Дисертації з теми "Camp de prière"

Cette thèse interroge les motifs et dispositifs qui président à la préférence des acteurs pour la « guérison spirituelle » en Côte d'Ivoire. Dans cette perspective, une enquête ethnographique a été menée dans le camp de prière Jésus Chemin de la Vérité, situé à Gonzague ville au sud d'Abidjan. Pour de nombreux individus en quête de réponse à leur infortune, les camps de prière se présentent comme une alternative au système de santé conventionnel, comme le lieu où non seulement leur corps, mais également leur âme pourra être traitée. Afin d'investiguer les motifs qui sous-tendent la conversion religieuse au pentecôtisme, des entretiens ont été menés auprès des « fidèles-malades », des responsables religieux du camp ainsi que des visiteurs. Nous nous sommes également attelés à travers une observation participante à décrire les nombreuses activités rituelles du camp, l'ambiance qui y règne ainsi que les formes de sociabilité qui s'y développent. Il ressort de notre enquête que la « guérison spirituelle » peut être appréhendée comme un processus de transformation identitaire dont les manifestations se font ressentir dans toutes les sphères de la vie des fidèles, et en particulier dans la dimension intime du rapport à soi, à Dieu et à l'entourage (communauté, famille). Nous avons également mis en évidence l'importance des dispositifs rituels, et en particulier du rôle des affects et du corps dans ce processus transformatif. Le travail de l'espace du camp, sa matérialité, son environnement sensoriel et relationnel sont autant de dimensions des pratiques rituelles qui favori-sent un engagement émotionnel intense des fidèles et qui participent directement à la « (ré) invention de soi » (Kaufmann, 2004). Pour défendre cette perspective, nous avons procédé en deux étapes. Dans la première partie de cette thèse, nous restituons le mouvement pentecôtiste dans le marché religieux ivoirien d'offre de soin. Dans la seconde partie, nous décrivons et analysons en détail les nombreuses activités liturgiques proposées au sein du camp, ainsi que leurs potentiels prolongement en-dehors de celui-ci
This thesis questions the motives and devices that preside over the preference of actors for "spiritual healing" in Côte d'Ivoire. In this perspective, an ethnographic survey was conducted in the prayer camp Jesus Path of Truth, located in Gonzague city south of Abidjan. For many individuals in search of an answer to their misfortune, the prayer camps present themselves as an alternative to the conventional health care system, as the place where not only their body, but also their soul can be treated. In order to investigate the motives underlying the religious conversion to Pentecostalism, interviews were conducted with the "faithful-sick", religious leaders of the camp as well as visitors. We also set out through participant observation to describe the many ritual activities of the camp, the atmosphere that reigns there as well as the forms of sociability that develop there.Our survey shows that "spiritual healing" can be understood as a process of identity transformation whose manifestations are felt in all spheres of the lives of the faithful, and in particular in the intimate dimension of the relationship to oneself, to God. and the environment (community, family). We have also highlighted the importance of ritual devices, and in particular the role of affects and the body in this transformative process. The work of the space of the camp, its materiality, its sensory and relational environment are all dimensions of the ritual practices which favor an intense emotional commitment of the faithful and which participate directly in the "(re)invention of the self". (Kaufman, 2004). To defend this perspective, we proceeded in two stages. In the first part of this thesis, we situate the Pentecostal movement in the Ivorian religious care market. In the second part, we describe and analyze in detail the many liturgical activities offered within the camp, as well as their potential extension outside of it

Cette étude analyse des séquences qui opposent Israéliens et Palestiniens dans leurs divergences. Une vision qui ne saurait écarter les erreurs des uns des fautes des autres dans un concept qui singularise leur conflit. La presse qu’elle soit israélienne, arabe ou internationale édifie deux légitimités opposées qui façonne l’histoire du conflit israélo-palestinien. Chaque camp est en quête des raisons pour avoir raison. Dans cette course à l’information, lorsqu’une fausse nouvelle est émise, le mal fait ne peut jamais être réparé. La presse s’est toujours passionne��e pour les conflits au Proche-Orient. Depuis la signature des accords d’Oslo (1993) la presse à fait démonstration d’un large soutien à l’effort de paix israélo-palestinien. L’échec du sommet de Camp David en juillet 2000 et l’éclatement de l’Intifada le 29 septembre 2000, véhicule une nouvelle vision du journalisme en « temps réel » favorisant des images chocs et spectaculaires, négligeant quelques fois la vérification de leurs véracité. Dans cette course à l’information, la presse commet quelques imprudences et propage des fausses informations
This dissertation analyzes events opposing Israelis and Palestinians in their conflict, in the eyes of the media. It provides a view that would not part the errors of the former from the mistakes of the latter, in a concept, which would set their conflict apart. The media, whether Israeli, Arab or international, creates two opposing legitimacies which shape the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Each camp claims the right to be right. In this race for information, when false information is issued, the evil done can never be undone. The press has always shown a passionate interest in the conflicts of the Middle-East. Since the signature of the Oslo agreement (1993), the press has demonstrated strong support for the effort to attain an Israeli-Palestinian peace. The failure of the Camp David Summit in July 2000 and the outbreak of the Intifada on September 29, 2000 promoted a new vision of “real-time” journalism, which favors shocking and spectacular images, very little verified. The press often acts imprudently in issuing false information

La presente investigación propone la existencia de una Querella de la novela, una pequeña «guerre littéraire» de por lo menos treinta años de duración (1670-1700) en la que Antiguos y Modernos disputaron acerca del sentido y el valor del género novelesco en el primer campo literario francés. Frente a la idea del auge de la novela a partir del surgimiento de una única obra inaugural, ya sea el Lazarillo, el Quijote, La princesse de Clèves o Robinson Crusoe, esta tesis sostiene, en primer lugar, que la invención teórica del género fue a la vez causa y resultado de diversas controversias, cuyo análisis se plantea en los términos de una querella, equiparable a la Querelle du théâtre, la des inscriptions, la du merveilleux o la du sublime, con las que mantiene diversos puntos de contacto. En segundo lugar, que hubo una profunda relación de participación entre esta querella y la contemporánea Querella en torno a los Antiguos y los Modernos, en la que la novela fue confrontada con el modelo clásico de la épica, así como con los paradigmas antiguos de la tragedia y de la historia. Y, por último, que en el proceso de emergencia de la novela, marcado ideológica y retóricamente por la Querella, el género no sólo fue aducido como emblema de lo nuevo, sino que, a pesar de su consabida modernidad, encontró su fundamentación teórica y la base para su legitimación en la autoridad y las razones de los Antiguos. Asimismo, el estudio del discurso novelesco francés del siglo XVII revela que, desde las primeras poéticas barrocas hasta las teorizaciones de la nouvelle o nouvelle historique, la novela tendió a definirse primordialmente como una forma de escritura de la historia.
This thesis proposes the existence of a Quarrel of the novel, a “guerre littéraire” lasting at least thirty years (1670-1700) in which the Ancients and Moderns clashed over the meaning and value of the novelistic genre in early modern France. Against the notion of the rise of the novel from the emergence of a single founding work, whether Lazarillo, Don Quijote, La princesse de Clèves or Robinson Crusoe, I contend, firstly, that the theoretical invention of the genre was at once the cause and result of various controversies, which are analysed in terms of a a quarrel, comparable to the Querelle du théâtre, des inscriptions, du merveilleux or du sublime, with which it shares a number of features. Secondly, I argue that there was a fundamental interplay between this dispute and the concurrent Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, in which the novel was set in opposition to the classical model of the epic and the ancient paradigms of tragedy and history. Finally, I show that in the emergence of the novel, informed ideologically and rhetorically by the Quarrel, the genre was not only considered emblematic of the the new but also, and despite its overt modernity, discovered its legitimacy and theoretical roots in the authority and reasons of the Ancients. Examination of the French novelistic discourse of the seventeenth century also reveals that, from the earliest baroque poetics to the theoretical treatises on the nouvelle or nouvelle historique, the novel was defined fundamentally as a form of historical writing.

