An ex-post view of inequality of opportunity in France and its regions

This paper proposes an ex-post measure of inequality of opportunity in France and its regions by assessing the inequality between individuals exerting the same effort. To this end, we define a fair income that fulfils ex-post equality of opportunity requirements. Unfairness is measured by an unfair Gini based on the distance between the actual income and the fair income. Our findings reveal that the measures of ex-post inequality of opportunity largely vary across regions, and that this is due to di_erences in reward schemes and in the impact of the non responsibility factors of income. We find that most regions have actual incomes closer to fair incomes than to average income, excepted Ile de France where the actual income looks poorly related to effort variables. Finally, we find that income inequality and inequality of opportunity are positively correlated among regions.

Joint determinants of education enrolment and first birth timing in France and West Germany

We examined the reciprocal influence between educational decisions and the timing of first births, using the Family and Fertility Surveys of France and West Germany. Since these two processes are potentially endogenous, we modelled them jointly, using event history models. We hypothesise that the reciprocal impact of educational and fertility careers, as well as the impact of the common determinants of both processes, are gender specific and context specific.The results show a significant endogeneity for women and men in both countries. This endogeneity is stronger for women than for men, while no substantial differences are found between the two countries. Removing this shared and unobserved heterogeneity, the results show a stronger reciprocal impact between the processes for women than for men. A similar impact of being enrolled in education on first birth in both countries is found, while the effect of the birth (and especially of the pregnancy) of the first child on terminating one’s education appeared to be more marked in West Gernany than in France.

Stationarity analysis of historical flood series in France and Spain (14th-20th centuries)

Interdisciplinary frameworks for studying natural hazards and their temporal trends have an important potential in data generation for risk assessment, land use planning, and therefore the sustainable management of resources. This paper focuses on the adjustments required because of the wide variety of scientific fields involved in the reconstruction and characterisation of flood events for the past 1000 years. The aim of this paper is to describe various methodological aspects of the study of flood events in their historical dimension, including the critical evaluation of old documentary and instrumental sources, flood-event classification and hydraulic modelling, and homogeneity and quality control tests. Standardized criteria for flood classification have been defined and applied to the Isère and Drac floods in France, from 1600 to 1950, and to the Ter, the Llobregat and the Segre floods, in Spain, from 1300 to 1980. The analysis on the Drac and Isère data series from 1600 to the present day showed that extraordinary and catastrophic floods were not distributed uniformly in time. However, the largest floods (general catastrophic floods) were homogeneously distributed in time within the period 1600¿1900. No major flood occurred during the 20th century in these rivers. From 1300 to the present day, no homogeneous behaviour was observed for extraordinary floods in the Spanish rivers. The largest floods were uniformly distributed in time within the period 1300-1900, for the Segre and Ter rivers.

Application of European accounting standards to the public healthcare sector: a comparative study on the application of the European System of Accounts ESA-95 to healthcare centres in the United Kingdom, France and Germany

This report aims to analyse how European accounting standards (European System of Accounts ESA-95) are interpreted and applied to the public healthcare sector, from the standpoint of comparative law. Specifically, the study focuses on the application of ESA-95 to healthcare centres in the United Kingdom, France and Germany, with the aim of reaching useful conclusions for the Public Companies and Consortia (EPIC, for their initials in Catalan) in the Catalan Public Healthcare System.

Comparison of recent toll road concession transactions in the United States and France

Recent concessions in France and in the US have resulted in a dramatic difference in the valuation placed on the toll roads; the price paid by the investors in France was twelve times current cash flow whereas investors paid sixty times current cash flow for the U.S. toll roads. In this paper we explore two questions: What accounts for the difference in these multiples, and what are the implications with respect to the public interest. Our analysis illustrates how structural and procedural decisions made by the public owner affect the concession price. Further, the terms of the concession have direct consequences that are enjoyed or borne by the various stakeholders of the toll road.

