Suchergebnisse

Poverty alleviation strategies in developing countries have long focused on the monetary aspects of this phenomenon by promoting "pro-growth" measures as the most reliable and credible way to eradicate extreme poverty. But given the complexity of poverty phenomenon and especially facing the insufficiency of results observed after more than two decades of funding efforts, one have witnessed in the early 2000s, a reorientation of the strategies to multidimensional considerations of poverty. Since that time, poverty is not apprehended only from income, but also from a set of elements related to the capacity of individuals, their potentialities as well as opportunities available to them. This new paradigm, based on the notion of poverty of capability, finds one of its operational translations into the intervention strategy of "Multifunctional Platforms Program" (MFP). This program is currently implemented in several Sub-Saharan Africa countries and is supported by many development actors given its potential role in achieving the MDGs. Intervening in a "Community Driven Development" approach, the MFP concept aims to provide elements of response to the multiple problems associated with the low energy access in rural areas. Through the development of the small units of energy production in the villages, the MFP program focuses on gender-based approach, women capacity building and economic empowerment. Although launched in the 1990s in Mali, this program had, hitherto, been subject to no rigorous impact evaluation while efficiency and results requirement become fundamental criteria in the selection and the funding of development programs. By adopting an evaluation gait, this thesis aims, first, to question the effectiveness of MFP program in the fight against poverty. The potential impact of the program on poverty theoretically pass through time saving on productive activities, which can be allocated to income generating activities (for women) and to human capital formation for children (health and education). For evaluating relevance and effectiveness of such intervention approach requires first to understand individual's time allocation behaviors and choices. Hence, the thesis is organized in two parts. The first two chapters are devoted to the estimation of the impact of MFP program on women's economic activity indicators and children's health and education indicators. Given the history and the design of program's implementation in Mali, two approaches are used, the pipeline approach and the Double-Difference. In each of these approaches, we identify two types of effects: the effect expected from the presence of program (Intent-To-Treat Effect) and the participation effect (Treatment Effect on Treated). The different estimations made in this chapter validate the time saving hypothesis associated with program utilization. Indeed, we find a very significant impact of program on time spent by women in economic activities. Also, we can identify a significant impact on the probability of schooling and learning time of school-age children. However, the impact on nutritional status indicators of children under five years is not conclusive because of the ambiguity of the direction of causality of these indicators with our various treatment variables. It appears that neither the time saved from the use of platforms nor the potential increase in mother's income are significantly favorable nutritional status of children. 9 In the second part, we prolong the analysis beyond the scope of impact evaluation in order to explore and better understand the mechanisms driving the choice of time allocation within the households. In the third chapter, we examine the relationship between schooling and child labor, which are two distinct choices of time allocation of children (between human capital formation and labor force for household productive needs). The chapter aims to empirically test the degree of trade-off between these two choices taking into account the living conditions of household. Our results show very strong negative correlation between decisions of schooling and child work, thus showing an inherent competition between these choices. Concerning the influence of living conditions on child labor, we find that, contrary to economic activities that appear very flexible to change in household wealth, child time allocation to non-economic work is much more rigid to this changes. By deepening analysis on gender disparities in access to education and in the demand of child labor, we show, by Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method that disparities between girls and boys in the allocation time are mainly due to unobservable parental preference for educating of boys rather than girls. In the last chapter presented as case study, we analyze the socioeconomic determinants of women's time allocation. We find that women's decision to participate in the labor market depends heavily on the level of access to basic infrastructure. Although the economic rationality hypothesis in the allocation of time is not rejected (wage rate signal), we find that time allocation choices are strongly influenced by purely social and cultural considerations. The main results of this thesis support the idea on the importance of infrastructure in poverty alleviation. The positive effect of MFP program on indicators of economic activity of women and on children education justifies the relevance of the "MFP" initiative in the fight against poverty. The PTFM program is a development tool that plays a similar role to that of classical infrastructures. However, the positive impact detected here from MFP program is also subject to the complexity of time allocation choices in the households, particularly for women and children. It appears necessary to accompany the implementation of platforms by more stringent educational policies or conversely more incentives to permit that time savings obtained through access energy can be translated into more important choices for schooling particularly for girls. ; Les stratégies de lutte contre la pauvreté dans les pays en développement ont été longtemps axées sur les dimensions monétaires de celle-ci en prônant des mesures " pro-croissance " comme la voie la plus fiable et la plus crédible pour éradiquer l'extrême pauvreté. Mais compte tenu de la complexité du phénomène de pauvreté et surtout face à l'insuffisance des résultats constatée après plus de deux décennies d'efforts de financement, on a assisté, au début des années 2000, à une réorientation de l'approche de la pauvreté vers des considérations multidimensionnelles. Depuis lors, la pauvreté n'est plus appréhendée à partir seulement du revenu, mais aussi à partir d'un ensemble d'éléments relatifs aux capacités des individus, aux potentialités ainsi qu'aux opportunités à leur portée. Ce nouveau paradigme, fondé sur la notion de pauvreté des capacités, trouve une traduction opérationnelle dans la stratégie d'intervention du programme " Plateformes Multifonctionnelles " (PTFM). Ce programme est aujourd'hui implanté dans plusieurs pays d'Afrique Sub-Saharienne et soutenu par de nombreux acteurs du développement compte tenu de son rôle potentiel dans la réalisation des OMD. S'inscrivant dans une démarche de "Community Driven Development ", le concept PTFM vise à apporter un élément de réponse aux nombreuses problématiques associées à la faiblesse d'accès à l'énergie. A travers le développement de petites unités de production énergétique en milieu rural, le programme PTFM privilégie une approche fondée sur le genre, le renforcement des capacités et l'autonomisation des femmes. Bien que lancé dans les années 1990 au Mali, ce programme n'avait, jusque-là, fait l'objet d'aucune évaluation d'impact rigoureuse alors que l'exigence d'efficacité est un critère fondamental dans la sélection et le financement de programmes de développement. Partant ainsi d'une démarche d'évaluation, cette thèse vise d'abord à questionner l'efficacité du programme PTFM dans la lutte contre la pauvreté. L'impact potentiel du programme PTFM sur la pauvreté passe théoriquement par un gain de temps qui est ensuite alloué à des activités génératrices de revenus (pour les femmes) et à la formation du capital humain des enfants (santé et éducation). Evaluer la pertinence et l'efficacité d'une telle approche amène à s'interroger en amont sur la nature des comportements et les choix des individus en matière d'allocation du temps. La thèse est organisée en deux parties. Les deux premiers chapitres sont consacrés à l'estimation de l'impact du programme PTFM sur des indicateurs de l'activité économique des femmes et des indicateurs de santé et de scolarité des enfants. Compte-tenu de l'histoire de l'implantation du programme au Mali, deux approches sont utilisées, celle des entrées-échelonnées (pipeline approach) et celle de la Double-Différence. Dans chacune des approches, nous identifions deux types d'effets: l'effet espéré du programme (Intention-To-Treat Effect) et l'effet de la participation au programme (Treatment Effect on Treated). Les différentes estimations réalisées permettent de valider l'hypothèse de gain de temps lié à l'utilisation des plateformes. Nous trouvons, en effet un impact très significatif du programme sur le temps consacré par les femmes aux activités économiques. Nous pouvons également identifier un impact significatif sur la probabilité de scolarisation et le temps 7 d'apprentissage des enfants en âge scolaire. En revanche, l'impact sur les indicateurs du statut nutritionnel des enfants de moins de cinq ans n'est pas concluant du fait de l'ambiguïté du sens de la causalité de ces indicateurs avec nos différentes variables de traitement. Il apparait que ni le gain de temps tiré de l'utilisation des PTFM, ni l'accroissement potentiel de revenus des mères ne sont significativement favorables à l'état nutritionnel des enfants. Dans la seconde partie, nous prolongeons le cadre de l'évaluation pour mieux explorer les mécanismes de choix d'allocation de temps au sein des ménages. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous examinons la relation entre scolarisation et travail des enfants qui sont deux choix distincts d'allocation du temps des enfants entre formation du capital humain et main d'oeuvre pour des besoins productifs du ménage. Le chapitre vise à tester empiriquement le degré d'arbitrage entre ces deux choix compte-tenu du niveau de vie du ménage. Nos résultats montrent une corrélation très fortement négative entre les deux décisions, montrant ainsi une concurrence intrinsèque entre ces choix. S'agissant de l'influence du niveau de vie sur la demande de travail des enfants, nous trouvons que, contrairement aux activités économiques qui apparaissent très flexibles à la variation du niveau de vie du ménage, l'allocation de temps pour les travaux non-économiques est beaucoup plus rigide. Approfondissant la nature des disparités de genre dans l'accès à la scolarisation et la demande de travail des enfants, nous montrons, par une méthode de décomposition à la Oaxaca-Blinder que les disparités observées entre les filles et les garçons dans l'allocation du temps sont essentiellement dues à une préférence inobservable des parents pour la scolarisation des garçons plutôt que des filles. Dans le dernier chapitre, nous analysons les déterminants socioéconomiques de l'allocation du temps des femmes à partir d'une étude de cas. Nous trouvons que la décision des femmes de participer au marché du travail dépend très fortement du niveau d'accès aux infrastructures de base. Bien que l'hypothèse de rationalité économique dans l'allocation de temps ne soit pas rejetée (signal du taux de salaire), nous trouvons que les choix sont fortement influencés par des considérations purement sociales et culturelles. Les principaux résultats obtenus dans cette thèse accréditent l'importance des infrastructures dans la lutte contre la pauvreté. L'effet positif du programme PTFM sur les indicateurs d'activité économique des femmes et sur la scolarisation des enfants justifie la pertinence de l'initiative " PTFM " dans la lutte contre la pauvreté. Le programme PTFM est un outil de développement qui joue un rôle équivalent à celui des infrastructures. Cependant, l'impact positif du programme PTFM est subordonné à la complexité des choix d'allocation de temps dans les ménages, notamment en ce qui concerne les femmes et les enfants. Il apparaît nécessaire d'accompagner l'implantation des PTFM par des politiques éducatives plus contraignantes ou au contraire plus incitatives, afin que les gains de temps obtenus par l'accès à l'énergie mécanique puissent se traduire en des choix en faveur de la scolarisation plus importante des filles.

Тhe object of research is state security and its element-by-element structure in the context of the objective attention of public administration. A problematic aspect is the lack of clarity of interpretation of the main category and identification of components of state security, which slows down the formation of effective mechanisms of public administration in the field of state security, and thus reduces its effectiveness. The study used methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, as well as decomposition, which allowed to clarify the definition of state security, its structure and provide a primary description of these components. The definition of «state security» is formed. It is proposed to understand the state of protection of various vector interests of the state and the citizen, which ensures the effective functioning of all spheres, industries, institutional sectors, mechanisms, implementation of functions and powers of the state for their development. An important emphasis on this situation is its achievement in a changing environment, external and internal threats. The separation of the following types of components of state security with the corresponding content load is motivated: security of national administration; political security; economic security; military security; security of public and legal order; social and humanitarian security; information and communication security; resource and environmental security; technical and technogenic safety; international diplomatic security. In comparison with the existing approaches, the applied unification terminological approach allows to emphasize quite concretely the content of concepts in the context of their «historical nature». In contrast to the existing approaches to the structure of state security, the presented segmentation of state security takes into account the domestic regulatory framework, global approaches to determining the objective attention of the state and its threats, current trends in civil society. Due to the implementation of the author's proposals in practice, state security as an object of public administration acquires a clear systematics, which allows to form both scientifically sound mechanisms of the latter and new areas of research. ; Объектом исследования является государственная безопасность и ее поэлементная структура в контексте объектного внимания государственного управления. Проблемным аспектом является отсутствие четкости трактовки основной категории и идентификации составляющих государственной безопасности, что замедляет формирование действенных механизмов государственного управления в сфере государственной безопасности, а следовательно снижает его эффективность. В ходе исследования были использованы методы анализа и синтеза, индукции и дедукции, а также декомпозиции, что позволило уточнить определение государственной безопасности, ее структуру и предоставить первичную характеристику этих составляющих. Сформировано определение «государственной безопасности». Под ним предлагается понимать состояние защищенности разновекторных интересов государства и гражданин, при котором обеспечивается эффективное функционирование всех сфер, отраслей, институциональных секторов, механизмов, реализация функций и полномочий государства с целью их развития. Важным акцентом в таком состоянии усматривается его достижение в условиях изменчивой среды, внешних и внутренних угроз. Мотивированно выделение среди составляющих государственной безопасности таких видов с соответствующей содержательной нагрузкой: безопасность общегосударственного управления; политическая безопасность; экономическая безопасность; военная безопасность; безопасность общественного и правового порядка; социально-гуманитарная безопасность; информационно-коммуникационная безопасность; ресурсно-экологическая безопасность; технико-техногенная безопасность; международно-дипломатическая безопасность. По сравнению с существующими подходами примененный унификационный терминологический подход позволяет достаточно конкретно акцентировать на содержании понятий в контексте их «исторической природы». В отличие от существующих подходов к структуре государственной безопасности, представленная сегментация государственной безопасности учитывает отечественное нормативно-правовое поле, мировые подходы к определению объектного внимания государства и его угроз, современные тенденции в развитии гражданского общества. Благодаря реализации авторских предложений на практике государственная безопасность как объект государственного управления приобретает четкую систематику, что позволяет формировать как научно-обоснованные механизмы последней, так и новые направления научных исследований. ; Об'єктом дослідження є державна безпека та її поелементна структура в контексті об'єктної уваги державного управління. Проблемним аспектом є відсутність чіткості трактування основної категорії та ідентифікації складових державної безпеки, що уповільнює формування дієвих механізмів державного управління в сфері державної безпеки, а отже знижує його ефективність. В ході дослідження були використані методи аналізу та синтезу, індукції та дедукції, а також декомпозиції, що дозволило уточнити визначення державної безпеки, її структуру та надати первинну характеристику цих складових. Сформовано визначення «державної безпеки». Під ним пропонується розуміти стан захищеності різновекторних інтересів держави та громадянина, за якого забезпечується ефективне функціонування всіх сфер, галузей, інституціональних секторів, механізмів, реалізація функцій та повноважень держави з метою їх розвитку. Важливим акцентом щодо такого стану вбачається його досягнення в умовах мінливого середовища, зовнішніх та внутрішніх загроз. Умотивовано виокремлення серед складових державної безпеки таких видів з відповідним змістовним навантаженням: безпека загальнодержавого управління; політична безпека; економічна безпека; військова безпека; безпека громадського та правового порядку; соціально-гуманітарна безпека; інформаційно-комунакаційна безпека; ресурсно-екологічна безпека; техніко-техногенна безпека; міжнародно-дипломатична безпека. У порівнянні з існуючими підходами застосований уніфікаційний термінологічний підхід дозволяє досить конкретно акцентувати на змісті понять в контексті їх «історичної природи». На відміну від існуючих підходів до структури державної безпеки, представлена сегментація державної безпеки враховує вітчизняне нормативно-правове поле, світові підходи до визначення об'єктної уваги держави та її загроз, сучасні тенденції до розвитку громадського суспільства. Завдяки реалізації авторських пропозицій на практиці державна безпека як об'єкт державного управління набуває чіткої систематики, що дозволяє формувати як науково-ґрунтовні механізми останньою, так і нові напрями наукових дослідів.