Cap-snatching by the influenza A virus (IAV) RNA-dependant RNA polymerase (RdRp) is driven by the abundance of transcripts being actively transcribed by host RNA polymerase II (Pol II)[1]–[3]. Deviations from a direct correlation with abundance do arise, due to selective cleavage of transcripts with a compatible length (10 to 13 nucleotides) and nucleotide sequence (ending in 3’AG)[4]–[7]. Some cap-snatched primers are not directly used to transcribe mRNA, but instead undergo a prime-and-realign mechanism (PAR). As of yet it is unknown why this process occurs. My hypothesis is that the prime-and-realign process is related to the physical characteristics of the primers and their interactions with RdRp and the vRNA template. Here, I used four published deep sequencing datasets of the 5’ ends of IAV mRNA obtained from IAV infected A549 cells to examine PAR[1], [7]–[9]. Primers are biased towards PAR on the basis of length (<12 nucleotides) and RNA duplex stability (mediated by the base directed at 3’U1 and the pyrimidine-purine base pair at position four). PAR typically adds a GCA addition resulting in a primer three nucleotides longer ending in a compatible nucleotide sequence with 3’U1. Prime-and-realign converts poor primers on the basis of length and sequence compatibility with the 3’ end of the vRNA into one that can efficiently undergo transcription of the critical conserved sequence without errors, or failure. Prime-and-realign, therefore, affords tremendous flexibility to RdRp in cap snatched primer length and sequence compatibility.

Background:

Studying insider trading is difficult due to its sensitive and delicate nature. Therefore it is hard to gauge the extent of such activities. This problem has resulted in a fierce debate whether it should be prohibited or not. Using a method where the effect on monopolistic information usage can be isolated insider trading can be monitored. Such an event is a profit warning.

Purpose:

This paper examines whether insider trading exist for companies

making a profit warning between year 2003 and 2007 on the Stockholm

Stock Exchange. Furthermore the aim with the study is to contribute

to the debate on the insider trading legislation.

Method:

The study’s purpose is achieved through an event study studying the

cumulative abnormal return as well as average daily returns during

the thirty days preceding the warning for a sample of thirty companies.

Since profit warnings should be completely random and as such

almost impossible for the market to know in advance, a significant

abnormal return can only be explained with insider trading. The abnormal returns were calculated using the Capital Asset Pricing Model

since it is the most widely used model.

Conclusion:

For the chosen time frame, when testing on a 95% significance level,

the study found a significant abnormal return during the last 10 days

of the event window but not for the entire period of thirty days. The

daily average return for the thirty companies were significant for six

of the thirty days within the event window. Two of them were included

in the last ten day period with a confirmed significant abnormal

return which might suggest that on average insider trading tend

to occur during these days. The other four was discarded due to

sample issues. Since the study was limited to a period of four years

extending the results to a period other than tested should be made

with great care since conditions may differ over time. Concerning the

current debate on the insider legislation, the findings can be used by

both sides. Either to argue for a strengthening of the law or to question its existence.

In 1991, the Federal Communications Commission began regulating the tariffed rates of the nation's largest local exchange carriers under a new regulatory scheme: price-cap regulation. Price caps were intended to "remedy" the ills of traditional rate-of-return regulation. They were to provide incentive for the telephone companies to adopt innovative technology, cost-cutting measures and provide telephone services more efficiently. To test the effectiveness of this incentive, this study examined productivity of the regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) under both rate-of-return regulation and price-cap regulation. A total factor productivity model was developed and productivity gains were calculated under both regulatory regimes. The assumption of total factor productivity was then relaxed and value-added productivity and labor productivity measures were also examined. The point estimates of productivity gains indicate that price caps have led to greater productivity gains. Although productivity gains varied greatly across individual RBOCs, use of total RBOC data indicated that average productivity gains improved 1.3 percent under price caps using the TFP model. Similar improvements under price caps were estimated using the value-added (1.1 percent) and labor productivity measurements (1.3 percent). However, because of the variability of the annual estimates, none of the productivity improvements are statistically significant. In conclusion, calculations of RBOC productivity gains suggest that price caps have led to more efficient use of inputs--labor; materials, rents and services; and capital--in the production of telephone company output. Yet, the statistical evidence is not strong enough to unequivocally support the assertion that price cap regulation has led to great productivity gains.
Master of Arts

Le Cap Vert a mis en œuvre, pendant les années 90, une réforme visant à restructurer le système éducatif, dont le principal résultat a été la massification de l'enseignement de base et secondaire. La question est de comprendre en quoi la réforme a apporté des innovations dans la gestion de l'éducation. L'analyse des processus de décision sous-jacents au système de gestion au Ministère de l'Education révèle une "centralisation imparfaite", alors que le renforcement de la participation dans l'éducation est un des objectifs important de la réforme. Si dans le contexte d'extrême vulnérabilité du Cap Vert la centralisation semblait inévitable pour mettre en oeuvre les objectifs de la réforme, les dysfonctionnements, les pressions nationales et internationales ainsi que les défis de la modernisation de la gestion, appellent une alternative : la décentralisation. Les voies en sont la municipalisation de l'Education et le renforcement de l'autonomie de l'école.

Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades
Informe de Seminario para optar al grado de Licenciado en Ciencias Históricas
En este trabajo de investigación nuestro propósito es el estudio del ideario de las Fuerzas Armadas y las reformas realizadas en el aparato estatal a partir de la insurrección militar de septiembre de 1924, y considerando especialmente el primer gobierno de Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (1927-1931). En este sentido, nos gustaría precisar que la década del veinte en la historia nacional constituye una época particularmente importante para el Estado, debido principalmente a la aparición en el ámbito público de una mesocracia presente tanto en las Fuerzas Armadas como en una incipiente tecnocracia. Este sector social, al ingresar al aparato estatal, habría contribuido a diseñar, y a instaurar, una orientación primordialmente técnica por sobre la concepción constitucional-parlamentaria, predominante en la administraciones de comienzos de siglo.

A legislação brasileira estabelece que o Estado tem a obrigação de preservar o equilíbrio econômico financeiro das concessões de serviços públicos. Assim o Estado deve garantir que as tarifas dessas concessões sejam capazes de cobrir os seus custos operacionais e ainda ofereçam um retorno justo para os agentes privados que nelas investiram. Nas concessões de distribuição de gás natural canalizado e de energia elétrica os reguladores brasileiros optaram por aplicar uma regulação baseada em incentivos, que se inspira no modelo inglês de regulação por preço teto. Esta opção regulatória fez com que a Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica adicionasse à remuneração dos acionistas das concessionárias um prêmio de risco regulatório refletindo a diferença entre o risco das distribuidoras inglesas e o risco das norte americanas, pois as inglesas praticam uma forma de determinação de tarifas considerada mais arriscada que as norte americanas. Tal adição de retorno encontra amparo na teoria econômica, mas é questionada por estudos empíricos que mostram que a diferença entre os graus de risco do regime inglês e norte americano não é estatisticamente significativa. Nesta dissertação é testada a hipótese de que o grau de risco de mercado da regulação por preço teto é maior do que o da regulação por custo de serviço. Para tanto são usados dados de distribuidoras de gás natural e energia elétrica da Argentina, Brasil, Chile e Estados Unidos, sendo que apenas neste último país se pratica regulação por custo de serviço e nos demais é adotada a regulação por preço teto de inspiração inglesa. Os testes aqui realizados indicam que não há evidências de que o risco de mercado seja maior em países com regulação por preço-teto do que em países com regulação por custo de serviço. Mais do que isso, esta dissertação conclui que o principal determinante do diferencial entre o risco de mercado das concessionárias brasileiras e o risco de mercado das empresas norte americanas comparáveis de distribuição de energia elétrica e de gás natural é a volatilidade do índice IBOVESPA e não o modelo tarifário adotado pelos reguladores.
Brazilian Law establishes that preservation of the economic balance of utilities is an obligation of the Brazilian State. Thus the State must set tariffs that not only cover utilities operational costs but also cover its capital cost, giving a fair return for utilities investors. In tariff setting, Brazilian regulators estimate a weight average cost of capital, of which market risk is one of the components. Brazilian regulators of natural gas and electricity distribution utilities choose an incentive based model of regulation, inspired in the English regulatory model of price cap, or RPI X. This regulatory model is considered riskier than the American model of cost of service, or (fixed) rate of return regulation. Thus, the choice for a price cap model made Brazilian electricity regulator (ANEEL) add a regulatory risk premium in the equity component of WACC to incorporate the risk differential between the English and the American regulatory models. Such regulatory risk premium is validated by economic theory, but is questioned by empiric studies that show that, across many countries, the difference between the risk of English and American models are not statistically significative. This dissertation tests the hypothesis that the market risk of price cap regulation is greater than cost of service regulation. In order to test such hypothesis data from natural gas and electric energy distributors from Argentia, Brazil, Chile and United States is used. Only the latter practices cost of service regulation and all other countries adopt the english inspired price cap regualation. The tests performed indicate that there is no evidence that the market risk is greater in countries adopting price cap regulation than in countries using cost of service regulation. Moreover, this dissertation concludes that the main aspect determining the difference between market.risk of Brazilian utilities providers and American comparable natural gas end electric energy distributors is the volatility of the IBOVESPA índex in spite of the tariff model adopted by the regulators.

