable farmers, an economic advantage over current practice needs to exist before silvoarable systems are likely to be adopted. However, a minority might rent the crop component of a silvoarable system from another party or implement a full system for perceived environmental or social benefits.

Silvoarable agroforestry integrates the use of trees and arable crops on the same area of land, and such systems can be supported by national governments under the European Union's (EU) Rural Development Regulations (2014–2020). In order to improve the understanding of farmers' perceptions of such systems, detailed face-to-face interviews were completed with 15 farmers in Bedfordshire, England. Most of these farmers thought that silvoarable systems would not be profitable on their farms and that benefits would tend to be environmental or social rather than economic. Most farmers also thought that management and use of machinery would become more difficult. They felt that the tree component could potentially disrupt field operations and drainage and expressed concerns over the uncertain and long-term nature of timber revenue and the effect of intercrop yield reductions on crop revenue. Even so, 20% of the farmers stated they would use silvoarable systems if convinced that they were more profitable than conventional arable farming. A further 20%said they would farm the intercrop area belonging to someone else, if the rent was reduced to compensate for crop yield reductions. These results suggest that for most arable farmers, an economic advantage over current practice needs to exist before silvoarable systems are likely to be adopted. However, a minority might rent the crop component of a silvoarable system from another party or implement a full system for perceived environmental or social benefits.