In Ghana, the rising need for household energy from wood fuels and food needs is considered a major threat to forest resources conservation. Government and scientists believe that the alarming rate of deforestation and threats to important ecosystem services will not cease unless integrated land-use systems that meet the food and fuelwood demands of households are in place. Bamboo agroforestry is currently considered a possibility in view of the significant socioeconomic and ecological benefits obtained in some parts of Asia and some other tropical regions. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether bamboo would have social acceptability to be planted on farmers' fields and the extent to which bamboo-based intercropping systems will sustain food production and household energy security. In addition, knowledge of possible ecological interactions between mixed bamboo and arable crop systems are limited but would be necessary to inform management decisions applicable to improving the productivity of bamboo agroforestry systems. Using questionnaire interviews, literature review and field experiments, this study explored the traditional ecological knowledge and ecological aspects of bamboo agroforestry and accentuated implications on its adoption potential and suitability as a land-use system for household food security and fuelwood needs. The study was conducted in the Dry Semi-deciduous Forest Zone (DSFZ) of Ghana. Two exotic bamboo species; Bambusa balcooa and Oxytenanthera abyssinica were used for various bamboo intercropping and ecological trials. The premise of the study fits into Ghana's Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy and falls within the overarching aim of Work Package 4.4 of the BiomassWeb project sponsored by the German government. In Chapter one, the rationale, scope, research questions, and objectives are stated. In Chapter two, socioeconomic and cultural potentials of bamboo agroforestry are previewed on global, regional and local scales. Bamboo agroforestry potentials and research needs in Ghana are also established. The research methodology, study area, and field experimentation procedures are presented in Chapter three. Results from data collected from 200 farmers in the dry semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana in Chapter four show that farmers' traditional knowledge of bamboo, particularly, its use for charcoal production and leaves for fodder are influential determinants of bamboo agroforestry adoption. Also, farmers' age, gender and the regular practice of leaving trees on farmlands and type of cropping system are the most significant predictors influencing bamboo integration into traditional farming systems. In Chapter five, where farmers' perception of bamboo litter for livestock fodder and litter quality trials on goat's production were prospected, only 26% of respondents were aware bamboo leaves could be fed to livestock. It was evident gender may be an influential factor in determining the acceptability of bamboo fodder. Out of the 64% respondents who expressed willingness to feed their animals with bamboo leaves if demonstrated to be suitable, 47% of them were males whilst 17% were females. The fodder quality analysis showed the highest crude protein and in vitro gas production occur in Oxytenanthera abyssinica. Besides, O. abyssinica diets gave the highest daily gain and the lowest feed to gain ratio. The treatment effect was significant on blood variables measured. It is concluded in this Chapter that, bamboo leaves are viable feed supplement for goats as shown by their nutrient profile and positive influence on growth performance of goats and that, farmers are willing to use bamboo leaves as fodder for livestock production, particularly, goats. In Chapter six, agronomic potentials of bamboo were explored by investigating the effect of bamboo agroforestry with maize, cowpea, and cassava as against monocultures of the crops and bamboo. The results show that regardless of fertilizer treatments, bamboo agroforestry and monocropped fields had comparable effects on soil properties and crop productivity within two years of establishment. Intercropping advantage over monocropping was evident for all crops with partial land equivalent ratios for fertilized and non-fertilized intercropping systems with cowpea recording 1.37 and 1.54, respectively; 1.38 and 1.36, respectively, for maize and 1.12 and 1.19, respectively, for cassava. Decomposition and nutrient release patterns in bamboo were comparable to those from five other traditionally used agroforestry Multipurpose Trees/Shrubs (MPTs) in Ghana in Chapter seven; indicating that bamboo could be a useful alternative agroforestry candidate species. In Chapters eight and nine, the socioeconomic and environmental potentials of bamboo agroforestry and its consequential potential for improvements in food and energy production for smallholder farming communities are discussed. Also, the overall potential of the bamboo agroforestry for potential adoption and upscaling is presented. The limitation of this thesis is indicated and perceived areas for further improvements are suggested. By dwelling on the prospects of bamboo, this thesis compels readers to focus attention on the evidence of how smallholder farmers could increase income streams and levels for socio-economic improvements using bamboo agroforestry to maintain productive systems for sustained agricultural and fuelwood production. This could facilitate the attainment of food and energy security in Ghana. With this, the findings of this study may encourage bamboo agroforestry adoption by smallholder farmers. It is suggested that the Government of Ghana and development partners should adopt bamboo agroforestry in land-use conservation and development efforts through policy reviews and invigoration. Particularly, lessons could be drawn from the findings of this study for the Ghana bio-energy production policy and the strategies for the flagship policy of planting for food and jobs, rolled out by the government in the quest to attain food and energy security in Ghana.

Тhe object of research is state security and its element-by-element structure in the context of the objective attention of public administration. A problematic aspect is the lack of clarity of interpretation of the main category and identification of components of state security, which slows down the formation of effective mechanisms of public administration in the field of state security, and thus reduces its effectiveness. The study used methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, as well as decomposition, which allowed to clarify the definition of state security, its structure and provide a primary description of these components. The definition of «state security» is formed. It is proposed to understand the state of protection of various vector interests of the state and the citizen, which ensures the effective functioning of all spheres, industries, institutional sectors, mechanisms, implementation of functions and powers of the state for their development. An important emphasis on this situation is its achievement in a changing environment, external and internal threats. The separation of the following types of components of state security with the corresponding content load is motivated: security of national administration; political security; economic security; military security; security of public and legal order; social and humanitarian security; information and communication security; resource and environmental security; technical and technogenic safety; international diplomatic security. In comparison with the existing approaches, the applied unification terminological approach allows to emphasize quite concretely the content of concepts in the context of their «historical nature». In contrast to the existing approaches to the structure of state security, the presented segmentation of state security takes into account the domestic regulatory framework, global approaches to determining the objective attention of the state and its threats, current trends in civil society. Due to the implementation of the author's proposals in practice, state security as an object of public administration acquires a clear systematics, which allows to form both scientifically sound mechanisms of the latter and new areas of research. ; Объектом исследования является государственная безопасность и ее поэлементная структура в контексте объектного внимания государственного управления. Проблемным аспектом является отсутствие четкости трактовки основной категории и идентификации составляющих государственной безопасности, что замедляет формирование действенных механизмов государственного управления в сфере государственной безопасности, а следовательно снижает его эффективность. В ходе исследования были использованы методы анализа и синтеза, индукции и дедукции, а также декомпозиции, что позволило уточнить определение государственной безопасности, ее структуру и предоставить первичную характеристику этих составляющих. Сформировано определение «государственной безопасности». Под ним предлагается понимать состояние защищенности разновекторных интересов государства и гражданин, при котором обеспечивается эффективное функционирование всех сфер, отраслей, институциональных секторов, механизмов, реализация функций и полномочий государства с целью их развития. Важным акцентом в таком состоянии усматривается его достижение в условиях изменчивой среды, внешних и внутренних угроз. Мотивированно выделение среди составляющих государственной безопасности таких видов с соответствующей содержательной нагрузкой: безопасность общегосударственного управления; политическая безопасность; экономическая безопасность; военная безопасность; безопасность общественного и правового порядка; социально-гуманитарная безопасность; информационно-коммуникационная безопасность; ресурсно-экологическая безопасность; технико-техногенная безопасность; международно-дипломатическая безопасность. По сравнению с существующими подходами примененный унификационный терминологический подход позволяет достаточно конкретно акцентировать на содержании понятий в контексте их «исторической природы». В отличие от существующих подходов к структуре государственной безопасности, представленная сегментация государственной безопасности учитывает отечественное нормативно-правовое поле, мировые подходы к определению объектного внимания государства и его угроз, современные тенденции в развитии гражданского общества. Благодаря реализации авторских предложений на практике государственная безопасность как объект государственного управления приобретает четкую систематику, что позволяет формировать как научно-обоснованные механизмы последней, так и новые направления научных исследований. ; Об'єктом дослідження є державна безпека та її поелементна структура в контексті об'єктної уваги державного управління. Проблемним аспектом є відсутність чіткості трактування основної категорії та ідентифікації складових державної безпеки, що уповільнює формування дієвих механізмів державного управління в сфері державної безпеки, а отже знижує його ефективність. В ході дослідження були використані методи аналізу та синтезу, індукції та дедукції, а також декомпозиції, що дозволило уточнити визначення державної безпеки, її структуру та надати первинну характеристику цих складових. Сформовано визначення «державної безпеки». Під ним пропонується розуміти стан захищеності різновекторних інтересів держави та громадянина, за якого забезпечується ефективне функціонування всіх сфер, галузей, інституціональних секторів, механізмів, реалізація функцій та повноважень держави з метою їх розвитку. Важливим акцентом щодо такого стану вбачається його досягнення в умовах мінливого середовища, зовнішніх та внутрішніх загроз. Умотивовано виокремлення серед складових державної безпеки таких видів з відповідним змістовним навантаженням: безпека загальнодержавого управління; політична безпека; економічна безпека; військова безпека; безпека громадського та правового порядку; соціально-гуманітарна безпека; інформаційно-комунакаційна безпека; ресурсно-екологічна безпека; техніко-техногенна безпека; міжнародно-дипломатична безпека. У порівнянні з існуючими підходами застосований уніфікаційний термінологічний підхід дозволяє досить конкретно акцентувати на змісті понять в контексті їх «історичної природи». На відміну від існуючих підходів до структури державної безпеки, представлена сегментація державної безпеки враховує вітчизняне нормативно-правове поле, світові підходи до визначення об'єктної уваги держави та її загроз, сучасні тенденції до розвитку громадського суспільства. Завдяки реалізації авторських пропозицій на практиці державна безпека як об'єкт державного управління набуває чіткої систематики, що дозволяє формувати як науково-ґрунтовні механізми останньою, так і нові напрями наукових дослідів.

