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The literature in financial history usually considers London as the only centre of the late 19th century's financial globalization, and explains it at least in part by the efficient microstructure (organization) of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The LSE is characterized as having been a little regulated market, where entry was easy both for traders and issuers [Michie (1998), Neal (2004), White (2006)]. The LSE microstructure is also considered as the natural and optimal one by much of the theoretical literature on stock markets, which argues that free entry decreases transaction costs and increases both liquidity and diversification, resulting in economies of scale attracting traders, issuers and buyers. Our paper tries to explain why the Paris Bourse was able to be so successful in spite of the supposedly inefficient monopoly and regulations that the State imposed it. We focus on the fact that the Paris market actually included several different market places: the Parquet (the official Bourse, organized by the agents de change), the Coulisse, the Marché libre, and inter-bank direct operations. We argue that this multi-polar organization, was efficient, relying on the specialization it allowed, and the complementarities it helped develop among markets. We incorporate in the discussion the recent theoretical literature that shows that no single market can satisfy the heterogeneous preferences of all issuers and investors, so that a multi-polar organization can be a superior solution. We demonstrate our claim by looking not only at the rules but also at the actual functioning of the Parquet thanks to its archives which we recently classified. These archives also allow us to build new statistical series which permit evaluating the performances of the Parquet during the 19th century: volumes traded, seat prices, transaction costs, and operational risks. If one supposes that the Parquet was the least efficient segment of the Parisian market, this will provide us with a lower bound for the global efficiency of that ...

This paper aims at giving an explanation of the changes in the number of bankruptcies during the second part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. We wonder in particular whether changes in bankruptcy law, which are substantial during the period, suffice to explain the rise in the proportion of bankrupted firms. We first describe the main features and changes of French insolvency law and show that they contradict the evolution observed at the aggregate level. We then show that existing statistics, which include a regional dimension, allow for a better test of the impact of legal changes. We show that some legal changes had a significant impact, but not all. We also observe that regional variations in bankruptcies are huge and do not correspond to French economic geography, but may rather be understood as a diffusion process from the Paris Court towards the provinces. The major differences among regions also suggest that, even in a civil law country, the letter the law is much less important than local practices.

Intian yli miljardiin nousevasta väestöstä noin kolme neljännestä asuu maaseudulla, jossa syövän toteamis- ja hoitomahdollisuudet ovat vähäiset. Kohdunkaulan syöpä on siellä yleisin syöpätauti. Intian suurin syöpäkeskus Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) Mumbaissa on organisoinut maaseutusairaalan ja syöpäkeskuksen Barshiin, 450 km päähän. Sen keskeisenä tehtävänä oli toteuttaa kohdunkaulan syöväntorjuntaohjelma. Väitöskirja kuvaa ohjelman eri osia ja arvioi niitten toteutettavuutta ja vaikuttavuutta. Alueelle perustettiin syöpärekisteri, jonka tehtävät olivat laajat. Syöpärekisterin avulla lisättiin syöpätietoisuutta ja sen henkilökunnan aktiivisella kyliin suuntautuneella jäljitysmenetelmällä löydettiin oireiset potilaat. Syöpäongelman laajuutta ja varsinkin valistusohjelman vaikuttavuutta voitiin arvioida. Kohdunkaulan syövän vaara oli noin 6-kertainen Suomeen verrattuna. Valistusohjelman ansiosta suurin osa syövistä todettiin paikallisena. Monien potilaiden hoito jäi kuitenkin kesken eikä lopulta kuolleisuudessa ollut eroa koe- ja vertailualueen välillä. Barshin syöpäkeskus käynnisti yhteistyössä kansainvälisen syöpätutkimuskeskuksen (IARC) kanssa maailman laajimman satunnaistetun kohdunkaulan syövän seulontakokeen. Yli 120 000 naista seulottiin joko kliinisesti tutkimalla tai ottamalla näyte, joka tutkittiin perinteisellä papa-testillä tai virustestillä. Osallistuminen oli 70% ja nuoret, koulutetut hyvätuloiset naiset osallistuivat parhaiten. Jokainen seulontatesti löysi löysi paikallisia syöpiä, mutta terveeksi itsensä tuntevat naiset eivät pitäneet hoitoa tarpeellisena. Väitöskirjassa luonnostellaan lopuksi keinoja laajentaa Barshin syöpäkeskuksen kokemuksia Intian muille maaseutualueille. ; India is a large country with different religions, languages and social classes. The population has crossed 1 billion, 72 % of which resides in rural area. As per the 2001 census there are 638,588 villages in India. India accounts for a quarter of world cervical cancer burden having 132,000 new cases and 74,000 deaths occurred around 2002 as per the estimation of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France (IARC). More than 70% of the cases present themselves in the late stage of the disease. Very few studies for the prevention of cervical cancer in a rural population of India were conducted. Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai is one of the premier institutes in India for cancer care and the regional cancer centre for Maharashtra state of India. The TMC has encouraged the NGO Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Hospital (NDMCH) Barshi (Barshi is a small town, 450 km away from Mumbai) under its rural cancer extension project and provided continuing technical assistance to organize and develop community cancer services in the rural area of Solapur and Osamanabad district. The NDMCH conducted cervical cancer control studies in the rural area of Barshi. Based on the experience of the studies conducted at NDMCH, this thesis focuses on the prevention of cervical cancer and describes the infrastructure, resources and manpower needed in rural India. The TMC, NDMCH and Indian Council of Medical Research New Delhi, established first Rural Cancer Registry in India at Barshi. The method of cancer registration is different from the urban cancer registries of the country. The method is based on creating the cancer awareness in the rural population and identification of symptomatic cases and motivation of theses symptomatic cases for the diagnosis by arranging the clinic with the mobile van or at NDMCH. The registry reported that cervical cancer is the leading cancer site, the incidence 27 per 100,000 and mortality 18.6 per 100,000 in the period 1988-2000 was reported. Due to creating the cancer awareness and providing the easy access to diagnosis it was observed that more than 50 % cervical cancer cases were diagnosed at early stage. This hypothesis that due to creating cancer awareness and providing easy access to diagnosis, the cervical cancer cases can be detected at an early stage, was tested in two sub-districts nearby Barshi. In one sub-district health education on cervical cancer was provided by group meeting and film show. Symptomatic women were motivated for the diagnosis at the detection clinic or at NDMCH. In control area sub-district health education on cervical cancer was not provided they received routing health message only from government health agency. The study was conducted in the period 1995-2002, it was observed that awareness about the disease in the women was increased due to effect of health education, 55 % cervical cancer cases detected at early stage of the disease as compared to control area. But it was found that those who detected early did not complete the treatment as compared to control area. The villagers attitude was until the disease became severe enough that they were unable to work and bedridden they would consult the doctor. The several hospital visits before the treatment, transportation problems and financial barriers were further important factors for not completing the treatment. After seven years of the study we did not find any difference between the mortality of the disease between the two groups. No treatment or delay in treatment diluted the intervention effect. Due to experience in cervical cancer control activity of NDMCH Barshi, the IARC in collaboration with TMC conducted the world s largest randomized controlled trial for cervical cancer screening to evaluate the comparative efficacy and cost effectiveness of three screening approaches: VIA (visual inspection of cervix after application of 4 % acetic acid), cytology and HPV testing. More than 125,000 women from Osmanabad district participated in this trial. The screening attendance and process indicators of this study are discussed in the thesis. More than 70 % of the women participated in the screening. Participation was high in women who were young, educated, married, belonging to a higher income group. Those who participated reported that their husband encouraged them. The common reason given by non participant women was that they do not feel that such a test was necessary. Fear of the test was another reason reported. The stage Ia cases reported in the range of 39 to 50 %. However, early stages were reluctant for the treatment as they did not feel that the disease was severe enough for hospitalization. These cases were motivated for the treatment with the help of the village leader. The low income group and widowed women refused treatment. Based on the experience of the studies conducted at NDMCH, a cervical cancer control plan for rural India is proposed. There are 25 Regional Cancer Centres (RCC) in the country, more than 210 centres having 345 teletherapy facility and 105 centres are actively involved in Cancer Atlas Project of India. The plan proposed that RCC should develop community cancer centres in the town hospital, in the district hospital, in the radiotherapry centre and in the centres who are actively involved in cancer atlas project by using the available infrastructure and resources. The method suggested for cervical cancer prevention by community cancer centre consist of intensive health education and providing easy access to diagnosis and treatment. The main focus is diagnosing and treating the pre-invasive lesion rather than detecting invasive cases showing our experience of poor compliance to the treatment. The cost estimated for 1 centre for providing the services of 200,000 female population is US dollar 26,864 per year. Using the available infrastructure 300 community centres can be developed, which will give the services to 60 million female population of rural area of India. The author gratefully acknowledges his supervisor Prof Matti Hakama of Tampere School of Public Health and the Finnish Cancer Registry for their support and help. The author gratefully acknowledges the financial support given by CIMO, Finland and IARC, Lyon, France.