This note analyzes a simple Cournot model where firms choose outputs and capacities facing varying demand and price-cap regulation. We find that binding price caps set above long-run marginal cost increase (rather than decrease) aggregate capacity investment. (author's abstract)
Series: Working Papers / Research Institute for Regulatory Economics

Price trends on the Swedish housing market has risen sharply in recent decades and is at the moment up to the highest price level ever. The sharp price movements have opened up for discussion about a possible housing bubble. To prevent this the Riksbank can change the repo rate, which in turn aects the lenders' lending rates. Finansinspektionen introduced in autumn 2010, a mortgage cap which means that the house will be mortgaged to a maximum of 85 percent of its market value. The purpose of this was to cool the housing market and prevent the unsustainable development of household debt. The purpose of this study is to examine in particular the repo rates and the mortgage caps eect on house prices in Sweden. Although other variables that aect supply and demand in the housing market from a macroeconomic perspective will be included in the model, such as GDP, unemployment and the nancial crisis of 2008. This study has been done by using a quantitative analysis, consisting of time series analysis. The results conrm all the investigated variables expected impact on house prices. As for the repo rate and the mortgage cap the results showed that these have a negative eect on house prices in Sweden.
Prisutvecklingen pa den Svenska bostadsmarknaden har stigit kraftigt under de senaste decennierna och ar just nu uppe i den hogsta prisnivan nagonsin. Den kraftiga prisutvecklingen har oppnat for diskussion om en eventuell bostadsbubbla. For att motverka detta kan Riksbanken andra reporantan som i sin tur paverkar kreditgivarnas utlaningsranta. Finansinspektionen inforde under hosten 2010 ett bolanetak som innebar att bostaden hogst ska belanas till 85 procent av marknadsvardet. Detta for att kyla bostadsmarknaden och motverka den ohallbara utvecklingen av hushallens skuldsattning. Syftet med denna studie ar att framforallt undersoka reporantans och bolanetakets eekt pa smahuspriser i Sverige. Aven andra variabler som paverkar utbudet och efterfragan pa bostadsmarknaden ur ett makroekonomiskt perspektiv kommer att inga i modellen, till exempel BNP, arbetsloshet och nanskrisen 2008. Detta genomfors med hjalp av en kvantitativ analys, bestaende av tidsserieanalys. Resultatet bekraftar alla undersokta variablers vantade eekter pa smahuspriser. Vad galler reporantan och bolanetaket sa visade resultatet pa att dessa har negativ eekt pa smahuspriser i Sverige.

This paper examines whether the phenomena of price drift around quarterly earnings re-leases exist among firms listed on the large cap. list at the Stockholm Stock Exchange for a time period ranging from the first quarter of 2003 to the second quarter of 2006. It fur-thermore examines the ability of the variables forecast error, relative to analyst’s estimates, and firms’ size to explain the variation in price drift among firms.

A sample of some 30 firms were drawn in the first three quarters of each year between 2003 and 2005, for the year of 2006 only the fist two quarters were included in the study. For each quarter all firms were classified into three different portfolios on the basis of earnings deviations relative to mean analyst’s estimates (forecast error). The returns for each firm in all portfolios were investigated during 20 days post- and pre quarterly earnings release date, resulting in an event window totaling 41 days. In order to clear out effects from general market movements the Capital Asset Pricing Model, CAPM, was used in which betas were estimated for all firms each quarter.

The findings from this study indicate that price drift, measured by cumulative abnormal re-turn, occur for firms with both negative forecast error as well as positive. For firms with positive error, statistically significant positive price drift was found for both the pre- and post period. As for the firms with earnings below analyst’s mean estimates, negative prean-nouncement drift was statistically supported.

The ability of firms size and forecast error to explain the variation in price drift on a stock level was very weak, R2 measures of below 5% was reported. However, forecast error was a strongly significant independent variable in the context of the regressions run for both pre- and post-announcement drift. The firms below the lower market cap. quartile in the sample show, on average, lower pre-announcement drift than the firms belonging in the largest quartile.

Concerning market efficiency among the large cap. firms the price drift found is an indica-tion of market inefficiency both it terms of the semi strong and the strong form. However, care should be taken before generalizing the results from this study but. Possible misspeci-fication of the equilibrium return model will skew the price drift measurement. Moreover, speculation is not explicitly controlled for in this test. Finally, this study is done within a li-mited time span; hence generalization over time is not possible

L'anorexie mentale est une maladie mortelle liée à une privation volontaire d'aliments en dépit d'un besoin énergétique. La compréhension des causes biologiques des anomalies alimentaires requiert un niveau d'analyse simplifié. Ainsi l'utilisation de modèles animaux a permis d'identifier l'une des premières cibles thérapeutiques potentielles de l'anorexie : le récepteur 5-HT4 de la sérotonine (R5-HT4). La stimulation des R5-HT4 dans le noyau accumbens (NAc) active la voie de signalisation AMPc/PKA/CART et inhibe la faim, alors que l'inhibition de son activité constitutive par un agoniste inverse spécifique inhibe cette voie et provoque une hyperphagie. La transfection d'un R5-HT4 muté (R5-HT4ASSL), insensible à la sérotonine et dont l'activité constitutive est plus forte que celle du récepteur natif, dans le NAc chez la souris sauvage ou privée des R5-HT4, réduit la motivation à consommer des aliments, en activant la voie AMPc/PKA/CART de façon indépendante de la sérotonine. Ces résultats constituent un des rares cas connus d'implication de l'activité constitutive d'un récepteur couplé à une protéine G dans une fonction physiologique, la prise alimentaire. Dans ce contexte, nous décrivons un nouveau facteur de régulation du taux d'AMPc sous le contrôle des R5-HT4 dans le NAc : le complexe « A-kinase anchoring protein/Protein kinase A » (AKAP/PKA). La liaison de la PKA à l'AKAP inhibe l'augmentation du taux d'AMPc et d'ARNm codant le peptide CART, induite par la stimulation pharmacologique des R5-HT4, dans le NAc. Cet effet s'accompagne d'une diminution de la prise alimentaire. Ce rétrocontrôle négatif du complexe AKAP/PKA sur l'activité des R5-HT4 permet de diminuer le taux d'AMPc dans le NAc et de réguler la prise alimentaire. Ces résultats suggèrent qu'une trop forte activité constitutive des R5-HT4 induit une augmentation anormale d'AMPc dans le NAc qui peut conduire à des anomalies alimentaires comme l'anorexie mentale. Nous avons ainsi identifié un mécanisme moléculaire capable de réguler l'activité des R5-HT4 et qui pourrait servir de cible pour le traitement de l'anorexie
Anorexia nervosa is a deadly mental disease related to a voluntary deprivation of food despite an energy requirement. Understanding of the biological causes of food anomalies requires a level of simplified analysis. And the use of animal models has previously allowed us to identify one of the first potential therapeutic targets of anorexia : serotonin 4 receptors (5-HT4Rs). Stimulation of 5-HT4Rs in the nucleus accumbens (Nac) activates the cAMP/PKA/CART signaling pathway and inhibits hunger, while the inhibition of its constitutive activity by a specific inverse agonist inhibits this pathway and causes hyperphagia. Transfection of a mutated 5-HT4R (5-HT4RASSL) insensitive to serotonin and whose constitutive activity is stronger that the native receptor, in the NAc in mice, reduces motivation for consuming food while activating the cAMP/PKA/CART pathway independently of serotonin. These results are one of the few known cases of involvement of the constitutive activity of G protein coupled receptor to a physiological function, the intake of food.In this context, we describe a new factor regulating cAMP levels under the control of 5-HT4Rs in the NAc: the A-kinase anchoring protein/Protein kinase A (AKAP/PKA) complex. The binding of PKA to AKAPs inhibits the increase in cAMP levels and mRNA encoding the peptide CART induced by pharmacological stimulation of 5-HT4Rs, in Nac. This effect is accompanied by a decrease in food intake The negative feedback of AKAP/PKA complex on the activity of 5-HT4Rs reduces the cAMP levels in the NAc and controls food intake.These results suggest that a too strong constitutive activity of 5-HT4Rs induces cAMP abnormal increase in the Nac and leads to eating abnormalities such as anorexia nervosa. We identified a molecular mechanism that regulates the activity of 5-HT4Rs and could serve as a target for the treatment of anorexia

