The succession process at social enterprises in Brazil

This research was based on a study of social enterprises in Brazil, to find out if and how these organizations plan and manage the succession process for their senior positions. The study investigated the subset of the associations dedicated to collectively producing goods and services, because they are formally set up and aimed at speeding up the dynamism of local development. The empirical research consisted of two stages. The first was a survey covering a sample of 378 organizations, to find out which of those had already undergone or were undergoing a succession process. The second interviewed the main manager of 32 organizations, to obtain a description of their succession experience. In this stage, the research aimed to analyze how the Individual, Organization and Environment dimensions interact to configure the succession process, identifying which factors of each of these dimensions can facilitate or limit this process. The following guiding elements were taken as the analytical basis: Individual dimension - leadership roles, skill and styles; Organization dimension - structure, planning, advisory boards, communication (transparency), control and evaluation; and Environment dimension - influence of the stakeholders (community, suppliers, clients, and business partners) on the succession process. The results indicated that succession in the researched associations is in the construction stage: it adapts to the requirements of current circumstances but is evidently in need of improvement in order for more effective planning and shared management of the process to be achieved.

Neuroplasticity of inhibitory control

Executive control refers to a set of abilities enabling us to plan, control and implement our behavior to rapidly and flexibly adapt to environmental requirements. These adaptations notably involve the suppression of intended or ongoing cognitive or motor processes, a skill referred to as "inhibitory control". To implement efficient executive control of behavior, one must monitor our performance following errors to adjust our behavior accordingly. Deficits in inhibitory control have been associated with the emergènce of a wide range of psychiatric disorders, ranging from drug addiction to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders. Inhibitory control deficits could, however, be remediated- The brain has indeed the amazing possibility to reorganize following training to allow for behavioral improvements. This mechanism is referred to as neural and behavioral plasticity. Here, our aim is to investigate training-induced plasticity in inhibitory control and propose a model of inhibitory control explaining the spatio- temporal brain mechanisms supporting inhibitory control processes and their plasticity. In the two studies entitled "Brain dynamics underlying training-induced improvement in suppressing inappropriate action" (Manuel et al., 2010) and "Training-induced neuroplastic reinforcement óf top-down inhibitory control" (Manuel et al., 2012c), we investigated the neurophysiological and behavioral changes induced by inhibitory control training with two different tasks and populations of healthy participants. We report that different inhibitory control training developed either automatic/bottom-up inhibition in parietal areas or reinforced controlled/top-down inhibitory control in frontal brain regions. We discuss the results of both studies in the light of a model of fronto-basal inhibition processes. In "Spatio-temporal brain dynamics mediating post-error behavioral adjustments" (Manuel et al., 2012a), we investigated how error detection modulates the processing of following stimuli and in turn impact behavior. We showed that during early integration of stimuli, the activity of prefrontal and parietal areas is modulated according to previous performance and impacts the post-error behavioral adjustments. We discuss these results in terms of a shift from an automatic to a controlled form of inhibition induced by the detection of errors, which in turn influenced response speed. In "Inter- and intra-hemispheric dissociations in ideomotor apraxia: a large-scale lesion- symptom mapping study in subacute brain-damaged patients" (Manuel et al., 2012b), we investigated ideomotor apraxia, a deficit in performing pantomime gestures of object use, and identified the anatomical correlates of distinct ideomotor apraxia error types in 150 subacute brain-damaged patients. Our results reveal a left intra-hemispheric dissociation for different pantomime error types, but with an unspecific role for inferior frontal areas. Les fonctions exécutives désignent un ensemble de processus nous permettant de planifier et contrôler notre comportement afin de nous adapter de manière rapide et flexible à l'environnement. L'une des manières de s'adapter consiste à arrêter un processus cognitif ou moteur en cours ; le contrôle de l'inhibition. Afin que le contrôle exécutif soit optimal il est nécessaire d'ajuster notre comportement après avoir fait des erreurs. Les déficits du contrôle de l'inhibition sont à l'origine de divers troubles psychiatriques tels que l'addiction à la drogue ou les déficits d'attention et d'hyperactivité. De tels déficits pourraient être réhabilités. En effet, le cerveau a l'incroyable capacité de se réorganiser après un entraînement et ainsi engendrer des améliorations comportementales. Ce mécanisme s'appelle la plasticité neuronale et comportementale. Ici, notre but èst d'étudier la plasticité du contrôle de l'inhibition après un bref entraînement et de proposer un modèle du contrôle de l'inhibition qui permette d'expliquer les mécanismes cérébraux spatiaux-temporels sous-tendant l'amélioration du contrôle de l'inhibition et de leur plasticité. Dans les deux études intitulées "Brain dynamics underlying training-induced improvement in suppressing inappropriate action" (Manuel et al., 2010) et "Training-induced neuroplastic reinforcement of top-down inhibitory control" (Manuel et al., 2012c), nous nous sommes intéressés aux changements neurophysiologiques et comportementaux liés à un entraînement du contrôle de l'inhibition. Pour ce faire, nous avons étudié l'inhibition à l'aide de deux différentes tâches et deux populations de sujets sains. Nous avons démontré que différents entraînements pouvaient soit développer une inhibition automatique/bottom-up dans les aires pariétales soit renforcer une inhibition contrôlée/top-down dans les aires frontales. Nous discutons ces résultats dans le contexte du modèle fronto-basal du contrôle de l'inhibition. Dans "Spatio-temporal brain dynamics mediating post-error behavioral adjustments" (Manuel et al., 2012a), nous avons investigué comment la détection d'erreurs influençait le traitement du prochain stimulus et comment elle agissait sur le comportement post-erreur. Nous avons montré que pendant l'intégration précoce des stimuli, l'activité des aires préfrontales et pariétales était modulée en fonction de la performance précédente et avait un impact sur les ajustements post-erreur. Nous proposons que la détection d'erreur ait induit un « shift » d'un mode d'inhibition automatique à un mode contrôlé qui a à son tour influencé le temps de réponse. Dans "Inter- and intra-hemispheric dissociations in ideomotor apraxia: a large-scale lesion-symptom mapping study in subacute brain-damaged patients" (Manuel et al., 2012b), nous avons examiné l'apraxie idémotrice, une incapacité à exécuter des gestes d'utilisation d'objets, chez 150 patients cérébro-lésés. Nous avons mis en avant une dissociation intra-hémisphérique pour différents types d'erreurs avec un rôle non spécifique pour les aires frontales inférieures.

