Polítiques, pràctiques i estratègies d'inserció: una mirada des de les trajectòries de les dones immigrades

Aquesta recerca, amb l’objectiu general de conèixer i analitzar els processos d’inserció al mercat laboral, les estratègies i pràctiques d’inserció, i els àmbits d’ocupació de les dones immigrades en la societat de recepció, es va plantejar com a finalitat proposar línies d'actuació i pràctiques d'atenció vers aquest col•lectiu. Sota l’eix 1 del Pacte Nacional, apunta a garantir la igualtat de drets i l’accés al mercat laboral de les persones, des de la tranversalitat del gènere. Mitjançant l’aplicació d'entrevistes semiestructurades per tal de construir "trajectòries d’immigració" de dones, i obtenir una mirada sociohistòrica i dinàmica del procés de d’inserció laboral a la societat de recepció, es va portar a terme la recerca amb la participació de 17 dones immigrades al territori català. Entre els resultats, cal destacar que: en quant als relats d’origen destaca la diversitat de motius de la immigració, posant en qüestió les tesis purament economicistes, i en relació amb les polítiques i pràctiques d’inserció laboral, podem confirmar que els esforços dels recursos d’atenció tendeixen a encertar a les dones en els nínxols laborals més precaritzats, i sobre tot generitzats. Per altre banda, l’estudi ens ha permet apropar-nos a les estratègies que fan servir les dones per a sortejar les limitacions, sobre tot legals, que es troben a la societat de recepció. Aquestes accions ens permeten analitzar l’agència de les dones immigrades i la importància de les xarxes socials i de la participació, per a una inserció sociolaboral més plena. A més de les conclusions i recomanacions contingudes en aquest document, s'ha elaborat un material didàctic que es composa de: 1. Documental "Per compte aliè" en el qual hi ha les històries d'inserció de 5 dones i; 2. Guia de 12 tallers de treball com a proposta d’intervenció, destinats als col•lectius i serveis que treballen per a la inserció.

Prevention of recurrent hip fracture.

Our objective was to describe the interventions aimed at preventing a recurrent hip fracture, and other injurious falls, which were provided during hospitalization for a first hip fracture and during the two following years. A secondary objective was to study some potential determinants of these preventive interventions. The design of the study was an observational, two-year follow-up of patients hospitalized for a first hip fracture at the University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland. The participants were 163 patients (median age 82 years, 83% women) hospitalized in 1991 for a first hip fracture, among 263 consecutively admitted patients (84 did not meet inclusion criteria, e.g., age>50, no cancer, no high energy trauma, and 16 refused to participate). Preventive interventions included: medical investigations performed during the first hospitalization and aimed at revealing modifiable pathologies that raise the risk of injurious falls; use of medications acting on the risk of falls and fractures; preventive recommendations given by medical staff; suppression of environmental hazards; and use of home assistance services. The information was obtained from a baseline questionnaire, the medical record filled during the index hospitalization, and an interview conducted 2 years after the fracture. Potential predictors of the use of preventive interventions were: age; gender; destination after discharge from hospital; comorbidity; cognitive functioning; and activities of daily living. Bi- and multivariate associations between the preventive interventions and the potential predictors were measured. In hospital investigations to rule out medical pathologies raising the risk of fracture were performed in only 20 patients (12%). Drugs raising the risk of falls were reduced in only 17 patients (16%). Preventive procedures not requiring active collaboration by the patient (e.g., modifications of the environment) were applied in 68 patients (42%), and home assistance was provided to 67 patients (85% of the patients living at home). Bivariate analyses indicated that prevention was less often provided to patients in poor general conditions, but no ascertainment of this association was found in multivariate analyses. In conclusion, this study indicates that, in the study setting, measures aimed at preventing recurrent falls and injuries were rarely provided to patients hospitalized for a first hip fracture at the time of the study. Tertiary prevention could be improved if a comprehensive geriatric assessment were systematically provided to the elderly patient hospitalized for a first hip fracture, and passive preventive measures implemented.

Distortion control for delay-sensitive sources

We investigate the problem of finding minimum-distortion policies for streaming delay-sensitive but distortion-tolerant data. We consider cross-layer approaches which exploit the coupling between presentation and transport layers. We make the natural assumption that the distortion function is convex and decreasing. We focus on a single source-destination pair and analytically find the optimum transmission policy when the transmission is done over an error-free channel. This optimum policy turns out to be independent of the exact form of the convex and decreasing distortion function. Then, for a packet-erasure channel, we analytically find the optimum open-loop transmission policy, which is also independent of the form of the convex distortion function. We then find computationally efficient closed-loop heuristic policies and show, through numerical evaluation, that they outperform the open-loop policy and have near optimal performance.

