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In modern conditions, namely, in the transformational processes of managing defense resources, aimed at developing the capabilities of the armed forces, making managerial decisions in the organizational systems of military and civilian control, the method of expert assessment is widely used.The expert assessment method is the basis for the work of commissions to check the state of military and industrial facilities, their level of readiness and security, including on the rational allocation of resources, the use of economic opportunities, mobilization training, and the like. The expert assessment also retains its relevance for the future during research exercises, checking the combat and mobilization readiness and security of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, facilities and sectors of the national economy and other state institutions that ensure the national security of the state and its components - military and economic security. Over the years of application, the mechanisms of expert assessment have been thoroughly worked out, requirements have been formed for the procedure for selecting experts, their level of competence, assessment procedures, the procedure for processing the assessment results and other activities. However, in expert assessment it is assumed that all experts are certainly qualified and objective. And if there are subjective errors in their conclusions, then they are levelled out by increasing the number of experts and repetitions of expert evaluation procedures.At the same time, under any circumstances and conditions of expert assessment, the role of the "human factor" remains, in other words, the possibility of bias, corruption in the actions and assessments of experts is not excluded. Especially such factors are possible in the course of managing large material and financial resources, in the case of a limited number of experts. And the consequences of these factors can lead to the irrational use of material values, significant damage, including in the process of developing the capabilities of the armed forces, combat and mobilization readiness.Thus, when applying expert assessment, especially in measures to manage the distribution of large material and financial resources, the problem of a reliable examination of the results of expert assessment is urgent. Such an examination, preferably, in addition to being reliable, should not be cumbersome, expensive, simple, and accessible for practical use.In this paper, on the basis of the analysis of "mechanisms of reasonable control" developed in the theory of active systems, a mechanism for checking (examination) of the results of expert assessment is proposed. ; В современных условиях, а именно, в трансформационных процессах управления оборонными ресурсами, направленных на процесс развития способностей вооруженных сил, принятие управленческих решений в организационных системах военного и гражданского управления широко применяется метод экспертной оценки.Метод экспертной оценки положен в основу работы комиссий по проверке состояния военных и промышленных объектов, их уровня готовности и обеспеченности, в том числе по вопросам рационального распределения ресурсов, использование возможностей экономики, мобилизационной подготовки и тому подобное. Экспертная оценка сохраняет и на перспективу свою актуальность во время исследовательских учений, проверки боевой и мобилизационной готовности и обеспеченности ВС Украины, объектов и отраслей национальной экономики и других государственных институтов, обеспечивающих национальную безопасность государства и ее составляющих - военную и экономическую безопасность. За годы применения механизмы экспертной оценки тщательно отработаны, сформированы требования к порядку отбора экспертов, их уровня компетентности, процедур оценки, порядка обработки результатов оценки и других мероприятий. Однако при экспертном оценивании предполагается, что все эксперты, безусловно квалифицированные и, объективные. А если в их выводах есть субъективные погрешности, то они нивелируются за счет увеличения числа экспертов и повторений процедур экспертного оценивания.В то же время при любых обстоятельствах и условиях экспертного оценивания сохраняется роль "человеческого фактора", другими словами, не исключена возможность ангажированности, коррупционности в действиях и оценках экспертов. Особенно такие факторы возможные в ходе управления большими материальными и финансовыми ресурсами, в случае ограниченного количества экспертов. А последствия указанных факторов могут привести к нерациональному использованию материальных ценностей, значительный ущерб, в том числе в процессе развития способностей вооруженных сил, боевой и мобилизационной готовности.Таким образом, при применении экспертного оценивания, особенно в мероприятиях по управлению распределением больших материальных и финансовых ресурсов, актуальной является проблема достоверной экспертизы результатов экспертного оценивания. Такая экспертиза, желательно, кроме достоверности, должна быть не громоздкой, не дорогой, простой и доступной для практического использования.В данной работе, на основании анализа разработанных в теории активных систем "механизмов разумного управления" предлагается механизм проверки (экспертизы) результатов экспертного оценивания. ; В реаліях сьогодення, а саме в трансформаційних процесах управління оборонними ресурсами спрямованих на процес розвитку спроможностей збройних сил, прийняття управлінських рішень в організаційних системах військового та цивільного управління широко застосовується метод експертного оцінювання. Метод експертного оцінювання покладений в основу роботи комісій з перевірки стану військових і промислових об'єктів, їх рівня готовності і забезпеченості, у тому числі з питань раціонального розподілу ресурсів, використання можливостей економіки, мобілізаційної підготовки тощо. Експертне оцінювання зберігає і на перспективу свою актуальність під час дослідних навчань, перевірки бойової та мобілізаційної готовності і забезпеченості ЗС України, об'єктів і галузей національної економіки та інших державних інституцій, які забезпечують національну безпеку держави й її складових – воєнну та економічну безпеку. За роки застосування механізми експертного оцінювання ретельно відпрацьовані, сформовані вимоги до порядку відбору експертів, їх рівня компетентності, процедур оцінювання, порядку обробки результатів оцінювання та інших заходів. Однак при експертному оцінюванні передбачається, що всі експерти безумовно кваліфіковані, об'єктивні і незаангажовані. А якщо в їх висновках є суб'єктивні похибки, то вони нівелюються за рахунок збільшення числа експертів і повторень процедур експертного оцінювання.У той же час за будь-яких обставин і умов експертного оцінювання зберігається роль "людського фактора", тобто не виключена можливість заангажованості, недоброчесності, корупційності у діях і оцінках експертів. Особливо такі чинники можливі у ході управління великими матеріальними і фінансовими ресурсами, у разі обмеженої кількості експертів. А наслідки вказаних чинників можуть призвести до нераціонального використання матеріальних цінностей, значних збитків, у тому числі в процесі розвитку спроможностей збройних сил, бойової і мобілізаційної готовності. Таким чином, під час застосування експертного оцінювання, особливо у заходах щодо управління розподілом великих матеріальних і фінансових ресурсів, актуальною є проблема достовірної експертизи результатів експертного оцінювання. Така експертиза, бажано, крім достовірності, має бути ще й не громіздкою, не коштовною, а простою і доступною для практичного використання. В даній роботі, на підставі аналізу розроблених в теорії активних систем "механізмів розумного управління" пропонується механізм перевірки (експертизи) результатів експертного оцінювання.

Die vorliegende Dissertation umfasst drei Forschungspapiere, welche sich mit folgenden Bankenthemen beschäftigen: Fehl-/Anreize und Risikoübernahme, Ertragssteuerung und die Regulierung von Aufsichtsräten. "Do cooperative banks suffer from moral hazard behaviour? Evidence in the context of efficiency and risk": Wir verwenden Granger-Kausalitätstechniken, um die intertemporalen Beziehungen zwischen Risiko, Effizienz und Kapital zu bewerten. Wir verwenden zwei verschiedene Maße der Effizienz, die Kosten- und Gewinneffizienz, da diese unterschiedliche Managementfähigkeiten widerspiegeln. Eine ist die Fähigkeit, Kosten zu steuern, und die andere ist die Möglichkeit, Gewinne zu maximieren. Wir stellen fest, dass eine niedrigere Kosten- und Gewinneffizienz das Liquiditätsrisiko erhöht. Wir stellen ebenfalls fest, dass ein Anstieg des Kreditrisiko nachteilig für die Kosten und Gewinneffizienz ist. Am wichtigsten ist jedoch, dass unsere Ergebnisse eine positive Beziehung zwischen dem Kapital- und Kreditrisiko aufweisen, was zeigt, dass Moral Hazard Verhalten keine Anwendung (aufgrund von Haftungsbeschränkung und Einlagensicherung) bei unsere Stichprobe von Genossenschaftsbanken findet. Im Gegenteil, wir finden Hinweise darauf, dass Banken mit niedrigem Kapital ihre Kreditqualität in den Folgeperioden verbessern können. Diese Erkenntnisse können für die Regulierungsbehörden von Bedeutung sein, die bei der Einführung neuer regulatorischer Kapitalbeschränkungen die Geschäftsmodelle der Banken berücksichtigen sollten. "Earnings Management Modelling in the Banking Industry – Evaluating valuable approaches": Die Rechungslegungsforschung hat den Bereich Earnings Management (EM) für die nichtfinanzielle und finanzielle Industrie gesondert untersucht. Da EM nicht direkt beobachtet werden kann, ist es für jede Forschungsfrage in jedem Umfeld wichtig, einen überprüfbare Proxy-Größe für EM zu finden. Grundsätzlich fehlt jedoch ein tiefes Verständnis dafür, welche Regressoren den Schätzvorgang verbessern können. Diese Studie versucht, diese Lücke zu schließen, und analysiert vorhandene Modellspezifikationen für diskretionäre Risikovorsorgen im Bankensektor, um gemeinsame und spezifische Muster zu identifizieren. Hierfür verwenden wir einen US-Datensatz, bestehend aus den Jahren 2005-2015 und wenden gängige Testverfahren an, um das Ausmaß von Messfehlern, Verzerrungen aufgrund von Extrembeobachtungen und weggelassenen Variablen sowie die Vorhersagekraft der diskretionären Proxy-Größen zu untersuchen. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein gründliches Verständnis des methodischen Modellierungsprozesses von EM im Bankensektor wichtig ist. Die derzeit etablierten Modelle zur Schätzung des EM sind angemessen, jedoch optimierbar. Insbesondere identifizieren wir die Variablen der notleidenden Vermögenswerte als die wichtigste Gruppe, während Variablen der Risikovorsorge und Nettoausbuchungen einen gewissen Wert erbringen können. Darüber hinaus zeigen unsere Ergebnisse, dass die Nichtlinearität bestimmter Regressoren ein Problem sein kann, das in zukünftigen Untersuchungen angegangen werden sollte, während wir weiterhin einige ausgelassene und möglicherweise korrelierte Variablen identifizieren, die einen Mehrwert generieren könnten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen auch, dass ein dynamischer, endogenität berücksichtigender Ansatz nicht unbedingt mit einer besseren Vorhersagekraft verknüpft ist. "Board Regulation and its Impact on Composition and Effects – Evidence from German Cooperative Bank": In dieser Studie wird ein System-GMM-Schätzer verwendet, um die Auswirkungen möglicher regulatorischer Eingriffe auf die Besetzung von Aufsichtsratspositionen bei Genossenschaftsbanken zu untersuchen. Hierfür werden zwei verschiedene Untersuchungsdesigns angewandt. Zunächst untersucht der Autor die Änderungen der Aufsichtsratsstruktur vor und nach der Einführung des Gesetzes zur Stärkung der Finanzmarkt- und Versicherungsaufsicht (FinVAG). Zweitens schätzt der Autor den Einfluss von Doktoren und beruflicher Konzentration auf Änderungen des Bankrisikos unter Berücksichtigung der Umsetzung der FinVAG. Die untersuchte Stichprobe umfasst dabei 246 deutsche Genossenschaftsbanken in den Jahren von 2006 bis 2011. Bezüglich des Bankrisikos verwendet der Autor vier verschiedene Maße: das Kredit-, Kapital-, Liquiditätsrisiko und den Z-Score, wobei die ersten drei ebenfalls im FinVAG adressiert werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Umsetzung des FinVAGs zu strukturellen Änderungen in der Zusammensetzung