La cuestión de la mímesis (de Platón a la Odisea)

Proyecto de investigación realizado en la Freie Universität Berlin, Alemania, entre 2010 y 2012 desarrollando el proyecto titulado "El problema ontológico de la mímesis", el cual continuaba y desarrollaba planteamientos esbozados en mi tesis doctoral ("Problemas hermenéuticos en la lectura de la Ilíada"). Se pretendía examinar la noción de «mímesis» que se critica en el libro décimo de "La república". Se observó que 1. la actividad de Homero y los «poetas» era analizada en términos de pretensión de «saber»; 2. la noción de «saber» que operaba en la base del análisis filosófico era la de «saber habérselas con» (quien sabe de riendas es el jinete, etc.); 3. la problematicidad de la actividad de los «poetas» radicaba en que su pericia no tenía ámbito de referencia delimitado alguno; en este sentido, el poeta era un imitador, o sea, se le disputaba la posesión de auténtico saber. Partiendo del análisis platónico la investigación pasó a centrarse en ciertos aspectos cruciales para una interpretación de la Odisea. Nos interesaba especialmente observar que Ulises era un héroe esencialmente atípico en cuanto que era extraordinariamente «sabio» (astuto, capaz, perspicaz), lo cual daba cuenta tanto de la anticotidianidad del aprendizaje realizado (las llamadas «aventuras») como de su condición de héroe-poeta, o sea, de experto «decir». El reverso de esta especialísima capacidad era nada más y nada menos que su dudosa y problemática aptitud para actuar y decir como si fuera otro, es decir, su capacidad para lo que en Platón se llama «mímesis».