Persistently high unemployment rates are a major threat to the social cohesion in many societies. To moderate the consequences of unemployment industrialized countries spend substantial shares of their GDP on labor market policies, while in recent years there has been a shift from passive measures, such as transfer payments, towards more activating elements which aim to promote the reintegration into the labor market. Although, there exists a wide range of evidence about the effects of traditional active labor market policies (ALMP) on participants' subsequent labor market outcomes, a deeper understanding of the impact of these programs on the job search behavior and the interplay with long-term labor market outcomes is necessary. This allows policy makers to improve the design of labor market policies and the allocation of unemployed workers into specific programs. Moreover, previous studies have shown that many traditional ALMP programs, like public employment or training schemes, do not achieve the desired results. This underlines the importance of understanding the effect mechanisms, but also the need to develop innovative programs that are more effective. This thesis extends the existing literature with respect to several dimensions. First, it analyzes the impact of job seekers' beliefs about upcoming ALMPs programs on the effectiveness of realized treatments later during the unemployment spell. This provides important insights with respect to the job search process and relates potential anticipation effects (on the job seekers behavior before entering a program) to the vast literature evaluating the impact of participating in an ALMP program on subsequent outcomes. The empirical results show that training programs are more effective if the participants expect participation ex ante, while expected treatment effects are unrelated to the actual labor market outcomes of participants. A subsequent analysis of the effect mechanisms shows that job seekers who expect to participate also receive more information by their caseworker and show a higher willingness to adjust their search behavior in association with an upcoming ALMP program. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of training programs can be improved by providing more detailed information about the possibility of a future treatment early during the unemployment spell. Second, the thesis investigates the effects of a relatively new class of programs that aim to improve the geographical mobility of unemployed workers with respect to the job search behavior, the subsequent job finding prospects and the returns to labor market mobility. To estimate the causal impact of these programs, it is exploited that local employment agencies have a degree of autonomy when deciding about the regional-specific policy mix. The findings show that the policy style of the employment agency indeed affects the job search behavior of unemployed workers. Job seekers who are assigned to agencies with higher preferences for mobility programs increase their search radius without affecting the total number of job applications. This shift of the search effort to distant regions leads to a higher probability to find a regular job and higher wages. Moreover, it is shown that participants in one of the subsidy programs who move to geographically distant region a earn significantly higher wages, end up in more stable jobs and face a higher long-run employment probability compared to non-participants. Third, the thesis offers an empirical assessment of the unconfoundedness assumption with respect to the relevance of variables that are usually unobserved in studies evaluating ALMP programs. A unique dataset that combines administrative records and survey data allows us to observe detailed information on typical covariates, as well as usually unobserved variables including personality traits, attitudes, expectations, intergenerational information, as well as indicators about social networks and labor market flexibility. The findings show that, although our set of usually unobserved variables indeed has a significant effect on the selection into ALMP programs, the overall impact when estimating treatment effects is rather small. Finally, the thesis also examines the importance of gender differences in reservation wages that allows assessing the importance of special ALMP programs targeting women. In particular, when including reservation wages in a wage decomposition exercise, the gender gap in realized wages becomes small and statistically insignificant. The strong connection between gender differences in reservation wages and realized wages raises the question how these differences in reservation wages are set in the first place. Since traditional covariates cannot sufficiently explain the gender gap in reservation wages, we perform subgroup analysis to better understand what the driving forces behind this gender gap are. ; Anhaltend hohe Arbeitslosigkeit stellt eine der zentralen Herausforderungen für den sozialen Zusammenhalt moderner Gesellschaften dar. Aus diesem Grund wenden viele Industrienationen einen beachtlichen Teil ihrer Staatsausgaben zur Bekämpfung der Arbeitslosigkeit und den damit verbundenen Konsequenzen auf. Obwohl sich bereits eine Vielzahl ökonomischer Studien mit den Effekten traditioneller Maßnahmen der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik (AAMP) auf den nachfolgenden Erfolg am Arbeitsmarkt beschäftigt, ist ein besseres Verständnis des Einflusses auf das Arbeitssuchverhalten und das daraus resultierende Zusammenspiel mit dem Erfolg am Arbeitsmarkt notwendig um die Gestaltung und Zuweisung dieser Maßnahmen zu optimieren. Darüber hinaus zeigen die Ergebnisse vorheriger Studien, dass viele traditionelle Maßnahmen nicht den gewünschten Erfolg erzielen. Dies unterstreicht die Notwendigkeit, zum einen die Wirkungsmechanismen aktiver Arbeitsmarktpolitik besser zu verstehen, und zum anderen innovative wirkungsvollere Maßnahmen zu entwickeln. Die vorliegende Dissertation liefert hierbei neue Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich verschiedener Faktoren. Zunächst wird der Einfluss subjektiver Erwartungen auf die Effektivität von Trainingsmaßnahmen untersucht. Diese Erwartungen betreffen die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer zukünftigen Programmteilnahme, sowie den erwarteten Einfluss auf den Erfolg am Arbeitsmarkt, und erlauben eine Verknüpfung von sogenannten Antizipationseffekten –einer Anpassung des Suchverhaltens vor einer tatsächlichen Teilnahme– mit dem traditionellen Vergleich von Teilnehmern und Nicht-Teilnehmern bezüglich ihres nachfolgendem Erfolgs am Arbeitsmarkt. Die empirische Analyse zeigt, dass Trainingsmaßnahmen einen positiveren Einfluss auf Teilnehmer haben, welche die Teilnahmewahrscheinlichkeit zu Beginn der Arbeitslosigkeit als hoch einstufen, verglichen mit Personen die diese Wahrscheinlichkeit als gering einschätzen. Im Gegensatz dazu besteht kein Zusammenhang zwischen den subjektiven Erwartungen bezüglich des Effekts der Maßnahme und dem tatsächlichen Arbeitsmarkterfolg von Teilnehmern. Es lässt sich feststellen, dass hohe Erwartungen bezüglich der Teilnahmewahrscheinlichkeit mit einer intensiveren Beratung durch die Arbeitsagentur und einer höheren Flexibilität der Suchstrategie verbunden sind. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Arbeitsagenturen die Effektivität von spezifischen Arbeitsmarktprogrammen direkt beeinflussen können, in dem potentielle Teilnehmer umfangreich über bevorstehende Maßnahmen und die allgemeine Arbeitsmarktlage informiert werden. Ein weiterer Teil der Dissertation analysiert Maßnahmen zur Förderung regionaler Mobilität von Arbeitssuchenden. Im Speziellen, werden Reisekosten zu Jobinterviews, Fahrtkosten zum Arbeitsplatz oder Umzugskosten finanziell gefördert. Ziel dieser Maßnahmen ist es bestehende finanzielle Hindernisse zu beseitigen, welche die regionale Mobilität von Arbeitssuchenden einschränken. Die empirische Analyse zeigt, dass die Verfügbarkeit des Programms Arbeitssuchende dazu anhält sich auf Stellen zu bewerben welche einen Umzug erfordern und ihre Suchaktivitäten vom lokalen Arbeitsmarkt hinzu geografisch entfernten Regionen zu verlagern, ohne jedoch die Anzahl der Stellenbewerbungen insgesamt zu beeinflussen. Darüber hinaus führt der erweiterte Suchradius zu einer höheren Wiederbeschäftigungswahrscheinlichkeit und höheren Löhnen. Darauf aufbauend wird der Einfluss der tatsächlichen Nutzung einer spezifischen Mobilitätshilfe, der sogenannten Umzugskostenbeihilfe, auf den langfristigen Erfolg am Arbeitsmarkt untersucht. Es zeigt sich, dass Arbeitssuchende die zur Aufnahme einer neuen Beschäftigung umziehen und hierfür eine Unterstützung der Arbeitsagentur erhalten signifikant höhere Löhne beziehen und stabileren Beschäftigungsverhältnisse aufweisen. Des Weiteren wird die Relevanz von typischerweise nicht beobachtbaren Variablen bezüglich Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen, subjektiven Erwartungen, sozialen Netzwerken und generationenübergreifenden Informationen, im Kontext der Evaluierung typischer AAMP Programme, wie Trainingsmaßnahmen und Lohnkostenzuschüssen untersucht. Basierend auf einer Kombination von administrativen Daten und individuellen Befragungsdaten zeigt sich, dass diese Variablen einen signifikanten Einfluss auf die Teilnahmewahrscheinlichkeit haben, ihre Nichtberücksichtigung aber zu keiner Verzerrung der geschätzten Effekte führt. Abschließend wird die Rolle von Reservationslöhnen bei der Entwicklung von geschlechtsspezifischen Lohnunterschieden untersucht. Die empirische Analyse zeigt, dass der realisierte Lohnunterschied zwischen Männern und Frauen mit einem geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschied in Reservationslöhnen einhergeht. Dieser kann nicht durch Faktoren wie Bildung, unterschiedliche Erwerbsbiografien, sozio-demographische Eigenschaften und Persönlichkeitsmerkmale erklärt werden. Eine umfassende Subgruppenanalyse deutet an, dass, unterschiedliche Tätigkeitsvorlieben, der Erwartung von Diskriminierung gegenüber Frauen und unbeobachtbaren Produktivitätsunterschiede sowohl Unterschiede im Reservationslohn als auch im realisierten Lohn zwischen Männern und Frauen hervorrufen.

The general objective of this work is to examine the coherence between food security policies and economic efficiency and valuation of resources policies for the sugar sub-sector in Morocco. A food security policy implies state intervention and thus leads implicitly to market distortions, while a resource valuation policy would imply a free market. To address this issue, I will firstly adopt an approach that involves a sugar market analysis (measuring determinants of demand and changes in international prices against their impact on food security). Then, an economic analysis which attempts at assessing the competitiveness of the various segments of the sugar sub-sector will be undertaken. Finally, an analysis of the relative valuation of resources (capital, labor and irrigation water) by sugar crops compared to different irrigated crops will be led, in order to determine their private and social returns on. The analysis of demand during the period between 2000 and 2010 shows that the trend of domestic consumption witnessed major increases, which lead to the enhancement of food insecurity for sugar in the future. The analysis of volatility of world sugar prices from 1960 to 2010, through the decomposition method of time series, allows the isolation of an accidental effect, which reflects variability due neither to seasonal effects nor to trend. This accidental effect is mainly marked during three periods: 1973-1975, 1980-1981 and 2009-2010. In terms of food security, these fluctuations in world sugar prices have no impact on household access to sugar, yet they have a significant impact on state budget. Any variation in prices in the international market is absorbed by the compensation system since prices are regulated by this system. The food safety policy conducted during the sixties and seventies have mitigated the country's dependence on imports and thus reduce the impact of world sugar price fluctuations. However, this policy has often been criticized in terms of market efficiency and valuation of resources. The economic analysis of the sugar sub-sector in Morocco shows that the different segments of the value chain don't enjoy the same level of protection. If the production segment of sugar beet doesn't receive any protection, the processing segment of raw sugar will remain protected. However, the level of this protection has generally declined during the post structural adjustment period. In terms of competitiveness, while the sugar beet crop becomes competitive, the effective competitiveness of the industrial segment, and given the significant distortions in the world market, is difficult to assess. The analysis of the valuation of resources (capital, labor and water) shows that sugar crops, especially sugar beets, value relatively better capital resources and labor than most horticultural crops. They occupy an important position in terms of employment and value added created per hectare. However, the valuation of irrigation water remains low for sugar beet (excluding the region of Doukkala). But the technology trend shows substantial opportunities for improvement. Food security policy for sugar has been efficient since it helped establish a competitive national production which is generally able to value resources better. The distortions introduced by state intervention gave the time to farmers to improve their technical skills and to become competitive in the framework of international market, marked as it was by significant distortions. Finally, a food security policy is in no way inconsistent with a policy of valuation of resources on the condition that when the sub-sector becomes competitive, a way to market mechanisms must be given. ; L'objectif de ce travail est d'interroger la cohérence des politiques de sécurité alimentaire avec les politiques d'efficacité économique et de valorisation des ressources pour le secteur sucrier au Maroc. Une politique de sécurité alimentaire sous-entend une intervention de l'Etat et donc, implicitement, des distorsions de marché, alors qu'une politique de valorisation des ressources, elle, sous-entend un marché libre. Pour traiter de cette problématique, l'approche suivie a consisté en un analyse du marché du sucre au Maroc (déterminants de la demande et évolution des cours mondiaux et leur impact sur la sécurité alimentaire), une analyse économique ayant pour objectif d'évaluer la compétitivité des différents segments de la filière sucre, et une analyse de la valorisation relative des ressources (capital, travail et eau d'irrigation) par les cultures sucrières en comparaison aux différentes cultures irriguées en vue de déterminer leurs rentabilités relatives privées et sociales. L'analyse de la consommation sur la décennie 2000-2010 montre que la tendance est à l'augmentation de la consommation nationale et, donc, à une accentuation de l'insécurité alimentaire du pays en sucre dans l'avenir. Quant à l'analyse de la volatilité des cours mondiaux du sucre, de 1960 à 2010, grâce à la méthode de décomposition des séries chronologiques, elle permet l'isolation d'un effet accidentel, qui reflète la variabilité non due aux effets saisonnier et tendance. Cet effet accidentel est principalement marqué durant les périodes : 1973 à 1975, 1980 à 1981 et 2009 à 2010. En termes de sécurité alimentaire, ces fluctuations des cours mondiaux du sucre n'ont pas d'impact sur l'accès des ménages à ce produit, par contre elles ont un impact important sur le budget de l'Etat. Toute variation des cours sur le marché international est absorbée par le système de compensation des prix mis en place puisque les prix du sucre sont réglementés. La politique de sécurité alimentaire entreprise dans les années soixante et soixante-dix ont permis d'atténuer la dépendance du pays aux importations et, donc, de réduire l'impact des fluctuations des cours mondiaux du sucre. Cependant, cette politique a été souvent critiquée sur la base de l'efficience des marchés et de la valorisation des ressources. L'analyse économique de la filière sucrière montre que les différents segments de la filière ne bénéficient pas du même niveau de protection. Si le segment de production de la betterave sucrière ne bénéficie plus d'aucune protection, le sucre brut reste globalement protégé. Cependant, le niveau de cette protection a globalement baissé pendant la période post ajustement structurel. Sur le plan compétitivité, alors que la culture de la betterave sucrière s'avère devenue compétitive, la compétitivité effective du segment industriel, et compte tenu des distorsions importantes sur le marché mondial, est difficile à évaluer. L'analyse de la valorisation des ressources (capital, emploi et eau) montre que les cultures sucrières, et plus particulièrement la betterave, valorisent relativement mieux les ressources capital et travail que la plupart des cultures non horticoles. Cependant, la valorisation de l'eau d'irrigation reste faible pour la betterave (hormis la betterave dans les Doukkala). Mais la tendance technologique laisse prévoir des possibilités d'amélioration substantielles. La politique de sécurité alimentaire en matière de sucre s'est avérée efficace puisqu'elle a permis de mettre en place une production nationale compétitive et qui valorise bien les ressources. Les distorsions introduites par les interventions de l'Etat ont donné le temps aux agriculteurs pour améliorer leur technicité et devenir ainsi compétitifs dans un contexte de marché international marqué par des distorsions importantes. Finalement, une politique de sécurité alimentaire n'est nullement contradictoire avec une politique de valorisation des ressources à condition que lorsque les filières de production deviennent compétitives, il faut laisser la place aux mécanismes du marché.