der Aufsichtsräte führt, insbesondere auf Kosten der Landwirte. Darüber hinaus wirkt sich die Umsetzung risikoreduzierend und damit wie beabsichtigt auf alle Risikokennzahlen und Beziehungen zwischen Risikokennzahlen und Aufsichtsratsmerkmalen aus. Um die komplexe Beziehung zwischen Charakteristika der Aufsichtsräte und Risikomessgrößen aufzudecken, verwendet die Studie einen "two-step system-gmm" Schätzer, um nicht beobachtete Heterogenität zu berücksichtigen, um Endogenitätsprobleme zu reduzieren. Die Ergebnisse können für Stakeholder, Aufsichtsbehörden, Vorgesetzte und Manager besonders relevant sein. ; The present dissertation includes three research papers dealing with the following banking topics: (dis-) incentives and risk taking, earnings management and the regulation of supervisory boards. "Do cooperative banks suffer from moral hazard behaviour? Evidence in the context of efficiency and risk": We use Granger-causality techniques to evaluate the intertemporal relationships among risk, efficiency and capital. We use two different measures of bank efficiency, i.e., cost and profit efficiency, since these measures reflect different managerial abilities. One is the ability to manage costs, and the other is the ability to maximize profits. We find that lower cost and profit efficiency Granger-cause increases in liquidity risk. We also identify that credit risk negatively Granger-causes cost and profit efficiency. Most importantly, our results show a positive relationship between capital and credit risk, thus displaying that moral hazard (due to limited liability and deposit insurance) does not apply to our sample of cooperative banks. On the contrary, we find evidence that banks with low capital are able to improve their loan quality in subsequent periods. These findings may be important to regulators, who should consider banks' business models when introducing new regulatory capital constraints. "Earnings Management Modelling in the Banking Industry – Evaluating valuable approaches": Accounting research has separately studied the field of Earnings Management (EM) for non-financial and financial industries. Since EM cannot be observed directly, it is important for every research question in any setting to find a verifiable proxy for EM. However, we still lack a thorough understanding of what regressors can add value to the estimation process of EM in banks. This study tries to close this gap and analyses existing model specifications of discretionary loan loss provisions (LLP) in the banking sector to identify common pattern groups and specific patterns used. Thereupon, we use an US-dataset from 2005-2015 and apply prevalent test procedures to examine the extent of measurement errors, extreme performance and omitted-variable biases and predictive power of the discretionary proxies of each of the models. Our results indicate that a thorough understanding about the methodological modelling process of EM in the banking industry is important. The currently established models to estimate EM are appropriate yet optimizable. In particular, we identify non-performing asset patterns as the most important group, while loan loss allowances and net charge offs can add some value, though do not seem to be indispensable. In addition, our results show that non-linearity of certain regressors can be an issue, which should be addressed in future research, while we identify some omitted and possibly correlated variables that might add value to specifications in identifying non-discretionary LLP. Results also indicate that a dynamic model and endogeneity robust estimation approach is not necessarily linked to better prediction power. "Board Regulation and its Impact on Composition and Effects – Evidence from German Cooperative Bank": This study employs a system GMM framework to examine the impact of potential regulatory intervention regarding the occupations of supervisory board members in cooperative banks. To achieve insights the study proceeds in two different ways. First, the author investigates the changes in board structure prior and following to the German Act to Strengthen Financial Market and Insurance Supervision (FinVAG). Second, the author estimates the influence of Ph.D. degree holders and occupational concentration on bank-risk changes in consideration of the implementation of FinVAG. Therefore, the sample consists of 246 German cooperative banks from 2006-2011. Regarding bank-risk the author applies four different measures: credit-, equity-, liquidity-risk and the Z-Score, with the former three also being addressed in FinVAG. Results indicate that the implementation of FinVAG results in structural changes in board composition, especially at the expense of farmers. In addition, the implementation affects all risk-measures and relations between risk-measures and supervisory board characteristics in a risk-reducing and therefore intended way. To disentangle the complex relationship between board characteristics and risk measures the study utilizes a two-step system GMM estimator to account for unobserved heterogeneity, and simultaneity in order to reduce endogeneity problems. The findings may be especially relevant for stakeholders, regulators, supervisors and managers.

Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits that humans derive from ecosystems. Among the different approaches developed to assess ES, the capacity matrix is flexible and quick to implement. The matrix is a look-up table that assigns each ecosystem type a score expressing its ES capacity. It is increasingly used in France, Europe and internationally. However, for a filling-in process based on experts' judgements, recommendations are needed on collecting and integrating the experts' knowledge to improve control of some of the method's biases and limitations. The first part describes a methodological analysis of the potential and limits of the expert- based matrix. We studied the number of participants required to complete the matrix, analysed variability and determined a confidence index. We compared three approaches to estimate the score means and standard errors: usual statistics, bootstrapping, and Bayesian models. We proposed a seven-step methodology for the expert-based matrix approach to promote cogency in the method and coherence in the matrices produced. Finally, we compared the scores of seven services in the expert matrix with eight spatial quantitative biophysical indicators at the scale of the Hauts-de-France Region. We show that using expert knowledge through the matrix approach yields results very close to those from quantitative proxies, indicators or biophysical models for the evaluation of ES at the regional level. In the second part, we assess the capacity of all the habitats of the Hauts-de-France Region to produce ES. We tested, in partnership with DREAL and the Ecosphere design office, the integration of ES into environmental assessments based on the matrix results. Findings show the usefulness of integrating ES into the existing components of environmental assessments in France. We addressed the assessment of the sustainability of ES use in the Scarpe-Escaut Regional Natural Park (RNP). We assessed the biophysical sustainability of ecosystem uses through the balance of capacity and use of services and their relation to ecological integrity indicators. We thus developed a capacity matrix and a usage matrix and validation of the results in a feedback workshop and an online survey. On the Scarpe-Escaut RNP, we found a majority of positive situations, indicating sustainability. We also highlight sensitive and potentially unsustainable ecosystem types and ES to integrate them into public policies. The third part addresses the need for a more integrative assessment of ES and a fuller account of the relation between humans and nature. Here we focused on the assessment of ecosystem disservices and on the concept of ecological integrity as a complement to ES. We show that the use of capacity matrices is also relevant for the assessment of disservices. Although we initiate a conceptual and bibliographical reflection on ecological integrity, we cannot yet assess ecological integrity based on appropriate indicators. However, we highlight the importance of clearly defining the desired form of ecological integrity to use appropriate indicators. This work clarifies the methodology of the matrix approach, proposes innovative methodological developments and moves towards an integrative approach of ES to respond to territorial issues with scientific robustness. ; Les services écosystémiques (SE) sont définis comme les bénéfices que les humains retirent des écosystèmes. Parmi les différentes approches d'évaluation des SE, la matrice de capacité est une méthode considérée comme flexible et rapide à mettre en oeuvre. Constituée d'une table d'allocation d'un score pour chaque SE et chaque écosystème considéré, elle est de plus en plus utilisée en France, ainsi qu'à l'international. Dans le cadre de cette thèse nous avons travaillés sur l'évaluation des scores à dire d'experts dans le but, notamment, de déterminer certains biais et limites méthodologiques, mais également d'explorer des développements innovants pour différentes applications. La première partie de la thèse porte sur l'analyse méthodologique des potentialités et des limites des matrices de capacité à dire d'experts. Nous avons étudié la variabilité, les indices de confiance, ainsi que le nombre de participants nécessaires pour remplir la matrice. De plus, nous avons comparé plusieurs calculs du score final de la matrice en utilisant des statistiques classiques, bootstrappées et des estimations bayésiennes. Nous avons ensuite développé une méthodologie en sept points pour produire des matrices basées sur les connaissances d'experts et clarifier les différentes façons de remplir la matrice. Enfin, nous avons comparé les scores de sept services de la matrice à dire d'experts à huit indicateurs biophysiques quantitatifs à l'échelle de la Région Hauts-de-France. Les résultats montrent que l'utilisation des connaissances des experts par le biais de l'approche des matrices permet de disposer de résultats proches des proxys quantitatifs ou des modèles biophysiques pour l'évaluation des SE au niveau régional. En deuxième partie, en partenariat avec la DREAL nous avons réalisé une évaluation de la capacité de l'ensemble des habitats de la Région Hauts-de-France à produire des SE. Puis, en partenariat avec la DREAL et le bureau d'étude Écosphère, nous avons testé l'intégration des SE dans les évaluations environnementales à partir des résultats de la matrice. Nous avons également testé l'évaluation de la durabilité de l'usage en SE sur le Parc Naturel Régional (PNR) Scarpe-Escaut à travers la balance entre la capacité et l'usage des services ainsi que leur relation avec des indicateurs de l'intégrité écologique. Dans ce but, nous avons élaboré une matrice des capacités et une des usages, une validation des résultats de la balance lors d'un atelier de restitution et une enquête en ligne. Sur le PNR Scarpe-Escaut, le bilan montre une majorité de situations positives, indiquant un usage durable. Nous avons aussi mis en avant les types d'écosystèmes et les SE sensibles et susceptibles d'être non durables pour les intégrer aux politiques publiques. La troisième partie est basée sur une volonté d'aller vers une méthode plus intégrative au niveau territorial pour prendre en compte plusieurs dimensions de la relation Homme-Nature. Pour cela, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'évaluation des disservices écosystémiques et de l'intégrité écologique en complément des SE eux-mêmes. Bien que nous ayons initié des travaux et notamment une réflexion conceptuelle et bibliographique sur la notion d'intégrité écologique, nous n'avons pas pu aller jusqu'à l'évaluation de l'intégrité écologique sur la base d'indicateurs ad-hoc. Nos résultats mettent notamment en avant l'importance de définir clairement la forme d'intégrité écologique souhaitée pour utiliser des indicateurs appropriés. En conclusion, les travaux réalisés pendant la thèse ont permis de clarifier la méthodologie des matrices à dire d'experts, de proposer des développements méthodologiques innovants et de tendre vers une approche intégrative des services pour répondre aux problématiques territoriales avec une robustesse scientifique.