While smoking prevalence in California continued its decline (reaching an historic low of 13.3% in 2006), this rate was slower than in earlier years, reflecting the fact that tobacco control efforts in California in the period 2003-2007 continued to drift, with no clear indications that California would regain its international leadership in tobacco control. Neither the Schwarzenegger Administration nor the California Legislature sought to divert the Proposition 99 funding allocations, but continued the policy of the Davis administration to emphasize aspects of the California Tobacco Control Program that are not proven to be effective, such as school-based education programs, while moving slowly with those that are effective, particularly a strong media campaign. The Administration has continued to shift increasing amounts of funds from the Proposition 99 Research Account away from the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program to the Department of Public Health Cancer Registry, leading to marked reductions in funding for important and innovative tobacco control research. The state continued to refuse to use any money from the Master Settlement Agreement for tobacco control. In 2003 and again in 2006, the Legislature sold the state's share of the Master Settlement Agreement payments for immediate revenues ("securitization") by the tobacco companies through 2030. Counties and municipalities, which receive 50% of California's Master Settlement Agreement funds, have increasingly securitized their share of these monies. Only 30% of the 58 counties allocated any MSA funds for tobacco control. Under Bill Lockyer, the Attorney General's office has vigorously enforced tobacco industry compliance with the Master Settlement Agreement. Campaigns to end tobacco industry violations of the Master Settlement Agreement (primarily by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company) with regard to youth marketing tactics and youth access to tobacco products were successful. Former Attorney General Lockyer was active in the campaign of a multi-state group of Attorneys General to get smoking out a movies targeted at children; but Attorney General Jerry Brown has not participated in this effort since taking office in 2007. The tobacco industry intensified its efforts to influence California politics with its campaign contributions to legislators, legislative candidates, political parties and constitutional officers. The industry steadily increased monies spent on state level political activities in the period 2003-2007, from $4,086,553 in 2003-2004 ($1,083,448 to candidates) to $4,359,205 in 2005-2006 ($1,895,584 to candidates). Campaign contributions from the tobacco industry continue to heavily favor Republicans. In 2005-2006, $1,797,484 was contributed to the Republican candidates and officeholders, to the California Republican Party and other Republican controlled committees compared to $98,100 to the Democrats. In the 2006 general election for constitutional offices, neither candidate for Governor, State Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner, or Superintendent of Public Instruction took any tobacco for industry campaign contributions. The Republican candidates for Lt. Governor (McClintock, $8,364), Secretary of State (McPherson, $15,200), State Controller (Strickland, $7,100), Attorney General (Poochigian, $8,100) and two Board of Equalization seats (Leonard, $7,600 and Steel, $1,500) all took tobacco industry money. Among Democratic candidates for onstitutional offices, only Jerry Brown ($5,600) for Attorney General and Betty Yee ($2,000) for Board of Equalization took tobacco industry money. In the Legislative races in 2006, Dutton (R) in the Senate ($9,100) and Garcia (R) in the Assembly (($14,800) were the top recipients of tobacco company money. Of the 56 legislators who took no tobacco industry campaign contributions in 2005-2006, 52 were Democrats. By far the most significant tobacco-related event in the 2003-2007 period was the defeat of the effort to increase cigarette taxes through Proposition 86 in 2006. The proposition would have increased the cigarette tax by $2.60 a pack. What began as a well-planned initiative petition campaign by health groups for a $1.50 tobacco tax increase became an excessive, badly structured joint initiative with the California Association of Hospitals and Health Services. The fact that most of the money from the proposed tax was directed towards funding hospitals, the size of the tax, and the fact that only 10.7% of the money would go to genuine tobacco control provided legitimate points of criticism that the tobacco industry could use to attack the proposal in its $66 million campaign against Proposition 86. Voters rejected Proposition 86, with 51.3% voting "no." In 2003, the Legislature passed a tobacco sales licensing law (AB 71) that requires every entity in the commercial chain from manufacturers to retailers to obtain state licenses to sell tobacco. While it lacks any penalty for selling tobacco to minors, it did not preempt local jurisdictions from enacting stronger licensing laws. Forty-two California communities have strong local retailer licensing ordinances that include fees high enough to sufficiently fund administration and enforcement, and fines and penalties including suspension and revocation of license to deter violations. In 2005, the Legislature passed AB 178, which mandated that all cigarettes sold in California on and after January 1, 2007 be so-called "fire safe" cigarettes or reduced ignition products (RIP). Manufacturers are required to certify that the cigarettes are self-extinguishing at least 75% of the time. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed two important tobacco control bills in 2006, a ban on internet sales of cigarettes (SB 1208) and a mandate for health insurance coverage of smoking cessation services (SB 576). Six tobacco control measures were passed in the 2007 Session. SB 7 prohibits smoking in any motor vehicle with any minors present, and AB 1467 would have eliminated the remaining exceptions in the original 1994 smoke-free workplaces law (AB 13). The other four bills strengthen youth access laws. AB 1617 would have prohibited the shipping or transporting of cigarettes to individuals in California (another attempt to control internet sales of cigarettes), and SB 624 broadens enforcement of the STAKE (Stop Tobacco Access to Kids) Act from just the Department of Public Health to all law enforcement agencies and increases penalties for violations. The Governor vetoed two of the 2007 tobacco control bills, another ban on internet cigarette sales (AB 1617) and a bill closing loopholes in the original California smoke-free workplaces law (AB 1467). Local tobacco control policymaking in California since 2003 has seen innovation. Momentum for nonsmoking multi-unit housing has been building, with surveys showing that 80% of nonsmoking tenants in California wish to live in smoke-free buildings. In 2004, the Thousand Oaks City Council unanimously became the first city in the nation to pass a mandate on by requiring that one-third of new multi-unit affordable housing units funded by the city would be nonsmoking. Another important first in California local tobacco control policymaking came when the City of Calabasas in 2006 mandated an all-inclusive smoke-free policy in the entire city except in small (no more than 40 square feet) designated smoking areas in shopping malls, so long as no smoke is permitted to enter adjacent areas in which smoking is prohibited, and outdoor areas in which no nonsmoker is present or likely to be present. Then in October 2007, Belmont became the first city in California to ban smoking in the residential units of all multi-unit housing. Adding to this expansion, smoke-free ordinances for public beaches have also been passed by local communities in many locales in California. The history of tobacco control in California has been local activism and voter initiatives, with statewide legislation following. Local activism is still the key source of innovation in California.