Persistence of inequality across generations is an important field of research with many implications in terms of policy. Economic inequality related to the intergenerational transmission of economic opportunities may strongly influence policies designed to reduce earnings or wealth concentration. Empirical research has usually focused on the intergenerational persistence of earnings or income, considered as good measures of differences in economic well-being and consumption capacity of individuals. On the contrary, only a limited number of recent studies attempt to estimate the degree of intergenerational mobility by using net wealth as a measure of economic status of individuals. This Ph.D thesis includes three autonomous chapters regarding the intergenerational persistence of wealth and earnings inequality and their mechanisms. The first one reviews research on wealth inequality and persistence across two or more generations. Broadly speaking, wealth is more unequally distributed than income and unlike other flow variables, may be transmitted across generations directly, by means of bequests or donations. This means that it may be a good proxy of permanent economic disparities. Unfortunately, measuring wealth is not an easy task since data on real and financial assets are incomplete and provided with many differences across countries. Regarding the extent of correlation in wealth across generations, only a limited number of studies are able to use suitable data on wealth which cover two or more generations. In any case, according to few recent empirical works, intergenerational rank correlations in wealth seem to be usually higher than intergenerational rank correlations in income. These findings derive from the fact that wealth is more representative of cumulate resources and less affected by transitory shocks than earnings or income. Moreover, wealthy parents seem to transmit many resources to their children at the beginning of the adulthood, by making donations. This may explain why, unlike intergenerational correlations in income, intergenerational correlations in wealth seem to be very high also considering children in their 20's. The second chapter exploits retrospective socio-economic information about both parents to impute parental wealth in order to assess the degree of wealth mobility across generations in Italy and highlight some of the mechanisms linking parental wealth to offspring's economic outcomes. Using the Bank of Italy's survey on household income and wealth (SHIW) and two samples of offspring and pseudo-parents in their 40s, I find an intergenerational age-adjusted wealth elasticity (IWE) of 0.451 and a rank-rank slope of 0.349 which appear to be robust to the use of different predictors of parental economic status. These results suggest that Italy is a low mobility country also when wealth is taken as an alternative measure of economic status. As in the only previous study by Boserup et al. (2016) which analyses the pattern of wealth mobility over the lifecycle, the second chapter shows a U-shaped pattern of the intergenerational wealth correlation as a function of the second generation's age with higher estimated intergenerational correlations when children are taken at the beginning of their adulthood or in their 40's. Geographical differences in the extent of intergenerational wealth mobility are analysed by estimating elasticities and rank-rank slopes in two different macro-areas of the country. Results suggest that the southern part of Italy is extremely less mobile than the northern part of the country. Regarding the analysis of the mechanisms behind the intergenerational wealth correlation across two generations, the second chapter suggests that income seems to be the main intergenerational mediating factor. On the contrary, the correlation across generations of saving preferences and attitude to risk seems to explain only a small fraction of the IWE. Finally, the third chapter (which is part of a research work with Michele Raitano and Teresa Barbieri) provides new and detailed estimates of intergenerational earnings mobility in Italy and sheds light on mechanisms behind the association of gross earnings between fathers and sons. Being not available panel data following subsequent generations in Italy, we make use of a recently built dataset that merges information provided by IT-SILC 2005 (i.e., the Italian component of EU-SILC 2005) with detailed information about the whole working life of those interviewed in IT-SILC recorded in the administrative archives managed by the Italian national Social Security Institute (INPS). This dataset allows us to rely on the two-sample two-stage least squares method (TSTSLS) to predict father earnings and, then, compute point in time intergenerational elasticities (IGE) and imputed rank-rank slopes. Furthermore, the characteristics of the dataset allow us to extend point in time estimates considering, for both sons and "pseudo-fathers", average earnings in a 5-year period and observing sons at various ages, thus assessing the robustness of our estimates to attenuation and life cycle biases. Confirming previous evidence (Mocetti 2007; Piraino 2007), we find that Italy is characterized by a relatively high earnings elasticity in cross country comparison – the size of the estimated β is usually over 0.40 – and the size of the intergenerational association increases when older sons and multi-annual averages are considered. We then investigate mechanisms behind this association both: i) including a set of possible mediating factors of the parental influence (e.g., sons' education, occupation, labour market experience) among the control variables when regressing sons' earnings on fathers' earnings and ii) following the sequential decomposition approach suggested by Blanden, Gregg and Macmillan (2007). Results show that a limited share of the intergenerational association is attributable to sons' educational and occupational attainment, while the largest part of the association is mediated by sons' employability, i.e., by their effective experience since the entry in the labour market. Results show that the mediating role of education in Italy is limited, especially if compared with evidence obtained for other countries such as the US and UK.

My dissertation embraces four empirical papers addressing socio-economic issues relevant to policy-makers and society as a whole. These papers cover important aspects of human life including health at birth, life satisfaction, unemployment periods and retirement decisions, and are intended to provide a contribution to the respective research areas. The analyses are carried out applying advanced econometric methods and are based on data sets consisting of survey data as well as administrative records. The joint paper with Alessandro Palma and Daniela Vuri "Prenatal Air Pollution Exposure and Neonatal Health" in Chapter 2 investigates the causal impact of prenatal exposure to air pollution on neonatal health in Italy in the 2000s combining detailed information on mother's residential location from birth certificates with PM10 concentrations from air pollution monitors. Variation in local weekly rainfall is exploited as an instrumental variable for non-random air pollution exposure. Using quasi-experimental variation in rainfall shocks allows to identify the effect of PM10, ruling out potential bias due to confounder pollutants. The paper estimates the effect of exposure for both the entire pregnancy period and separately for each trimester to test whether the neonatal health effects are driven by pollution exposure during a particular gestation period. This information enhances our understanding of the mechanisms at work and help prevent pregnant mothers from most dangerous exposure periods. Additionally, the effects of prenatal exposure to PM10 are estimated by maternal labor market status and maternal education level to understand how the pollution burden is shared across different population groups. This decomposition allows to identify possible mechanisms through which environmental inequality reinforces the negative impact of early-life exposure to air pollution. This study finds that average PM10 and days with PM10 level above the hazard limit reduce birth weight, gestational age, and measures of overall newborn health. Effects are largest for third trimester exposure and for low-income and less educated mothers. These findings imply that further policy efforts are needed to fully protect fetuses from the adverse effects of air pollution and to mitigate the environmental inequality of health at birth. The joint paper with Christian Pfeifer "Life Satisfaction in Germany After Reunification: Additional Insights on the Pattern of Convergence" in Chapter 3 updates previous findings on the total East-West gap in overall life satisfaction and its trend by using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the years 1992 to 2013. Additionally, the effects are separately analyzed for men and women as well as for four birth cohorts. The results indicate that reported life satisfaction is, on average, significantly lower in East than in West German federal states and that part of the raw East-West gap is due to differences in household income and unemployment status. The conditional East-West gap decreased in the first years after the German reunification and remained quite stable and sizable since the mid-nineties. The results further indicate that gender differences are small. Finally, the East-West gap is significantly smaller and shows a trend towards convergence for younger birth cohorts. The joint paper with Christian Pfeifer "Unemployment Benefits Duration and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Germany" in Chapter 4 explores the effects 2 of a major reform of unemployment benefits in Germany on the labor market outcomes of individuals with some health impairment. The reform induced a substantial reduction in the potential duration of regular unemployment benefits for older workers. This work analyzes the reform in a wider framework of institutional interactions, which allows to distinguish between its intended and unintended effects. The results based on routine data collected by the German Statutory Pension Insurance and a Difference-in-Differences design provide causal evidence for a significant decrease in the number of days in unemployment benefits and increase in the number of days in employment. However, they also suggest a significant increase in the number of days in unemployment assistance, granted upon exhaustion of unemployment benefits. Transitions to unemployment assistance represent an unintended effect, limiting the success of a policy change that aims to increase labor supply via reductions in the generosity of the unemployment insurance system. The single-authored paper "How Older Workers Respond to Raised Early Retirement Age: Evidence from a Kink Design in Germany" in Chapter 5 explores how an increase in the early retirement age affects labor force participation of older workers. The analysis is based on a social security reform in Germany, which raised the early retirement age over several birth cohorts to boost employment of older people and ultimately alleviate the burden on the public pension system. Detailed administrative data from the Federal Employment Agency allow to distinguish between employment and unemployment as well as disability pensions and retirement benefits claims. Using a Regression Kink design in a quasi-experimental framework, I show that the raised early retirement age had positive employment effects and negative effects on retirement benefits claims. The reform did not affect unemployment benefits or disability pensions claims. My results also show that some population groups are more sensitive to a reduction in retirement options and more likely to seek benefits from other government programs. In this respect, I find that workers in manufacturing sector respond to the raised early retirement age by claiming benefits from the disability insurance program designed to compensate for reduced earnings capacity due to severe health problems. The treatment heterogeneity analysis further suggests that high-wage workers are more likely to delay exits from employment, which is in line with incentives but might also indicate an increased inequality within the affected birth cohorts induced by the reform. Finally, women seem to rely on alternative sources of income such as retirement benefits for women, or spouse's or partner's income not observed in the data. All things considered, workers did not adjust to the increased early retirement age by substituting early retirement with other government programs but rather responded to the reform in line with the policy intent. At the same time, the findings point to heterogeneous behavioral responses across different population groups. This implies that raising the early retirement age is an effective policy tool to increase employment only among older people who have the real choice to delay employment exits. Therefore, reforms that raise statutory ages should ensure social support for workers only marginally attached to the labor market or not able to work longer due to potential health problems or other circumstances. ; Meine kumulative Dissertationsschrift umfasst neben einer zusammenfassenden Einleitung vier Aufsätze, von denen ich einen in Alleinautorenschaft und drei in Koautorenschaft in unterschiedlichen Autorenteams verfasst habe. Alle vier Aufsätze sind empirischer Natur und untersuchen auf Grundlage mikroökonometrischer Methoden Fragestellungen der angewandten Arbeitsmarkt- und Bevölkerungsökonomik. lm ersten Aufsatz untersuche ich gemeinsam mit Alessandro Palma und Daniela Vuri den Einfluss von Feinstaubbelastung in utero auf den Gesundheitszustand Neugeborener auf Basis italienischer Daten. Hierbei stellt ein Hauptproblem die Endogenität der Feinstaubbelastung infolge der Wohnortselektion seitens der Mütter und der Konfudierung mit weiteren Belastungsfaktoren dar, die verzerrte Schätzungen wahrscheinlich macht. Um diese Probleme zu adressieren, nutzte ich eine überzeugende Instrumentationsstrategie, welche ausschließlich solche Variation in der Feinstaubbelastung nutzt, die durch plausibel exogene Variation in der Niederschlagsmenge hervorgerufen wird. Es zeigen sich hierbei statistisch signifikant negative Einflüsse auf eine Reihe von Gesundheitsmaßen, die sich vorrangig auf die Feinstaubbelastung im dritten Trimester der Schwangerschaft zurückführen lassen und die ausgeprägter für Mütter mit schwächerem sozioökonomischen Status ausfallen. Der zweite gemeinsam mit Christian Pfeifer verfasste Aufsatz untersucht Unterschiede in der Lebenszufriedenheit zwischen Westdeutschen und Ostdeutschen auf Basis von Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels. Während sich etwa ein Drittel des mittleren Zufriedenheitsdifferentials auf Unterschiede in Einkommen, Erwerbsstatus und Bildung beziehen lassen, kann der Rest nicht auf beobachtete Merkmale zurückgeführt werden. Interessanterweise zeigt sich im Zeitablauf eine partielle Konvergenz zwischen Ost- und Westdeutschen mit ähnlichen Entwicklungen für Frauen wie für Männer. Eine Kohortenanalyse offenbart, dass das Differential für jüngere Kohorten, die nach der Wiedervereinigung sozialisiert wurden, seine ökonomische wie statistische Signifikanz verliert und sich überdies für diese eine stärkere Konvergenz beobachten lässt. Die Kohortenanalyse legt zudem nahe, dass die (partielle) Konvergenz der Lebenszufriedenheit plausiblerweise nicht auf eine Konvergenz in unbeobachteten Merkmalen der Individuen zurückgeführt werden kann. Der dritte ebenfalls mit Christian Pfeifer verfasste Aufsatz widmet sich der Evaluation der im Rahmen der Hartz-Reformen erfolgten Verkürzung der maximalen Bezugsdauer von Arbeitslosengeld l für ältere Arbeitnehmer. Genutzt werden hierzu administrative Daten der deutschen Rentenversicherung und ein Differenz-von-Differenzen-Ansatz, in dem jüngere Arbeitnehmer als Kontrollgruppe fungieren. Es zeigt sich ein ökonomisch und statistisch signifikant positiver (negativer) Effekt auf die Tage in sozialversicherungspflichtiger Beschäftigung (Tage von Arbeitslosengeld l-Bezug) und - als nicht intendierter Nebeneffekt - auf die Tage von Arbeitslosengeld ll-Bezug mit nur geringer Heterogenität nach Geschlecht sowie West- und Ostdeutschland. 2 lm vierten Aufsatz untersuche ich in Alleinautorenschaft, welchen Einfluss die Erhöhung des frühestmöglichen Renteneintrittsalters bei Frühverrentung im Jahr 2004 auf die Beschäftigungs- und Verrentungswahrscheinlichkeit nimmt. Unter Nutzung von Prozessdaten der deutschen Arbeitslosen- und Rentenversicherung nutze ich hierzu mit einem sog. Regression-Kink-Design eine innovative, bislang nur selten verwandte Methode. Kernergebnis ist, dass es zu einer ökonomisch und statistisch signifikanten Erhöhung der Beschäftigungswahrscheinlichkeit und Reduktion der Verrentungswahrscheinlichkeit kommt und sich für einige untersuchte Subgruppen sehr unterschiedliche Ergebnisse zeigen.

