The real estate markets : Players, institutions and territories

Revealing the parties, the processes and the institutions and, consequently, both the diversity and contingency of the real estate markets, the existing increasing literature emphasises the contemporary numerous links and interdependencies between real estate, land value, planning and town planning policy and even the financial system. This paper is an attempt to understand all the real estate markets, from the most peripheral ones, where the urban rent is the lowest, to the most dense city centres. To gain a better understanding of the real estate market, a process of firstly deconstruction and then reconstruction is used. The process of deconstruction involves identifying various market trends according to property type (principally residential buildings), players and institutions, territorial situations and temporalities based on research conducted in Switzerland. We then developed a meta-synthesis inspired by Fernand Braudel whose works put as much emphasis on day-to-day economic activity as on long-term activity, and on local as well as global issues.

Évaluation d'une structure gériatrique entre l'ambulatoire et l'hospitalier [Geriatric institutions, between ambulatory and hospital care: patients' description and performance assessment].

Introduction : Décrire les patients d'une structure gériatrique offrant des hospitalisations de courte durée, dans un contexte ambulatoire, pour des situations gériatriques courantes dans le canton de Genève (Suisse). Mesurer les performances de cette structure en termes de qualité des soins et de coûts. Méthodes : Des données relatives au profil des 100 premiers patients ont été collectées (huit mois), ainsi qu'aux prestations, aux ressources et aux effets (réadmissions, décès, satisfaction, complications) de manière à mesurer différents indicateurs de qualité et de coûts. Les valeurs observées ont été systématiquement comparées aux valeurs attendues, calculées à partir du profil des patients. Résultats : Des critères d'admission ont été fixés pour exclure les situations dans lesquelles d'autres structures offrent des soins mieux adaptés. La spécificité de cette structure intermédiaire a été d'assurer une continuité des soins et d'organiser d'emblée le retour à domicile par des prestations de liaison ambulatoire. La faible occurrence des réadmissions potentiellement évitables, une bonne satisfaction des patients, l'absence de décès prématurés et le faible nombre de complications suggèrent que les soins médicaux et infirmiers ont été délivrés avec une bonne qualité. Le coût s'est révélé nettement plus économique que des séjours hospitaliers après ajustement pour la lourdeur des cas. Conclusion : L'expérience-pilote a démontré la faisabilité et l'utilité d'une unité d'hébergement et d'hospitalisation de court séjour en toute sécurité. Le suivi du patient par le médecin traitant assure une continuité des soins et évite la perte d'information lors des transitions ainsi que les examens non pertinents. INTRODUCTION: To describe patients admitted to a geriatric institution, providing short-term hospitalizations in the context of ambulatory care in the canton of Geneva. To measure the performances of this structure in terms of quality ofcare and costs. METHOD: Data related to the clinical,functioning and participation profiles of the first 100 patients were collected. Data related to effects (readmission, deaths, satisfaction, complications), services and resources were also documented over an 8-month period to measure various quality and costindicators. Observed values were systematically compared to expected values, adjusted for case mix. RESULTS: Explicit criteria were proposed to focus on the suitable patients, excluding situations in which other structures were considered to be more appropriate. The specificity of this intermediate structure was to immediately organize, upon discharge, outpatient services at home. The low rate of potentially avoidable readmissions, the high patient satisfaction scores, the absence of premature death and the low number of iatrogenic complications suggest that medical and nursing care delivered reflect a good quality of services. The cost was significantly lower than expected, after adjusting for case mix. CONCLUSION: The pilot experience showed that a short-stay hospitalization unit was feasible with acceptable security conditions. The attending physician's knowledge of the patients allowed this system tofocus on essential issues without proposing inappropriate services.