The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) aims at the conservation of migratory waterbird populations through the joint production of knowledge, collaborative and sustainable management. Within this framework the RESSOURCE project (Strengthen Southern Sahara Expertise on Birds and their Rational Use for Communities and their Environment) funded by FAO, EU and FFEM was developed. The aim of the project is to improve the knowledge on waterbirds and their using in order to promote a better management of the waterbird populations and habitats on the following sites: the Senegal River Delta (Senegal), Inner Niger Delta (Mali), Lakes Chad and Fitri (Chad), the Nile Delta and Nasser Lake (Egypt) and the Khor Abu Habil (Sudan). Component 3 of the project focus on the using of waterbirds for which there is little or no data available about ecotourism, sport-hunting, recreation, food or commercial hunting. Our aim is to address the local and national socio-economic impacts of these sectors. Therefore, to strengthen the conservation of waterbirds and Sahelien wetlands, the project aims to build national observatories. Indeed, defined as information systems, they facilitate shared understanding of the issues, participate in decision-making, promote collective and coherent actions, organize the management of information flows and their links to actions. This information is derived from the data collected according to a series of indicators generated by this same collection process. Thus, facilitating such collection also facilitates the creation of these observatories. New technologies and social networks are now considered effective tools for conservation. They can contribute significantly to the collection and sharing of data in real time. Today, there are a number of free and open tools used for species conservation against illegal wildlife trade (Traffic 2017). Experiments have shown that SMS may be limited in terms of collection and transfer of complex information (Le Bel, Chavernac et al. 2014). It is therefore necessary to choose the most suitable technology for the production of direct data in real time. To meet our objectives of observatory building, of managing complex data and information flows for sharing, for decision-making and collective action, we turned to OpenDataKit system with KoboToolBox and its KoBoCollect Android smartphone application developed by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and OCHA (Kreutzer 2014). The tool responds to the following 4 main actions: i/ Collecting field data on a smartphone, ii/ Centralizing the data on the Internet platform, iii/ Analyzing the data (automatic pre-analysis and downloading to spreadsheet) and iv/ Giving back data to the field. This tool does not require any qualification or advanced technical knowledge. It can be used in areas not covered by the internet because once collected the data is stored in the smartphone. When the investigator finds internet access he can send this data by synchronization to the platform. Previously used for inter-stakeholder study and decision-making projects on human-wildlife conflict mitigation (LeBel, Chavernac et al. 2016) we benefit from the experiences and advice of a growing 'community'. Likewise, since the project is long-term, it aims at the transfer and appropriation by national scientific, administrative and citizen actors of this digital tool, which can improve consultation and decision-making. The use of KoBoCollect involves a 3 step process. Following a first exploratory survey in November 2016, we were able to identify socio-cultural, economic, legal indicators and logistical constraints (in particular the fear of speaking and contradictory speeches) and design a first questionnaire. During the second phase of coconstruction in January 2017 with the national consultants, a questionnaire with 5 themes and two entry points on waterbird utilization, trade and consumption was tested in order to design the survey. The third step was to develop an electronic form under KoBoCollect, to test it for improvement and to train the team of enumerators to a digital note taking. The survey in Lakes Chad and Fitri took place in 20 villages (360 interviews) from 5th March to 9th April 2017. Information collected aims at testing hypotheses on the following behaviors: food choice, food access, income, leisure and pleasure. We collect quantitative and qualitative data through a set of questions focusing on the multi-uses of waterbirds in these territories. Additional questions were added on stakeholders' perceptions and knowledge of wetlands, waterbirds, migration, legislation and hunting. The first Chadian data is currently stored on the KoBoToolbox site and nearly ready for analyzing. The innovation within this socio-economic, socio-cultural and cognitive survey protocol is the use of the KoBoCollect as a co-production tool. Thus, the use of this numerical digital interface tool has several advantages: speed of access to collected data and its sharing, standardization of qualitative data for statistical analysis and pre-analysis carried out on the storage platform of KoBoToolbox, compilation and creation of database, remote access and data sharing and finally solution sharing by the "KoBoToolbox community". In this way, it could constitute the first step to the observatory building. Because of these facilities and by attempting to minimize bias of protocol change, we can improve the collection with the investigators in a more reactive way during the process. This saves time and meets scientific and financial objectives. Also, the consultants' appropriation took place quickly and did not encounter any specific problems, even if they mentioned navigational difficulties within the digital questionnaire, as we might do in an interview with a paper questionnaire and handwritten notes. Similarly, the challenge of collecting qualitative, literal and complex data with a digital interface remains to be considered. Thus, field tests have enabled us to identify important points to optimize and improve the tool whenever possible. For the moment these points concern computer bugs and correspondence of the environment between the website and the smartphones. Since the African continent has a high level of mobile penetration and the highest mobile growth rate (Aker and Mbiti 2010), this type of mobile data collection system could be an efficient tool for strengthening the monitoring and management of natural resources in terms of speed and accession. However, in order that these gains not to be unnecessary, the choice of such a tool must take into account: knowledge of the terrain and its constraints (energy, internet coverage and GSM), co-construction of the questionnaire, standardization of the data collection, numerous field tests, a simplified questionnaire for simplified navigation within the application, the relationship between time passed on direct digitization of data and time passed in preparation and digital collection.

Human reasoning research using probability problem tasks offer a novel and exciting approach to understanding executive function impairments from a new perspective, such as with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is widely associated with lowered academic performance thought to arise from executive function deficits relating to inhibition, impulsivity, and attention.1 A wealth of research in executive function tasks and neurobiological fMRI studies cite impairments with executive inhibitory control as the origin of cognitive and behavioural deficits associated with ADHD.2,3,4 By integrating research from cognitive psychology on the science of reasoning, together with knowledge of ADHD and educational psychology, this research may offer new insight into the cognitive mechanisms of executive function impairments, such as with ADHD, to better prepare educators to instruct the 5% of children diagnosed with ADHD.5 Individuals typically implement a narrow range of procedural heuristics to simplify the process of problem-solving and decision-making, rather than systematically analyzing a problem through tedious rule-based approaches.6 Heuristic short-cuts are often based on prior experiences or beliefs that, while crucial to human survival, may sometimes be erroneous in nature.7,8 According to one account of dual process theories (DPT), our early judgments are considered to be drawn from fast, experiential, intuitive processes that conform to a belief bias (or the tendency to judge conclusions according to belief, regardless of validity).9 A central feature of these faster reasoning processes is autonomy; thus, beliefs generate a rapid default response, regardless of need, which must be suppressed for deeper analysis.10 Slower secondary processes enable analytic judgments that are effortful and taxing on working memory.11 As analytic reasoning must be deliberately engaged to override the quicker belief-based appraisals, it is assumed that slower logical evaluations do not interfere with intuitive responses. However, the autonomously produced and faster belief-based judgments are able to interfere with slower, more rational thinking operations.12This master's research examined and compared the reasoning abilities of university educated adults with and without ADHD. Both groups solved 24 base-rate problems in free time that asked for the likelihood of group membership for an individual (e.g., what is the likelihood that Paul is a doctor?) when offered two pieces of conflicting information: salient base-rates (3 doctors vs. 997 nurses) and a luring, but opposing, stereotypical description (Paul lives in a beautiful home in a posh suburb, is well spoken, interested in politics, and invests a lot of time in his career). The task was coupled with an instructional manipulation that asked reasoners to respond either with beliefs (cued by the stereotypical description) or to respond statistically by way of presented base-rates. For 12 randomly generated problems, base-rates and descriptions conflicted, cueing opposing judgements. Another 12 randomly generated problems had matching base-rates and descriptions that cued identical judgements. ADHD is broadly associated difficulties in inattention and impulsivity thought to originate from primordial deficits of executive inhibition.13 Thus, it was expected that ADHD participants would perform poorly on conflict problems when deciding with statistics, as inhibitory control is required to suppress the autonomously produced intuitive response derived from beliefs. It was very surprising to observe that ADHD reasoners were superior to controls at judging with statistics and on par with controls when deciding with beliefs. This is both startling and counterintuitive, considering ADHD is predominantly linked to difficulties in inhibition, attention to necessary tasks, and using working memory effectively.14, 15, 16The literature supporting disinhibition theories of ADHD is solid, and yet ADHD participants did not demonstrate poorer reasoning abilities on a base-rate task widely assumed to require inhibitory control. This leads to the conclusion that perhaps base-rate problems do not measure inhibitory control, as is assumed.17 The fact that both groups were better at reasoning with statistics relative to beliefs challenges the assumption that base-rate processing even requires deeper analytic processing. It may be that humans have a probabilistic intuition for processing base-rates spontaneously; 18 thus, suppression of an early, yet unfavourable response is not required. A second finding is that ADHD reasoners were on par with controls in solving problems with beliefs. This reveals that ADHD reasoners are just as capable of encoding lengthy and ambiguous information as their non-ADHD peers, despite recognized cognitive deficits. The third and most important finding is that ADHD reasoners were significantly better than controls when solving base-rate problems with statistics. This unexpected result raises the question of why this pattern emerged for ADHD thinkers. One hypothesis is that ADHD thinkers implemented a cost-effective cognitive strategy when clear, salient numerical information (base-rates) was offered that could be easily extracted for problem-solving. This strategy, however, was ineffective when resolving problems under the belief instruction that entailed the decoding of lengthy descriptive information.The hypothesis of strategy use by ADHD reasoners was confirmed by comparing response latencies for both groups. For conflict problems, both groups required similarly longer response latencies to resolve problems with beliefs as compared to statistics. This corroborates that solving with statistics was easier than with beliefs, which contradicts serial models of DPTs. However, when solving non-conflict problems with beliefs – a task that should have been relatively easy as base-rates and descriptions cue the same response – the ADHD group required significantly more time than controls. This clearly evidences that ADHD participants have developed cost-efficient problem-solving strategy when clear, salient information is offered that can be easily extracted to solve the problem. However, they misapply this strategy to non-conflict problems when simple shortcuts could be used much more effectively. The over-application of this strategy on non-conflict problems resulted in longer latencies for the more difficult belief instruction.The results evidence that ADHD university students are able to implement problem-solving strategies to overcome cognitive deficits when salient and easily extractable information is presented. This finding is vital for developing effective pedagogies relating to classroom instruction for students with ADHD. However, students must also be educated on the appropriate application of these strategies. Further comparative investigations related to ADHD and reasoning are vital to better understand the capacity for strategic learning in individuals with ADHD, leading to better more informed instructional approaches.