Evidence-based Economic Policy - Three Essays in Applied Microeconometrics

Over thirty years ago, Leamer (1983) - among many others - expressed doubts about the quality and usefulness of empirical analyses for the economic profession by stating that "hardly anyone takes data analyses seriously. Or perhaps more accurately, hardly anyone takes anyone else's data analyses seriously" (p.37). Improvements in data quality, more robust estimation methods and the evolution of better research designs seem to make that assertion no longer justifiable (see Angrist and Pischke (2010) for a recent response to Leamer's essay). The economic profes- sion and policy makers alike often rely on empirical evidence as a means to investigate policy relevant questions. The approach of using scientifically rigorous and systematic evidence to identify policies and programs that are capable of improving policy-relevant outcomes is known under the increasingly popular notion of evidence-based policy. Evidence-based economic policy often relies on randomized or quasi-natural experiments in order to identify causal effects of policies. These can require relatively strong assumptions or raise concerns of external validity. In the context of this thesis, potential concerns are for example endogeneity of policy reforms with respect to the business cycle in the first chapter, the trade-off between precision and bias in the regression-discontinuity setting in chapter 2 or non-representativeness of the sample due to self-selection in chapter 3. While the identification strategies are very useful to gain insights into the causal effects of specific policy questions, transforming the evidence into concrete policy conclusions can be challenging. Policy develop- ment should therefore rely on the systematic evidence of a whole body of research on a specific policy question rather than on a single analysis. In this sense, this thesis cannot and should not be viewed as a comprehensive analysis of specific policy issues but rather as a first step towards a better understanding of certain aspects of a policy question. The thesis applies new and innovative identification strategies to policy-relevant and topical questions in the fields of labor economics and behavioral environmental economics. Each chapter relies on a different identification strategy. In the first chapter, we employ a difference- in-differences approach to exploit the quasi-experimental change in the entitlement of the max- imum unemployment benefit duration to identify the medium-run effects of reduced benefit durations on post-unemployment outcomes. Shortening benefit duration carries a double- dividend: It generates fiscal benefits without deteriorating the quality of job-matches. On the contrary, shortened benefit durations improve medium-run earnings and employment possibly through containing the negative effects of skill depreciation or stigmatization. While the first chapter provides only indirect evidence on the underlying behavioral channels, in the second chapter I develop a novel approach that allows to learn about the relative impor- tance of the two key margins of job search - reservation wage choice and search effort. In the framework of a standard non-stationary job search model, I show how the exit rate from un- employment can be decomposed in a way that is informative on reservation wage movements over the unemployment spell. The empirical analysis relies on a sharp discontinuity in unem- ployment benefit entitlement, which can be exploited in a regression-discontinuity approach to identify the effects of extended benefit durations on unemployment and survivor functions. I find evidence that calls for an important role of reservation wage choices for job search be- havior. This can have direct implications for the optimal design of unemployment insurance policies. The third chapter - while thematically detached from the other chapters - addresses one of the major policy challenges of the 21st century: climate change and resource consumption. Many governments have recently put energy efficiency on top of their agendas. While pricing instru- ments aimed at regulating the energy demand have often been found to be short-lived and difficult to enforce politically, the focus of energy conservation programs has shifted towards behavioral approaches - such as provision of information or social norm feedback. The third chapter describes a randomized controlled field experiment in which we discuss the effective- ness of different types of feedback on residential electricity consumption. We find that detailed and real-time feedback caused persistent electricity reductions on the order of 3 to 5 % of daily electricity consumption. Also social norm information can generate substantial electricity sav- ings when designed appropriately. The findings suggest that behavioral approaches constitute effective and relatively cheap way of improving residential energy-efficiency.

FIB-SEM tomography in biology.

Three-dimensional information is much easier to understand than a set of two-dimensional images. Therefore a layman is thrilled by the pseudo-3D image taken in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) while, when seeing a transmission electron micrograph, his imagination is challenged. First approaches to gain insight in the third dimension were to make serial microtome sections of a region of interest (ROI) and then building a model of the object. Serial microtome sectioning is a tedious and skill-demanding work and therefore seldom done. In the last two decades with the increase of computer power, sophisticated display options, and the development of new instruments, an SEM with a built-in microtome as well as a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM), serial sectioning, and 3D analysis has become far easier and faster.Due to the relief like topology of the microtome trimmed block face of resin-embedded tissue, the ROI can be searched in the secondary electron mode, and at the selected spot, the ROI is prepared with the ion beam for 3D analysis. For FIB-SEM tomography, a thin slice is removed with the ion beam and the newly exposed face is imaged with the electron beam, usually by recording the backscattered electrons. The process, also called "slice and view," is repeated until the desired volume is imaged.As FIB-SEM allows 3D imaging of biological fine structure at high resolution of only small volumes, it is crucial to perform slice and view at carefully selected spots. Finding the region of interest is therefore a prerequisite for meaningful imaging. Thin layer plastification of biofilms offers direct access to the original sample surface and allows the selection of an ROI for site-specific FIB-SEM tomography just by its pronounced topographic features.

Economic crisis and recovery: changes in second birth rates within occupational classes and educational groups

This study assesses the decline in second birth rates for men and women across different skill levels in transitional Russia. Changes within educational groups and occupational classes are observed over three distinct time periods: the Soviet era, economic crisis, and economic recovery. The most remarkable finding is the similarity in the extent second birth rates declined within educational groups and occupational classes during the economic crisis. Although further decline occurred in the recovery period, more variation emerged across groups.