The main hypotheses underlying this work are that current Chilean housing policy has contributed to processes of social and spatial exclusion, and that the already known phenomenon of "exclusion through housing" can also take place in Chile. Current Chilean housing policy is widely known for its success in providing affordable dwellings for most of the population, and therefore even promoted by international agencies such as the World Bank, as a system to be copied by other countries in the "south". Nevertheless, its quantitative approach has disregard its role in shaping social outcomes such as health problems, low education attainment, and delinquency, as well as other "intangibles" such as deprecate identity, low-self-esteem and lack of sense of belonging, among others. The principal assumption is that urban inequalities hamper social integration because prevent the equal access to urban opportunities for all citizens. In other words, part of the population is "excluded" from having equal access to economic, cultural or institutional privileges and benefits, goods and rights that are supposed to be recognised as "universal" in this society. This exclusion, on the other hand, is represented in the housing arena by the concept of "exclusion through housing". Yet, The main aim of this work is to explore the extent to which current Chilean housing policy affects urban spatial and social inequalities and, in particular, to find out whether the phenomenon of exclusion through housing is also taken place in the Chilean case. The main problems addressed by this study are the early physical and social decay of complete neighbourhoods, as well as the lack of policies aiming to upgrade these areas; with particular emphasis on neighbourhoods with three to four-storey estates that have been a result of the "Programa de Vivienda Básica" in the city of Santiago. To tackle these problems interpretative and analytical approaches are used. While the interpretative approach aims to understand which factors have determined the structure of the Chilean housing model, the analytical approach pursues to closely observe its impacts, results and its prospects of improvement. Therefore, besides of the revision of relevant literature and the development of a conceptual framework, this work confers special attention to both the interpretation of historical policies and the analysis of a concrete case study carried out in the city of Santiago, in three compounds of estates. The theoretical framework aims at developing parameters to interpret and analyse social and spatial exclusion in Chile, which can be applied methodologically through combined approaches. A first approach aims at reviewing the historical patterns of public interventions through housing policies in the city of Santiago, in order to interpret the shifts in paradigms, and the roots of social and spatial exclusion. A second approach is to analyse current housing policy and its implementation in the city of Santiago through the development and use of diverse indicators such access to infrastructure, distribution of poverty and physical aspects, among others. The third and final approach aims at closely observing and comparing three cases studies located in districts that should present different both differences and similarities. The analysis of these cases studies aims at evaluating both the factors that creates social and spatial exclusion as well as the possible main outcomes. As a result of this discussion and analysis the main conclusions are presented, as well as some interpretations and new insights. ; Resumen La principal hipótesis que subyace en este trabajo es que la actual política habitacional chilena ha contribuido a procesos de exclusión social y espacial y que el fenómeno ya conocido en Europa como "exclusión por medio de la vivienda" también puede encontrarse en países como Chile. La política de vivienda chilena vigente es mundialmente conocida por su éxito cuantitativo en la provisión masiva de viviendas baratas para la mayoría de la población, y por consiguiente incluso promovida por instituciones globales como el Banco Mundial como un modelo a ser copiado en otros países del "Sur". No obstante, el enfoque cuantitativo de dicha política ha ignorado su rol en la configuración también de impactos sociales negativos tales como problemas de salud, bajo rendimiento escolar y delincuencia tanto como otros intangibles como las identidades devaluadas, la baja autoestima y la falta de un sentido de pertenencia entre otros. El supuesto principal es que las inequidades urbanas amenazan la integración social porque impiden el acceso equitativo a las oportunidades urbanas para todos los ciudadanos. En otras palabras, parte de la población esta excluida de tener acceso a los privilegios y beneficios económicos, culturales e institucionales que se supone son reconocidos com,o universales en esa sociedad. Esa exclusión, por otra parte, se representa en la arena de la vivienda por el concepto de "exclusión por medio de la vivienda". Así, este trabajo busca explorar hasta que medida la política de vivienda chilena vigente afecta las inequidades espaciales y sociales y, en particular, verificar si el fenómeno de exclusión por medio de la vivienda está presente. Los principales problemas que abarca este estudio son la temprana decadencia de los barrios y conjuntos de vivienda social, así como la falta de políticas integrales que permitan mejorar esas áreas, en particular aquellos barrios de vivienda en media altura que han sido implementados a través del "Programa de Vivienda Básica" en la ciudad de Santiago. Para enfrentar esos problemas se usaron enfoques analíticos e interpretativos. Mientras el enfoque interpretativo busca entender que factores han determinado la estructura del modelo de vivienda chileno, el enfoque analítico persigue observar de cerca sus impactos, resultados y posibilidades de mejoramiento. Por ello, además de la revisión de literatura relevante y el desarrollo de un marco conceptual especifico, este trabajo pone especial atención en la interpretación de las políticas históricas y el análisis de tres casos de estudio concretos en la ciudad de Santiago. El marco conceptual apunta a desarrollar parámetros que permitan interpretar y analizar la exclusión espacial y social en Chile y que puedan ser aplicados metodológicamente a través de enfoques combinados. Un primer enfoque se orienta a la revisión de patrones históricos de la intervención pública en vivienda en la ciudad a fin de interpretar los principales hitos, los cambios de paradigma y los orígenes de la exclusión social y espacial. El segundo enfoque se centra en el análisis de la implementación de la política actual por medio de una serie de indicadores tales como la relación entre vivienda y la distribución de la pobreza, la infraestructura y el equipamiento en la ciudad. El tercer enfoque a combinar por su parte se focaliza en tres casos particulares que permitan una comparación a partir de sus diferencias y similitudes. Para terminar, este trabajo presenta algunas conclusiones finales así como algunas sugerencias y propuestas de interpretación