An Investigation of User Costs and Benefits of Winter Road Closures, June 2005

This project explores the user costs and benefits of winter road closures. Severe winter weather makes travel unsafe and dramatically increases crash rates. When conditions become unsafe due to winter weather, road closures should allow users to avoid crash costs and eliminate costs associated with rescuing stranded motorists. Therefore, the benefits of road closures are the avoided safety costs. The costs of road closures are the delays that are imposed on motorists and motor carriers who would have made the trip had the road not been closed. This project investigated the costs and benefits of road closures and found that evaluating the benefits and costs is not as simple as it appears. To better understand the costs and benefits of road closures, the project investigates the literature, conducts interviews with shippers and motor carriers, and conducts case studies of road closures to determine what actually occurred on roadways during closures. The project also estimates a statistical model that relates weather severity to crash rates. Although, the statistical model is intended to illustrate the possibility to quantitatively relate measurable and predictable weather conditions to the safety performance of a roadway. In the future, weather conditions such as snow fall intensity, visibility, etc., can be used to make objective measures of the safety performance of a roadway rather than relying on subjective evaluations of field staff. The review of the literature and the interviews clearly illustrate that not all delays (increased travel time) are valued the same. Expected delays (routine delays) are valued at the generalized costs (value of the driver’s time, fuel, insurance, wear and tear on the vehicle, etc.), but unexpected delays are valued much higher because they result in interruption of synchronous activities at the trip’s destination. To reduce the costs of delays resulting from road closures, public agencies should communicate as early as possible the likelihood of a road closure.

A reassessment of family reunification in Europe. The case of Senegalese couples

Contemporary policy makers in most European destination countriesexpress a great concern about reunification of migrants’ families. Newrestrictions multiply in almost all countries, on the grounds thatmigrants would take advantage of a too lax system and that it wouldfoster an influx of non-desirable migrants. So far, quantitative evidenceis scarce on migrants’ practices in matter of family reunification.Taking advantage of a unique longitudinal dataset that includesSenegalese individuals surveyed both at origin (in Senegal) and inEurope (France, Italy and Spain), we perform event-history analyses toshow three things. First, couple separation is very often a long lastingsituation. Second, when separated because of international migration,wives and husbands do not only reunify in Europe but quite commonlyin Senegal. And third, those who reunify in Europe are those who arethe most adapted or adaptable to the European culture and economy.

Heritage Sporting Event : An Old Recipe for a New Problem

In the last decades, the globalized competition among cities and regions made them develop new strategies for branding and promoting their territory to attract tourists, investors, companies and residents. Major sports events - such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup or World and Continental Championships - have played an integral part in these strategies. Believing, with or without evidence, in the capacity of those events to improve the visibility and the economy of the host destination, many cities, regions and even countries have engaged in establishing sports events hosting strategies. The problem of the globalized competition in the sports events "market" is that many cities and regions do not have the resources - either financial, human or in terms of infrastructure - to compete in hosting major sports events. Consequently, many cities or regions have to turn to second-tier sports events. To organise those smaller events means less media coverage and more difficulty in finding sponsors, while the costs - both financial and in terms of services - stay high for the community. This paper analyses how Heritage Sporting Events (HSE) might be an opportunity for cities and regions engaged in sports events hosting strategies. HSE is an emerging concept that to date has been under-researched in the academic literature. Therefore, this paper aims to define the concept of HSE through an exploratory research study. A multidisciplinary literature review reveals two major characteristics of HSEs: the sustainability in the territory and the authenticity of the event constructed through a differentiation process. These characteristics, defined through multiple variables, give us the opportunity to observe the construction process of a sports event into a heritage object. This paper argues that HSEs can be seen as territorial resources that can represent a competitive advantage for host destinations. In conclusion, academics are invited to further research HSEs to better understand their construction process and their impacts on the territory, while local authorities are invited to consider HSEs for the branding and the promotion of their territory.