El Cambio Climático (CC) es uno de los grandes desafíos actuales de la humanidad. Es una de las principales amenazas para el desarrollo sostenible, siendo el origen de importantes impactos económicos, sociales y ambientales. En este contexto, varios países han asumido compromisos para un desarrollo sostenible relacionados con el cumplimiento de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de la Organización para las Naciones Unidas (ONU). En el mismo sentido, los países han asumido la necesidad de generar y exigir normas de producción sostenible y otras acciones orientadas todas a reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) a la atmósfera. Parte central de estas actuaciones promueven cambios tecnológicos orientados a alcanzar una mayor eficiencia energética. Chile no ha quedado ajeno a los procesos mencionados y busca contribuir activamente a la mitigación de emisiones de GEI y a la lucha contra el CC. Para ello ha desarrollado políticas y acciones entre las que destacan: mantener un registro actualizado y periódico de emisiones de GEI por sector productivo, fomentar el cambio de recursos energéticos convencionales y contaminantes hacia el uso de energías renovables no convencionales (ERNC), la reforestación y restauración de bosques, entre otras actividades. Para el positivo desarrollo y resultado de estas políticas y acciones señaladas, aún permanecen numerosas cuestiones no resueltas. Las investigaciones realizadas en el marco de la presente tesis contribuyen a avanzar en este camino compartiendo el objetivo general de desarrollar un análisis económico a distintas escalas de la reducción de la contaminación identificando los factores inductores e inhibidores de la misma así como el uso de nuevas tecnologías energéticas para la calefacción y refrigeración del sector residencial en Chile. Todo ello orientado a favorecer un desarrollo económico sostenible. Dos son las investigaciones centrales a modo de pilares de esta tesis doctoral. El primer trabajo tiene como objetivo evaluar los aportes mitigadores o contaminantes de los sectores productivos de Chile para el periodo 1990 a 2013, con un énfasis especial en identificar el papel del sector forestal en esta ecuación. Esto responde al hecho de que el sector se considera como una variable proxy de las actividades de uso de la tierra, cambio de uso de la tierra y silvicultura (UTCUTS). Junto con ello también calcula los pesos y el papel de cada uno de estos sectores así como de otros factores de descomposición económica, energética y demográfica. El segundo pilar de esta tesis doctoral descansa en una investigación a escala local en la ciudad de Temuco perteneciente a la región de La Araucanía. La ciudad de Temuco tiene un alto uso de leña para calefacción que alcanza al 80% de los hogares. También es una ciudad que ha sido declarada zona saturada de partículas MP 10 y 2,5. La investigación es un aporte a la evaluación de políticas ambientales de Chile, específicamente al Plan de descontaminación de Temuco que incluye la medida de cambio de estufa, la cual aún no ha logrado establecerse como la opción preferente para la comunidad. Por tanto generar este tipo de información es altamente relevante para dar conocimiento a la población y los responsables políticos del Estado de los efectos de esta iniciativas y ver las posibles mejoras que se les pueden hacer, además de utilizar la información para proponer prioridades en la aplicación de nuevas políticas de descontaminación. Ambas investigaciones desarrolladas para la elaboración de esta tesis ofrecen información relevante en la evaluación de políticas públicas a distinta escala. También prueban la aplicabilidad de metodologías de análisis económico como herramientas de valoración, identificación y seguimiento de los efectos económicos de las acciones evaluadas y orientadas a la mitigación de emisiones de GEI. El proceso conjunto de investigaciones generadas ofrece también como contribución a la literatura una valoración y validación del papel trascendental que juega el sector forestal en el desarrollo sostenible, tanto con efectos positivos a escala país, como negativos a escala local por el mal uso del recurso. Esta situación es relevante si consideramos que Chile no presenta políticas claras asociadas a un desarrollo sostenible del sector forestal a pesar de su relevancia dada la importancia de la superficie forestal en el conjunto del territorio de este país. ; Climate change (CC) is one of the great current challenges of humanity, being one of the main threats to sustainable development, producing great economic, social and environmental consequences. In this context, several countries have generated commitments for sustainable development, for example: encourage compliance with the of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN), generate and demand sustainable production standards and other actions associated with reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere aimed at achieving greater energy efficiency. In the same way, the countries have assumed the need to generate and demand sustainable production standards and other actions, aimed at all, to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere. A central part of these actions promotes technological changes aimed at achieving greater energy efficiency. Chile has not been oblivious and seeks to contribute to the mitigation of climate change, for which it has developed policies and actions aimed at maintaining an updated GHG registry by productive sector, promoting energy change, the use of renewable energies Unconventional (NCRE), reforestation and forest restoration, among other activities. For the positive development and result of these policies and actions indicated, many unresolved issues still remain. The research carried out within the framework of this thesis contributes to advance in this path, sharing the general objective of developing an economic analysis at different scales of pollution reduction, identifying the factors that induce and inhibit it, as well as the use of new technologies energy for heating and cooling in the residential sector in Chile. All this aimed at promoting sustainable economic development. There are two central investigations as pillars of this doctoral thesis. The first work have as aim to evaluate the mitigating or polluting contributions of the productive sectors of Chile for the period 1990 to 2013, with a special emphasis on identifying the role of the forestry sector in this equation. This responds to the fact that the sector is considered as a proxy variable for land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities. Along with this, it also calculates the weights and the role of each of these sectors, as well as 6 other decomposition factors economic, energetic and demographic. The second pillar of this doctoral thesis rests on local research in the city of Temuco, La Araucanía region. The city of Temuco has a high use of firewood for heating that reaches 80% of homes. It is also a city that has been declared a zone saturated with MP 10 and 2.5 particles. The research is a contribution to the evaluation of Chile's environmental policies, specifically to the Temuco decontamination plan that includes the stove change measure, which has not yet been established as the preferred option for the community. Therefore, generating this type of information is highly relevant to inform the population and the political leaders of the State of the effects of these initiatives and to see the possible improvements that can be made to them, in addition to using the information to propose priorities for implementation. of new decontamination policies. Both research developed for the elaboration of this thesis offer relevant information in the evaluation of public policies at different scales. They also test the applicability of economic analysis methodologies as tools for evaluating, identifying and monitoring the economic effects of the actions evaluated and aimed at mitigating GHG emissions. The joint process of research generated also offers as a contribution to the literature an assessment and validation of the transcendental role that the forestry sector plays in sustainable development, both with positive effects at the country level and negative effects at the local level due to the misuse of the resource. This situation is relevant if we consider that Chile does not present clear policies associated with the sustainable development of the forestry sector despite its relevance given the importance of the forest area in the whole territory of this country.

How to Cite This Article: Ahmadi Doulabi M, Sajedi F, Vameghi R, Mazaheri MA, Akbarzadeh Baghban AR. Socioeconomic Status Index to Interpret Inequalities in Child Development. Iran J Child Neurol. Spring 2017; 11(2):13-25.AbstractObjectiveThere have been contradictory findings on the relationship between Socioeconomic Status (SES) and child development although SES is associated with child development outcomes. The present study intended to define the relationship between SES and child development in Tehran kindergartens, Iran.Materials & Methods This cross-sectional survey studied 1036 children aged 36-60 month, in different kindergartens in Tehran City, Iran, in 2014-2015.The principal factor analysis (PFA) model was employed to construct SES indices. The constructed SES variable was employed as an independent variable in logistic regression model to evaluate its role in developmental delay as a dependent variable.Results The relationship between SES and developmental delay was significant at P=0.003. SES proved to have a significant (P<0.05) impact on developmental delay, both as an independent variable and after controlling risk factors.Conclusion There should be more emphasis on developmental monitoring and appropriate intervention programs for children to give them higher chance of having a more productive life. 1. Haghdoost AA. Complexity of the Socioeconomic Status and its Disparity as a Determinant of Health. Int J Prev 2012; 3(2):75. 2. Behavioral and social sciences research. Measuring Socioeconomic Status. e-Source 2013; Available from:http://www.esourceresearch.org 3. Bradley RH, Corwyn RF. Socioeconomic status and child development. 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Rice is the staple food for half the world's population. To keep up with global population growth and growing food demand, rice production will inevitably increase. Increasing water scarcity and South-east Asia's rapid economic and social development, specifically the growing demand for animal products and biofuels challenge the traditional lowland double-rice (rice-rice; [R-R]) cropping systems and has already resulted in a partial transformation to mixed lowland-upland systems. Owing to water scarcity, upland crops such as aerobic rice [R-A] or maize [R-M] are grown instead of paddy rice during the dry season (DS). Other water-saving strategies, which allow for intermitted irrigation or 'alternate-wetting and drying' (AWD) are also emerging. Such changes in water management affect C and N cycling in the soil-plant system. For instance, methane (CH4: global warming potential (GWP) of 28) emissions from paddy fields will be replaced by emissions of the more potent greenhouse gas (GHG) nitrous oxide (N2O: GWP of 265) since methane is only produced in large amounts under anaerobic conditions and N cycling and associated release of nitrous oxide is stimulated in unsaturated soil conditions. Moreover, soil organic carbon stocks will decrease due to amplified soil respiration in presence of oxygen, thereby jeopardizing soil fertility. To counteract declining soil fertility, catch crops can be used as green manure (GM) during fallow period and rice residues can be returned with both approaches supplying and recharging organic matter, improving N retention and avoiding unproductive water losses in intensified crop rotations. Due to a lack of incentives, expensive labor and rigid cropping schedules, large amounts of rice residues are traditionally burnt after harvest and thereby adversely affect local air quality. Many Asian governments have banned open-field burning and thus are putting pressure on rice farmers to seek other ways for sustainable straw disposal. While GM and residue returns have been shown to have a positive effect in upland soils, this approach may promote CH4 emissions from submerged, anoxic paddy soils as it provides additional substrate for methanogenesis. The management of earthworms, in turn, could restrain microbial crop residue decomposition in non-flooded rice soils and thus mitigate GHG emissions triggered by straw incorporation. Consequently, conservation practices including the management of organic amendments might be a promising approach to retain soil fertility, and sustain the productivity of emerging diversified rice rotations. However, little is known about the actual effects of such practices on soil C and N cycling and GHG balance under contrasting water management. Therefore, the major goal of my work was to i) quantify the effect of crop residue return, specifically rice straw application and legume cover crop cultivation on CH4 and N2O emissions of diversifying rice cropping systems and ii) provide a mid to long-term assessment of the annual GHG balance of diversified rice systems based on area and productivity. For this, I calculate annual GWPs and yield-scaled GWPs of three different rice systems (R-R: rice-rice, R-A: rice-aerobic rice, R-M: rice-maize) without (control) or with additions of straw (+ 6 Mg C ha-1 [S]) or + straw + mungbean as catch crop ([M+S]) on the basis of GHG (CH4 and N2O) flux measurements in high temporal resolution, and measurements of yield parameters. The field trials were carried out at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, with year-round automated chamber measurements, covering the growing season as well as off-season emissions. My investigations further explored the potential of the AWD irrigation practice and earthworm management as GHG mitigation strategies. Results from five years of continuous measurements show that maize in rotation with paddy rice has a significantly lower GWP than aerobic rice or a traditional double paddy rotation. Although dry season N2O emissions increased two- to threefold in the diversified systems (R-A, R-M), the strong reduction of CH4 emissions during this period resulted in significantly lower annual GWP as compared to the traditional double rice system (R-R). Direct CH4 reductions during DS were complemented by overall lower CH4 emission during wet season paddy rice cultivation, which is explained by increased availability of oxidants and a delayed growth of soil methanogens. With an equivalent of 0.6 ± 0.1 Mg CO2 per ton of grain produced, the R-M system had a significantly lower annual GHG footprint than R-R with 1.4 ± 0.3 Mg CO2-eq. GY . From both a GHG perspective and productivity perspective, the performance of aerobic rice was not significantly better than paddy rice (1.2 ± 0.2 Mg CO2-eq. GY-1), mostly due to yield penalties from less intensive irrigation management during DS. This ranking persists even with the application and incorporation of rice straw and mungbean GM, however, the additional organic matter led to higher substrate availability for methanogens during the following season. Rice straw incorporation strongly stimulated CH4 emissions, but the magnitude of CH4 emissions was significantly lower under aerated soil conditions and negligible for the annual GHG balance. Likewise, the effect of GM application to CH4 emissions during wet season paddy rice cultivation was less pronounced with maize as a preceding upland crop. However, GM application to flooded rice paddies is disqualified as sustainable management practice with CH4 emission being approximately doubled. Contrary to expectations, N2O emissions were not reduced due to N immobilization after straw or GM incorporation. Reasons might be a higher O2 content in straw mulch top layer on upland soils which enhanced nitrification and inhibited the further reduction of N2O to N2, as well as excess N supply after not adjusting mineral fertilizer N rates to the N input from leguminous mungbean GM. Therefore, the annual GWP was 9-39% higher after straw incorporation during DS, as compared to straw removal. Additional incorporation of mungbean GM further increased the GWP, with the highest increment in R-R rotation (88%), followed by R-A (73%), and lowest in R-M rotation (55%), and annual GHG footprint of 11.8, 9.4, and 5.6 Mg CO2 eq. ha-1, respectively. My findings further demonstrate that the presence of earthworms in non-flooded rice soils can reduce adverse effects of straw incorporation on CH4 release, without boosting N2O emissions or impairing yields. Straw organic carbon might be preserved in earthworm cast aggregates and thereby limit C availability for methanogenic CH4 production while methanotrophic CH4 consumption is increase due to improved soil aeration. My work also calls for a refinement of IPCC Tier 1 and 2 emission factor approach as it does not accurately represent emerging upland crop – paddy rice rotations. IPCC guidelines also do not consider a short pre-season flooding period (i.e. land- preparation). As observed in this long-term study, this period is contributing up to 13% to seasonal CH4 budget. Addressing this with a daily flux rate of 0.38 kg CH4-C day-1 for the days of land-preparation, analogous to the IPCC baseline emission factor, would take this period into account. My field GHG measurements of AWD water regime were used to validate and subsequently apply the biogeochemical model LandscapeDNDC at national scale, similar to IPCC Tier 3 approach for the UNFCC GHG reporting. Replacing CF field management by the water-saving technique AWD, most likely can decrease GHG emissions from rice cultivation in the Philippines by one third. Compared to traditional double paddy system, rice – maize cropping has a significantly lower irrigation water demand and GHG footprint. Due to prolonged aerated soil conditions, upland – lowland rotation systems also allow for a more flexible residue management, a requirement for farmers as the ban of open-field burning is increasingly enforced. However, socio-economic concerns emerge when maize is cultivated to satisfy the growing demand for poultry feed and biofuel production and enters into direct competition to food security and the required land resources. Therefore, further research is needed to increase yields particularly of aerobic rice varieties and to further explore mitigation potentials e.g. of low-CH4 emitting rice cultivars. Further investigations should extend the process understanding of plant- and water-mediated CH4 release pathways with the help of stable isotope fractionation.