The history of German migration policies was a growth industry during the 1990s. The political battles of the present, such as asylum legislation, integration, and citizenship reform, created growing interest in the German historical experience of migration, migration controls and citizenship law. At the time, the only major work to tackle the subject was Klaus Bade's pioneering study of Prussian migration policies before the First World War, recently republished in an updated edition.[1] Initially, interest in German migration policies was guided largely by two leading questions. Histories of citizenship in Germany tended to adopt a long or a comparative perspective, which sought to test the hypothesis that German citizenship law and its implementation in practice reflected a particularly ethnic German conception of nationhood.[2] Histories of migration policy, by contrast, tended to focus on particular episodes in which a German tendency to view migrants primarily with regard to their usefulness, and not as potential immigrants and future citizens, clearly emerged, especially with regards to histories of the German Empire, the First World War, National Socialism, the Second World War and the post-war treatment of Gastarbeiter. The Weimar Republic, in contrast, was usually passed over in a few pages that highlighted the continuity of labor market control.[3] This state of affairs was remarkable because research on other countries highlighted the interwar period as an epoch of massive change in international migration policies. Race and ethnicity loomed larger than they had before, as indicated by the implementation of a quota system and barred zones in the United States. Moreover, with the First World War came the introduction of documentation requirements and the creation of labor-management bureaucracies that facilitated the distinction between citizens and aliens, as well as attempts to match labor supply to labor demand. Gérard Noiriel had even gone so far as to argue, largely with a view to migration and documentation policies, that the practices of Vichy had their roots in republican reforms of the late 1920s and 1930s.[4] Jochen Oltmer's magisterialHabilitationsschrift closes this gap all but completely. Based on a thorough reading of the archival record and contemporary public debate, his book shows that the transition from the politics of the First World War to the politics of National Socialism in the years of a labor shortage was more complicated previously assumed. He also highlights that migration policy was a field in which the Weimar Republic's problems emerged with particular poignancy. Oltmer's account is organized thematically rather than chronologically, though his subjects are arranged in the order in which they emerged as the main foci of internal administrative and public political debate. In the Weimar Republic's early years, these topics concerned ethnic Germans left outside the Empire's post-Versailles borders, prisoners of war and political refugees. In the later years, the position of migrant workers gained more prominence. While publicly committed to aiding fellow Germans, the republic's practice was ambivalent. The arrival of former residents of Alsace--mostly skilled workers in industries where labor was in demand, from a territory unlikely to be re-conquered soon--was welcome, but emigration of ethnic Germans from areas under Polish control was actively discouraged. The official view of these potential emigrants was less positive, their numbers were larger by several orders of magnitude and maintaining a visible German minority outside Germany's eastern borders seemed a good way to bolster the German case for a revision of the Treaty of Versailles. Migrants from Poland who could not prove they had been persecuted could therefore only expect accommodation in forbidding refugee camps in remote locations. As Oltmer's third chapter shows, this attitude also shaped the Weimar Republic's response to ethnic German emigration from Russia, which peaked during the famine years of the 1920s. Individual ethnicity was, therefore, not a dominant factor in the treatment of refugees; aliens of all ethnic backgrounds remained in a precarious position in the Weimar Republic, regardless of whether they were former prisoners of war who had opted to stay, or Jewish refugees from eastern and southeastern Europe who loomed relatively large in public debates or refugees from Soviet Russia. Ethnicity and race also loomed large in debates on the desirability of labor immigration. In general, the attitudes of state governments had more or less come full circle since the days of the empire. Whereas Prussia had been most concerned about the impact of Polish immigrants on national homogeneity before 1914, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg proved most rigid after 1919. However, the majority of migrant workers were interested in jobs in Prussia, in the industrial areas of the Ruhr and, more prominently, in the agricultural east, which continued to rely on the access to Polish labor markets, particularly for potato planting and harvesting. In theory, the states and the empire had a powerful new tool to control labor migration: the obligatory work permit, issued only if no German applicants could be found for a job. Things were, however, not so simple in practice. Political interest in ethnic homogeneity was equal to interest in increasing the supply of food, a goal that could only be achieved, East Elbian landowners claimed, if Polish seasonal workers remained available to German employers. Immigration was, however, regarded with