Gliotransmission in the hippocampus, mechanisms and interaction with synaptic functions

SUMMARYAstrocytes represent the largest cell population in the human brain. In addition to a well established role as metabolic support for neuronal activity, in the last years these cells have been found to accomplish other important and, sometimes, unexpected functions. The tight enwrapping of synapses by astrocytic processes and the predominant expression of glutamate uptake carriers in the astrocytic rather than neuronal plasma membranes brought to the definition of a critical involvement of astrocytes in the clearance of glutamate from synaptic junctions. Moreover, several publications showed that astrocytes are able to release chemical transmitters (gliotransmitters) suggesting their active implication in the control of synaptic functions. Among gliotransmitters, the best characterized is glutamate, which has been proposed to be released from astrocytes in a Ca2+ dependent manner via exocytosis of synaptic-like microvesicles.In my thesis I present results leading to substantial advancement of the understanding of the mechanisms by which astrocytes modulate synaptic activity in the hippocampus, notably at excitatory synapses on dentate granule cells. I show that tumor necrosis factor- alpha (TNFa), a molecule that is generally involved in immune system functions, critically controls astrocyte-to-synapse communication (gliotransmission) in the brain. With constitutive levels of TNFa present, activation of purinergic G protein-coupled receptors in astrocytes, called P2Y1 receptors, induces localized intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]j) elevation in astrocytic processes (measured by two-photon microscopy) followed by glutamate release and activation of pre-synaptic NMDA receptors resulting in synaptic potentiation. In preparations lacking TNFa, astrocytes respond with identical [Ca2+]i elevations but fail to induce neuromodulation. I find that TNFa specifically controls the glutamate release step of gliotransmission. Addition of very low (picomolar) TNFa concentrations to preparations lacking the cytokine, promptly reconstitutes both normal exocytosis in cultured astrocytes and gliotransmission in hippocampal slices. These data provide the first demonstration that gliotransmission and its synaptic effects are controlled not only by astrocyte [Ca2+]i elevations but also by permissive/homeostatic factors like TNFa.In addition, I find that higher and presumably pathological TNFa concentrations do not act just permissively but instead become direct and potent triggers of glutamate release from astrocytes, leading to a strong enhancement of excitatory synaptic activity. The TNFa action, like the one observed upon P2Y1R activation, is mediated by pre-synaptic NMDA receptors, but in this case the effect is long-lasting, and not reversible. Moreover, I report that a necessary molecular target for this action of TNFa is TNFR1, one of the two specific receptors for the cytokine, as I found that TNFa was unable to induce synaptic potentiation when applied in slices from TNFR1 knock-out (Tnfrlv") mice. I then created a double transgenic mouse model where TNFR1 is knocked out in all cells but can be re-expressed selectively in astrocytes and I report that activation of the receptors in these cells is sufficient to reestablish TNFa-dependent long-lasting potentiation of synaptic activity in the TNFR1 knock-out mice.I therefore discovered that TNFa is a primary molecule displaying both permissive and instructive roles on gliotransmission controlling synaptic functions. These reports might have profound implications for the understanding of both physiological and pathological processes associated to TNFa production, including inflammatory processes in the brain.RÉSUMÉLes astrocytes sont les cellules les plus abondantes du cerveau humain. Outre leur rôle bien établi dans le support métabolique de l'activité neuronale, d'autres fonctions importantes, et parfois inattendues de ces cellules ont été mises en lumière au cours de ces dernières années. Les astrocytes entourent étroitement les synapses de leurs fins processus qui expriment fortement les transporteurs du glutamate et permettent ainsi aux astrocytes de jouer un rôle critique dans l'élimination du glutamate de la fente synaptique. Néanmoins, les astrocytes semblent être capables de jouer un rôle plus intégratif en modulant l'activité synaptique, notamment par la libération de transmetteurs (gliotransmetteurs). Le gliotransmetteur le plus étudié est le glutamate qui est libéré par l'exocytose régulée de petites vésicules ressemblant aux vésicules synaptiques (SLMVs) via un mécanisme dépendant du calcium.Les résultats présentés dans cette thèse permettent une avancée significative dans la compréhension du mode de communication de ces cellules et de leur implication dans la transmission de l'information synaptique dans l'hippocampe, notamment des synapses excitatrices des cellules granulaires du gyrus