BACKGROUND: Timely assessment of the burden of HIV/AIDS is essential for policy setting and programme evaluation. In this report from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 (GBD 2015), we provide national estimates of levels and trends of HIV/AIDS incidence, prevalence, coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ART), and mortality for 195 countries and territories from 1980 to 2015. METHODS: For countries without high-quality vital registration data, we estimated prevalence and incidence with data from antenatal care clinics and population-based seroprevalence surveys, and with assumptions by age and sex on initial CD4 distribution at infection, CD4 progression rates (probability of progression from higher to lower CD4 cell-count category), on and off antiretroviral therapy (ART) mortality, and mortality from all other causes. Our estimation strategy links the GBD 2015 assessment of all-cause mortality and estimation of incidence and prevalence so that for each draw from the uncertainty distribution all assumptions used in each step are internally consistent. We estimated incidence, prevalence, and death with GBD versions of the Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) and Spectrum software originally developed by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). We used an open-source version of EPP and recoded Spectrum for speed, and used updated assumptions from systematic reviews of the literature and GBD demographic data. For countries with high-quality vital registration data, we developed the cohort incidence bias adjustment model to estimate HIV incidence and prevalence largely from the number of deaths caused by HIV recorded in cause-of-death statistics. We corrected these statistics for garbage coding and HIV misclassification. FINDINGS: Global HIV incidence reached its peak in 1997, at 3·3 million new infections (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 3·1-3·4 million). Annual incidence has stayed relatively constant at about 2·6 million per year (range 2·5-2·8 million) since 2005, after a period of fast decline between 1997 and 2005. The number of people living with HIV/AIDS has been steadily increasing and reached 38·8 million (95% UI 37·6-40·4 million) in 2015. At the same time, HIV/AIDS mortality has been declining at a steady pace, from a peak of 1·8 million deaths (95% UI 1·7-1·9 million) in 2005, to 1·2 million deaths (1·1-1·3 million) in 2015. We recorded substantial heterogeneity in the levels and trends of HIV/AIDS across countries. Although many countries have experienced decreases in HIV/AIDS mortality and in annual new infections, other countries have had slowdowns or increases in rates of change in annual new infections. INTERPRETATION: Scale-up of ART and prevention of mother-to-child transmission has been one of the great successes of global health in the past two decades. However, in the past decade, progress in reducing new infections has been slow, development assistance for health devoted to HIV has stagnated, and resources for health in low-income countries have grown slowly. Achievement of the new ambitious goals for HIV enshrined in Sustainable Development Goal 3 and the 90-90-90 UNAIDS targets will be challenging, and will need continued efforts from governments and international agencies in the next 15 years to end AIDS by 2030. ; Funding: We thank the countless individuals who have contributed to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2015 in various capacities. We specifically thank Jeffrey Eaton and John Stover. HW and CJLM received funding for this study from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health (NIH; R01MH110163); and the National Institute on Aging, NIH (P30AG047845). LJAR acknowledges the support of Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP 04-924-3-251) who provided the main funding for generating the data provided to the GBD-Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation effort. BPAQ acknowledges institutional support from PRONABEC (National Program of Scholarship and Educational Loan), provided by the Peruvian government. DB is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (grant number OPP1068048). JDN was supported in his contribution to this work by a Fellowship from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal (SFRH/BPD/92934/2013). KD is supported by a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine (grant number 099876). TF received financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF; project number P300P3-154634). AG acknowledges funding from Sistema Nacional de Investigadores de Panama-SNI. PJ is supported by Wellcome Trust-DBT India Alliance Clinical and Public Health Intermediate Fellowship. MK receives research support from the Academy of Finland, the Swedish Research Council, Alzheimerfonden, Alzheimer's Research & Prevention Foundation, Center for Innovative Medicine (CIMED) at Karolinska Institutet South Campus, AXA Research Fund, Wallenberg Clinical Scholars Award from the Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Foundation, and the Sheika Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation. AK's work was supported by the Miguel Servet contract financed by the CP13/00150 and PI15/00862 projects, integrated into the National R&D&I and funded by the ISCIII (General Branch Evaluation and Promotion of Health Research), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF-FEDER). SML is funded by a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinician Scientist Fellowship (grant number NIHR/CS/010/014). HJL reports grants from the NIHR, EU Innovative Medicines Initiative, Centre for Strategic & International Studies, and WHO. WM is Program analyst, Population and Development, in the Peru Country Office of the United Nations Population Fund, which does not necessarily endorse this study. For UOM, funding from the German National Cohort Consortium (O1ER1511D) is gratefully acknowledged. KR reports grants from NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, NIHR Career Development Fellowship, and Oxford Martin School during the conduct of the study. GR acknowledges that work related to this paper has been done on the behalf of the GBD Genitourinary Disease Expert Group supported by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN). ISS reports grants from FAPESP (Brazilian public agency). RSS receives institutional support from Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales, UDCA, Bogota Colombia. SS receives postdoctoral funding from the Fonds de la recherche en sante du Quebec (FRSQ), including its renewal. RTS was supported in part by grant number PROMETEOII/2015/021 from Generalitat Valenciana and the national grant PI14/00894 from ISCIII-FEDER. PY acknowledges support from Strategic Public Policy Research (HKU7003-SPPR-12).

Le caratteristiche del paesaggio sono legate all'eterogeneità ambientale e funzionale di natura, agricoltura, insediamenti e attività antropiche, in grado, col loro fraseggio territoriale, di originare mosaici peculiari e mutevoli nel tempo. In seguito alla rivoluzione industriale, il sottile equilibrio che regolava il rapporto di coevoluzione uomo-natura si è decisamente inclinato a favore di una società alla continua ricerca e conquista di nuovi spazi, tanto che attualmente circa il 75% delle terre emerse presenta alterazioni per effetto della presenza antropica. Il principale fattore che determina le dinamiche di trasformazione del paesaggio e dei suoi processi di funzionamento, è dunque l'uso del suolo, le cui modifiche alterano la fisionomia della copertura biofisica del suolo, influenzando i processi ecologici alla base della fornitura di beni e servizi di supporto alla vita ed al benessere umano. Il presente lavoro è strutturato in tre parti riguardanti: a) il monitoraggio dei cambiamenti d'uso e copertura del suolo; b) la valutazione degli impatti sull'erogazione di servizi ecosistemici; c) le implicazioni di tali valutazioni per la pianificazione del territorio. Lo studio dei cambiamenti d'uso e copertura del suolo è stato basato principalmente sull'utilizzo dell'Inventario dell'Uso delle Terre d'Italia (IUTI). Lo sviluppo di nuove metodologie di monitoraggio ha consentito di aumentarne il potenziale informativo e l'applicabilità nell'ambito della pianificazione territoriale, pur rispondendo a criteri di economicità ed accuratezza. L'analisi di dettaglio dei cambiamenti d'uso e copertura del suolo in ambienti particolari quali quelli montani e dei Parchi Nazionali, ha inoltre consentito di caratterizzare in maniera analitica i principali fenomeni occorsi in Italia negli ultimi 20 anni, tra cui:  la perdita di superfici agricole, sia seminativi che prati e pascoli;  l'espansione della superficie forestale;  l'espansione della superficie urbana. L'approccio multidisciplinare adottato ha inoltre consentito la migliore comprensione delle cause di tali modificazioni, le possibili traiettorie future e le conseguenti ricadute sulla pianificazione e politiche territoriali. La seconda parte del lavoro ha riguardato la quantificazione dei servizi ecosistemici, in particolare la capacità di fissazione della CO2, e la loro variazione in risposta a strategie migliorative legate ad esempio alla gestione forestale, o di fenomeni altamente impattanti quale l'espansione delle aree urbane. È stato dimostrato come tali valutazioni consentano di meglio bilanciare le analisi costi-benefici legate a progetti, piani e politiche, offrendo quindi una concreta opportunità di riconciliare le necessità dell'uomo alle reali capacità degli ecosistemi naturali in un'ottica di sviluppo sostenibile. La possibilità di attribuire un valore alle risorse naturali comporta nuove sfide e prospettive legate alla loro gestione, che vanno dalla valutazione degli effetti delle passate politiche, alla proposizione di modelli di sviluppo innovativi sempre più basati sulle effettive peculiarità dei territori e sulle necessità di chi in essi vive. In un quadro complesso di cambiamenti ed implicazioni più o meno dirette sull'ambiente e sul benessere umano come quello analizzato, è di primaria importanza la disponibilità di dati e modelli facilmente aggiornabili in grado di descrivere tali processi e permettere la creazione di scenari futuri di supporto ai decision makers pubblici e privati in sede di pianificazione e progettazione. Quella che potrebbe oggi apparire come una scelta legata a particolari sensibilità o a questioni di marketing per amministratori illuminati, imprese o comuni cittadini, è ormai chiaro che dovrà rappresentare il futuro modus operandi. ; The environmental and functional heterogeneity of nature, agriculture, settlements and other anthropogenic activities, influences landscape characteristics and their changes over time. After the industrial Revolution, the precarious equilibrium which regulated the co-evolutionary process between man and nature, has decidedly leaned in favor of a society which is continuously in search of new spaces to be explored and inhabited. In fact, currently, about 75% of emerged lands shows evidence of human alterations. The main factor determining changes in landscape and its functional processes is the land use. Land use change alters the biophysical coverage of soil, thus influencing ecological processes which provide goods and services supporting Life and human wellbeing. The present work is composed of three sections focused on: I) land use and land cover change monitoring; II) impact on ecosystem services assessment; II) evaluate their implications on land use policies and planning. Land use and land cover change analysis were performed using data from the Italian Land Use Inventory (IUTI). The development of new monitoring approaches allowed for the enhancement of the informative power of IUTI maintaining its low cost and high accuracy characteristics, thus encouraging its implementation in decision making processes. The detailed analysis of land use and land cover change in particular contexts like mountain landscapes and National Parks, allowed for the characterization of the main phenomena occurred in Italy during the past 20 years, among which:  loss of arable lands, grasslands and pastures;  forest expansion;  urban growth. We adopted a multidisciplinary approach to better understand the causes of these modifications, their possible future trajectories and implications for land use policies and planning. The second part of this study focused on the assessment of ecosystem services, particularly carbon storage and sequestration, and their changes in response to positive or negative influences, such as forest management and urban growth, respectively. The assessment of impacts on ecosystem services may help to reconcile the historical bias between nature and human, through improving and completing the costs-benefits analysis related to particular choices, policies, plans and projects. Therefore, it will play an important role supporting future policies aimed to satisfy human needs but at a smaller cost on natural systems. The possibility to give a value to natural resources offers new challenges and opportunities related to their management: from the analysis of past policies to the development and implementation of innovative management strategies strictly connected to the needs of territories and local communities. In such a complex framework, characterized by fast changes affecting environmental quality and human wellbeing, the availability of data and models easily updatable plays a key role in supporting private and public decision makers. These choices, now apparently mainly related to the particular awareness or market strategies of administrations, enterprises and private citizens, will represent the future modus operandi. ; Dottorato di ricerca in Scienze agro-forestali, delle tecnologie agro-industriali e del territorio rurale. I sistemi forestali (XXVII ciclo)