This dissertation presents three different closely related topics on the value of eco-friendliness in the financial market. The first essay attempts to estimate hedonic stock price model to find a contemporaneous relationship between stock return and firms’ environmental performance and recover the value of investor’s willingness to pay of eco-friendliness. This study follows stock and environmental performances of the 500 largest US firms from 2009 to 2012. The firms’ environmental data come from the Newsweek Green Ranking, both aggregate measures: green ranking (GR) and green score (GS), and disaggregate measures: environmental impact score (EIS), green policy and performance score (GPS), reputation survey score (RSS), and environmental disclosure score (EDS). The results show a non-linear relationship between environmental variables and stock return, i.e. upside down bowl shape or increasing in decreasing rate. That means for low green ranking firms the marginal effect is positive while for high green ranking firms the marginal effect is negative. The investor’s willingness to pay (WTP) for a greener stock for firms in the lowest 25 green ranking, on average, is 0.0096% higher stock price. The second essays attempt to determine if a firm’s environmental performance affects future systematic risk. Systematic risk measures an individual stock’s volatility relative to the market price. This study also uses the Newsweek Green Ranking’s environmental variables. The results show significant evidence of a non-linear relationship between green variables and systematic (market) risk, but the shape is not unanimous for all environmental variables. The shape of the relationship for green ranking (GR), for example, is U-shape. This means that for the firms in the bottom rank, improving rank will lower systematic (market) risk, and for the firms in the top rank improving rank will increase systematic (market) risk. On average the marginal effect for the firms in the bottom and top 25 firms are -0.2% and 0.09% respectively. The third essay is the effect of a firm’s environmental performances on a firm’s idiosyncratic risk. Idiosyncratic risk measures an individual stock’s volatility independent from the market price. This study also uses the Newsweek Green Ranking’s environmental variables. The results show significant non-linear relationships between environmental variables and idiosyncratic risk, even though there is no unanimous shape among the environmental variables. In the case of green ranking, for example, it has U-shape; for the firms in the bottom rank, improving green ranking will lower idiosyncratic risk and for firm in the top green ranking, improving green ranking will increase idiosyncratic risk. On average the marginal effect for firm in bottom and top 25 firms are -0.4% and 0.2% respectively.

Trenden inom världsekonomin har på senare år indikerat på en mognad där tillväxten ligger på låga tal historisk. Detta har tvingat centralbanker runt omkring jorden att drastiskt ta till åtgärder för att stimulera tillväxten. Reporäntan har använts som det mest centrala instrumentet för detta ändamål. Sverige är ett levande exempel på detta, där de har sänkt räntan lägre än den fruktade nollnivån och har i dagsläget en ränta på -0,5 %. Effekterna av reporänteförändringar på aktievärdering har studerats brett och den ackumulerade åsikten bland forskare är att räntan påverkar aktiemarknaden direkt. De historiska studierna som har utförts fokuserar på hur marknaden som helhet påverkas där de individuella företagseffekterna hamnar i skymundan. Därför har denna studie fokuserat på att undersöka dessa branschrelaterade effekter av en ränteförändring på individuella företag inom de valda branscherna. Detta område har undersökts med hjälp av en eventstudie.  Resultaten från studien visar på homogena effekter för mindre bolag där dessa får en större påverkan vid förändringar än stora bolag. Detta visar sig även mellan de olika branscherna. De observerade branscherna är sällanköpsvaror och dagligvaror, de branschspecifika effekterna som studien visar är att dagligvaror påverkas signifikant mer än sällanköpsvaror. Vidare visar resultatet att företagsstorlek har en större påverkan än branschtillhörighet, där small-cap bolag inom sällanköpsvaror har större påverkan än large-cap bolag inom dagligvaror. En negativ förändring går även att hänvisa till mer homogena rörelser för branscherna samt de olika storlekarna. Vidare gav positiva nyheter en mer heterogen rörelse där de mindre bolagen ej korrelerade med dem större.
In recent years, the trend in the world economy has indicated a maturity in growth which is low in historical terms. This has forced central banks around the world to drastically act to stimulate growth. The prime rate has then been used as the most central instrument for this purpose. Sweden is a living example of this as they have lowered interest rates below the dreaded zero level and currently have an interest rate of -0.5 %. The effects of prime rate changes on stock valuation have been studied widely, and the accumulated opinion among researchers is that interest rates directly affect the stock market. The historical studies that have been carried out focus on how the market as a whole is affected where individual effects on businesses end up in the dark. Therefore, this study has focused on investigating these industry-related effects of an interest rate change on individual companies in the chosen industries. The results from the study show homogenous effects for smaller companies, where the impact is greater on them in addition to larger companies. This is also apparent between the different industries. This area of concerns has been studied with an event study. The observed industries are consumer discretionary and commodities, the industry-specific effects shown by the study are that commodities are significantly more affected than consumer discretionarys’. Furthermore, the results show that company size is a greater indicator than industry due to the greater effect on small companies within consumer discretionary than on larger companies in the commodities sector. A negative change can also be referred to more homogeneous movements for the industries as well as the different business sizes. In addition, positive news gave a more heterogeneous move where the smaller companies did not correlate with the larger ones.

The goal of this thesis is test and comparation of the offline tools for prediction of protein structure and creation of metaprediktor, which allows the user to select the appropriate tool, according to given parameters. Testing tool is based on a dataset of proteins, which is based on the SCOP database and it is trying to be as balanced as possible to include proteins from different families and thus could best evaluate individual tools. The results of this thesis are requirements of metaprediktor and also which data and settings can be allowed and processed and how it will be implemented.