distaste by the völkisch right, Prussia's conservative bureaucracy and the Social Democrats, who viewed Polish laborers as an obstacle to the long-overdue modernization of rural Prussia through mechanization and unionization. The solution, fixed quotas for migrant laborers set to decline every year, proved unworkable, as rural employers turned to undocumented laborers. Moreover, the German government did its bit to undermine respect for legality in immigration matters. Seeking to reimpose a de facto policy forcing Polish migrants to return home for part of the year to prevent their settlement in Poland, German officials came into conflict with Polish determination to cut the state's ties to long-term emigrants, and were frequently forced to aid migrants in clandestinely crossing the border, before an unequal agreement could be concluded with Poland in 1927 that confirmed the status of Polish workers as second-class migrants excluded from social insurance and subject to a forced return for part of the year. Oltmer's comprehensively documented study does more than simply fill a gap in existing research. He unearths a striking pattern to Weimar policies, which could be found in many other fields of policy and may contribute to explaining why successive Weimar governments had such a difficult time in gaining the population's respect. Public pronouncements frequently contradicted secret or semi-secret policies. Official quotas for foreign workers, for example, were unofficially raised and little attempt was made to sanction employers of undocumented workers. Such actions exposed the Republic to criticism from the right and created a climate in which even more restrictive National Socialist policies could acquire broad popular support. Oltmer's book thus treats a question at the center, not the periphery, of the Weimar years.

In this paper, we try to measure the impact of the changes in French bankruptcy law in the 19th century focusing on the behaviour of economic agents as users of bankruptcy law for the sake of finding the best solution to their economic problems. Debtors used bankruptcy law in order to minimize their debt level when facing difficulties in servicing it, but they had to convince their creditors and/or the courts of their good faith, and faced the adverse effects of bankruptcy on their reputation and on the smooth functioning of their business. Creditors used bankruptcy law in order to force their debtors to pay, if they could. Judges - who in the French system of specialized commercial courts were elected entrepreneurs - applied the law within a specific economic context (both a specific local context and at a specific moment in the business cycle) which could affect them. The first part of the paper presents the evolution of French bankruptcy law during the 19th century in its historical context. The second part briefly describes the theoretical model we use in order to understand the choices facing debtors and creditors in the face of financial distress. The last part proposes some major stylized facts concerning bankruptcies during that period (based on contemporary official statistics) and tries to understand their relationship with the legal evolution described before. ; Cet article propose une méthode pour évaluer l'impact des changements du droit des faillites sur l'économie en se concentrant sur le comportement des agents utilisant les dispositifs juridiques disponibles pour régler au mieux leurs difficultés. Les débiteurs utilisent le droit des faillites pour minimiser leur niveau de dette lorsqu'ils font face à des difficultés de paiement, mais doivent convaincre les créanciers et les tribunaux de leur bonne foi et anticipent les effets négatifs de la faillite sur leur réputation et sur la survie de leur entreprise. Les créanciers utilisent si nécessaire le droit pour forcer les débiteurs à payer, sachant ...

In this paper, we try to measure the impact of the changes in French bankruptcy law in the 19th century focusing on the behaviour of economic agents as users of bankruptcy law for the sake of finding the best solution to their economic problems. Debtors used bankruptcy law in order to minimize their debt level when facing difficulties in servicing it, but they had to convince their creditors and/or the courts of their good faith, and faced the adverse effects of bankruptcy on their reputation and on the smooth functioning of their business. Creditors used bankruptcy law in order to force their debtors to pay, if they could. Judges - who in the French system of specialized commercial courts were elected entrepreneurs - applied the law within a specific economic context (both a specific local context and at a specific moment in the business cycle) which could affect them. The first part of the paper presents the evolution of French bankruptcy law during the 19th century in its historical context. The second part briefly describes the theoretical model we use in order to understand the choices facing debtors and creditors in the face of financial distress. The last part proposes some major stylized facts concerning bankruptcies during that period (based on contemporary official statistics) and tries to understand their relationship with the legal evolution described before. ; Cet article propose une méthode pour évaluer l'impact des changements du droit des faillites sur l'économie en se concentrant sur le comportement des agents utilisant les dispositifs juridiques disponibles pour régler au mieux leurs difficultés. Les débiteurs utilisent le droit des faillites pour minimiser leur niveau de dette lorsqu'ils font face à des difficultés de paiement, mais doivent convaincre les créanciers et les tribunaux de leur bonne foi et anticipent les effets négatifs de la faillite sur leur réputation et sur la survie de leur entreprise. Les créanciers utilisent si nécessaire le droit pour forcer les débiteurs à payer, sachant que le recours aux tribunaux a des coûts. La première partie rappelle les grands traits de l'évolution du droit des faillites français au 19ème siècle dans son contexte ; la seconde partie propose un modèle théorique simple d'analyse des choix. La troisième propose de lire à la lumière de ce modèle et des changements législatifs quelques grands traits stylisés de l'évolution des faillites telle qu'elle est mesurée par les statistiques du Compte général de la Justice.