Why did London become the main money market? Monetary Policy, Arbitrage and European Money Market Integration in 18th century

How did the leading capital market start to attract international bullion? Why did London become the main money market? Monetary regulations, including the charges for minting money and the restrictions on bullion exchange, have played the key role in defining the direction of the flow of international bullion. Countries that abolished minting charges and permitted the free movement of bullion were able to attract international bullion, and countries that applied minting taxes suffered an outflow of bullion. In these cases monetary authorities tried to limit bullion movement through prohibitions on domestic bullion exchange at a free price, and tariffs and quantitative restrictions on bullion exports. The paper illustrates the logic of international monetary flow in the 18th century, using empirical evidence for England, France and Spain. The first section defines and measures monetary policy, and the second section introduces minting charges into the arbitrage equation in order to explain the logic of bullion flow between the pairs of nations England-France, England-Spain and France-Spain. The conclusion emphasises the importance of monetary policy in the creation of leading money markets.

What are the causes of educational inequalities and of their evolution over time in Europe? Evidence from PISA

This paper provides evidence on the sources of differences in inequalities in educational scores in European Union member states, by decomposing them into their determining factors. Using PISA data from the 2000 and 2006 waves, the paper shows that inequalities emerge in all countries and in both period, but decreased in Germany, whilst they increased in France and Italy. Decomposition shows that educational inequalities do not only reflect background related inequality, but especially schools’ characteristics. The findings allow policy makers to target areas that may make a contribution in reducing educational inequalities.

A priori parameterisation of the CERES soil-crop models and tests against several European data sets

Mechanistic soil-crop models have become indispensable tools to investigate the effect of management practices on the productivity or environmental impacts of arable crops. Ideally these models may claim to be universally applicable because they simulate the major processes governing the fate of inputs such as fertiliser nitrogen or pesticides. However, because they deal with complex systems and uncertain phenomena, site-specific calibration is usually a prerequisite to ensure their predictions are realistic. This statement implies that some experimental knowledge on the system to be simulated should be available prior to any modelling attempt, and raises a tremendous limitation to practical applications of models. Because the demand for more general simulation results is high, modellers have nevertheless taken the bold step of extrapolating a model tested within a limited sample of real conditions to a much larger domain. While methodological questions are often disregarded in this extrapolation process, they are specifically addressed in this paper, and in particular the issue of models a priori parameterisation. We thus implemented and tested a standard procedure to parameterize the soil components of a modified version of the CERES models. The procedure converts routinely-available soil properties into functional characteristics by means of pedo-transfer functions. The resulting predictions of soil water and nitrogen dynamics, as well as crop biomass, nitrogen content and leaf area index were compared to observations from trials conducted in five locations across Europe (southern Italy, northern Spain, northern France and northern Germany). In three cases, the model’s performance was judged acceptable when compared to experimental errors on the measurements, based on a test of the model’s root mean squared error (RMSE). Significant deviations between observations and model outputs were however noted in all sites, and could be ascribed to various model routines. In decreasing importance, these were: water balance, the turnover of soil organic matter, and crop N uptake. A better match to field observations could therefore be achieved by visually adjusting related parameters, such as field-capacity water content or the size of soil microbial biomass. As a result, model predictions fell within the measurement errors in all sites for most variables, and the model’s RMSE was within the range of published values for similar tests. We conclude that the proposed a priori method yields acceptable simulations with only a 50% probability, a figure which may be greatly increased through a posteriori calibration. Modellers should thus exercise caution when extrapolating their models to a large sample of pedo-climatic conditions for which they have only limited information.