What is a good life? What is good health? And what is well-being and welfare? The answers to these questions have varied throughout time and cultural contexts. In Scandinavia and Sweden today, the meaning of these concepts are more than ever in flux in a time where more people are on sick leave because of psychosomatic symptoms than due to traditional biomedical diseases. Welfare is still a central political issue, an object for politicisation between the parties, but the discussion has moved from a question of resource allocation to a question of access and equal treating. Few people in Scandinavia con- sider a state of personal well-being as just the absence of disease and physical pain. Instead, most of them include a state of mental and social well-being and thereby they seem to agree with the World Health Organization's (WHO) definition of health from 1948: »Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity«.1 Because of the increase in number of psychosomatic symptoms and socially related ailments and diagnosis, the challenge today is not only to treat biomedical diseases and improve the clinical medical treatments but also to deal with various mental and social problems as well as to help people in general and patients in particular to live a more healthy life, to find meaning in life and to improve their own preconditions for their experience of personal well-being and happiness. This issue of LIR-journal »Health and well-being in today's Scandinavia« is the outcome of interdisciplinary research done within the research programme »Religion, Culture, and Health« at the Faculty of Arts, at the University of Gothenburg, between 2010 and 2014.2 Here six scholars present their work on how it is possible to understand and deal with the growing number of people suffering from various states of illness, as well as mental and social difficulties, and therefore also how it is possible to apprehend and treat health problems related to ideological and culturally defined issues, such as ethical and political questions, gender structure, and religion. Some articles present the latest results from ongoing projects on the use of bibliotherapy in rehabilitation of patients. Some articles will give an insight into the current state of Scandinavian welfare society, as well as its historical sources and its multi- faceted relationship between proclaimed ideology and actual praxis by authorities and citizens. The first essay serves as an introduction and background to the complexity of the concept of health, today and in a histori- cal perspective. In »Existential Health. Philosophical and Historical Perspectives«, Ola Sigurdson explores the multi- dimensional aspects of health in order to define the concept of existential health as a non-instrumentalisable aspect of an individual's very act of living his or her life.The following three articles all investigate the relationship between literature and life, the importance of storytelling and fiction in constructing a positive self-evaluation which may transform a person's self-concept. In »Social Reading for Mental Health«, Lisbeth Stenberg examines one aspect of bibliotherapy, how the use of group discussions of fictional stories can play a supportive role in various rehabilitation processes. Besides describing her work and results based on an empirical study of five reading groups, she also theorises the processes of interpretation from a sociological perspective. In »Women's Experience of Reading Fiction While on Sick Leave«, Cecilia Pettersson presents her results from another empirical study where bibliotherapy is used on a number of women who has been on long sick leave, at least three months. In contrast to Stenberg's study, Pettersson's study does not examine the effect of reading and discussing fiction in a reading group and thereby its social value in a process of rehabilitation. Instead, Pettersson concentrates on examining which kind of literature women choose by themselves and how they use reading during their sick leave as self-help-therapy in order to recover or deal with their illness. In the last article in this session, »Translation and Untellability. Autistic Subjects in Autobiographical Discourse«, Jenny Bergenmar investigates how literature can transform a person's self-concept from a different angle. She starts off by discussing the conditions for and reception of autobiographies by autistic persons from what she calls a critical disability perspective. Thereby, her intention is to demonstrate how different modes of represent- ing autistic subjectivity in autobiographical narratives can be used to overcome autism or the traditional representation of autistic personhood and disability. The last two articles highlight another health issue in Scandinavian debate: How to keep the people fit and healthy in order to become and remain productive citizens in the Scandi- navian welfare state. In »'I wish I had gone on a diet'. Citizen- ship in Danish Campaigns and the Novel The Mountain«, Camilla Schwarz gives a comparative survey of the messages of Danish campaigns about diets and how the Danish writer Mads Brenøe replies to these ideals in his novel The Mountain. Her point of departure is the change of the Danish welfare state into a competition state and how this creates different narratives about the ideal citizen. Because of that she demon- strates the importance of contemporary literature and the way it reacts and responds to political campaigns. In the last article, »Health through Work. Lutheran and Gendered Perspec- tives in Swedish Health Magazines 1910–13«, Wilhelm Karde- mark presents a historical background to today's focus on the value of labour in the Nordic society and the citizen's announ- ced »right« to employment in order to acquire personal ful- filment. By studying Swedish health magazines published in the early 1910's, he shows how they express a masculine middle-class bias intertwined with a Lutheran ideology in their emphasis on hard work and discipline and a willingness of being at service to one's neighbour in order to achieve good health and a meaningful life.The six chapters will provide the reader with a background to present discourses on health and illness, cultural context and rehabilitation processes, culturally based ideals and their consequences for the individual and its society when it comes to welfare and the citizens' experiences of well-being. It will also offer some results from empirical studies where diag- nosed patients have been treated by other methods than offered by traditional biochemical medicine and its clinical treatments in the process of rehabilitation after a long period of disease and infirmity.  Marie Demker, Yvonne Leffler, Ola Sigurdson January 2016

The successful installation, commissioning, and operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory would not have been possible without the strong commitment and effort from the technical and administrative staff in Malargue. We are very grateful to the following agencies and organizations for financial support: Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Fundacion Antorchas, Gobierno De La Provincia de Mendoza, Municipalidad de Malargue, NDM Holdings and Valle Las Lenas, in gratitude for their continuing cooperation over land access, Argentina; the Australian Research Council; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP), Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Grants No. 2010/07359-6, No. 1999/05404-3, Ministerio de Ciencia e Tecnologia (MCT), Brazil; MSMT-CR LG13007, 7AMB14AR005, CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0058 and the Czech Science Foundation Grant No. 14-17501S, Czech Republic; Centre de Calcul IN2P3/CNRS, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Conseil Regional Ile-de-France, Departement Physique Nucleaire et Corpusculaire (PNC-IN2P3/CNRS), Departement Sciences de l'Univers (SDU-INSU/CNRS), Institut Lagrange de Paris, ILP LABEX ANR-10-LABX-63, within the Investissements d'Avenir Programme ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02, France; Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Finanzministerium Baden-Wurttemberg, Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF), Ministerium fur Wissenschaft und Forschung, Nordrhein Westfalen, Ministerium fur Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR), Gran Sasso Center for Astroparticle Physics (CFA), CETEMPS Center of Excellence, Italy; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT), Mexico; Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM), Netherlands; National Centre for Research and Development, Grants No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/01/11 and No. ERA-NET-ASPERA/02/11, National Science Centre, Grants No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00322, No. 2013/08/M/ST9/00728 and No. HARMONIA 5 - 2013/10/M/ST9/00062, Poland; Portuguese national funds and FEDER funds within COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal; Romanian Authority for Scientific Research ANCS, CNDI-UEFISCDI partnership projects nr. 20/2012 and nr. 194/2012, project nr. 1/ASPERA2/2012 ERA-NET, PN-II-RU-PD-2011-3-0145-17, and PN-II-RU-PD-2011-3-0062, the Minister of National Education, Programme for research - Space Technology and Advanced Research - STAR, project no. 83/2013, Romania; Slovenian Research Agency, Slovenia; Comunidad de Madrid, FEDER funds, Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia, Xunta de Galicia, European Community 7th Framework Program, Grant No. FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF-328826, Spain; Science and Technology Facilities Council, U.K.; Department of Energy, Contracts No. DE-AC02-07CH11359, No. DE-FR02-04ER41300, No. DE-FG02-99ER41107 and No. DE-SC0011689, National Science Foundation, Grant No. 0450696, The Grainger Foundation, USA; NAFOSTED, Vietnam; Marie Curie-IRSES/EPLANET, European Particle Physics Latin American Network, European Union 7th Framework Program, Grant No. PIRSES-2009-GA-246806; and UNESCO. ; We report a study of the distributions of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of extensive air-shower profiles with energies above 1017.8 eV as observed with the fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The analysis method for selecting a data sample with minimal sampling bias is described in detail as well as the experimental cross-checks and systematic uncertainties. Furthermore, we discuss the detector acceptance and the resolution of the Xmax measurement and provide parametrizations thereof as a function of energy. The energy dependence of the mean and standard deviation of the Xmax distributions are compared to air-shower simulations for different nuclear primaries and interpreted in terms of the mean and variance of the logarithmic mass distribution at the top of the atmosphere. ; Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica ; Fundacion Antorchas ; Gobierno De La Provincia de Mendoza ; Municipalidad de Malargue ; NDM Holdings ; Valle Las Lenas ; Australian Research Council ; National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) ; Ciencia Tecnologia e Inovacao (FINEP) ; Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) ; Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) 2010/07359-6 1999/05404-3 ; Ministerio de Ciencia e Tecnologia (MCT), Brazil ; Grant Agency of the Czech Republic Czech Republic Government 14-17501S ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) ; Region Ile-de-France ; Departement Sciences de l'Univers (SDU-INSU/CNRS) ; Institut Lagrange de Paris ; French National Research Agency (ANR) ANR-10-LABX-63 ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02 ; Federal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF) ; German Research Foundation (DFG) ; Finanzministerium Baden-Wurttemberg ; Helmholtz Association ; Ministerium fur Wissenschaft und Forschung ; Nordrhein Westfalen ; Ministerium fur Wissenschaft ; Forschung und Kunst ; Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany ; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) ; Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) ; Gran Sasso Center for Astroparticle Physics (CFA) ; CETEMPS Center of Excellence, Italy ; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT) ; Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap ; Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) ; FOM (The Netherlands) Netherlands Government ; National Centre for Research and Development ERA-NET-ASPERA/01/11 ERA-NET-ASPERA/02/11 ; National Science Centre, Poland 2013/08/M/ST9/00322 2013/08/M/ST9/00728 HARMONIA 5 - 2013/10/M/ST9/00062 ; Portuguese national funds within COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal ; FEDER funds within COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal ; Romanian Authority for Scientific Research ANCS ; CNDI-UEFISCDI 20/2012 194/2012 1/ASPERA2/2012 ERA-NET PN-II-RU-PD-2011-3-0145-17 PN-II-RU-PD-2011-3-0062 ; Minister of National Education, Programme for research - Space Technology and Advanced Research - STAR, Romania 83/2013 ; Slovenian Research Agency - Slovenia ; Comunidad de Madrid Instituto de Salud Carlos III ; European Union (EU) ; Spanish Government ; Xunta de Galicia ; European Community 7th Framework Program, Spain FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF-328826 ; Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) ; United States Department of Energy (DOE) DE-AC02-07CH11359 DE-FR02-04ER41300 DE-FG02-99ER41107 DE-SC0011689 ; National Science Foundation (NSF) 0450696 ; Grainger Foundation, USA ; National Foundation for Science & Technology Development (NAFOSTED) ; European Union (EU) PIRSES-2009-GA-246806 ; UNESCO ; MSMT-CR LG13007 ; 7AMB14AR005 ; CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0058