Detta är en undersökning som är gjord för att jämföra prissättningen av fastigheter som är till salu i Sverige och Spanien. För att avgränsa oss har vi valt att jämföra Stockholms innerstads prissättning med prissättningen i Palma på Mallorca i Spanien. Lockpris fenomenet har fått hård kritik under den senaste tiden i media. På grund av denna kritik så har många mäklare, speciellt i Stockholms innerstad, gått ihop och arbetar mot att undvika lockpriser och har infört begreppet accepterat pris. Dock kan accepterat pris uppfattas som ett nytt ersättningsnamn på lockpriser. Trots att Mäklarsamfundet tar bestämt avstånd från användning av lockpriser så har vi genom intervjuer med mäklare i Stockholms innerstad fått fram att detta används fortfarande vid prissättning av bostäder. Vi har genom våra intervjuer med fastighetsägare i Stockholm och Palma, mött flera fastighetsägare som har känt sig lurade då de har köpt en fastighet till ett avsevärt mycket högre slutpris än utgångspris. Samtidigt har vi mött flera fastighetsägare som är nöjda med Sveriges budgivningssystem. De flesta föredrar dock att köpa eller sälja en fastighet till verkligt accepterat pris. Det spanska budgivningssystemet där budgivningen går nedåt har, trots att de flesta fastighetsköpare som vi intervjuat lyckats förhandla ned slutpriset, mötts med en del kritik. Största delen av kritiken bygger på att priset inte sätts relaterat till marknadspriset, vilket det trots lockpriser, görs i Sverige.
This is a survey where we compare the pricing of properties that are for sale in Sweden and Spain. To make delimitation, we have chosen to compare the pricing in the inner city of Stockholm of Sweden with the pricing in Palma in Mallorca, Spain. The cap rates phenomenon has been very criticized in the Swedish media in the latest couple of years. Because of this criticism, many real estate agents in the inner city of Stockholm are working to avoid cap rates and introduced the concept of using acceptable prices. However, acceptable price rates are perceived as a replacement name for the cap prices. Although the Mäklarsamfundet, of Sweden, disagrees with the use of cap rates, we have trough our interviews with real estate agents in the inner city of Stockholm received that this concept is still used in the pricing of properties. We have, through our interviews with property owners in Stockholm and Palma, met several property owners who have felt cheated when they bought a property at a significantly higher final price than the asking price. We have as well met several property owners who are satisfied with the Swedish pricing. But most people prefer to buy or sell a property at fair agreed price, using acceptable pricing. Many of the Spanish property buyers who we have interviewed are critical to the Spanish pricing, where the bidding goes down. This despite that most of them, managed to negotiate down the final price. Most of the criticism is based on that the prices are not related to market price, which, despite the cap rates, is in Sweden.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that global warming poses a grave threat to the world’s ecological system and the human race. This phenomenon is very likely caused by increasing concentrations of carbon emissions, which mainly results from such human activities as fossil fuel burning and deforestation (IPCC, 2007). A powerful action is required to stabilize the rising temperatures, involving many countries with a common objective. As asserted by Stavins (2008), without an effective global climate agreement no result will be accomplished. In order to mitigate global warming, the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), and many countries have introduced some policies and mechanisms to contain the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Among these, one of the primary legislations is the European Union Emission Trading System (EU-ETS). On the contrary, other nations still consider the efforts to mitigate global warming as obstacles to striving for economic growth. Therefore, without a comprehensive engagement, some actors are advantaged and more competitive in the global economy. Some others, involved in emission saving policies, have to face stronger investments and restrictions, with the risk of suffering economic disadvantages. Since the emissions released by companies’ operational activities into the air are one of the main causes of global climate change (He et al. 2015), businesses are becoming increasingly conscious of their carbon footprint and have begun to incorporate environmental thinking into their business strategy and supply chain management. In order to help managers driving companies towards sustainable and efficient purchasing decisions, in this research work the Sustainable Economic Order Quantity (S-EOQ) Model introduced by Battini et al. (2014) is improved by developing a bi-objective lot-sizing model with two different objective functions to minimize (costs and emissions) and integrating the Cap and Trade regulatory policy (characteristic of the EU-ETS). This S-EOQ model is useful in practice to support managers in understanding the Pareto frontier shape linked to a specific purchasing problem, defining the cost-optimal and emission-optimal solutions and identifying a sustainable quantity to purchase when a Cap and Trade mitigation policy is present. The model behavior is analyzed according to variation in the market carbon price and it is analytically demonstrated that today carbon prices are still far too low to motivate managers towards sustainable purchasing choices. Moreover, two innovative bi-objective Sustainable Joint Economic Lot Size (S-JELS) Models under a Cap and Trade policy are introduced (applying the Cap and Trade regulation only to the buyer or to both buyer and supplier), in order to consider costs and emissions related to a two-echelon supply chain, not only to the buyer. By considering two different objective functions to minimize (costs and emissions), both economic and sustainable issues are equally considered and integrated in the contest of a supply chain. In this way, the models lead the Decision Makers to more sustainable and efficient logistic and purchasing solutions, considering a supply chain point of view. With the purpose of helping companies analyzing the trade-offs among different supplies, the S-JELS models can be run iteratively for many sourcing options, in order to build the Pareto frontiers for each supplier and compare then the frontier shapes, the cost-optimal solutions and the emission-optimal ones. One of the two S-JELS models presented (the one with Cap and Trade regulation applied only to the buyer) is then integrated into a procedure for assessing a Sustainable Supplier Selection. The objective is to provide the managers with numerical KPI and user-friendly graphs, in order to help them on analysing the trade-offs among different supplies and on evaluating the selection criteria for each potential supplier in an easier, faster, analytical and correct way. In the end, it is presented a case study from the manufacturing industry. The objective is to help managers on carrying out a Sustainable Supplier Selection between a Domestic and a Far East sourcing, by applying the S-JELS model integrated in an AHP supplier selection procedure. The model is exploited in order to provide the Decision Makers (DMs) with the tools for selecting the best sourcing option for their company. The DMs by iterating the solution process can obtain and compare different Pareto frontiers, being able to consider trade-offs before taking a purchasing strategy decision.
Secondo l’Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), il riscaldamento globale rappresenta una grave minaccia per il sistema ecologico mondiale e quindi anche per l’umanità. Questo fenomeno è causato in gran parte dall'aumento di emissioni di CO2, derivanti principalmente da attività umane come la combustione fossile e la deforestazione (IPCC, 2007). Risulta quindi necessaria una decisa azione per stabilizzare le temperature in aumento, tale da coinvolgere molti Paesi per il raggiungimento di un obiettivo comune; come sostenuto da Stavins (2008), senza un efficace accordo globale non sarà possibile raggiungere alcun risultato. Al fine di mitigare il riscaldamento globale, le Nazioni Unite (ONU), l'Unione Europea (UE) e molti altri Paesi hanno introdotto politiche e meccanismi per contenere la quantità totale di emissioni di gas serra. Tra questi, una delle normative più rilevanti è l’European Union Emission Trading System (EU-ETS). Altre Nazioni, al contrario, considerano gli sforzi per mitigare il global warming un ostacolo alla loro crescita economica e risultano quindi avvantaggiate e più competitive rispetto a quei Paesi coinvolti in politiche per la riduzione delle emissioni. Dato che le emissioni rilasciate nell’aria dalle attività operative delle imprese sono una delle principali cause del cambiamento climatico globale (He et al., 2015), le aziende stanno prendendo consapevolezza del loro impatto ambientale e iniziano a seguire una filosofia più sostenibile sia a livello di strategia aziendale, che di gestione della supply chain. In questo lavoro di ricerca, il Sustainable Economic Order Quantity (S-EOQ) Model introdotto da Battini et al. (2014) viene perfezionato, al fine di aiutare i manager a guidare le aziende verso decisioni di acquisto sostenibili ed efficienti. Si sviluppa un modello di dimensionamento del lotto con due diverse funzioni obiettivo da minimizzare (costi ed emissioni), inoltre viene integrata la politica di regolamentazione Cap and Trade, caratteristica dell’EU-ETS. Questo modello S-EOQ risulta utile per varie ragioni: comprendere la forma della di frontiera di Pareto associata ad uno specifico problema di acquisto; definire le soluzioni ottimali in termini di costi e di emissioni; identificare una quantità sostenibile di acquisto quando è presente una politica di Cap and Trade delle emissioni. Il comportamento del modello viene analizzato in relazione alla variazione del prezzo delle emissioni di carbonio, dimostrando analiticamente che i prezzi attuali sono ancora troppo bassi per motivare i manager verso scelte di acquisto sostenibili. Inoltre, vengono introdotti due Sustainable Joint Economic Lot Size (S-JELS) Models nell'ambito di una politica di Cap and Trade (applicando la regolamentazione solo al buyer o sia al buyer che al supplier), in modo da considerare i costi e le emissioni relativi ad una catena di fornitura, non solo al buyer. Considerando due differenti funzioni obiettivo da minimizzare (i costi e le emissioni), le problematiche economiche e sostenibili sono ugualmente tenute in considerazione e integrate nel contesto di una supply chain. In questo modo, i modelli supportano i manager nel prendere decisioni logistiche e di acquisto più sostenibili ed efficienti, considerando il punto di vista della supply chain. Con lo scopo di aiutare le aziende ad analizzare i trade-off tra diverse forniture, i modelli S-JELS possono essere eseguiti iterativamente per varie opzioni di sourcing, al fine di costruire le frontiere di Pareto per ciascun fornitore e confrontare quindi le forme della frontiera, le soluzioni ottimali in termini di costi e in termini di emissioni. Uno dei due modelli S-JELS presentati (quello in cui la politica di Cap and Trade è applicata solo al buyer) viene inoltre integrato in una procedura per effettuare una Sustainable Supplier Selection. L'obiettivo è fornire ai decisori KPI numerici e grafici user-friendly, al fine di aiutarli ad analizzare i trade-off tra le diverse opzioni di fornitura e valutare quindi i criteri di selezione per ogni potenziale fornitore in modo più semplice, rapido, analitico e corretto. Infine, viene presentato un caso studio del settore manifatturiero. L'obiettivo è quello di aiutare i manager a condurre una Sustainable Supplier Selection tra un fornitore Nazionale ed uno collocato nel Far East, applicando il modello S-JELS, integrato in una procedura AHP per la selezione dei fornitori. Tale modello viene dunque impiegato per fornire ai Decision Makers (DMs) gli strumenti per selezionare la migliore opzione di approvvigionamento aziendale. I DMs, iterando il modello, possono ottenere e confrontare diverse frontiere di Pareto, valutando così i trade-off prima di prendere una decisione in merito alla strategia di acquisto.