This dissertation on late Enlightenment poetics and the history of the biomedical sciences unfolds a lapsed possibility near the historical beginnings of the division of labor between literary and scientific representation. Against the pressure, then and now, to treat the culture of science as context or antithesis to literary production, I recover a countervailing epistemology that cast poetry as a privileged technique of empirical inquiry: a knowledgeable practice whose figurative work brought it closer to, not farther from, the physical nature of things.In his late life science, Morphology, Goethe mischievously re-signified "objectivity" to mean an observer's vulnerability to transformation by the objects under view: "every new object, well seen, opens up a new organ in us." Such a gesture at once opens the scene of experiment to the agency of objects, and shifts biology's question from the life force within beings, to the metamorphic relations between them. From Wordsworth's call for a "science of the feelings," to Blake's for a "sweet Science," and Goethe's for a "tender Empiricism," my project argues for a series of late Enlightenment attempts to re-invent empiricist methodology - and to do so with the resources of verse and figure. These revisionary poetic sciences, I argue, challenged early biological and aesthetic protocols to countenance the mutual, material influence between the subjects and objects of experiment; to represent `bare' sensation as itself vulnerable to social and rhetorical transformation; and to position vulnerability - to impression, influence, and decay - as central, not inimical, to life.I show that writers from James Thomson and Erasmus Darwin to Percy Shelley retrieved Lucretius's classical materialism as a model for describing bodies (textual and animal) as porous assemblages, shaped by losses and incorporations of what is not self, and not immediately present. In Lucretius's De Rerum Natura, all things, decaying in time, scatter fine atomic husks from their bodies: simulacra, figurae, imagines. Here `figures' are fractions of the real estranged from their sources, and all bodies, not just poets or their language, produce them. Such an epistemology afforded poetry a strong claim upon the real, and proved particularly fit to connect the epochal interest in living bodies to the period's new sense of its own historicity. Poets deployed Lucretius's atomist imaginary in order to make historical experience palpable as what Wordsworth called an "atmosphere of sensation." The material tropes they mobilized to do so, I argue, have been unrecognizable through the symbol-allegory paradigm that controls most rhetorical readings of romanticism.Such a view of the period's philosophy of life differs from a more frequent argument, whereby romantic poetics and early biology converge in the ideal of organism or artwork as self-sufficient whole, "both cause and effect of itself" - and the ideal of life or imagination as the "power" productive of such wholes. This Kantian and Coleridgean ideal of "organic form," I argue, has overshadowed our critical understanding of what the late Enlightenment poetics of life might have sought to do. Working through the tense collaboration between the Poet and the Man of Science in Wordsworth's 1800 "Preface" to Lyrical Ballads and in Blake's notion of "sweet Science" (The Four Zoas,1797), my introduction extracts two critical lenses - "matter figures back," and "atmospheres of sensation" - with which to discern the rival epistemology described in the dissertation's four body chapters. In chapters that center on, and move outward from, Goethe's poetic biology (1-2) and Shelley's "poetry of life" (3- 4) I show how a neglected strain of materialist natural curiosity sought to uncouple professionalizing biology and subject-centered aesthetics from their rhetoric of agency, autonomy, and power.In my first chapter, "Composite Life," I translate previously unavailable pieces from Goethe's microscopy logs (1785-6) and On Morphology periodicals (1817-24) as emblematic of the broader contemporary interest in studying living beings as composite, rather than organic forms. Here, each "seeming individual" is as a "being-complex," a fractious "assemblage of independent beings." Morphology, moreover, redirects biological inquiry from the question of new life (generation) around which the discipline had coalesced, to the biology and poetics of decomposition and senescence - or, as Goethe names one essay, "Going to Dust, Vapor, Droplets." What, this essay begins to ask, might life look like from the perspective of the non-reproductive, but communicative, effluvia that mediate between beings? What arts of discomposure would be adequate to this view? Focusing on an experiment in which a cut mushroom "draws" its own image in spores, I argue for the credibility in the period of non-human acts of representation: that is, for material (neo-Lucretian) images that emanate not just from agents, but from things.My second chapter, "Thinking Like an Object, Contra-Kant" concerns the aesthetic and poetic stakes of the experimental method Goethe calls "tender Empiricism," an approach to composite life that I read as a sly critique of Kant's durable accounts of aesthetics and organism. From Goethe's perspective, Kant's celebrated epistemological modesty - his concern that a man not "presumptuously . tack a whim . to the objects" (Goethe's paraphrase) - screens a more significant hubris: the presumption that a person could produce whims without objects and a sensing body; and, more basically, that what is important about a subject is the way in which he is not a natural object. Re- valuing the passive quality of tenderness as an epistemic virtue, Goethe experiments in "objectively active thinking," permitting the way the self is (also) an object to re-enter natural and aesthetic philosophy. The chapter culminates in a re-reading of the didactic poem Dauer im Wechsel ["Durance in Change"] from the perspective of objective figuration, centering on a neo-Lucretian simulacrum that, I argue, Paul de Man consequentially mistook for a symbol.In Chapter Three I move from Goethe's poetic morphology to Shelley's "poetry of life." "Growing Old Together: Composite Physiognomy in The Triumph of Life" examines the way Shelley's Triumph revives Lucretian corporeality in order to rebuke the markedly triumphalist rhetoric of both contemporary vitalist physiology and post-Waterloo historiography. Offering a new account of the face-giving trope of prosopopeia in the poem, I argue that Shelley mobilizes Lucretian simulacra in order to think through the way personal bodies produce and integrate passages of historical time. Representing aging faces as mutable registers of the "living air" of a post-Napoleonic interval, The Triumph depicts senescence as the unintended work of multitudes, pressing towards a biology and epistemology of transience that holds rhetorical, vital, and historical materialisms together.In Chapter Four, "The Natural History of Violence: Atomist Pre-Histories for Shelley's The Mask of Anarchy," I continue the increasingly historical trajectory of the dissertation's materialism by turning to Shelley's poetic representation of the 1819 "Peterloo Massacre." Here, I attempt to put the dissertation's valuation of epistemological "sweetness" and "tenderness" to the test of an event in which subjects' vulnerabilities were tragically violated. Focusing on the The Mask's preoccupation with the way wrongly spilled blood enters geological and meteorological cycles, I argue that the poem, which Shelley called "wholly political," is also a form of natural history. I recruit Erasmus Darwin, William Cowper, and James Thomson as well as Walter Benjamin to argue for a didactic natural historical mode in which a poem speaks polemically for bloodstained materials that do not, in themselves, disclose their provenance. In this way I suggest that, despite its reputation, pre-Darwinian natural history - and especially its poetry - is anything but a-historical or a-political. In the dissertation's Coda, "Marx's Sensuous Science" I pick up this materialist current at the start of the historical materialism more familiar to present-day critics: Karl Marx's doctoral dissertation on classical atomisms. I link Marx's reception of Lucretius to the idea of natural history that emerges in his "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844," which paraphrase Goethe on tender empiricism, and argue (like Blake, Wordsworth, and Shelley) that any sensation-based science needs to countenance the senses' susceptibility to historical re-configuration. The Manuscripts strain, very much in the tradition my chapters lay out, towards what Marx calls a "sensuous science." Like Goethe and Shelley, Marx presses past the biology of organicism in order to adumbrate "man's inorganic body," a body neither contemporaneous nor coincident with itself and whose life is traversed by and contingent upon innumerable others. In the Coda I take this cue to compare Marxian and neo-Lucretian ideology critique, asking how the embodied impressionability valued in "tender," "sweet," and "sensuous" sciences may run, but may also outrun, the risk Marx named "reification."

Chapter 1 Over the last decade we have witnessed an improvement in the literature on how to measure and compare the well-being of individuals. While the standard approach in the analysis of individual well-being is based almost exclusively on a material dimension of income, there is a robust evidence that individuals care about non-income dimensions of life which accordingly should be included in such a measure. Nevertheless, even when the non-income dimensions of life are included in the analysis of individual well-being, a majority of studies are predominantly neglecting the notion of individual preferences in order to escape the problem of interpersonal comparisons of well-being. In this chapter we have employed an alternative welfare measure which takes into account income and non-income dimensions of life while at the same time the following measure is sensitive to the individual preferences. This is known as the equivalent income measure. We have compared the equivalent income and income measures over 25 countries of the European Union. The following analysis is done for 2007 and 2011, since these were the only available years that we could use. Our contribution to the literature is reflected in the fact, that to the best of our knowledge, there are no such studies in the literature that compares the well-being with the following two measures for such a large set of countries. Although we found that the welfare rankings across countries change to some extent between the average income and average equivalent income, in spite of that when we ranked countries according to the growth rates of income and equivalent income we observed a substantial change in the country rankings. The following evidence implies that the choice of the welfare metrics is empirically important. The previous results have been broadened by computing the welfare rankings across countries once we raise the concern about the egalitarian principle of justice. We observed that the welfare rankings across countries changed remarkably when we take into account distributional inequalities. The evidence we have found suggest that correlations of disadvantages between life dimensions matter since some countries have sufficiently larger inequalities of equivalent income than inequalities of incomes. The results we have found show that individuals across countries care about material dimension (income) but they also care much about the non-income dimensions. Relatively the most important non-income dimension for almost all countries is health while the least important non-income dimension concerns the (un)employment status. We have identified the worst off individuals according to each welfare measure and we have compared the socio-demographic characteristics of the worst off individuals. We have seen that different well-being measures will identify the worst off individuals with different socio-demographic characteristics. We have also observed that the worst off individuals considerably differ over countries with respect to their average income and non-income dimensions and average socio-demographic characteristics. Finally, we have illustrated the degree of re-ranking between income and equivalent income measures taking into account all individuals of a given country. While we found a similar pattern of re-ranking between income and equivalent income across countries, the degree of re-ranking differs across countries. The pattern that we have observed across all countries indicated that individuals who are income rich can end up as equivalent income poor while the opposite has not been found. ; Chapter 2 An important role of social and public policies, among others, is to provide employment opportunities and to maintain the initiative of people to work. Yet, the role of these policies should not exclusively be concerned with the improvement of job quantity, such as ensuring the optimal employment rate but likewise these policies should be designed to improve the well-being of workers by enhancing job quality. Although, the precise definition of job quality is lacking in the literature, one can reasonably argue that job quality is a multi-dimensional concept which includes the wage dimension but also non-wage job dimensions such as job autonomy, job security, whether a job is interesting, challenging, whether it offers a good career opportunities, etc. Accepting the idea that a job quality is a multi-dimensional concept leads to the important question of aggregating various job dimensions into an overall index of job quality which can be used as a measure of well-being on the job. Moreover, if we agree on the notion that the preferences of workers over job dimensions should be respected, then we have to find a proper way to weight these various job characteristics such that the construction of weights is consistent with the preference orderings over different jobs. A measure that satisfies the previous two requirements is known in the literature as the equivalent wage measure. In this study we have applied the concept of equivalent wage to a specific sub-population of recent graduates (bachelor, master and doctoral students) who are currently participating in the labour market. In addition to the equivalent wage measure, we have used four other well-being measures which are wage, average preferences objective measure, equal weights objective measure and subjective job satisfaction measure. We have compared the job quality using a large scale survey which includes nineteen countries. We have found that individuals with various personal characteristics have different preferences over wage and non-wage job dimensions. This result underlines the importance of considering the heterogeneity of individual preferences seriously. We have shown that different measures of job quality will result in substantially different ranking of countries. In other words, the evidence we have found points out to the fact that the choice of well-being measure is utterly important for measuring job quality. Since, we have observed a considerable re-ranking of countries between different measures, we were encouraged to provide the evidence on the strength and direction of relationship between the ranking for all pairs of measures. We have found that the rank correlation is positive and statistically significant for almost all pairwise correlations. The lowest correlation has been found between pairs of wage and equal weights objective measure while the highest correlation has been found between subjective job satisfaction and average preferences objective measure. As one important issue in creating a reasonable public policies is to identify those individuals who are not faring well or those who are faring very well, we have decided to identify the individuals at the bottom and top end of the distribution according to different measures of job quality. The results have shown that the overlap of the worst off when we use two measures is lowest for wage and equivalent wage measures while the largest overlap occurs when we use two objective measures. These results should not be surprising since the informational requirements between two objective measures are more alike than the informational requirements between wage and equivalent wage. On the other hand, the largest overlap of the best off individuals for a pair of measures occurs between average preferences and equal weights measures while the overlap is lowest between wage and subjective job satisfaction. We have evaluated the gender differential in job quality across countries by using wage and equivalent wage measures. The evidence we have found indicate that in majority of countries, the average quality of jobs is higher for men than for women if we use the wage measure. While even if we use the equivalent wage measure, the quality of jobs are higher among men in most countries, still we have observed that women are either holding jobs of the same quality or they are even faring better than men in some countries. In addition, we have computed the willingness-to-pay for each non-wage job characteristic and we have compared the gender differences in the willingness-to-pay across and within countries. We have found that across almost all countries, the willingness-to-pay is higher among men, which indicates that they are suffering more not reaching the best possible values of non-wage job characteristics. Finally, we have presented the decomposition the total willingness-to-pay on the contributions attributed to each non-wage job characteristic. We have found that across countries for both men and women, having a good career prospect is relatively the most important non-wage job characteristic while job security is relatively the least important non-wage job characteristic. ; Chapter 3 In recent decades there has been a growing number of studies that investigated the effects of personal and job characteristics on the subjective well-being on the job. Besides, the empirical findings reveal that workers who are paid on the piece rates exert more effort and earn more than those workers paid an hourly salary. Nevertheless, it is ambiguous what will be the effect of performance paying schemes, since the well-being on the job can increase in wage but it can decrease with higher level of excreted effort. Since the possible effect of performance paying jobs on the well-being of workers stay hidden, we have tackled the following issue in this chapter and we have provided the empirical evidence on these effects. This chapter contributes to the literature on the subjective well-being by providing the casual effects that the performance pay job schemes have on job satisfaction. We approximate the well-being on the job by the subjective job satisfaction reported by individuals. We have used the Korean Labour and Income Panel Survey which allowed us to distinguish between the workers who are paid by performance and those who are paid by fixed rate. In addition, we could exploit the information about the particular type of performance paying scheme that applies to the workers who are paid by performance. Since the personality traits are possibly correlated with the observed and unobserved explanatory variables, we have decided to estimate the job satisfaction regression using the fixed effects estimator. We have shown that workers in the performance pay job schemes have a higher subjective well-being on the job than workers who are using the non-performance pay job schemes. The following result holds true even after we have controlled for the level of earnings, attitudes toward risk and other personal and job related characteristics. This evidence is also confirmed for both men and women. When it comes down to the effect of wage on job satisfaction, we observe that the effect is not apparent as someone might expect. We have found that among all explanatory variables, health has the strongest effect on the well-being on the job. Finally, we have exploited the information on the type of performance pay schemes in order to analyse how different performance pay schemes affect job satisfaction. The results have shown that workers who are employed on the individual, group and company performance pay job schemes are more satisfied on their job than workers who are paid by the fixed amount. The later result remains even after we have controlled for the difference in earnings, personal and job characteristics.