In this paper, we try to measure the impact of the changes in French bankruptcy law in the 19th century focusing on the behaviour of economic agents as users of bankruptcy law for the sake of finding the best solution to their economic problems. Debtors used bankruptcy law in order to minimize their debt level when facing difficulties in servicing it, but they had to convince their creditors and/or the courts of their good faith, and faced the adverse effects of bankruptcy on their reputation and on the smooth functioning of their business. Creditors used bankruptcy law in order to force their debtors to pay, if they could. Judges - who in the French system of specialized commercial courts were elected entrepreneurs - applied the law within a specific economic context (both a specific local context and at a specific moment in the business cycle) which could affect them. The first part of the paper presents the evolution of French bankruptcy law during the 19th century in its historical context. The second part briefly describes the theoretical model we use in order to understand the choices facing debtors and creditors in the face of financial distress. The last part proposes some major stylized facts concerning bankruptcies during that period (based on contemporary official statistics) and tries to understand their relationship with the legal evolution described before. ; Cet article propose une méthode pour évaluer l'impact des changements du droit des faillites sur l'économie en se concentrant sur le comportement des agents utilisant les dispositifs juridiques disponibles pour régler au mieux leurs difficultés. Les débiteurs utilisent le droit des faillites pour minimiser leur niveau de dette lorsqu'ils font face à des difficultés de paiement, mais doivent convaincre les créanciers et les tribunaux de leur bonne foi et anticipent les effets négatifs de la faillite sur leur réputation et sur la survie de leur entreprise. Les créanciers utilisent si nécessaire le droit pour forcer les débiteurs à payer, sachant que le recours aux tribunaux a des coûts. La première partie rappelle les grands traits de l'évolution du droit des faillites français au 19ème siècle dans son contexte ; la seconde partie propose un modèle théorique simple d'analyse des choix. La troisième propose de lire à la lumière de ce modèle et des changements législatifs quelques grands traits stylisés de l'évolution des faillites telle qu'elle est mesurée par les statistiques du Compte général de la Justice.

PRC railways have played a very important role in developing the national economy and in the country's industrial revolution. However, with increasing market access under WTO, PRC railways face competitive challenges in open access, pricing, reliability, service quality, and have corresponding opportunities to develop cooperative relationships. The challenges come from other modes of transport and from within the rail sector offering lower total costs, greater reliability, and better service quality.

In this paper, we try to measure the impact of the changes in French bankruptcy law in the 19th century focusing on the behaviour of economic agents as users of bankruptcy law for the sake of finding the best solution to their economic problems. Debtors used bankruptcy law in order to minimize their debt level when facing difficulties in servicing it, but they had to convince their creditors and/or the courts of their good faith, and faced the adverse effects of bankruptcy on their reputation and on the smooth functioning of their business. Creditors used bankruptcy law in order to force their debtors to pay, if they could. Judges - who in the French system of specialized commercial courts were elected entrepreneurs - applied the law within a specific economic context (both a specific local context and at a specific moment in the business cycle) which could affect them. The first part of the paper presents the evolution of French bankruptcy law during the 19th century in its historical context. The second part briefly describes the theoretical model we use in order to understand the choices facing debtors and creditors in the face of financial distress. The last part proposes some major stylized facts concerning bankruptcies during that period (based on contemporary official statistics) and tries to understand their relationship with the legal evolution described before. ; Cet article propose une méthode pour évaluer l'impact des changements du droit des faillites sur l'économie en se concentrant sur le comportement des agents utilisant les dispositifs juridiques disponibles pour régler au mieux leurs difficultés. Les débiteurs utilisent le droit des faillites pour minimiser leur niveau de dette lorsqu'ils font face à des difficultés de paiement, mais doivent convaincre les créanciers et les tribunaux de leur bonne foi et anticipent les effets négatifs de la faillite sur leur réputation et sur la survie de leur entreprise. Les créanciers utilisent si nécessaire le droit pour forcer les débiteurs à payer, sachant ...