A partir de revisão do histórico da regulação do segmento de distribuição de energia elétrica no Brasil, da revisão de conceitos de Teoria da Regulação, Distribuição de Energia Elétrica, Estrutura Tarifária, Regulação de Monopólios Naturais, Qualidade do Serviço Prestado, e Sustentabilidade Econômico-Financeira, assim como definições de Direito Administrativo, Teoria Geral de Concessões de Serviços Públicos e política de preço aplicada a monopólios naturais, aprende-se que o regime tarifário chamado de serviço pelo preço (price cap) foi adotado a partir da edição da Lei de Concessões, sendo abandonado o regime do custo do serviço (rate of return), praticado desde a década de 1950. Contudo, a distinção entre os dois regimes de regulação tarifária fica prejudicada devido às práticas do regulador, fato que ocorre não apenas no Brasil. Conforme estabelecem os contratos de concessão, as tarifas deveriam ser preservadas pela equação de equilíbrio inicial \'RPI +/- X\', sendo previstas revisões tarifárias periódicas, observadas as alterações na estrutura de custos e de mercado, os níveis de tarifas observados em empresas similares no contexto nacional e internacional, e estímulos ao ganho de eficiência e à modicidade tarifária. Passadas duas décadas da implantação do price cap, observa-se que o regulador incorporou práticas do rate of return, criando instrumentos de reposicionamento das tarifas de acordo com critérios e trajetórias de custos operacionais eficientes e componentes discricionários de cálculo do ganho de produtividade, dotando o processo de reajuste e revisão das tarifas de excessiva complexidade. Assim, buscando-se maior simplicidade e clareza nos processos tarifários, de modo a incentivar de forma mais adequada o investimento na melhoria da qualidade do serviço e na sustentabilidade da concessão, o presente trabalho propõe aperfeiçoamentos na metodologia tarifária com base em parâmetros de eficiência em relação à qualidade do serviço prestado, discutido no âmbito do Mecanismo de Incentivo à Melhoria da Qualidade (MIQ) por meio do componente \'Q\' do Fator X, e de eficiência em relação à gestão econômico-financeira (sustentabilidade), aferida por parâmetros utilizados amplamente no setor financeiro, tratados como elementos de uma política de incentivos para assegurar a trajetória de sustentabilidade da concessão. A partir do princípio contratual de que os processos tarifários consideram como receita da distribuidora a soma de uma parcela não gerenciável (VPA) e de parcela gerenciável (VPB), a busca por maior simplicidade e clareza diz respeito ao estrito cumprimento dos critérios contratuais, com retorno à prática da regulação de serviço pelo preço, como estabelecido pela Lei de Concessões. A aplicação dos aperfeiçoamentos propostos é realizada mediante estudos de caso de duas distribuidoras de energia elétrica em situações de qualidade e sustentabilidade distintas. O resultado ilustra que a qualidade e sustentabilidade do serviço podem ser parâmetros importantes para introdução de uma metodologia menos complexa e mais objetiva para reajuste e revisão das tarifas de fornecimento no Brasil.
The Tariff Regulation for public service distribution of electrical energy, called \"price cap\" was adopted in Brazil from the publication of Law 8.095/1995 (the Law of Concessions), therefore abandoning the \"return rate\" remuneration system practiced since the late 1950s. However, the distinction between price cap and return rate regulation was negatively affected due to practices of the regulatory agency (National Electric Energy Agency - ANEEL), which occurs not only in Brazil. As established in concession contracts, the tariffs should be preserved by the equation of initial balance \'RPI +/- X\', forecasting tariff reviews periodically by observing changes in the structure of the licensee\'s costs and market share, the levels of rates observed in similar businesses in the national and international context, as well as stimulating efficiency gains and controlling tariffs. After two decades of implementation of the system of price cap in Brazil, and after four cycles of periodic review of tariffs, it is observed that the regulator has incorporated practices of rate of return throughout the process, creating instruments of repositioning of tariffs in accordance with criteria of operational costs considered efficient and discretionary components of calculating the productivity gains (X Factor), giving the process of readjustment and revision of rates of excessive complexity. In search of greater simplicity and clarity in the tariff process in order to encourage more adequately the investment in improving the quality of service and sustainability, this Thesis presents proposals for the improvement of tariff methodology based on parameters efficiency in terms of quality of service, objectively measured by global indicators of continuity and efficiency in relation to the economic and financial management (sustainability), measured by parameters used widely in the financial sector. The improvement of the efficiency of quality is discussed under the Incentive to Quality Improvement Mechanism (MIQ) of the Brazilian tariff regulation through the \'Q\' component of Factor X. The improvements on the extent of economic and financial sustainability are treated as elements of an incentive policy to ensure a path of sustainability of the concession, given that the Brazilian regulator has not adopted explicit mechanisms of sustainability, except those specifically defined in the process of renewal of distribution concessions, pursuant to Presidential Decree n. 8.461/2015. From the contractual principle that tariff processes consider the distribution company Requested Revenue as the sum of an unmanageable portion (VPA) and manageable portion (VPB), the search for greater simplicity and clarity with respect the strict compliance with the contract criteria, returning to the practice of price cap regulation, as established by the Concessions Law. The implementation of improvements for the proposed tariff mechanisms is carried out through case studies relating to two electricity distribution companies in different quality and sustainability situations. The result of the study shows that the quality and sustainability of the service in the electricity distribution segment can be important parameters for introducing a less complex and more objective methodology for adjustment and review of electricity tariffs in Brazil.