Recently, Air quality has become a sensitive topic for Rhône-Alpes region due to the formal notice which was addressed by the European Commission for non-compliance with legislation in force. Indeed, certain geographic areas in the region present a lot of overruns in PM10, especially in Alpine valleys during winter. These overruns particles are also accompanied by high concentrations of organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which constitute these PMs. An increase in khowledge about the sources of particulate air pollution and their dynamics in Alpine valleys is necessary, in order to improve the implementation of policies to reduce emissions through better knowledge of the influence of different sources at regional level. This thesis is focused around emissions from industrial sources still poorly known and particularly of the carbon industry highly present in these industrial areas of the valley bottoms. Traditional approaches by metallic elements being not specific, exploration of the organic fraction allowed to propose a complete organic chemical profile. In addition they led us to evidence the benzo(b)naphtho(2,1-d)thiophene (BNT(2,1)), the most abundant particulate compound of the family of sulfur-containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PASHs), as a tracer of this source. This compound was detected and quantified on multiple sites in near industrial activities confirming its potential source. In addition the industrial profile was introduced as profile "source" in order to assess its robustness in methodologies of receptor model like the "Chemical Mass Balance "(CMB) and the "Positive Matrix Factorization" (PMF). The results confirmed the interest of the addition of organic compounds to these methodologies. Thus, the industrial profile and the PASHs compounds have allowed to better trace the source usually called "carbon industry" (coal, coke and graphite materials combustions) in the Alpine valleys but also in different French urban sites. In parallel, a non linear regression model (NLRM) was developed to PAH source apportionment, based on the use of specific molecular markers (levoglucosan, hopanes…) and of meteorological data (altitudinal temperature lapse rate). Its implementation has been validated on a set of sites of the Alpine valleys of Arve and Tarentaise. Coupling between this model and the optical measurements of black carbon (BC) by aethalometer, allowed to propose a solution to the poor performance of correlation between PAHs measured and modeled by NLRM model on this site of the Maurienne valley. These low correlations may be related to poor representativeness of organic compounds used to correctly trace the emission sources at some sites. Finally, the inter-comparison of these methodologies for the determination of PAH sources and especially of industrial source allows to validate this methodology in an operational perspective of monitoring of PAH levels on these sites. The work performed during this thesis highlights the interest of the characterizatin of the organic fraction of PM and the biases that may exist on the use of organic compounds for the study of the emission sources. Some alternatives are suggested to clarify ambiguities and improve the source apportionment of PAHs by receptor models. ; Récemment, la qualité de l'air dans la région Rhône-Alpes est devenue un sujet sensible depuis sa mise en demeure par l'Union Européenne pour non respect des normes en vigueurs concernant les taux de particules fines (PM). Effectivement, certaines zones géographiques de la région connaissent de nombreux dépassements en PM10, particulièrement dans les vallées alpines durant la période hivernale. Ces dépassements en particules sont aussi accompagnés de fortes concentrations en composés organiques comme les hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAP) constituants ces PM. Un accroissement des connaissances sur les sources de pollution atmosphérique particulaire et leurs dynamiques au sein des vallées alpines est alors nécessaire, ceci afin d'améliorer la mise en place des politiques de diminution des émissions grâce à une meilleure connaissance de l'influence des différentes sources au niveau régional. Ces travaux de thèse sont axés autour des émissions des sources industrielles encore mal connues et plus particulièrement l'industrie du carbone très présente dans les bassins industriels de ces fonds de vallées. Les approches classiques par les éléments métalliques n'étant pas spécifiques, l'exploration de la fraction organique a permis de proposer un profil chimique organique complet et d'avancer le benzo(b)naphtho(2,1-d)thiophène (BNT(2,1)), composé particulaire majoritaire de la famille des Hydrocarbures Aromatiques Polycycliques soufrés (HAPS) comme traceur de cette source. Ce composé a été détecté et quantifié sur plusieurs sites en proximité d'activités industrielles confirmant ainsi sa source potentielle. De plus le profil industriel a été introduit comme profil « source » afin d'évaluer sa robustesse dans les méthodologies de type modèle récepteur de bilan de masse comme le « Chemical Mass Balance » (CMB) et statistique comme la « Positive Matrix Factorization » (PMF). Les résultats ont confirmé l'intérêt de l'ajout des composés organiques à ces méthodologies. Ainsi, le profil industriel et les composés organiques HAPS ont permis de mieux tracer la source appelée génériquement « industrie du carbone » (combustions de charbon, de coke et de matériaux graphitiques) dans les vallées alpines mais aussi sur différents sites urbains français. En parallèle, un modèle de régression non linéaire multivarié (MRNL) a été développé pour la quantification des sources de HAP, basé sur l'utilisation de traceurs spécifiques de source (lévoglucosan, hopanes….) et de données météorologiques (gradient thermique). Son application a été validée sur un ensemble de sites alpins des vallées de l'Arve et de la Tarentaise. Un couplage entre ce modèle et les données de mesures optiques du carbone suie (BC) par aéthalomètre, a permis de proposer une solution aux mauvais résultats de corrélation entre les HAP mesurés et modélisés par le modèle MRNL sur le site de la vallée de la Maurienne. Ces faibles corrélations peuvent être liées à une mauvaise représentativité des composés organiques utilisés à tracer correctement les sources d'émission sur certains sites.Enfin, l'inter-comparaison de ces méthodologies pour la détermination des sources de HAP et plus particulièrement de la source industrielle permet de valider cette méthodologie dans une perspective opérationnelle de suivi des sources de HAP sur ces différents sites. Ces travaux réalisés au cours de cette thèse mettent en évidence l'intérêt de la caractérisation de la fraction organique des PM et les biais qui peuvent exister sur l'utilisation des composés organiques pour l'étude des sources d'émissions. Des alternatives y sont proposées afin de soulever ces ambiguïtés et d'améliorer l'étude des sources de HAP par les modèles récepteurs.

Recently, Air quality has become a sensitive topic for Rhône-Alpes region due to the formal notice which was addressed by the European Commission for non-compliance with legislation in force. Indeed, certain geographic areas in the region present a lot of overruns in PM10, especially in Alpine valleys during winter. These overruns particles are also accompanied by high concentrations of organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which constitute these PMs. An increase in khowledge about the sources of particulate air pollution and their dynamics in Alpine valleys is necessary, in order to improve the implementation of policies to reduce emissions through better knowledge of the influence of different sources at regional level. This thesis is focused around emissions from industrial sources still poorly known and particularly of the carbon industry highly present in these industrial areas of the valley bottoms. Traditional approaches by metallic elements being not specific, exploration of the organic fraction allowed to propose a complete organic chemical profile. In addition they led us to evidence the benzo(b)naphtho(2,1-d)thiophene (BNT(2,1)), the most abundant particulate compound of the family of sulfur-containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PASHs), as a tracer of this source. This compound was detected and quantified on multiple sites in near industrial activities confirming its potential source. In addition the industrial profile was introduced as profile "source" in order to assess its robustness in methodologies of receptor model like the "Chemical Mass Balance "(CMB) and the "Positive Matrix Factorization" (PMF). The results confirmed the interest of the addition of organic compounds to these methodologies. Thus, the industrial profile and the PASHs compounds have allowed to better trace the source usually called "carbon industry" (coal, coke and graphite materials combustions) in the Alpine valleys but also in different French urban sites. In parallel, a non linear regression model (NLRM) was developed to PAH source apportionment, based on the use of specific molecular markers (levoglucosan, hopanes…) and of meteorological data (altitudinal temperature lapse rate). Its implementation has been validated on a set of sites of the Alpine valleys of Arve and Tarentaise. Coupling between this model and the optical measurements of black carbon (BC) by aethalometer, allowed to propose a solution to the poor performance of correlation between PAHs measured and modeled by NLRM model on this site of the Maurienne valley. These low correlations may be related to poor representativeness of organic compounds used to correctly trace the emission sources at some sites. Finally, the inter-comparison of these methodologies for the determination of PAH sources and especially of industrial source allows to validate this methodology in an operational perspective of monitoring of PAH levels on these sites. The work performed during this thesis highlights the interest of the characterizatin of the organic fraction of PM and the biases that may exist on the use of organic compounds for the study of the emission sources. Some alternatives are suggested to clarify ambiguities and improve the source apportionment of PAHs by receptor models. ; Récemment, la qualité de l'air dans la région Rhône-Alpes est devenue un sujet sensible depuis sa mise en demeure par l'Union Européenne pour non respect des normes en vigueurs concernant les taux de particules fines (PM). Effectivement, certaines zones géographiques de la région connaissent de nombreux dépassements en PM10, particulièrement dans les vallées alpines durant la période hivernale. Ces dépassements en particules sont aussi accompagnés de fortes concentrations en composés organiques comme les hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAP) constituants ces PM. Un accroissement des connaissances sur les sources de pollution atmosphérique particulaire et leurs dynamiques au sein des vallées alpines est alors nécessaire, ceci afin d'améliorer la mise en place des politiques de diminution des émissions grâce à une meilleure connaissance de l'influence des différentes sources au niveau régional. Ces travaux de thèse sont axés autour des émissions des sources industrielles encore mal connues et plus particulièrement l'industrie du carbone très présente dans les bassins industriels de ces fonds de vallées. Les approches classiques par les éléments métalliques n'étant pas spécifiques, l'exploration de la fraction organique a permis de proposer un profil chimique organique complet et d'avancer le benzo(b)naphtho(2,1-d)thiophène (BNT(2,1)), composé particulaire majoritaire de la famille des Hydrocarbures Aromatiques Polycycliques soufrés (HAPS) comme traceur de cette source. Ce composé a été détecté et quantifié sur plusieurs sites en proximité d'activités industrielles confirmant ainsi sa source potentielle. De plus le profil industriel a été introduit comme profil « source » afin d'évaluer sa robustesse dans les méthodologies de type modèle récepteur de bilan de masse comme le « Chemical Mass Balance » (CMB) et statistique comme la « Positive Matrix Factorization » (PMF). Les résultats ont confirmé l'intérêt de l'ajout des composés organiques à ces méthodologies. Ainsi, le profil industriel et les composés organiques HAPS ont permis de mieux tracer la source appelée génériquement « industrie du carbone » (combustions de charbon, de coke et de matériaux graphitiques) dans les vallées alpines mais aussi sur différents sites urbains français. En parallèle, un modèle de régression non linéaire multivarié (MRNL) a été développé pour la quantification des sources de HAP, basé sur l'utilisation de traceurs spécifiques de source (lévoglucosan, hopanes….) et de données météorologiques (gradient thermique). Son application a été validée sur un ensemble de sites alpins des vallées de l'Arve et de la Tarentaise. Un couplage entre ce modèle et les données de mesures optiques du carbone suie (BC) par aéthalomètre, a permis de proposer une solution aux mauvais résultats de corrélation entre les HAP mesurés et modélisés par le modèle MRNL sur le site de la vallée de la Maurienne. Ces faibles corrélations peuvent être liées à une mauvaise représentativité des composés organiques utilisés à tracer correctement les sources d'émission sur certains sites.Enfin, l'inter-comparaison de ces méthodologies pour la détermination des sources de HAP et plus particulièrement de la source industrielle permet de valider cette méthodologie dans une perspective opérationnelle de suivi des sources de HAP sur ces différents sites. Ces travaux réalisés au cours de cette thèse mettent en évidence l'intérêt de la caractérisation de la fraction organique des PM et les biais qui peuvent exister sur l'utilisation des composés organiques pour l'étude des sources d'émissions. Des alternatives y sont proposées afin de soulever ces ambiguïtés et d'améliorer l'étude des sources de HAP par les modèles récepteurs.