dentelé. J'ai pu montrer que le « facteur de nécrose tumorale alpha » (TNFa), une cytokine communément associée au système immunitaire, est aussi fondamentale pour la communication entre astrocyte et synapse. Lorsqu'un niveau constitutif très bas de TNFa est présent, l'activation des récepteurs purinergiques P2Y1 (des récepteurs couplés à protéine G) produit une augmentation locale de calcium (mesurée en microscopie bi-photonique) dans l'astrocyte. Cette dernière déclenche ensuite une libération de glutamate par les astrocytes conduisant à l'activation de récepteurs NMDA présynaptiques et à une augmentation de l'activité synaptique. En revanche, dans la souris TNFa knock-out cette modulation de l'activité synaptique par les astrocytes n'est pas bien qu'ils présentent toujours une excitabilité calcique normale. Nous avons démontré que le TNFa contrôle spécifiquement l'exocytose régulée des SLMVs astrocytaires en permettant la fusion synchrone de ces vésicules et la libération de glutamate à destination des récepteurs neuronaux. Ainsi, nous avons, pour la première fois, prouvé que la modulation de l'activité synaptique par l'astrocyte nécessite, pour fonctionner correctement, des facteurs « permissifs » comme le TNFa, agissant sur le mode de sécrétion du glutamate astrocytaire.J'ai pu, en outre, démontrer que le TNFa, à des concentrations plus élevées (celles que l'on peut observer lors de conditions pathologiques) provoque une très forte augmentation de l'activité synaptique, agissant non plus comme simple facteur permissif mais bien comme déclencheur de la gliotransmission. Le TNFa provoque 1'activation des récepteurs NMD A pré-synaptiques (comme dans le cas des P2Y1R) mais son effet est à long terme et irréversible. J'ai découvert que le TNFa active le récepteur TNFR1, un des deux récepteurs spécifiques pour le TNFa. Ainsi, l'application de cette cytokine sur une tranche de cerveau de souris TNFR1 knock-out ne produit aucune modification de l'activité synaptique. Pour vérifier l'implication des astrocytes dans ce processus, j'ai ensuite mis au point un modèle animal doublement transgénique qui exprime le TNFR1 uniquement dans les astrocytes. Ce dernier m'a permis de prouver que l'activation des récepteurs TNFR1 astrocytaires est suffisante pour induire une augmentation de l'activité synaptique de manière durable.Nous avons donc découvert que le TNFa possède un double rôle, à la fois un rôle permissif et actif, dans le contrôle de la gliotransmission et, par conséquent, dans la modulation de l'activité synaptique. Cette découverte peut potentiellement être d'une extrême importance pour la compréhension des mécanismes physiologiques et pathologiques associés à la production du TNFa, en particulier lors de conditions inflammatoires.RÉSUMÉ GRAND PUBLICLes astrocytes représentent la population la plus nombreuse de cellules dans le cerveau humain. On sait, néanmoins, très peu de choses sur leurs fonctions. Pendant très longtemps, les astrocytes ont uniquement été considérés comme la colle du cerveau, un substrat inerte permettant seulement de lier les cellules neuronales entre elles. Il n'y a que depuis peu que l'on a découvert de nouvelles implications de ces cellules dans le fonctionnement cérébral, comme, entre autres, une fonction de support métabolique de l'activité neuronale et un rôle dans la modulation de la neurotransmission. C'est ce dernier aspect qui fait l'objet de mon projet de thèse.Nous avons découvert que l'activité des synapses (régions qui permettent la communication d'un neurone à un autre) qui peut être potentialisée par la libération du glutamate par les astrocytes, ne peut l'être que dans des conditions astrocytaires très particulières. Nous avons, en particulier, identifié une molécule, le facteur de nécrose tumorale alpha (TNFa) qui joue un rôle critique dans cette libération de glutamate astrocytaire.Le TNFa est surtout connu pour son rôle dans le système immunitaire et le fait qu'il est massivement libéré lors de processus inflammatoires. Nous avons découvert qu'en concentration minime, correspondant à sa concentration basale, le TNFa peut néanmoins exercer un rôle indispensable en permettant la communication entre l'astrocyte et le neurone. Ce mode de fonctionnement est assez probablement représentatif d'un processus physiologique qui permet d'intégrer la communication astrocyte/neurone au fonctionnement général du cerveau. Par ailleurs, nous avons également démontré qu'en quantité plus importante, le TNFa change son mode de fonctionnement et agit comme un stimulateur direct de la libération de glutamate par l'astrocyte et induit une activation persistante de l'activité synaptique. Ce mode de fonctionnement est assez probablement représentatif d'un processus pathologique.Nous sommes également arrivés à ces conclusions grâce à la mise en place d'une nouvelle souche de souris doublement transgéniques dans lesquelles seuls les astrocytes (etnon les neurones ou les autres cellules cérébrales) sont capables d'être activés par le TNFa.