Social justice in education : how the function of selection in educational institutions predicts support for (non)egalitarian assessment practices

Educational institutions are considered a keystone for the establishment of a meritocratic society. They supposedly serve two functions: an educational function that promotes learning for all, and a selection function that sorts individuals into different programs, and ultimately social positions, based on individual merit. We study how the function of selection relates to support for assessment practices known to harm vs. benefit lower status students, through the perceived justice principles underlying these practices. We study two assessment practices: normative assessment-focused on ranking and social comparison, known to hinder the success of lower status students-and formative assessment-focused on learning and improvement, known to benefit lower status students. Normative assessment is usually perceived as relying on an equity principle, with rewards being allocated based on merit and should thus appear as positively associated with the function of selection. Formative assessment is usually perceived as relying on corrective justice that aims to ensure equality of outcomes by considering students' needs, which makes it less suitable for the function of selection. A questionnaire measuring these constructs was administered to university students. Results showed that believing that education is intended to select the best students positively predicts support for normative assessment, through increased perception of its reliance on equity, and negatively predicts support for formative assessment, through reduced perception of its ability to establish corrective justice. This study suggests that the belief in the function of selection as inherent to educational institutions can contribute to the reproduction of social inequalities by preventing change from assessment practices known to disadvantage lowerstatus student, namely normative assessment, to more favorable practices, namely formative assessment, and by promoting matching beliefs in justice principles.

Can the administration be trusted? An analysis of the concept of trust, applied to the public sector

In the first part of this paper, we present the various academic debates and, where applicable, questions that remain open in the literature, particularly regarding the nature of trust, the distinction between trust and trustworthiness, its role in specific relationships and its relationship to control. We then propose a way of demarcating and operationalizing the concepts of trust and trustworthiness. In the second part, on the basis of the conceptual clarifications we present, we put forward a number of "anchor points" regarding how trust is apprehended in the public sector with regard to the various relations hips that can be studied. Schematically, we distinguish between two types of relations hips in the conceptual approach to trust: on one hand, the trust that citizens, or third parties, place in the State or in various public sector authorities or entities, and on the other hand, trust within the State or the public sector, between its various authorities, entities, and actors. While studies have traditionally focused on citizens' trust in their institutions, the findings, limitations and problems observed in public - sector coordination following the reforms associated with New Public Management have also elicited growing interest in the study of trust in the relationships between the various actors within the public sector. Both the theoretical debates we present and our propositions have been extracted and adapted from an empirical comparative study of coordination between various Swiss public - service organizations and their politico - administrative authority. Using the analysis model developed for this specific relationship, between various actors within the public service, and in the light of theoretical elements on which development of this model was based, we propose some avenues for further study - questions that remain open - regarding the consideration and understanding of citizens' trust in the public sector.

La collaboration interprofessionnelle à l'interface des institutions socio-éducative et psychiatrique. Jeux et enjeux de l'intervention auprès de personnes en situation de handicap mental et de troubles psychiques

La prise en charge et le suivi de personnes en situation de handicap mental souffrant de troubles psychiques et se trouvant donc à l'interface des domaines socio:éducatif et psychiatrique, constituent des défis complexes en matière de collaboration interprofessionnelle. Dans le canton de Vaud, les acteurs concernés par ce problème s'efforcent depuis de nombreuses années de créer des réseaux pluridisciplinaires visant un meilleur échange entre professionnels et le développement de compétences et de connaissances permettant d'améliorer le bien:être des bénéficiaires. Ce travail se propose ainsi d'étudier et de questionner ces modalités de travail dans une perspective socioculturelle (Vygotski, 1934/1997), afin d'en comprendre le fonctionnement, d'en éclairer les mécanismes et de fournir des pistes de réflexion aux professionnels. Il repose sur un travail de terrain mené auprès des membres du Dispositif de Collaboration Psychiatrie Handicap Mental (DCPHM) du Département de psychiatrie du CHUV, dont la mission principale est de faciliter la collaboration entre les institutions socio:éducatives et psychiatriques spécialisées dans le suivi des personnes en situation de handicap mental et souffrant de troubles psychiques. Le travail empirique est basé sur une approche qualitative et compréhensive des interactions sociales, et procède par une étude de terrain approfondie. Les données recueillies sont variées : notes de terrain et récolte de documentation, enregistrement de réunions d'équipe au sein du DCPHM et de réunions de réseau, et entretiens de différents types. L'analyse montre que le travail de collaboration qui incombe à l'équipe est constitué d'obstacles qui sont autant d'occasions de développement professionnel et de construction identitaire. Les résultats mettent en lumière des mécanismes discursifs de catégorisation concourant à la fois à la construction des patients comme objets d'activité, et à la construction d'une place qui légitime les interventions de l'équipe dans le paysage socio:éducatif et psychiatrique vaudois et la met au centre de l'arène professionnelle. -- Care and follow:up for people with mental disabilities suffering from psychological disorders : therefore at the interface between the socio:educational and psychiatric fields : represent complex challenges in terms of interprofessional collaboration. In the canton of Vaud, the caregivers involved in this issue have been trying for years to build multidisciplinary networks in order to better exchange between professionals and develop skills and knowledge to improve the recipients' well:being. This work thus proposes to study and question these working methods in a sociocultural perspective (Vygotski, 1934/1997) so as to understand how they operate, highlight inherent mechanisms and provide actionable insights to the professionals. It is based on fieldwork conducted among members of the Dispositif de Collaboration Psychiatrie Handicap Mental (DCPHM), of the Psychiatry Department at the CHUV University Hospital in Lausanne, whose main mission is to facilitate collaboration between the socio:educational and psychiatric institutions specialising in monitoring people presenting with both mental handicap and psychiatric disorder. The empirical work is based on a qualitative and comprehensive approach to social interactions, and conducted based on an in:depth field study. The data collected are varied - field notes and documentation collection, recordings of team meetings within the DCPHM and network meetings, and various types of interviews. The analysis shows that the collaborative work that befalls the team consists of obstacles, all of which provide opportunities for professional development and identity construction. The results highlight discursive strategies of categorisation which contribute both to the construction of the patients as objects of activity and to building a position that legitimates the team's interventions in the socio: educational and psychiatric landscape of canton Vaud and puts it in the centre of the professional arena.