In the article the regularities of the international migration processes of human resources are revealed, the methodological principles of the formation of the regulation system such processes in the conditions of geo-economic transformations are theoretically grounded and developed, in particular through the development of a model and mechanism for the formation and implementation of regional migration policy as a result of substantiation of the preconditions and socio-economic consequences of international migration in conditions of geo-economic transformations.The concept of "migration pair" (a combination of the country of origin and the country of destination of migrants, between which historically formed a migration corridor with specific quantitative and structural parameters, characterized by a special institutional, socio-demographic, financial and economic, ethno and cultural as well as other environment of migration processes). The introduction of this imperative into the conceptual apparatus of the study of the international migration process makes it possible to distinguish migration flows taking into account the spatial and institutional aspects of migration corridors, to identify the peculiarities and changes in the environment of the countries of different migration pairs, and to record the trends of migration flows.The work defines the concept of "migration flow", "migration corridor", "migration motive" and "migration attractiveness", as well as the interrelationship between them, that allowed positioning these concepts as objects of study of migration processes. In addition, the interpretation and use of the principles of studying the processes of international migration (temporality, spatiality, communication, mobility) are presented. This allows us to streamline the methodological tools of scientific research and defines the vectors for constructing a classification of international migration taking into account the magnitude and multidimensional nature of migration processes.The classification of international migration has been improved by its systematization and addition by groups of features and types: spatial-temporal, institutional parameters as well as parameters of human resources. Such composition of classification features is achieved through the use of an institutional approach and takes into account the outlined importance of gender-age and educational and professional affiliation of migrants for the formation of human resources and their redistribution in the course of certain types of migration.The trends of geo-economic transformations were identified and their influence on the international migration of human resources was highlighted (regionalization and globalization of geo-economic space, strengthening of geo-economic risks, transformation of TNCs into supranational centers of economic development, transformation of geoeconomic space, structural changes in the world economy, virtualization of economic and other processes). This allowed formulating options for countries to join the processes of international migration on the basis of countries belonging to the centers of economic development, the general features of their migration policy, the places of countries in the composition of the migration pair, the level of development of the institutional environment for the regulation of migration processes, the availability of certain types of migration.The influence of the ecological and natural type of geo-economic risk on the formation of repulsive factors, as well as the mechanisms of its formalization, has been characterized by substantiating the clustering methodology of regional integration associations at the risk of extreme climatic events as a component of the specified type of risk. This allows to taken into account it when assessing the country's migration attractiveness and forecasting the formation of migratory motives of the population, as well as formulating the task of regulating migration processes under extreme climatic events.In addition, the influence of the politico-security type of geo-economic risk as a precondition for the formation of migration flows from countries where military and political conflicts and other threats of military and political instability are recorded, are determined. This allows identifying the components of this type of risk in assessing the country's migration attractiveness and migratory motives of the population, as well as formulating the task of regulating international migration of refugees in conditions of military conflicts and post-conflict situations.The study formulates the tasks of regulating international migration in the countries of migration, which should be implemented in employment policy, educational, social, informational, fiscal, monetary, investment and other policies and aimed at the integration of migrants and overcoming socio-economic issues associated with migration. This was done on the basis of the justification of the impact of international migration and remittances on economic development of the countries in the conditions of geo-economic transformations, human resources formation and poverty reduction, which included: 1) the formation of risks and opportunities for countries to join the processes of international migration of human resources taking into account the role of the country in the migration pair; 2) the outline of the environmental factors of the implementation of remittances according to the suggested stages, which determine the parameters of remittances; 3) identification of economic, social and demographic consequences of migration based on the stratification of human resources.The system of determinants of the formation of migration motives consisting of economic, socio-demographic, political-security, language and cultural, as well as ecological and natural determinants is suggested. They are formed by taking into account the influence of institutional factors in the relevant environment of countries and the manifestation of personal perception of the factors of pushing out. This made it possible to determine the factors that should be taken into account when studying and formalizing the preconditions of migration processes.In this paper an approach to assessing geo-economic risks of countries is formed, which involves determining the corresponding integral indicator of the country. This allows countries to be positioned on specific types of geo-economic risk and integral indicators, as well as clustering countries according to the level of geoeconomic risk and the intensity of the use of migration human resources. This approach will help to determine the vectors of the elements of the migration policies of the countries, based on the cluster to which they belong, to perform their comparative analysis, as well as outline the implementation of other policies governing the processes of migration and the integration of migrants.A tool for identifying the connection of international migration of human resources with geo-economic risks is suggested, which is represented by the formation of an indicator of migration attractiveness, which allows to explain migration flows between countries based on their level of migration attractiveness. The approach to assessing the attractiveness of migration through the formation of its integral indicator and the approach to the normalization of the partial indicators enable to adapt the model and use it to assess the migration attractiveness of the countries in the comparative aspect.The information support of the regulation of international migration processes at the international, regional and national levels is developed, based on which the model of the multilevel information field is formed, which includes the following systems: 1) monitoring of the change of determinants of the formation of migration motives according to the determined indicators; 2) monitoring of potential and actual migration flows by stratification groups; 3) monitoring the risks of institutional breaks and institutional conflicts; 4) dissemination of information on the state and issues of international migration of human resources. It allows to build communication links between subjects of regulation of processes of international migration of human resources and improve its institutional environment.As a result, the conceptual principles of the institutional model of regional regulation of migration processes have been theoretically substantiated and developed, in which the subjects of the formal and informal institutional environment of regional regulation of international migration are structured, the functions of regional migration policy (regulatory, diversification, integration, mobilization) are highlighted, directions of its implementation are formulated for the country to benefit from international migration and reduction of geo-economic risks. This allows on the basis of decomposition of the provisions of such a policy as well as its coordination with other policies to solve regional issues of migration of human resources, outlined on the basis of analysis of cause-effect relations of migration in the course of geo-economic transformations and established issues of regulation of migration flows in selected regional integration associations. ; В роботі виявлені закономірностей процесів міжнародної міграції людських ресурсів, теоретично обґрунтовано та розроблено методологічні засади формування системи регулювання таких процесів в умовах геоекономічних трансформацій, зокрема через розробку моделі та механізму формування та реалізації регіональної міграційної політики у результаті обґрунтування передумов та соціально-економічних наслідків міжнародної міграції в умовах геоекономічних трансформацій.В роботі введено поняття «міграційна пара» (комбінація країни походження та країни призначення мігрантів, між якими історично сформувався міграційний коридор зі специфічними кількісними та структурними параметрами, що характеризується особливим інституційним, соціо-демографічним, фінансово-економічним, етнічно-культурним та іншим середовищем міграційних процесів). Введення даного імперативу в понятійний апарат дослідження процесу міжнародної міграції дозволяє виокремлювати міграційні потоки з урахуванням просторового та інституційного аспектів міграційних коридорів, ідентифікувати особливості та зміну середовища країн різних міграційних пар, а також фіксувати тенденції міграційних потоків.В роботі визначено поняття «міграційний потік», «міграційний коридор», «міграційний мотив» та «міграційна привабливість», а також взаємозв'язків між ними, що дозволило позиціонувати дані поняття як об'єкти дослідження міграційних процесів. Крім того, дано трактування та конкретизовано використання принципів дослідження процесів міжнародної міграції (темпоральності, просторовості, комунікації, мобільності). Це дозволяє упорядкувати методичний інструментарій наукового дослідження та визначає вектори побудови класифікації міжнародної міграції з урахуванням масштабності та багатоаспектності міграційних процесів.Удосконалено класифікацію міжнародної міграції шляхом її систематизації та доповнення за групами ознак та видами: просторовочасовими, інституційними параметрами та параметрами людських ресурсів. Така композиція класифікаційних ознак досягнута завдяки використанню інституційного підходу та враховує окреслене значення статево-вікової та освітньо-професійної приналежності мігрантів для формування людських ресурсів, їх перерозподілу в ході окремих видів міграції.Ідентифіковано тенденції геоекономічних трансформацій та окреслено їх вплив на міжнародну міграцію людських ресурсів (регіоналізація та глокалізація геоекономічного простору, посилення геоекономічних ризиків, трансформація ТНК у наднаціональні центри економічного розвитку, трансформація геоекономічного простору, структурні зміни у світовому господарстві, віртуалізація економічних та інших процесів). Це дозволило сформулювати варіанти долучення країн до процесів міжнародної міграції на основі приналежності країн до центрів економічного розвитку, загальні риси їх міграційної політики, місця країн у складі міграційної пари, рівня розвитку інституційного середовища регулювання міграційних процесів, наявності окремих видів міграції.Охарактеризовано вплив еколого-природничого типу геоекономічного ризику на формування факторів виштовхування, а також механізми його формалізації через обґрунтування методики кластеризації регіональних інтеграційних об'єднань за ризиком екстремальних кліматичних подій як складової вказаного типу ризику. Це дозволяє врахувати його при оцінці міграційної привабливості країни та прогнозуванні формування міграційних мотивів населення, а також сформувати завдання регулювання міграційних процесів в умовах екстремальних кліматичних подій.Крім того, визначено вплив політико-безпекового типу геоекономічного ризику як передумови формування міграційних потоків з країн, де зафіксовано військово-політичні конфлікти та інші загрози військово-політичної нестабільності. Це дає змогу визначити складові даного типу ризику при оцінці міграційної привабливості країни та міграційних мотивів населення, а також сформулювати завдання регулювання міжнародної міграції біженців в умовах військових конфліктів та постконфліктного стану.В дослідженні сформульовано завдання регулювання міжнародної міграції в країнах міграційної пари, які повинні бути імплементовані у політику зайнятості, освітню, соціальну, інформаційну, фіскальну, монетарну, інвестиційну та інші політики та спрямовані на інтеграцію мігрантів та подолання соціально-економічних проблем, пов'язаних з міграцією. Це здійснено на основі обґрунтування впливу міжнародної міграції та грошових переказів на економічний розвиток країн в умовах геоекономічних трансформацій, формування людських ресурсів та подолання бідності, що включало: 1) формування ризиків та можливостей долучення країн до процесів міжнародної міграції людських ресурсів з урахуванням ролі країни у міграційній парі; 2) окреслення факторів середовища здійснення грошових переказів за запропонованими етапами, що визначають параметри грошових переказів; 3) визначення економічних, соціальних, демографічних наслідків міграції виходячи зі стратифікації людських ресурсів.Запропоновано систему детермінантів формування міграційних мотивів, що складаються з економічних, соціо-демографічних, політико-безпекових, мовно-культурних та еколого-природничих детермінантів. Вони сформовані шляхом врахування дії інституційних факторів у відповідному середовищі країн та прояву особистісного сприйняття факторів виштовхування. Це дозволило визначити фактори, які слід враховувати при вивченні та формалізації передумов міграційних процесів.В роботі сформовано підхід до оцінки геоекономічних ризиків країн, який полягає у визначенні відповідного інтегрального показника країни. Це дозволяє позиціонувати країни за окремими типами геоекономічного ризику та інтегральним показником, а також кластеризувати їх країн за рівнем геоекономічного ризику та інтенсивністю використання міграційних людських ресурсів. Такий підхід сприятиме визначенню векторів елементів міграційних політик країн, виходячи з кластеру, до якого вони належать, здійснювати їх компаративний аналіз, а також окреслювати напрями реалізації інших політик, що регулюють процеси руху та інтеграції мігрантів.Запропоновано інструмент ідентифікації зв'язку міжнародної міграції людських ресурсів з геоекономічними ризиками, що представлено через формування показника міграційної привабливості, що дозволяє пояснювати міграційні потоки між країнами виходячи з рівня їх міграційної привабливості. Підхід до оцінки міграційної привабливості через формування її інтегрального показника та підхід до нормалізації часткових показників дають змогу адаптувати модель та використовувати її для оцінки міграційної привабливості країн у компаративному аспекті.Розроблено інформаційне забезпечення регулювання процесів міжнародної міграції на міжнародному, регіональному та національному рівнях, базисом якого є сформована модель багаторівневого інформаційного поля, яке включає системи: 1) моніторингу зміни детермінантів формування міграційних мотивів за визначеними індикаторами; 2) моніторингу потенційних та фактичних міграційних потоків за стратифікаційними групами; 3) моніторингу ризиків інституційних розривів та інституційних конфліктів; 4) поширення інформації про стан та проблеми міжнародної міграції людських ресурсів. Це дозволяє будувати комунікаційні зв'язки між суб'єктами регулювання процесів міжнародної міграції людських ресурсів та удосконалити його інституційне середовище.У результаті теоретично обґрунтовано та розроблено концептуальні засади інституційної моделі регіонального регулювання міграційних процесів, у якій структуровано суб'єктів формального та неформального інституційного середовища регіонального регулювання міжнародної міграції, виділено функції регіональної міграційної політики (регуляторна, диверсифікаційна, інтеграційна, мобілізаційна), сформульовано напрями її реалізації для отримання країною переваг від міжнародної міграції та зниження геоекономічних ризиків. Це дозволяє на основі декомпозиції положень такої політики та її узгодження з іншими політиками вирішувати регіональні проблеми міграції людських ресурсів, окреслені на основі аналізу причиннонаслідкових зв'язків міграції в ході геоекономічних трансформацій та встановлених проблем регулювання міграційних потоків у обраних регіональних інтеграційних об'єднаннях.