Financial Markets and Real Ecinomy: Four Essays in International Trade

Financial markets play an important role in an economy performing various functions like mobilizing and pooling savings, producing information about investment opportunities, screening and monitoring investments, implementation of corporate governance, diversification and management of risk. These functions influence saving rates, investment decisions, technological innovation and, therefore, have important implications for welfare. In my PhD dissertation I examine the interplay of financial and product markets by looking at different channels through which financial markets may influence an economy.My dissertation consists of four chapters. The first chapter is a co-authored work with Martin Strieborny, a PhD student from the University of Lausanne. The second chapter is a co-authored work with Melise Jaud, a PhD student from the Paris School of Economics. The third chapter is co-authored with both Melise Jaud and Martin Strieborny. The last chapter of my PhD dissertation is a single author paper.Chapter 1 of my PhD thesis analyzes the effect of financial development on growth of contract intensive industries. These industries intensively use intermediate inputs that neither can be sold on organized exchange, nor are reference-priced (Levchenko, 2007; Nunn, 2007). A typical example of a contract intensive industry would be an industry where an upstream supplier has to make investments in order to customize a product for needs of a downstream buyer. After the investment is made and the product is adjusted, the buyer may refuse to meet a commitment and trigger ex post renegotiation. Since the product is customized to the buyer's needs, the supplier cannot sell the product to a different buyer at the original price. This is referred in the literature as the holdup problem. As a consequence, the individually rational suppliers will underinvest into relationship-specific assets, hurting the downstream firms with negative consequences for aggregate growth. The standard way to mitigate the hold up problem is to write a binding contract and to rely on the legal enforcement by the state. However, even the most effective contract enforcement might fail to protect the supplier in tough times when the buyer lacks a reliable source of external financing. This suggests the potential role of financial intermediaries, banks in particular, in mitigating the incomplete contract problem. First, financial products like letters of credit and letters of guarantee can substantially decrease a risk and transaction costs of parties. Second, a bank loan can serve as a signal about a buyer's true financial situation, an upstream firm will be more willing undertake relationship-specific investment knowing that the business partner is creditworthy and will abstain from myopic behavior (Fama, 1985; von Thadden, 1995). Therefore, a well-developed financial (especially banking) system should disproportionately benefit contract intensive industries.The empirical test confirms this hypothesis. Indeed, contract intensive industries seem to grow faster in countries with a well developed financial system. Furthermore, this effect comes from a more developed banking sector rather than from a deeper stock market. These results are reaffirmed examining the effect of US bank deregulation on the growth of contract intensive industries in different states. Beyond an overall pro-growth effect, the bank deregulation seems to disproportionately benefit the industries requiring relationship-specific investments from their suppliers.Chapter 2 of my PhD focuses on the role of the financial sector in promoting exports of developing countries. In particular, it investigates how credit constraints affect the ability of firms operating in agri-food sectors of developing countries to keep exporting to foreign markets.Trade in high-value agri-food products from developing countries has expanded enormously over the last two decades offering opportunities for development. However, trade in agri-food is governed by a growing array of standards. Sanitary and Phytosanitary standards (SPS) and technical regulations impose additional sunk, fixed and operating costs along the firms' export life. Such costs may be detrimental to firms' survival, "pricing out" producers that cannot comply. The existence of these costs suggests a potential role of credit constraints in shaping the duration of trade relationships on foreign markets. A well-developed financial system provides the funds to exporters necessary to adjust production processes in order to meet quality and quantity requirements in foreign markets and to maintain long-standing trade relationships. The products with higher needs for financing should benefit the most from a well functioning financial system. This differential effect calls for a difference-in-difference approach initially proposed by Rajan and Zingales (1998). As a proxy for demand for financing of agri-food products, the sanitary risk index developed by Jaud et al. (2009) is used. The empirical literature on standards and norms show high costs of compliance, both variable and fixed, for high-value food products (Garcia-Martinez and Poole, 2004; Maskus et al., 2005). The sanitary risk index reflects the propensity of products to fail health and safety controls on the European Union (EU) market. Given the high costs of compliance, the sanitary risk index captures the demand for external financing to comply with such regulations.The prediction is empirically tested examining the export