New and revised maimetshid wasps from cretaceous ambers (Hymenoptera, Maimetshidae)

New material of the wasp family Maimetshidae (Apocrita) is presented from four Cretaceous amber de- posits- the Neocomian of Lebanon, the Early Albian of Spain, the latest Albian/earliest Cenomanian of France, and the Campanian of Canada. The new record from Canadian Cretaceous amber extends the temporal and paleogeographical range of the family. New material from France is assignable to Guyote- maimetsha enigmatica Perrichot et al. including the first females for the species, while a series of males and females from Spain are described and figured as Iberomaimetsha Ortega-Blanco, Perrichot & Engel, gen. n., with the two new species Iberomaimetsha rasnitsyni Ortega-Blanco, Perrichot & Engel, sp. n. and I. nihtmara Ortega-Blanco, Delclòs & Engel, sp. n.; a single female from Lebanon is described and figured as Ahiromaimetsha najlae Perrichot, Azar, Nel & Engel, gen. et sp. n., and a single male from Canada is described and figured as Ahstemiam cellula McKellar & Engel, gen. et sp. n. The taxa are compared with other maimetshids, a key to genera and species is given, and brief comments made on the family.

Measurement of the relative rate of prompt χ c0, χ c1 and χ c2 production at TeV

Prompt production of charmonium χ c0, χ c1 and χ c2 mesons is studied using proton-proton collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of TeX TeV. The χ c mesons are identified through their decay to J/ψγ, with J/ψ → μ + μ − using photons that converted in the detector. A data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 collected by the LHCb detector, is used to measure the relative prompt production rate of χ c1 and χ c2 in the rapidity range 2.0 < y < 4.5 as a function of the J/ψ transverse momentum from 3 to 20 GeV/c. First evidence for χ c0 meson production at a high-energy hadron collider is also presented.

Technical innovations at the service of cheaper labour in pre-industrial Europe. The Enlightened agenda to transform the gender division of labour in silk manufacturing

In 1749, Jacques de Vaucanson patented his or tour pour tirer la soie or spindle for silk reeling. In that same year he presented his invention to the Academy of the Sciences in Paris, of which he was a member1. Jacques de Vaucanson was born in Grenoble, France, in 1709, and died in Paris in 1782. In 1741 he had been appointed inspector of silk manufactures by Louis XV. He set about reorganizing the silk industry in France, in considerable difficulty at the time due to foreign competition. Given Vaucanson’s position, his invention was intended to replace the traditional Piémontes method, and had an immediate impact upon the silk industry in France and all over Europe.

Análisis morfométrico de la extremidad anterior en Carnivora

Durante los cuatro años de disfrute de la beca (2006 – 2009) se ha consolidado una base de datos de medidas osteológicas del esqueleto apendicular de numerosas especies del O. Carnivora. Concretamente, se han medido 364 individuos de 126 especies. Los ejemplares pertenecían a las colecciones del Phyletisches Museum (Jena, Alemania), el Museum für Naturkunde (Berlín, Alemania), el Museu de Ciències Naturals de la Ciutadella (Barcelona, España), el Múseum National d'Histoire Naturelle (París, Francia), y el Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid, España). Asimismo, con estos datos se han estado preparando tres artículos sobre la morfología de ciertos elementos del esqueleto apendicular en carnívoros, dos de los cuales se encuentran actualmente en estado de revisión para su publicación científica. Dos de ellos, "Scapula, habitat and locomotion in Carnivora" y "Size and shape in the carnivore scapula", relacionan la morfología escapular con factores como el tamaño del animal, el tipo de locomoción que presenta y el hábitat en el que se encuentra; el primero mediante metodología multivariante (análisis funcional) y el segundo bajo las nuevas técnicas de morfometría geométrica. El tercer artículo, "Scaling and mechanics in the carnivore calcaneus: A comparison of natural and artificial selection", evalúa el efecto de diferentes tipos de selección, natural frente a artificial, sobre la morfología del calcáneo y su influencia en la biomecánica de este hueso. Finalmente, también se ha desarrollado un estudio experimental sobre la búsqueda de estabilidad durante la locomoción arbórea, cuyos resultados han dado lugar al artículo "The search for stability on narrow supports: An experimental study in cats and dogs", que también se halla bajo revisión actualmente.