*This series is the result of an adaptation of a paper presented as part of a seminar on "Theories and Research in International Relations" at Hebrew University, July 2012. Commentaries are welcome to daniel.wajner@mail.huji.ac.il Controversial discussions about the nature of Power have characterized the study of Social Sciences, in general, and International Relations (IR) in particular. This seems logic - if we consider politics as a "game", their "participants" tend to develop a range of "skills", which allow them to assume different "roles", influencing thus in the "results". Thus, understanding the mechanisms by which this whole process ("the game") operates is intrinsic to the analysis of the outcomes, what explains why the revision of the concept of power has always been especially popular, including in recent times.Throughout this series we will review some academic approaches to the concept of power and its implementation in international politics. We will present in this first article the debates on the ontology of power (generally referred as "the faces of power"), and the ways in which this influenced the theoretical divisions in IR.In a second article we will introduce epistemological approaches, leading to controversies on the mechanisms involved in the activation of power and its dimensions (such as today's mantra "hard vs. soft power"). Finally, we will deal in a third article with some methodological schemes for Power Analysis in IR, while indicating areas for possible innovation using cases of the "Arab Spring" as illustrations.Power, Powerful, Powerless: The Ontological DebateThe first ontological debate around the concept of power could be placed in the dispute between those who address it as an interaction and those who understand it as a resource.To this end, Weber constitutes our first station. He identifies power in a relationship as the ability to control the behavior of others, even against its will. Weber is focused on the context of that relationship (one's position vis-à-vis others), which determines the capacity of empowerment.1That led him to approach the topic of legitimacy by dividing between power (Macht) and authority (herrschaft, i.e. legitimate power), issue that will be reminded in next articles.Against Weber's integral approach came out Dahl with his renowned definition: "A has power over B, if A gets B do something that B would not otherwise do", which installed "officially" the controversy in political sciences on how power is operated. According to Dahl, that "something" must be based in a change of behavior produced by an observable act - possible to analyze and be measured. His attention was centered on the characteristics of the material resources (their Base, Means, Amount and Scope) and how they are utilized to get certain effects; however, power is still conceptualized as a relationship, since what needs to be clearly discernible is the conflict, the interaction. Non-observable acts, according to Dahl, should be included in a different concept, such as Influence.2The Realist tradition in IR, as well as many scholars in the Liberal tradition, adopted Dahl's definition as a starting point for their analysis on Power Relationships, and even went one step forward. They saw the context as secondary, since certain power bases are so critical that do not really depend on circumstances or specific nature of interaction. Consequently, for classical realists as Carr, Morgenthau and Aron, the military force is "that" observable act which represents the power of the actors (albeit in most of the cases the economic resources were a prerequisite, as explain Berenskoetter and Williams).3Against that mainstream idea, some scholars battled in the sixties and seventies by presenting two approaches which became popularly known as The Second Face of Power and The Third Face of Power. It is important to note that both approaches emerge from this ontological debate on "what is power?", but their main implications would be on the epistemological discussion on "how do we study power relations?", which helped to the development of Critical and Constructivist research programs, as we will see in the next article.In the first approach, Bachrach and Baratz argue that not always a concrete change in behavior needs to be detected to confirm the existence of a conflict in Power Relationships; it could be expressed through the "mobilization of bias", an "unmeasurable element".4 In the second approach, Lukes went beyond that idea and expressed that the mere existence of conflict is not a condition; in other words, the absence of conflict do not necessarily indicate the absence of Power Relationships.5 Lukes, as a neo-marxist building on Gramsci, introduced the structural sphere of the concept of Power. Powerful and powerless agents are characterized in function of their ability to shape the system through culture and education, which will determine the interests of the actors. Foucalt and Bourdieu, with their vision of Knowledge-as-Power6 and Symbolic Power7 , respectively, went in the same direction.More recently, a similar ontological debate could be found in terms of Power Over-Power To, presented by Barnett and Duvall. In the first one, they define power as "the capacity of the actor to determine his own actions", so the perspective is based on the actor itself; by contrast, in the second one a Power Relationship is needed.8 In that sense, the famous article of Nye about Soft Power, which would be broadly approached in the following articles, builds also on this issue - power could be understood as "the ability to get the outcomes one wants" (in the form of Power-To), but also as "the ability to influence the behaviors of others to get the outcomes one wants." (in the form of Power-Over)9.1 Max Weber, Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. (California: University of Berkeley, 1978. Edited by Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich).2Robert A. Dahl, "The concept of Power", Behavioral Science 2(3), July 1957, 201-2153Felix Berenskoetter and Michael .J. Williams. Power in World Politics. (NYC: Routledge, 2007), p.64Peter Bachrach and Morton S. Baratz. "Two Faces of Power". The American Political Science Review 56 No4 (December 1962), 947-9525Stephen Lukes, "Power and the Battle for Hearts and Minds", Millennium, 33, No3 (2005), 477-4936Michael Foucalt, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-77 (Brighton: Havester, 1980)7Pierre Bourdieu, Language & Symbolic Power (NYC : Polity Press, 2001)8Michael Barnett and Raymond Duvall, "Power in International Politics," International Organization 59, No1, (Winter 2005), p. 469Joseph S. Nye, Soft Power- The Means to Success in World Politics (NYC: PublicAffairs, 2004), p.2 Fabian Daniel Wajner is a Research and Teaching Assistant at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Department of International Relations) and a Fellow of the Liweranth Center for Latin America Studies.

Basic skills are important in current policies because of high costs generated by illiteracy and supported by the society. The aim of the present thesis is to bring a new contribution on this thematic in a microeconomic approach. It consists of two parts. The first one concerns the valorization of basic skills on the labor market, through chapters 1 and 2, while the second one concerns the production of French skills according to the migratory origins, through chapters 3 and 4. Chapter 1 is about the returns to basic skills on the labor market, in terms of overeducation/undereducation and in terms of wages. The central hypothesis is to assume that education, through the diploma, is not a good filter for individual capacity. Therefore overeducation (undereducation) for the same level of degree, can result from a low (high) level of basic skills and not necessarily an imbalance between supply and demand for skills. Similarly, for a given level of education, there is some heterogeneity in individual capabilities, so we think that the addition of basic skills in the wage function tends to reduce the return of education and to improve the explanation of the wage formation. In order to avoid a possible selection bias in the estimation of wages equation, our approach has the main advantage to take into account the impact of basic skills in job access. Chapter 2 attempts to have a better understanding of the impact of basic skills on job access, but also on the labor force participation, in a general enrichment context of the work content. The inclusion of these skills should improve the explanation of the situations occupied towards the labor market (employment, unemployment, inactivity), especially for groups already weakened in the job access. More precisely, for a given labor demand, we assume that for every situation corresponds a level of basic skills. Reading, writing, listening and reading comprehension skills in French language being essential for a successful integration in French society and labor market. The second part of this thesis focuses on the production process of these basic skills in French among immigrants. Indeed, France has a long tradition of welcoming migrants. Their place in French society and their ability to learn its language generates some interest because little research exist about it. Chapter 3 is where we try to determine to what extent the characteristics associated with the migration background hinders the production of French skills, and to what extent the share of inequality in French scores are due to differences in efficiency because of the linguistic distance between the mother tongue and French. Chapter 4, at last, seeks to determine what are the factors that can explain the proficiency level in written French skills of newcomers (considered as producers of their own skills) in working age. The originality of this chapter is the estimation of a stochastic production frontier to explain the scores in written French and the productive performance. ; La question des compétences de base est de plus en plus présente dans les préoccupations politiques actuelles au regard des coûts importants engendrés par l'illettrisme et supportés par la société. L'objectif de cette présente thèse est alors d'apporter un nouvel éclairage sur cette thématique dans une approche microéconomique. Elle se compose de deux parties. La première traite de la valorisation des compétences de base sur le marché du travail, à travers les essais 1 et 2, alors que la seconde traite de la production de compétences en français selon l'origine migratoire, à travers les essais 3 et 4. Dans le cadre de la première partie, le premier essai s'intéresse à la question des rendements des compétences de base sur le marché du travail, sous l'angle du déclassement/surclassement professionnel et sous l'angle de la rémunération individuelle. L'hypothèse centrale consiste à supposer que l'éducation, via le diplôme, n'est pas un bon filtre des capacités individuelles. Dès lors les situations de déclassement (surclassement), pour un même niveau de diplôme, peuvent résulter d'un plus faible (fort) niveau de compétences de base et non forcément d'un déséquilibre entre offre et demande de qualifications. De même, si pour un même niveau de diplôme il existe une certaine hétérogénéité des capacités individuelles, nous pouvons penser que l'ajout des scores en compétences de base tend à diminuer le rendement purement scolaire et à améliorer l'explication de la formation des salaires. Notre approche a pour principal avantage de tenir compte d'un éventuel biais de sélection dans l'estimation des équations de gains en appréhendant l'influence exercée par les compétences de base dans l'accès à l'emploi. Le deuxième essai tente quant à lui de mieux comprendre l'impact des compétences de base sur l'accès à l'emploi mais aussi sur la participation au marché du travail et ce, dans un contexte d'enrichissement généralisé du contenu du travail. La prise en compte de ces compétences doit améliorer l'explication des situations occupées à l'égard du marché du travail (emploi, chômage, inactivité), notamment pour des publics déjà fragilisés face à l'emploi. Plus précisément, pour une demande de travail donnée, nous supposons qu'à chaque situation correspond un niveau de compétences de base. La lecture, l'écriture, la compréhension écrite et orale du français étant des compétences de base clés pour l'intégration sociale et professionnelle en France, la deuxième partie s'intéresse à la production de ces compétences auprès des populations d'origine immigrée. En effet, la France possède une longue tradition d'accueil des migrants. Leur place dans la société française et leurs capacités à apprendre le français suscite donc un certain intérêt, qu'ils soient primo-arrivants ou enfants d'immigrés, d'autant que peu de recherches ont été réalisées à ce sujet. Dans le troisième essai, nous cherchons à déterminer dans quelle mesure les caractéristiques liées à l'origine migratoire entrave la production de compétences en français et dans quelle mesure la part des inégalités de scores en français sont attribuables à des différences d'efficacité résultant de la distance linguistique entre la langue maternelle et le français. Le quatrième et dernier essai vise, quant à lui, à déterminer les facteurs susceptibles d'expliquer le niveau de maîtrise en français écrit des primo-arrivants (considérés comme producteurs de leurs propres compétences) en âge de travailler. L'originalité de cet essai réside dans l'estimation d'une frontière stochastique de production afin d'expliquer leurs scores en français écrit et leurs performances productives.