survival of different agri-food products from firms operating in Ghana, Mali, Malawi, Senegal and Tanzania. The results suggest that agri-food products that require more financing to keep up with food safety regulation of the destination market, indeed sustain longer in foreign market, when they are exported from countries with better developed financial markets.Chapter 3 analyzes the link between financial markets and efficiency of resource allocation in an economy. Producing and exporting products inconsistent with a country's factor endowments constitutes a serious misallocation of funds, which undermines competitiveness of the economy and inhibits its long term growth. In this chapter, inefficient exporting patterns are analyzed through the lens of the agency theories from the corporate finance literature. Managers may pursue projects with negative net present values because their perquisites or even their job might depend on them. Exporting activities are particularly prone to this problem. Business related to foreign markets involves both high levels of additional spending and strong incentives for managers to overinvest. Rational managers might have incentives to push for exports that use country's scarce factors which is suboptimal from a social point of view. Export subsidies might further skew the incentives towards inefficient exporting. Management can divert the export subsidies into investments promoting inefficient exporting.Corporate finance literature stresses the disciplining role of outside debt in counteracting the internal pressures to divert such "free cash flow" into unprofitable investments. Managers can lose both their reputation and the control of "their" firm if the unpaid external debt triggers a bankruptcy procedure. The threat of possible failure to satisfy debt service payments pushes the managers toward an efficient use of available resources (Jensen, 1986; Stulz, 1990; Hart and Moore, 1995). The main sources of debt financing in the most countries are banks. The disciplining role of banks might be especially important in the countries suffering from insufficient judicial quality. Banks, in pursuing their rights, rely on comparatively simple legal interventions that can be implemented even by mediocre courts. In addition to their disciplining role, banks can promote efficient exporting patterns in a more direct way by relaxing credit constraints of producers, through screening, identifying and investing in the most profitable investment projects. Therefore, a well-developed domestic financial system, and particular banking system, would help to push a country's exports towards products congruent with its comparative advantage.This prediction is tested looking at the survival of different product categories exported to US market. Products are identified according to the Euclidian distance between their revealed factor intensity and the country's factor endowments. The results suggest that products suffering from a comparative disadvantage (labour-intensive products from capital-abundant countries) survive less on the competitive US market. This pattern is stronger if the exporting country has a well-developed banking system. Thus, a strong banking sector promotes exports consistent with a country comparative advantage.Chapter 4 of my PhD thesis further examines the role of financial markets in fostering efficient resource allocation in an economy. In particular, the allocative efficiency hypothesis is investigated in the context of equity market liberalization.Many empirical studies document a positive and significant effect of financial liberalization on growth (Levchenko et al. 2009; Quinn and Toyoda 2009; Bekaert et al., 2005). However, the decrease in the cost of capital and the associated growth in investment appears rather modest in comparison to the large GDP growth effect (Bekaert and Harvey, 2005; Henry, 2000, 2003). Therefore, financial liberalization may have a positive impact on growth through its effect on the allocation of funds across firms and sectors.Free access to international capital markets allows the largest and most profitable domestic firms to borrow funds in foreign markets (Rajan and Zingales, 2003). As domestic banks loose some of their best clients, they reoptimize their lending practices seeking new clients among small and younger industrial firms. These firms are likely to be more risky than large and established companies. Screening of customers becomes prevalent as the return to screening rises. Banks, ceteris paribus, tend to focus on firms operating in comparative-advantage sectors because they are better risks. Firms in comparative-disadvantage sectors finding it harder to finance their entry into or survival in export markets either exit or refrain from entering export markets. On aggregate, one should therefore expect to see less entry, more exit, and shorter survival on export markets in those sectors after financial liberalization.The paper investigates the effect of financial liberalization on a country's export pattern by comparing the dynamics of entry and exit of different products in a country export portfolio before and after financial liberalization.The results suggest that products that lie far from the country's comparative advantage set tend to disappear relatively faster from the country's export portfolio following the liberalization of financial markets. In other words, financial liberalization tends to rebalance the composition of a country's export portfolio towards the products that intensively use the economy's abundant factors.