The Franco-German motor before the eastern enlargement: the causes of its decline

The Franco-German axis has been a transcendent force behind the European integration ever since the early years of the EEC. Nevertheless, since the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the perception of a progressive distancing between France and Germany as far as the EU politics is concerned, has increased. There has not been a definitive break in Franco-German relations. However, the influence of the Franco-German axis in the EU has been reduced in the 90s. Finally, in the Nice IGC (December 2000), the misunderstandings of these two “big” states about their weight in the Council, almost caused the failure to conclude the Treaty of Nice, clearing the way for the Eastern enlargement. The traditional balance between France and Germany has been eroded. Germany has consolidated its role of leadership in the EU, and above all towards the candidate countries. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the fifth enlargement as one of the causes of the decline of the Franco-German axis as the motor of the process of European integration.

Avaluació de l’estructuració genètica humana a la Península Ibèrica i a d’altres regions del sudoest europeu: implicacions poblacionals i epidemiològiques

Els avenços en tècniques de genotipat de polimorfismes genètics a gran escala estan liderant una revolució en el camp de l’epidemiologia genètica i la genètica de poblacions humanes. La informació aportada per aquestes tècniques ha evidenciat l’existència d’estructuracions poblacionals que poden augmentar l’error en els estudis d’associació a escala genòmica (GWAS, genome-wide association studies). Estudis recents han demostrat la presència d’aquestes estructuracions a nivell interregional i intrarregional a Europa. El present projecte ha avaluat el grau d’estructuració genètica en poblacions de la Península Ibèrica i altres regions del sudoest europeu (Itàlia i França) per quantificar l’impacte que aquesta potencial estructuració pot tenir en el disseny d’estudis d’associació GWAS i reconstruir la història demogràfica de les poblacions de la Mediterrània. Per aconseguir aquests objectius, s’han analitzat mostres de DNA de 770 individus de 26 poblacions de la Península Ibèrica, França, Itàlia i d’altres països de la Mediterrània. Aquestes mostres van ser genotipades per 240000 SNPs utilitzant l’array 250K StyI d’Affymetrix en el marc d’aquest projecte o mitjançant altres arrays d’Affymetrix en els projectes internacionals HapMap i POPRES. S’han realitzat anàlisis estadístiques incloent anàlisis de components principals, Fst, identitat per descendència, desequilibri de lligament, barreres genètiques, etc. Aquests resultats han permés construir un marc de referència de la variabilitat en aquesta regió, avaluar el seu impacte en estudis d’associació i proposar mesures per evitar l’increment de qualsevol tipus d’error (tipus I i II) en estudis nacionals i internacionals. A més, també han permés reconstruir la història de les poblacions humanes de la Mediterrània així com analitzar les seves relacions demogràfiques. Donada la duració limitada d’aquesta acció (24 mesos, d’octubre de 2010 a setembre de 2012), els resultats d’aquest projecte es troben actualment en fase de redacció i conduiran a diverses publicacions en revistes internacionals i a la preparació de comunicacions a congressos.

Automatic low baseline stereo in urban areas

In this work we propose a new automatic methodology for computing accurate digital elevation models (DEMs) in urban environments from low baseline stereo pairs that shall be available in the future from a new kind of earth observation satellite. This setting makes both views of the scene similarly, thus avoiding occlusions and illumination changes, which are the main disadvantages of the commonly accepted large-baseline configuration. There still remain two crucial technological challenges: (i) precisely estimating DEMs with strong discontinuities and (ii) providing a statistically proven result, automatically. The first one is solved here by a piecewise affine representation that is well adapted to man-made landscapes, whereas the application of computational Gestalt theory introduces reliability and automation. In fact this theory allows us to reduce the number of parameters to be adjusted, and tocontrol the number of false detections. This leads to the selection of a suitable segmentation into affine regions (whenever possible) by a novel and completely automatic perceptual grouping method. It also allows us to discriminate e.g. vegetation-dominated regions, where such an affine model does not apply anda more classical correlation technique should be preferred. In addition we propose here an extension of the classical ”quantized” Gestalt theory to continuous measurements, thus combining its reliability with the precision of variational robust estimation and fine interpolation methods that are necessary in the low baseline case. Such an extension is very general and will be useful for many other applications as well.