How institutions shaped the last major evolutionary transition to large-scale human societies.

What drove the transition from small-scale human societies centred on kinship and personal exchange, to large-scale societies comprising cooperation and division of labour among untold numbers of unrelated individuals? We propose that the unique human capacity to negotiate institutional rules that coordinate social actions was a key driver of this transition. By creating institutions, humans have been able to move from the default 'Hobbesian' rules of the 'game of life', determined by physical/environmental constraints, into self-created rules of social organization where cooperation can be individually advantageous even in large groups of unrelated individuals. Examples include rules of food sharing in hunter-gatherers, rules for the usage of irrigation systems in agriculturalists, property rights and systems for sharing reputation between mediaeval traders. Successful institutions create rules of interaction that are self-enforcing, providing direct benefits both to individuals that follow them, and to individuals that sanction rule breakers. Forming institutions requires shared intentionality, language and other cognitive abilities largely absent in other primates. We explain how cooperative breeding likely selected for these abilities early in the Homo lineage. This allowed anatomically modern humans to create institutions that transformed the self-reliance of our primate ancestors into the division of labour of large-scale human social organization.

Ownership Effects on Unrelated Diversification: An Institutions' Perspective

Purpose To show that differences in the extent to which firms engage in unrelated diversification can be attributed to differences in ownership structure. Methodology/approach We draw on longitudinal data and use a panel analysis specification to test our hypotheses. Findings We find that unrelated diversification destroys value; pressure-sensitive Anglo-American owners in a firm’s equity reduce unrelated diversification, whereas pressure-resistant domestic owners increase unrelated diversification; the greater the firm’s free cash flow, the greater the negative effect of pressure-sensitive Anglo-American owners on unrelated diversification. Research limitations/implications We contribute to corporate governance and strategy research by bringing in owners’ institutional origin as a shaper of owner preferences in particular with regards to unrelated diversification. Future research may expand our investigation to more than one home institutional context, and theorize on institutional origin effects beyond the dichotomy between Anglo-American and non-Anglo-American (not oriented toward shareholder value maximization) owners. Practical implications Policy makers, financial analysts, owners, and managers may want to reflect about the implications of ownership structure, as well as promoting or joining corporations with particular ownership configurations. Social implications A shareholder value-destroying strategy, such as unrelated diversification has adverse consequences for society at large, in terms of opportunity costs, that is, resources could be allocated to value-creating activities instead. Promoting an ownership configuration that creates value should contribute to social welfare. Originality/value Owners may not be exclusively driven by shareholder value maximization, but can be influenced by normative beliefs (biases) stemming from the institutional context they originate from.