Social Representations Of Violence Against Rural Women: Unveiling Senses In Multiple Views

We analyze the social representations of violence against women from the perspective of city managers, professionals and health workers in rural settings of the southern half of Rio Grande do Sul. The study has a qualitative approach and adds a theoretical/methodological perspective of social representations. The data were generated by means of the associative method, question-stimulus of words and expressions emergence. The analysis of word association was performed with EVOC software, considering frequency and order of association with inducing terms. Participants recognize violence against women as gender destination that induces consent, resignation, guilt and fear, and results in naturalization and trivialization of this social phenomenon. We highlight the need to produce ruptures in established and traditional forms of health care, in the conservative and stereotypical views of violence, favoring access to friendly service and avoiding the reproduction of gender inequalities.


Railroads are on Track to keep Iowa's Economy Healthy and Growing, 2005

Just as the railroad tracks guide trains toward their destination, Iowa’s railroads play a vital role in keeping our state’s economic health and growth “on track” for the future.

A Importância do Empreendedorismo na Actividade Turística

Na actualidade, o empreendedorismo vem impulsionando o desenvolvimento de negócios em diferentes sectores com ênfase na qualidade dos serviços, tendo em vista não só a satisfação mas também a difícil tarefa de conquistar a lealdade dos clientes a médio e longo prazo. No mercado turístico, a satisfação do cliente é importante para que a actividade possa manter-se competitiva, uma vez que os clientes tornam-se mais exigentes à medida que vão-se tornando experientes. Neste contexto, o empreendedorismo aparece como forma de desenvolvimento do turismo, sendo que os resultados que se esperam das acções empreendedoras são a entrada em novos negócios, inovação, agregação de valor aos produtos/serviços e maior qualidade dos produtos/serviços. O objectivo central do trabalho é demonstrar a importância do empreendedorismo na actividade turística e como o mesmo contribui para agregação de valor e geração de resultados económicos. Para melhor compreensão do assunto da pesquisa, dividimos o enquadramento teórico em três momentos. No primeiro, abordamos o empreendedorismo, no segundo o turismo e, por fim, o empreendedorismo no turismo. O enquadramento teórico permitiu responder à questão: será que o empreendedorismo contribui para agregar valor e gerar resultados económicos na actividade turística? Os resultados do questionário aplicado aos proprietários das empresas turísticas evidenciaram que estes possuem características geralmente patentes nos empreendedores. No entanto, os resultados não são conclusivos quanto ao seu potencial empreendedor. In the present, time the entrepreneurship is driving the businesses development in different sector with emphasis on services quality in order not only satisfaction but also the difficult task of winning the costumers loyalty in the medium and long term. In the tourist market, the costumer’s satisfaction is important in order to remain the activity competitive, because the costumers become more demanding while they become experienced. In this context, the entrepreneurship shows up like a way to develop the tourism, because the expected results of entrepreneurial activities are entry in new businesses, innovation, the aggregation of value and more quality of the products/services. The central objective of this work is to demonstrate the importance of the entrepreneurship in to the tourism and how it contributes for adding value and generating economics results. To better understand the research’s subject, we divided the theoretical framework in three moments. At first one we approached entrepreneurship, then the tourism, and finally, we approached entrepreneurship in the tourism. The theoretical framework to allowed answer to the question: will the entrepreneurship contributes to add value and generate economics results in the tourism? The results of the questionnaire applied to the owners of tourists’ enterprises evidence that they possess the characteristics usually presented by the entrepreneurs. However, the results are not conclusive relatively to their potential entrepreneur.

Perfil dos Turistas que Visitam a Ilha de São Vicente

O presente trabalho tem por objectivo definir o perfil do turista que visitou a ilha de São Vicente e avaliar o grau de satisfação do turista enquanto consumidor de diferentes bens e serviços, nos meses de Maio e Junho do decorrente ano. Para se fazer uma abordagem qualitativa falou-se da problemática do mercado turístico - procura e oferta turística – e a importância da segmentação desse sistema turístico juntamente com algumas teorias do comportamento do consumidor. Por sua vez, para o estudo do perfil e satisfação dos turistas utilizou-se uma abordagem quantitativa, através da aplicação de questionários no Aeroporto Internacional Cesária Évora e entrevistas aos estabelecimentos hoteleiros, 150 e 7 respectivamente. Após a análise explicativa, com base na bibliografia seleccionada, nas entrevistas e questionários realizados, os resultados da pesquisa indicam que estudar o perfil e a satisfação dos turistas permite fazer um levantamento de diversas variáveis importantes como, por exemplo, a nacionalidade do turista, a principal razão e objectivo da viagem e o que gostaram, ou desejavam ver no destino. E assim, entender-se o perfil do visitante e propor-se estratégias, que contribuam para um planeamento sustentável do desenvolvimento turístico na região pretendida. A complexidade do processo de decisão do turista por um ou outro destino é que verdadeiramente motiva esta pesquisa. The objective of the following work is to define the profile of a tourist that visited São Vicente, and evaluate the levels of satisfaction of the tourist as a consumer of different items and services, on May and June of the current year. For a quality methodological approach, the problematic of the touristic industry (demand and touristic offer) – the essential of subdivision of these touristic systems alongside with the principles of the consumer behavior were discussed. In continuity, to define the profile and satisfaction of the tourists, a quantity approach was also used, through the application of questionnaires at the International Airport Cesária Évora and interviews throughout hotel establishments, 150 and 7 respectively. After an explanatory analyses, based on a selected bibliography, the applied interviews and questionnaires, the outcome of this research shows that by studying the profile and the satisfaction of the tourists allows to have variable important results, for example, the tourist´s nationality, the main reason and objective of the trip and what they enjoyed or would like to see on their destination. Thus, understanding the visitor´s profile and suggesting strategies, that contributes for a sustainable planning of a touristic development on the intended region. The process complexity of the decision making of the tourist for one destination is truly the main motivation for this research.