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht den Nationalpreis für Literatur („Premio Nacional de Literatura“) in Chile, der 1942 ins Leben gerufen wurde und mit welchem bis 2014 48 männliche und 4 weibliche Autoren prämiert wurden. Sein Bestehen über mehr als sieben Jahrzehnte und seine offizielle feierliche Verleihung hat durchgehend die Aufmerksamkeit des chilenischen literarischen Feldes erregt und bot im gleichen Zuge einen öffentlicher Anlass, den Wert der Literatur auf verschiedenen Ebenen neu zu denken und zu diskutieren. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, ausgehend von dieser vielseitigen Diskussion eine Analyse der Inhalte und Grundlagen der Debatte über den Stellenwert von Literatur und von SchriftstellerInnen sowie deren Veränderungen in Chile vorzunehmen. Die Arbeit ist diachronisch angelegt und basiert auf der Sammlung und Kategorisierung offizieller Berichte, individueller Aussagen und öffentlicher Debatten, die alljährlich rund um die Vergabe des Nationalpreises publik werden. Die Ergebnisse der Forschungsarbeit zeigen, dass seit den 1940er Jahren in Chile Literatur tendenziell anhand der politisch-ethischen Position der AutorInnen astatt der Ästhetik der Texte bewertet wurde. Das heißt, in den meisten Fällen wurde ein Autor anhand seines gesellschaftlichen Engagements anstatt der Qualität seiner Texte ausgewählt. Dieser Sachverhalt erklärt sich durch die große Bedeutung, die der chilenische Staat bis heute als Plattform für Finanzierung, Ausbildung und Förderung künstlerischer Werdegänge, inne hat.
The present dissertation investigates the Chilean National Prize for Literature ("Premio Nacional de Literatura"), founded in 1942, which has been awarded to 48 male and 4 female authors to date. Its existence for more than seven decades and the solemnity of the official award ceremonies has attracted the attention of the Chilean literary field, offering a public occasion and forum to rethink and discuss the value of literature on different levels. The main objective of this research is to present and analyze the arguments that were used in this context to explain why writers and literature are important. The dissertation is diachronic and based on the collection and categorization of official reports, individual statements, and public debates, which were held annually around the awarding of the national prize between 1942 and 2014. The results of this investigation show that, since the 1940s, the arguments used to talk about the importance and value of literature tended to give more importance to the political-ethical profile of the writers, rather than an esthetic dimension. This means that in most of the cases writers were valued for their social engagement rather than the quality of their books. This has happened because of the State’s importance both as financial source for Chilean writers and as network for the development of their intellectual and artistic careers.
La presente investigación está dedicada al Premio Nacional de Literatura en Chile, fundado el año 1942 y que, hasta el año 2014, condecoró a 48 escritores y 4 escritoras. Su fundación hace más de 7 décadas, y su entrega y ceremonia oficiales han logrado concentrar año a año la atención del medio literario chileno, ofreciendo de paso una instancia pública y periódica donde discutir y reflexionar en torno al valor de la literatura y los escritores. El objetivo de esta investigación es, a partir de la organización y análisis de estas discusiones, presentar los argumentos que han fundado un discurso sobre la importancia de la literatura en Chile, y explicar cómo es que esos fundamentos se han transformado. La estructura de este trabajo es diacrónica y se basa en la exposición y categorización de los motivos recogidos en reportes oficiales, declaraciones de los escritores y la diversidad de artículos de prensa surgidos a propósito de la entrega del Premio Nacional. Los resultados de esta pesquisa informan que en el medio cultural chileno desde los años ’40 en adelante los criterios de valoración de lo literario tendieron a privilegiar la dimensión político-ética de los escritores, antes que la estética; es decir, que en la mayoría de los casos se les valoró por su compromiso social, antes que por la calidad de sus obras. Esto, a su vez, se ha explicado por la importancia que el Estado ha tenido hasta el día de hoy como plataforma de financiamiento, formación y acción para las carreras artísticas y literarias en Chile.

In a tale of survival, dubbed that of the “South Seas Crusoes”, a group of men overcame the odds by setting up camp on a deserted volcanic sub-Antarctic island in the middle of the Southern Indian Ocean. This group of men formed the crew of the Norwegian SS Solglimt sealing vessel which had wrecked on the sub-Antarctic Marion Island in October 1908. More than a century later remains of the shipwreck of the SS Solglimt can still be found lying exposed below the water in the bay of Ships Cove. In the valley north of the bay, the remnants of the shipwreck survivor camp associated with the wreck holds hidden stories of a terrestrial maritime landscape formed out of tragedy and the need to survive. It is mainly the remains of this camp which forms the basis of the research and discussion for this dissertation. The following study is not only an attempt to add to our knowledge and understanding of the archaeological remains on Marion Island, it is also to add to an existing body of knowledge involving shipwreck survivor camps. The remains on Marion Island have produced the perfect opportunity to fill gaps within the discipline of Maritime Archaeology, especially in South Africa where too often emphasis is placed on shipwreck studies and not enough on the events taking place before or after the crisis event. The following dissertation uses archaeological techniques alongside historical documents as a way to better understand the socio-cultural behaviour of survivors during events of disaster, isolation and the necessity to survive. The study will be used as a comparison to similar studies around the world and hopes to add to an existing body of knowledge involving survivor camps and disaster-response studies from an archaeological and anthropological perspective.
Anthropology and Archaeology
M.A. (Archaeology)

Le marché financier américain et canadien présentent beaucoup de similitudes. La question qu'on se pose est que les incohérences détectées chez le premier vont-elles se généraliser partout. En effet une évaluation des données boursières américaines a montré que les primes de risque constatées sont trop excessives par rapport aux prévisions du modèle de CAPM de consommation. Ce modèle qui fait partie des plus parfaits dont disposent les économistes et financiers, va nous permettre de faire des prévisions de primes de risque avec les données canadiennes. Pour la période retenue, les résultats obtenus ont confirmé la tendance constatée dans les précédentes études. C'est à dire des primes de risques anormalement élevées. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : CAPM, CAPM de consommation, MEDAF, MEDAF de consommation, CCAPM, Énigme de la prime de risque, Prime de risque excédentaire.

This cumulative doctoral thesis comprises three essays in which "Data Envelopment Analysis"(DEA), an instructive and flexible analytic tool with origins in operations research, is utilized to help clarify three crucial issues that arise when subjecting network industries to price-cap regulation. These issues are: First, the relationship of price-cap regulation with investment, second, the relationship of price-cap regulation with quality and third, the correct cost of capital within price-cap regulation. Without loss of generality, the investigation is focused on the case of electricity. (author's abstract)

In the first study of this thesis, I analyse the effects of oil price and global demand shocks on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). To do this, I employ a global vector autoregression (GVAR) framework for 26 SIDS using annual data over the period 1980 to 2015. A key innovation associated with this research is the use of remittance weights to capture the close financial linkages between SIDS and advanced economies such as the United States. I find negligible negative effects on economic growth in SIDS on average from a negative oil price shock, though each country reacts differently. In terms of a negative demand shock to US GDP, SIDS appear vulnerable with a marginal positive effect observed for the Pacific while small negative effects emerge for the Caribbean; Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea (AIMS); and SIDS as a whole. Since oil prices influence electricity prices, the second study looks at how electricity prices influence consumer behaviour in a particular country, using Jamaica as an example. To analyse how consumers respond to prices, I use the autoregressive distributive lag bounds testing approach to cointegration to obtain long-run elasticity estimates covering the period 1970 to 2014. The analysis focuses on aggregate electricity demand and three categories of consumers: residential, commercial, and industrial. The findings suggest that residential and industrial consumers are most responsive to price changes with long-run price elasticities of demand of –0.82 and –0.25, respectively. Price-based approaches are likely to be more successful in slowing electricity demand growth in these sectors. We can use demand elasticities to analyse the behaviour of alternative electricity pricing schemes under different scenarios. Using Jamaica as a case study in the third study, my analysis confirms that in contrast to a price cap plan that uses Ramsey quantity weights, prices under a revenue cap increase as demand in a particular market becomes more elastic relative to the others. In this specific setting, a revenue cap does encourage energy conservation through reductions in electricity use, but this is less likely when marginal cost is very large in the more elastic market relative to other markets. In contrast to a price cap plan, these overall results show that revenue cap schemes are welfare-reducing. To analyse the efficiency of electricity sectors in SIDS, I apply a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to a sample of 32 electricity distribution utilities operating in the Caribbean and Pacific regions. Using 2010 data for three inputs and one output, the overall results show that six utilities are on the efficiency frontier and utilities in the Caribbean are significantly more efficient than those in the Pacific region. I also do not find any statistically significant evidence that the efficiency of utilities is positively related to population density and inversely related to criminality. Notwithstanding the paucity of publicly available data, these results advance the idea that utility benchmarking is possible and can be used to set feasible efficiency targets for electricity networks in SIDS.