Dottorato di ricerca in Ecologia forestale ; Climate change has become the most important global environmental crisis and its consideration has revealed the emergence of a new political regime that has been idealized under the hypothetical "carbon city". The Carbon City corresponds to a political community of people who can act on the carbon cycle and enjoy its productions and services. Forests play a key role into this new city because they significantly contribute to the carbon cycle and ecosystem stability and they represent an object to meet the consensus among the different groups of interests. Physically represented by the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the climate community tends to establish an equitable repartition of the efforts to mitigate climate changes and adapt to future modifications of our environment. A fair distribution of the efforts requires the quantification of the contribution made by each country through scientific expertise. However, sub-Saharan African countries are mostly in margin of the process mostly because of the lack of knowledge about the quantitative contribution these countries can make to the global efforts. Quantification of carbon stocks has become crucial for sub-Saharan African countries to increase their participation to the climate discussions arena and develop actions to mitigate an environmental crisis they are the most vulnerable to. Better understanding the carbon cycle also allows a better comprehension of our interaction between the global climate and our activities. The aim of this thesis is to better understand the dynamics of carbon stocks in sub-Saharan Africa. The objectives were (1) to understand the most important factors influencing the estimation of carbon stocks and carbon stock changes, (2) to inventory the state of knowledge at continental scale and (3) to fulfill some of the gaps while identifying the necessary further researches. Three field experiments where implemented in Ghana to measure the variability of biomass within plots, between plots and between wet evergreen, moist evergreen and moist semi-deciduous forests. The wet evergreen forest was selected to analyze the variation of biomass within and between trees based on an original method to build tree allometric equation. The three forests were logged and the wet evergreen forest was selected to measure the impact of logging activities on carbon stocks. In parallel, an intensive data collection in various libraries of the world has allowed the development of the first tree volume and biomass allometric database and the first biomass and carbon stock database at continental scale. The data were organized and reviewed to allow the comparison between equations and carbon stocks data. About two third of the continental carbon stock is found in the soil. Using different soil databases and soil maps may result in variation of the soil organic carbon estimates of about 30%. The choice of the tree allometric equation to estimate the tree biomass can induce variation of aboveground biomass of about 40%. Using already available biomass data, the aboveground carbon stocks ranges 10-105 Pg C. Using the data collected in this study allowed increased the number of data and its harmonization. It follows a major reduction in the variability of carbon stocks that is between 58 and 76 Pg C. Measurements in humid tropical forests in Ghana revealed variations of biomass at different scales, from trees to different types of forests. Aboveground biomass ranges 348-364 ha-1 between ecological zones, 218-485 Mg ha-1 between plots and 0 - 4681Mg ha-1 within plots of 1 ha. Carbon stocks are on average 355 Mg ha-1 with 49, 39, 9, 1, 0.9, 0.8, and 0.2% are in the aerial part of trees, soil organic carbon, roots, litter, dead wood, lianas and palms. The biomass of a tree was mainly influenced by the diameter of the trunk, the crown diameter and the wood density in a tropical rainforest of Ghana. However, various factors influence the ecosystem biomass variability. At plant scale, the tree biomass is influenced by the tree species, the plant functional type and the growth strategies. At ecosystem scale, the biomass is influenced by the effect of topography, plant distribution, slope, soils, history of perturbations and forest management. At biome scale, the biomass is influenced by climate, ecological zone, age, structure, and management. When considering the impact of anthropic activities on carbon stocks, deforestation and forest exploitation emissions ranged 0.06-0.5 and 0.03 – 0.08PgC Yr-1 respectively. While deforestation had already been studied in previous research, I have focused on forest degradation caused by selective logging. In Ghanaian rainforests, selective logging impact 12 Mg C ha-1. Based on the relation between harvested volume and the impact of forest carbon stocks, I have estimated that 88 Tg C yr-1 are being emitted at continental scale which means selective logging would contribute to 20– 25% of the continental C balance. However, the potential for decreasing GHG emissions from selective logging has been limited by the accuracy and the cost of field measurements. Forest restoration has been identified as the highest potential activity for emission reduction and C sequestration in Ghana. While this activity is not recognized by the climate convention, enhancement of forest C stock can sequester significant amount of C. It was estimated that intensification of already existing cocoa farms was the most feasible option to sequester important amount of C in Ghana while increasing the farming income by about 19%. However, carbon sequestration and financial compensation are among many other aspects to better consider when implementing developing activities. Land and forest tenure issues have to be particularly addressed in Ghana to allow effective implementation. The mis-consideration of some social entities would lead to massive forest destructions that already happened in the past. Sub-Saharan Africa faces important gaps related to the understanding of the contribution of the African ecosystems to the C cycle. Only one percent of the necessary tree allometric equations is currently available. The impact of degradation and deforestation on the role of the decomposition of wood and carbon dynamics in soil are particularly poorly understood. The dynamics of forest regeneration after perturbations such as selective logging are poorly known. While C stocks are assumed to recover after a 40 years period, the structure of the forest and the biodiversity are still strongly affected. The use of remote sensing is often presented as a panacea and the solution to monitor natural ressources such as forest biomass. However, I have pointed out that the estimation of biomass using available satellite imageries of Ghana is not an accurate option while the use of high resolution imageries are too costly for countries that have low human and technical capacities to achieve their forest inventories using these techniques. This study highlights the issue of the language used to describe the environment. The global land descriptions are often not in relation with the language used in the field to describe the vegetation in term of structure, floristic composition, position in the landscape and management. The identification of the degraded forest is strongly limited by the poor definitions and the poor previous consideration and analysis. While several attempts to harmonize the vegetation descriptors have been developed on the basis of classification systems, however, they have been facing the complexity of wording, defining and translating our perception of environment. At last, very few socio-economic studies have considered the impact of carbon services to local farmer livelihood. However, they are considered as part of the main process of deforestation. There is an urgent need to identify the potential for improving farmer livelihood while sequestering carbon stocks and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. This would be achieved by an increasing consideration of agricultural activities in developing contries by the climate change convention. Still, the agricultural sector will be considered if a carbon quantification system can be implemented for farming. ; Il cambiamento climatico è diventata la crisi globale più importante, e la sua considerazione rivela l'emergere di un nuovo regime politico. Le foreste svolgono un ruolo fondamentale perché contribuiscono in modo significativo al ciclo del carbonio e la problematica della loro tutela e gestione incontra il consenso di diversi gruppi di interesse. Rappresentata dalla Convenzione delle nazioni Unite sul clima, la "comunità clima" tende a stabilire una ripartizione equa degli sforzi per attenuare i cambiamenti climatici e per adattarsi alle modificazioni del nostro ambiente. Tuttavia, i Paesi dell'Africa sub-sahariana sono ai margini di tale processo soprattutto per la mancanza di conoscenza di quanto il loro contributo possa essere fondamentale agli sforzi globali. La quantificazione degli stock di carbonio diviene pertanto fondamentale per accrescere la loro partecipazione alla discussione sul clima e per l'eventuale sviluppo di azioni. Una migliore conoscenza del ciclo del carbonio consente anche una migliore valutazione della nostra interazione tra il clima globale e le nostre attività. Lo scopo di questa tesi è quella di comprendere meglio la dinamica degli stock di carbonio nell'Africa sub-sahariana. Gli obiettivi erano 1) identificare i fattori più importanti che influenzano la stima degli stock di carbonio e le variazioni degli stock di carbonio 2) l'inventario delle conoscenze su scala continentale 3) soddisfare alcune lacune individuando al contempo le necessarie opportune ricerche. Tre siti sperimentali sono stati stabiliti in Ghana per valutare la variabilità della biomassa all'interno di piazzole, tra complotti e tra foreste sempreverdi umide, sempreverde umido e semi-umidi di latifoglie. La foresta pluviale è stata selezionata per analizzare la variazione di biomassa di alberi e tra gli alberi attraverso un metodo originale che consente anche la realizzazione di equazioni allometriche. Poi, i tre boschi sono stati sottoposti ad un trattamento selettivo di sboscamento. La foresta umida sempreverde è stata scelta per misurare l'impatto del disboscamento selettivo sugli stock di carbonio. In parallelo, la raccolta intensiva di dati, sulle equazioni allometriche e gli stock di carbonio, in varie biblioteche del mondo ha consentito lo sviluppo della prima banca dati sul continente africano. Circa due terzi degli stock di carbonio del continente si trovano nel suolo. Le loro stime variano del 30% a seconda delle mappe del suolo utilizzate e delle banche dati disponibili. Per quanto riguarda la stima della biomassa degli alberi, la scelta dell'equazione allometrica può portare a cambiamenti nella biomassa aerea di circa il 40%. Utilizzando i dati già disponibili nelle banche dati internazionali, la stima degli stock di carbonio varia tra 10 e 105 Pg C. Il database creato in questo studio ha permesso un numero crescente di dati e la loro armonizzazione. Ne consegue una forte riduzione della variabilità degli stock di carbonio che sono tra i 58 ei 76 Pg C. Inoltre le misurazioni nelle foreste pluviali tropicali in Ghana hanno permesso di rivelare variazioni di biomassa su scale diverse, da alberi a diversi tipi di foreste. La biomassa varia tra 348 e 364 Mg ha-1, tra le umide foreste tropicali, 218-485 Mg ha-1, tra i campionamenti e 0-4,681 Mg ha-1, all'interno di appezzamenti di 1 ha. Le riserve di carbonio sono in media 355 Mg ha-1 con 49, 39, 9, 1, 0.9, 0.8, e 0.2% si trovano nella parte aerea degli alberi, carbonio organico del suolo, le radici, lettiere, legno morto, liane e palme. La biomassa di un albero in una foresta pluviale tropicale è influenzata principalmente dal diametro del tronco, il diametro della chioma e dalla densità del legno. Inoltre, la variabilità della biomassa degli ecosistemi deriva anche da altri diversi fattori. Nella scala degli alberi la biomassa è influenzata principalmente dalla specie, il tipo funzionale e dalla strategie di crescita. Nella scala degli ecosistemi, la biomassa è influenzata dall'effetto della topografia, della distribuzione della vegetazione, dalla pendenza, dai suoli, dalla storia degli eventi che sono intervenut e dalla gestione forestale. Su scala bioma, la biomassa è influenzata dal clima, dalla zona ecologica, dall'età, dalla struttura e dal tipo di uso del suolo. Per quanto riguarda l'impatto delle attività umane sulle riserve di carbonio invece, la deforestazione e il degrado forestale derivanti da disboscamento selettivo variano rispettivamente tra 0,03-0,08 0,06-0,5 e Pg C anno-1. Il fenomeno della deforestazione è stato oggetto di precedenti studi. Pertanto, mi sono concentra essenzialmente sul degrado delle foreste dal disboscamento selettivo. In una foresta pluviale tropicale in Ghana, il disboscamento selettivo interessa circa 12 ettari Mg-1. Sulla base del rapporto tra il volume e l'impatto provocato dalla raccolta negli stock di carbonio, ho stimato che l'88 yr Tg C -1 sono rilasciati su scala continentale. Ciò significa che contribuiscono allo sfruttamento silvicolo il 20-25% del saldo C continentale. Tuttavia, il potenziale di riduzione delle emissioni di gas serra prodotte dal disboscamento selettivo è limitata dalla precisione e dal costo delle misure di campo. Il ripristino forestale ha delle foreste sono state identificate come aventi il maggiore potenziale di riduzione delle emissioni di gas serra e il sequestro di C in Ghana. Anche se questa attività non è riconosciuta dalla Convenzione sul clima, il miglioramento degli stock di carbonio delle foreste potrebbe conservare quantità significative di C. Prendendo le piantagioni di cacao come esempio, l'aumento della densità di alberi è l'opzione più sostenibile per preservare una notevole quantità di C in Ghana, aumentando perdippiù il reddito di circa il 19%. Tuttavia, la preserazione della C e di compensazione finanziaria tra i molti aspetti da considerare nella realizzazione delle attività di sviluppo. Territorio e possessi foresta sono questioni che devono essere specificamente trattata per l'effettiva attuazione di progetti di sviluppo forestale in Ghana. L'esclusione di alcune entità sociali porterebbe alla massiccia distruzione delle foreste, un fenomeno che già si è verificato in passato. L'Africa sub-sahariana affronta carenze significative nella comprensione del contributo degli ecosistemi africani ciclo C. L'inventario dei dati attualmente disponibili emerge che una percentuale di equazioni allometrica sono disponibili. L'impatto della deforestazione e degradazione sul ruolo della carie del legno e della dinamica del carbonio nel suolo sono particolarmente poco chiare. Anche se gli stock di carbonio si suppone che per recuperare da un periodo di 40 anni dopo la registrazione, la struttura e la biodiversità forestale rimangono fortemente colpiti. L'uso del telerilevamento è spesso presentata come una panacea e la soluzione per monitorare le risorse naturali come la biomassa forestale. Tuttavia, lo studio sottolinea che la stima della biomassa utilizzando satelliti disponibili per il Ghana è un basso uso e precisa di immagini ad alta risoluzione è troppo costoso un'opzione per i paesi con bassa capacità umane , tecniche e finanziarie. Questo studio mette in evidenza la questione del linguaggio usato per descrivere l'ambiente. La considerazione della struttura, la composizione floristica, la posizione naturale e lo sfruttamento e il degrado delle foreste è in gran parte limitato dalla povertà del linguaggio, le definizioni e le analisi precedenti. Diversi tentativi di cercare di armonizzare i descrittori della vegetazione sulla base dei sistemi di classificazione. Essi sono fortemente limitate dalla complessità della formulazione, la definizione e la traduzione della nostra percezione dell'ambiente. Infine, pochissimi studi hanno considerato l'impatto socio-economico dei servizi connessi di carbonio sulle condizioni di vita degli agricoltori locali. Essi sono comunque parte del processo di deforestazione. E 'urgente identificare il potenziale per migliorare le condizioni di vita degli agricoltori, mentre sequestro del carbonio e la riduzione delle emissioni da deforestazione e degrado forestale. Questo obiettivo può essere raggiunto aumentando la considerazione delle attività agricole nei paesi in via di sviluppo dalla convenzione sul clima. Tuttavia, è solo quando un sistema adeguato per la quantificazione degli allevamenti di carbonio, che questi ultimi saranno poi prese in considerazione.