Entre a Terra e o Mar - Grau de Satisfação dos Cruzeiristas na Ilha de São Vicente

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de um estudo realizado em São Vicente, de Março a Abril de 2012 a turistas de cruzeiro. Este estudo teve como objectivo analisar o perfile a satisfação dos visitantes durante a sua estadia na ilha, para ajudar a indústria do turismo na melhoria do produto e infra-estrutura turística, e ao fazê-lo melhorar aexperiência para os cruzeiristas. O estudo foi conduzido através da revisão da literaturasobre turismo de cruzeiro, imagem do destino, elementos da oferta turística, qualidade esatisfação e sua relação com o turismo. Para a avaliação do perfil e satisfação do turistade cruzeiro, aplicou-se um questionário a uma amostra de 131 cruzeiristas, no fim dasua visita à ilha. Os resultados do questionário aplicado aos cruzeiristas evidenciaram maior satisfação com aspectos como paisagem natural, clima, simpatia da população local, oportunidadepara conhecer pessoas e limpeza urbana. Os atributos que demonstraram valores maisaltos de insatisfação são: museus, sanitários, gastronomia, sinalização, serviços derestauração e de informação turística. O perfil do cruzeirista é caracterizado pela disponibilidade em viajar, nível académico eprofissional médio alto, poder de compra médio alto e de média idade. Verificou-se que os vários sectores não estão bem organizados e integrados entre si paraatender às necessidades e desejos dos visitantes. Assim, recomenda-se uma série deactividades, tendo em vista, minimizar os aspectos negativos identificados peloscruzeiristas e integrar a oferta turística entre os vários elementos que a compõem. This research is based on the results acquired from tourists who traveled to the island of Sao Vicente on cruise ships during the months of March and April of 2012. The object of this study was to analyze the characteristics and level of satisfaction of those visiting the island of Sao Vicente, in order to help improve the tourism industry, and its infrastructure in hopes of bettering the overall experience for cruise tourists. The study emerged from a profound revision of cruise ship literature, now detailing destination images, available touristic elements, as well as quality and satisfaction ratings in relationship to tourism. In order to measure the satisfaction of the tourists we implemented a questionnaire where a sample of 131 people was surveyed at the end of their visit to the island. The questionnaire resulted in evidence detailing higher satisfaction regarding natural landscape, climate, local acceptance, ability to meet others and urban cleanliness. However, elements such as museums, sanitation, gastronomy, signage, restaurant services and travel information demonstrated higher levels of dissatisfaction. Cruise tourists are characterized as middle aged, frequent travelers with high academic and professional levels, and by their ability to consume heavily. This study verifies that various elements within the tourism sector are not well organized to satisfy the necessities and desires of cruise tourists. Therefore, an implementation of more activities is recommended for those visiting the island of Sao Vicente on cruise ships. While considering the need to minimize the negative aspects identified by the surveyed cruise tourists it is also important to integrate the offered tourist attractions within the various elements that embody tourism.

Location of hubs in a competitive environment

We offer a formulation that locates hubs on a network in a competitiveenvironment; that is, customer capture is sought, which happenswhenever the location of a new hub results in a reduction of thecurrent cost (time, distance) needed by the traffic that goes from thespecified origin to the specified destination.The formulation presented here reduces the number of variables andconstraints as compared to existing covering models. This model issuited for both air passenger and cargo transportation.In this model, each origin-destination flow can go through either oneor two hubs, and each demand point can be assigned to more than a hub,depending on the different destinations of its traffic. Links(``spokes'' have no capacity limit. Computational experience is provided.

Turismo Cultural e Desenvolvimento Local: um Estudo Sobre o Concelho do Tarrafal, Cabo Verde

Este trabalho tem como o objetivo central analisar o potencial do turismo cultural no Tarrafal e compreender o seu papel na valorização do património e no desenvolvimento local. Procurou-se estudar a perceção dos agentes institucionais, a perceção dos residentes, o perfil dos turistas, a perceção dos alojamentos e dos restaurantes e as suas características. Com a globalização, as diversidades culturais emergem como elementos diferenciadores e dinamizadores do turismo. O turismo cultural tem despertado cada vez mais interesse no palco internacional, revelando-se como um grande veículo estratégico que promove o desenvolvimento local através da valorização do património, mantendo-o conservado, vivo e valorizado. O Concelho do Tarrafal localiza-se na parte norte da ilha de Santiago, a uma distância de 75 quilómetros da cidade da Praia (capital de Cabo Verde). Ocupa uma superfície de 112,4 Km2, representando assim cerca de 11% da área total da ilha de Santiago e 2,8% do território nacional. Possui cerca de 18.565 habitantes, cuja maioria é representada pela população feminina. Este concelho possui um conjunto de recursos culturais de grande interesse turístico que podem contribuir para a diversificação da oferta e transformar o concelho num destino turístico de qualidade, promovendo a melhoria das condições de vida da população como também a sustentabilidade do próprio setor. Este tipo de turismo promove além da apreciação dos objetos, infraestruturas e entre outras formas culturais, a interação entre os turistas e a própria comunidade, entre o setor publico e o privado e entre o turismo e a cultura.