In this paper, we try to measure the impact of the changes in French bankruptcy law in the 19th century focusing on the behaviour of economic agents as users of bankruptcy law for the sake of finding the best solution to their economic problems. Debtors used bankruptcy law in order to minimize their debt level when facing difficulties in servicing it, but they had to convince their creditors and/or the courts of their good faith, and faced the adverse effects of bankruptcy on their reputation and on the smooth functioning of their business. Creditors used bankruptcy law in order to force their debtors to pay, if they could. Judges - who in the French system of specialized commercial courts were elected entrepreneurs - applied the law within a specific economic context (both a specific local context and at a specific moment in the business cycle) which could affect them. The first part of the paper presents the evolution of French bankruptcy law during the 19th century in its historical context. The second part briefly describes the theoretical model we use in order to understand the choices facing debtors and creditors in the face of financial distress. The last part proposes some major stylized facts concerning bankruptcies during that period (based on contemporary official statistics) and tries to understand their relationship with the legal evolution described before. ; Cet article propose une méthode pour évaluer l'impact des changements du droit des faillites sur l'économie en se concentrant sur le comportement des agents utilisant les dispositifs juridiques disponibles pour régler au mieux leurs difficultés. Les débiteurs utilisent le droit des faillites pour minimiser leur niveau de dette lorsqu'ils font face à des difficultés de paiement, mais doivent convaincre les créanciers et les tribunaux de leur bonne foi et anticipent les effets négatifs de la faillite sur leur réputation et sur la survie de leur entreprise. Les créanciers utilisent si nécessaire le droit pour forcer les débiteurs à payer, sachant que le recours aux tribunaux a des coûts. La première partie rappelle les grands traits de l'évolution du droit des faillites français au 19ème siècle dans son contexte ; la seconde partie propose un modèle théorique simple d'analyse des choix. La troisième propose de lire à la lumière de ce modèle et des changements législatifs quelques grands traits stylisés de l'évolution des faillites telle qu'elle est mesurée par les statistiques du Compte général de la Justice.

In this paper, we try to measure the impact of the changes in French bankruptcy law in the 19th century focusing on the behaviour of economic agents as users of bankruptcy law for the sake of finding the best solution to their economic problems. Debtors used bankruptcy law in order to minimize their debt level when facing difficulties in servicing it, but they had to convince their creditors and/or the courts of their good faith, and faced the adverse effects of bankruptcy on their reputation and on the smooth functioning of their business. Creditors used bankruptcy law in order to force their debtors to pay, if they could. Judges - who in the French system of specialized commercial courts were elected entrepreneurs - applied the law within a specific economic context (both a specific local context and at a specific moment in the business cycle) which could affect them. The first part of the paper presents the evolution of French bankruptcy law during the 19th century in its historical context. The second part briefly describes the theoretical model we use in order to understand the choices facing debtors and creditors in the face of financial distress. The last part proposes some major stylized facts concerning bankruptcies during that period (based on contemporary official statistics) and tries to understand their relationship with the legal evolution described before. ; Cet article propose une méthode pour évaluer l'impact des changements du droit des faillites sur l'économie en se concentrant sur le comportement des agents utilisant les dispositifs juridiques disponibles pour régler au mieux leurs difficultés. Les débiteurs utilisent le droit des faillites pour minimiser leur niveau de dette lorsqu'ils font face à des difficultés de paiement, mais doivent convaincre les créanciers et les tribunaux de leur bonne foi et anticipent les effets négatifs de la faillite sur leur réputation et sur la survie de leur entreprise. Les créanciers utilisent si nécessaire le droit pour forcer les débiteurs à payer, sachant ...

In this paper, we try to measure the impact of the changes in French bankruptcy law in the 19th century focusing on the behaviour of economic agents as users of bankruptcy law for the sake of finding the best solution to their economic problems. Debtors used bankruptcy law in order to minimize their debt level when facing difficulties in servicing it, but they had to convince their creditors and/or the courts of their good faith, and faced the adverse effects of bankruptcy on their reputation and on the smooth functioning of their business. Creditors used bankruptcy law in order to force their debtors to pay, if they could. Judges - who in the French system of specialized commercial courts were elected entrepreneurs - applied the law within a specific economic context (both a specific local context and at a specific moment in the business cycle) which could affect them. The first part of the paper presents the evolution of French bankruptcy law during the 19th century in its historical context. The second part briefly describes the theoretical model we use in order to understand the choices facing debtors and creditors in the face of financial distress. The last part proposes some major stylized facts concerning bankruptcies during that period (based on contemporary official statistics) and tries to understand their relationship with the legal evolution described before. ; Cet article propose une méthode pour évaluer l'impact des changements du droit des faillites sur l'économie en se concentrant sur le comportement des agents utilisant les dispositifs juridiques disponibles pour régler au mieux leurs difficultés. Les débiteurs utilisent le droit des faillites pour minimiser leur niveau de dette lorsqu'ils font face à des difficultés de paiement, mais doivent convaincre les créanciers et les tribunaux de leur bonne foi et anticipent les effets négatifs de la faillite sur leur réputation et sur la survie de leur entreprise. Les créanciers utilisent si nécessaire le droit pour forcer les débiteurs à payer, sachant que le recours aux tribunaux a des coûts. La première partie rappelle les grands traits de l'évolution du droit des faillites français au 19ème siècle dans son contexte ; la seconde partie propose un modèle théorique simple d'analyse des choix. La troisième propose de lire à la lumière de ce modèle et des changements législatifs quelques grands traits stylisés de l'évolution des faillites telle qu'elle est mesurée par les statistiques du Compte général de la Justice.

PRC railways have played a very important role in developing the national economy and in the country's industrial revolution. However, with increasing market access under WTO, PRC railways face competitive challenges in open access, pricing, reliability, service quality, and have corresponding opportunities to develop cooperative relationships. The challenges come from other modes of transport and from within the rail sector offering lower total costs, greater reliability, and better service quality.