Η εργασία που ακολουθεί εκπονήθηκε στα πλαίσια του μεταπτυχιακού προγράμματος σπουδών “Διοίκηση Επιχειρήσεων Τροφίμων ”, του τμήματος Διοίκησης Αγροτικών Προϊόντων και Τροφίμων του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών, κατά την ακαδημαϊκή περίοδο σπουδών 2011-2013. Ο μηχανισμός μετακύλισης των τιμών μεταξύ παραγωγών και καταναλωτών έχει αποτελέσει αντικείμενο εκτεταμένης έρευνας κυρίως στον τομέα των τροφίμων. Η παρούσα εργασία αναλύει τα βασικά προϊόντα του νομού Αιτωλοακαρνανίας κυρίως του πρωτογενή τομέα ενώ ειδικότερα εξετάζει την ύπαρξη ασυμμετρίας στον μηχανισμό μεταβίβασης τιμών μεταξύ των παραγωγών και των καταναλωτών στον τομέα του κρέατος στην Ελλάδα. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, η έρευνα επικεντρώνεται στα τέσσερα είδη κρέατος όπως μοσχαριού, αρνιού, χοιρινού και κοτόπουλου. Οι τιμές των τεσσάρων ειδών κρέατος έχουν χορηγηθεί από την Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή. Όλες οι μεταβλητές μετασχηματίζονται σε λογαρίθμους και οι τιμές αποπληθωρίζονται με βάση τον δείκτη τιμών καταναλωτή (2009=100). Για την μελέτη της ασυμμετρίας γίνεται χρήση των τεχνικών συνολοκλήρωσης (Threshold Cointegration Analysis) καθώς εκτιμάται και ένα δυναμικό υπόδειγμα διόρθωσης λαθών (Error Correction Model, ECM). Διερευνάται η ύπαρξη μακροχρόνιας σχέσης μεταξύ παραγωγών και καταναλωτών στην υπό εξέταση αγορά, ενώ η κατεύθυνση της αιτιότητας κατά Granger έδειξε πως η τιμή του καταναλωτή επηρεάζει την τιμή του παραγωγού.
The following assignment carried out through of the postgraduate program "Food Business Management" at the department of Management Food and Agricultural products of University of Patras, the academic study period 2011-2013. The price transmission mechanism between producers and consumers has been the subject of extensive research mainly in the food sector. This paper analyzes the commodities the county of Aitoloakarnania mainly in the primary sector while particularly considers the existence of asymmetry in the transmission mechanism of prices between producers and consumers in the meat sector in Greece. More specifically, the research focused on four types of meat such as beef, lamb, pork and chicken. The values of the four types of meat have been granted by the Greek Statistical Authority. All variables transformed into logarithms and prices are deflated by the consumer price index (2009 = 100). For studying the asymmetry are used techniques of cointegration (Threshold Cointegration Analysis) and estimated as a dynamic error correction model (Error Correction Model, ECM). Investigated the existence of long-term relationships between producers and consumers in the relevant market, while the direction of Granger causality test showed that the price of the consumer affects the value of the producer.

Cette thèse est composée de trois articles en économie des ressources naturelles non-renouvelables. Nous considérons tour à tour les questions suivantes : le prix in-situ des ressources naturelles non-renouvelables ; le taux d’extraction optimal et le prix des res- sources non-renouvelables et durables. Dans le premier article, nous estimons le prix in-situ des ressources naturelles non-renouvelables en utilisant les données sur le coût moyen d’extraction pour obtenir une approximation du coût marginal. En utilisant la Méthode des Moments Généralisés, une dynamique du prix de marché derivée des conditions d’optimalité du modèle d’Hotelling est estimée avec des données de panel de 14 ressources naturelles non-renouvelables. Nous trouvons des résultats qui tendent à soutenir le modèle. Premièrement, le modèle d’Hotelling exhibe un bon pouvoir explicatif du prix de marché observé. Deuxièmement, bien que le prix estimé présente un changement structurel dans le temps, ceci semble n’avoir aucun impact significatif sur le pouvoir explicatif du modèle. Troisièmement, on ne peut pas rejeter l’hypothèse que le coût marginal d’extraction puisse être approximé par les données sur le coût moyen. Quatrièmement, le prix in-situ estimé en prenant en compte les changements structurels décroît ou exhibe une forme en U inversé dans le temps et semble être corrélé positivement avec le prix de marché. Cinquièmement, pour neuf des quatorze ressources, la différence entre le prix in-situ estimé avec changements structurels et celui estimé en négligeant les changements structurels est un processus de moyenne nulle. Dans le deuxième article, nous testons l’existence d’un équilibre dans lequel le taux d’extraction optimal des ressources non-renouvelables est linéaire par rapport au stock de ressource en terre. Tout d’abord, nous considérons un modèle d’Hotelling avec une fonction de demande variant dans le temps caractérisée par une élasticité prix constante et une fonction de coût d’extraction variant dans le temps caractérisée par des élasticités constantes par rapport au taux d’extraction et au stock de ressource. Ensuite, nous mon- trons qu’il existe un équilibre dans lequel le taux d’extraction optimal est proportionnel au stock de ressource si et seulement si le taux d’actualisation et les paramètres des fonctions de demande et de coût d’extraction satisfont une relation bien précise. Enfin, nous utilisons les données de panel de quatorze ressources non-renouvelables pour vérifier empiriquement cette relation. Dans le cas où les paramètres du modèle sont supposés invariants dans le temps, nous trouvons qu’on ne peut rejeter la relation que pour six des quatorze ressources. Cependant, ce résultat change lorsque nous prenons en compte le changement structurel dans le temps des prix des ressources. En fait, dans ce cas nous trouvons que la relation est rejetée pour toutes les quatorze ressources. Dans le troisième article, nous étudions l’évolution du prix d’une ressource naturelle non-renouvelable dans le cas où cette ressource est durable, c’est-à-dire qu’une fois extraite elle devient un actif productif détenu hors terre. On emprunte à la théorie de la détermination du prix des actifs pour ce faire. Le choix de portefeuille porte alors sur les actifs suivant : un stock de ressource non-renouvelable détenu en terre, qui ne procure aucun service productif ; un stock de ressource détenu hors terre, qui procure un flux de services productifs ; un stock d’un bien composite, qui peut être détenu soit sous forme de capital productif, soit sous forme d’une obligation dont le rendement est donné. Les productivités du secteur de production du bien composite et du secteur de l’extraction de la ressource évoluent de façon stochastique. On montre que la prédiction que l’on peut tirer quant au sentier de prix de la ressource diffère considérablement de celle qui découle de la règle d’Hotelling élémentaire et qu’aucune prédiction non ambiguë quant au comportement du sentier de prix ne peut être obtenue de façon analytique.
This thesis consists of three articles on the economics of nonrenewable natural re- sources. We consider in turn the following questions : the in-situ price of nonrenewable natural resources, the optimal extraction rate and the price of nonrenewable and durable resources. The purpose of the first article is to estimate the in-situ price of nonrenewable natural resources using average extraction cost data as proxy for marginal cost. Using the regime switching Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique, a dynamic of the market price derived from the first-order conditions of a Hotelling model is estimated with panel data for fourteen nonrenewable resources. I find results that tend to support the model. First, it appears that the Hotelling model has a good explanatory power of the observed market prices. Second, although the fitted prices seem to be subject to structural breaks over time, this does not have a significant impact on the explanatory power of the model. Third, there is evidence that marginal extraction cost can be approximated by average extraction cost data. Fourth, when allowing for structural breaks, estimates of the in-situ price decrease or exhibit an inverted U-shape over time and appear to be positively correlated with the market price. Fifth, for nine of the fourteen minerals, the difference between the estimates of the in-situ price with and without allowing for structural breaks is a zero-mean process.