This paper presents a brief description the role of the Commonwealth and the Francophonie, in addressing the challenges of building resilient growth among its developing country members. The experience of these two organisations has shown that there are extraordinary challenges in building resilient growth and has highlighted the fact that solutions are complex, require human, institutional and financial resources, political will and international support, if these efforts are to succeed. The paper briefly describes the efforts of the two organisations and in particular the conceptual framework for growth with resilience which has been developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the University of Malta. This framework identifies the key challenges these countries experience in achieving resilient growth in the context of internal instability and exogenous shocks; and puts forward proposals as to how these countries can better address their growth and resilience challenges. The resilience framework is extensive and as the paper illustrates, has elements which have universal applicability and may be useful for the G20 DWG in pursuing its work on Growth with Resilience. The resilience framework also offers the G20 DWG the opportunity to foster a better understanding of the challenges faced by these countries in pursuing growth and resilience strategies. Basing on the resilience framework, the paper outlines a set of practical steps which the G20 DWG can consider taking forward, to integrate this framework within its own approach to building growth with resilience; and suggests a series of further practical actions which the G20 DWG may be able to pursue towards this objective. The paper also presents a series of measures which the Commonwealth and the Francophonie can collectively take, both to support their members and to support global efforts, including those being pursued and promoted by the G20 DWG to strengthen growth with resilience in the worlds" PSMV countries. The paper recommends two actions of major importance under the "growth with resilience" pillar. 1. An initiative to expand the country-focused Vulnerability and Resilience Profiling exercise launched by the Commonwealth; and 2. An initiative to finance programmes in these countries which foster resilient growth, through the creation of a Growth with Resilience Trust Fund (GRTF) Own-country Vulnerability and Resilience Profiling exercises, conducted with the support of the Commonwealth Secretariat since 2008 have provided countries with detailed countryspecific information on their key vulnerabilities; and has revealed key gaps in their resilience building efforts. The G20 DWG can strengthen efforts to build resilient growth in the world"s poorest, smallest and most vulnerable countries through an initiative to progressively expand this tool, enabling developing countries to conduct own-profiling with regard to economic vulnerability and resilience. Such profiling would lead to assessments that could enable the countries profiled to (1) identify the causes and manifestations of economic vulnerability and (2) to assess and evaluate their policy frameworks in order to identify gaps in the countries ability to withstand external shocks. A practical guide as to how the vulnerability/resilience profiling exercise can be carried out has been developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the University of Malta (Briguglio et al, 2010). Such an exercise, and the reports that would be derived as a result of country profiling, can be adopted as part of the toolkit in an expanded profiling initiative; and can also serve as a valuable mechanism for the sharing of best practices in resilience building. The Growth with Resilience Trust Fund (GRTF) could be managed by an appropriate IFI or another institution, with contributions from G20 members. The objective of the fund should be to encourage the poorest, smallest and most vulnerable countries to integrate further into the global economy, while at the same time taking measures to build their resilience against external and internal shocks. The Fund would focus on improving economic governance rather than humanitarian support or to correct for export shortfalls; and would therefore have a strong bias towards institutional and social development. The Fund would assist developing countries through grants and concessionary lending, as well as debt and interest forgiveness schemes. The Fund would related to building resilience relating to external and internal shocks and to natural hazards. The paper also proposes that the CS and OIF can help the G20 operationalise its growth with resilience objective by developing an implementable policy framework aimed at promoting sustainable growth in PSMV countries, with particular emphasis on: ● trade stimulation and facilitation; ● human development in general and encouragement of entrepreneurship in particular ● improvement in market efficiency ● technology transfer; ● infrastructural development and management; ● institutional capacity building. The objectives of the components of the proposed policy framework have been explained above. Trade stimulation and facilitation should enable PSMV countries to participate more effectively and profitably in world trade. The Growth Commission (2008) identified an outward orientation as a major ingredient for growth. The other components of the proposed framework are essential human and physical requirements for economic growth. Human development and encouragement of entrepreneurship are required for the development of a vibrant private sector, while speed in market adjustment is an important requisite for counteraction and absorbing shocks. Technology transfer would enhance the productive efficiency of PSMV countries, improving their chance to compete effectively in world trade. The upgrading of the physical infrastructure and the institutional frameworks in PSMV countries is needed to support a sustainable growth strategy. A further recommendation to the G20 DWG focuses on encouraging a strong process of G20 DWG outreach in respect of its work on Growth with Resilience. In the context of the extensive analytical, research, consensus-building and advocacy work already being conducted by the Commonwealth and the Francophonie, in the interests of their developing country members, the G20 DWG could consider developing an outreach initiative to coordinate the Growth with Resilience initiatives of the Commonwealth and the Francophonie, with the ongoing Growth with Resilience pillar of DWG work. This could allow for regular contributions by the two associations to the G20 DWG discussions on Growth with Resilience and would enable the views of PSMV countries to be conveyed to the G20 in a structured manner. In addition this would allow the three organisations to further develop the country resilience profiling methodology described in this paper and piloted by the Commonwealth Secretariat. In this initiative, the Commonwealth and the Francophonie can contribute by working together to facilitate the integration of their growth with resilience initiatives with those supported by the G20. ; peer-reviewed

[spa] La tesis en sus seis capítulos sustenta el compromiso de la asistencia social con la construcción de las diferencias de clase, etnia y género en Santa Fe de Bogotá, en los contextos históricos barroco e ilustrado. La asistencia social, como un componente de las tradiciones occidentales que interpreta la pobreza y los problemas sociales, sus efectos e implicaciones, a la vez que definía y regulaba la acción para prevenirlos, remediarlos o erradicarlos, se instaló en la ciudad como parte de los dispositivos civilizadores. Por lo tanto, participó del proyecto de recreación de la cultura europea y contribuyó a la castellanización y al reforzamiento de las imágenes y de los simbolismos del cristianismo de la Contrarreforma desde las etapas iniciales de la formación de la sociedad colonial. Las propuestas asistenciales comprenden visiones sobre los sufrimientos humanos y paliativos frente a los mismos, procedentes tanto de las relaciones con el mundo sagrado como de las acciones humanas. La discusión se inscribe en los procesos a través de los cuales se forjó la diferencia como desigualdad, elemento clave del pensamiento androcéntrico, colonial y elitista. Tal diferencia se sustentó en la naturalización de la inferioridad de quien o quienes fueron definidos como el otro o la otra, los otros o las otras: los indígenas, los mestizos y los pobres de ambos sexos y diferentes edades. A la vez, produjo y reprodujo las relaciones jerárquicas entre los hombres y las mujeres, la sociedad blanca y el resto de la sociedad conformada por el heterogéneo mundo de los indios, los mestizos y las castas así como también entre los ricos y los pobres. Se visualizaron los impactos de la pobreza por motivos sociales, étnicos y de género y las interpretaciones sobre la misma que inspiraron las estrategias para prevenirla, tratarla o erradicarla que comprometió a los diferentes estamentos sociales: legisladores y administradores tanto eclesiásticos como civiles. Los discursos sobre la pobreza y el género que emergieron en los contextos barroco e ilustrado constituyen el material trabajado: la crónica, las vidas ejemplares, la iconografía, los pronunciamientos oficiales tanto religiosos como laicos de los donantes y proyectistas, así como también, los relatos de las experiencias vitales y los trozos del pensamiento de las mujeres y los hombres que dejaron huella de la divergencia y la resistencia a las pautas modélicas con las que se intentó regular sus vidas. Se trazó un recorrido desde los significados del ideal de la masculinidad representado en los modelos del explorador, conquistador y el guerrero, alejados de las mujeres y del mundo femenino pasando por las redefiniciones del colonizador quien requirió de un hogar para asentarse, hasta el ideal del padre providente, correspondiente al modelo de familia paradigmático de la modernidad que construyó la dependencia de las mujeres y de los hijos. La tesis se inicia en un diálogo con la historiografía colonial colombiana, la etnohistoria y la historia de la pobreza. Luego se plantea el tema, la metodología y el tratamiento de las fuentes. A continuación se propone una lectura sobre las imágenes y los imaginarios coloniales en las narrativas del seiscientos. Enseguida se observan los enunciados sobre la pobreza y las estrategias para tratarla transferidos desde España, el sincretismo y la significación para la cultura santafereña de la fundación de la Casa de los niños y mujeres recogidas en el año 1641. Después se muestran los sesgos de género de las manifestaciones del conflicto urbano en el que se destacan las infracciones tales como adulterios, amancebamientos y concubinato, la violencia contra las mujeres lo mismo que los hurtos y robos y los esfuerzos de las autoridades ilustradas por hacer prevalecer el imperio de la ley. La exposición culmina con las narrativas de la caridad ilustrada correspondiente al periodo en que se impulsó la modernidad cuando se reinventó en el año 1777 el hospicio para el encierro de los indios, mestizos y mulatos pobres y mendigos de ambos sexos y se estableció el Monte de Piedad para la protección de la viudas de los militares y altos funcionarios fallecidos al servicio de la Corona. ; [eng] This Thesis, within its six chapters, shows the commitment from the social assistance of Santa Fe de Bogotá - during the XVI and XVII Centuries - to the reproducing of the gender and ethnic social differences. The discourses on poverty - which came up within the baroque and illustrated contexts - constitute the worked material: the chronicle, the exemplary lives, the iconography, the official religious - as well as lay - pronouncements from the givers and project makers; as well as the stories of life experiences and the fragments of thought from the women and men who left traces of the divergence and resistance towards the model patterns by which their lives were tried to be controlled. A run over was drawn from the meanings of the ideal masculinity - represented by the models of: the explorer, the conqueror and the warrior, - distant from the women and from the feminine world, going through the defining anew of the colonizer - who required a home to settle -, up to the ideal providing father, corresponding to the paradigmatic model of family from the Modernity, who built the dependence of women and of the children. The Thesis starts with a dialogue with the Colombian Colonial Historiography, the ethno-history and the history of poverty. Then the theme is set forth - as well as the methodology, and the dealing with the sources. Following, a reading on the Colonial images and the imaginary in the narratives of the six hundred's is suggested. Following, there can be seen the enunciates on poverty and the strategies to deal with it - transferred from Spain -, the syncretism and the meaning - for the Santa Fe Culture - of the foundation of The House for the children and women sheltered during year 1641. Then after, the bias of gender - from the urban conflict expressions - are shown. The exposition ends with the narratives of the illustrated charity - corresponding to the period in which the Modernity was fostered -, when during year 1777 the hospice for the confinement (shelter) of the Indians, Mestizos and poor Mulattos, and beggars of both sexes was reinvented, and the Monte de Piedad was established for the protection of widows of militaries and high officials who died while serving The Crown.