Occupational choice and development

The rise in world trade since 1970 has been accompanied by a rise in the geographic span of control of management and, hence, also a rise in the e ective international mobility of labor services. We study the e ect of such a globalization of the world's labor markets. The world's welfare gains depend positively on the skill-heterogeneity of the world's labor force. We nd that when peoplecan choose between wage work and managerial work, the worldwide labor market raises output by more in the rich and the poor countries, and by less in the middle-income countries. This is because the middle-income countries experience the smallest change in the factor-price ratio, and where the option to choose between wage work and managerial work has the least value in the integratedeconomy. Our theory also establishes that after economic integration, the high skill countries see a disproportionate increase in managerial occupations. Using aggregate data on GDP, openness and occupations from 115 countries, we find evidence for these patterns of occupational choice.

Climatic extremes improve predictions of spatial patterns of tree species.

Understanding niche evolution, dynamics, and the response of species to climate change requires knowledge of the determinants of the environmental niche and species range limits. Mean values of climatic variables are often used in such analyses. In contrast, the increasing frequency of climate extremes suggests the importance of understanding their additional influence on range limits. Here, we assess how measures representing climate extremes (i.e., interannual variability in climate parameters) explain and predict spatial patterns of 11 tree species in Switzerland. We find clear, although comparably small, improvement (+20% in adjusted D(2), +8% and +3% in cross-validated True Skill Statistic and area under the receiver operating characteristics curve values) in models that use measures of extremes in addition to means. The primary effect of including information on climate extremes is a correction of local overprediction and underprediction. Our results demonstrate that measures of climate extremes are important for understanding the climatic limits of tree species and assessing species niche characteristics. The inclusion of climate variability likely will improve models of species range limits under future conditions, where changes in mean climate and increased variability are expected.

Upgrading or polarization? occupational change in Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, 1990-2008

This paper analyzes the pattern of occupational change in four Western European countries over the last two decades: what kind of jobs have been expanding -- high-paid jobs, low-paid jobs or both? By addressing this issue, we also examine what theoretical account is consistent with the observed pattern of change: skill-biased technical change, skill supply evolution or wage-setting institutions? Our empirical findings show a picture of massive occupational upgrading that closely matches educational expansion. In all four countries, by far the strongest employment growth occurred at the top of the occupational hierarchy, among managers and professionals. Yet in parallel, in Britain and Switzerland, as well as in Germany and Spain after 1996 and 2002 respectively, relative employment declined more strongly in the middling occupations (among clerks and production workers) than at the bottom (among interpersonal service workers). This slightly polarized pattern of occupational upgrading is consistent with the "routinization" hypothesis that technology is a better substitute for average-paid jobs in production and the office that for low-paid jobs in interpersonal services. However, we find large cross-country differences in the employment evolution at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy, among low-paid services workers: sizeable growth in Britain and Spain, but stagnation in Germany and Switzerland. This results points towards the possibility that wage-setting institutions filter the pattern of occupational change.

Overeducation among European university graduates : a comparative analysis ot its incidence and the importance of higher education differentiation

The incidence of over-education is here assessed by applying some standard subjective and objective indicators and a new skill-based indicator of over-education to the national samples of eight European countries in the REFLEX survey. With the exception of Spain, the results reveal that over-education is a minor risk amongst European tertiary graduates. Yet, the contrast between the standard indicators and the skill-based indicator reveals the existence of an over-education of a moderate kind in countries with high tertiary attainment rates (Norway, Finland and Netherlands). Such a type of over-education does not come to the surface when applying the standard indicators. Our results also reveal the importance of higher education differentiation (i.e. field of study and branch of higher education) for understanding the risk of over-education. Graduates from humanistic fields, bachelor courses and vocational colleges are more exposed to over-education, though their disadvantage varies across-nationally to a significant extent.

Government and the distribution of skills

Individuals' life chances in the future will very much depend on how we invest in our children now. An optimal human capital model would combine a high mean with minimal variance of skills. It is well-established that early childhood learning is key to adult success. The impact of social origins on child outcomes remains strong, and the new role of women poses additional challenges to our conventional nurturing approach to child development. This paper focuses on skill development in the early years, examining how we might best combine family inputs and public policy to invest optimally in our future human capital. I emphasize three issues: one, the uneven capacity of parents to invest in children; two, the impact of mothers' employment on child outcomes; and three, the potential benefits of early pre-school programmes. I conclude that mothers' intra-family bargaining power is decisive for family investments and that universal child care is key if our goal is to arrive at a strong mean with minimal variance.

Luovuus näyttelijäntyössä

This thesis considers creativity in acting and performing. The original question is how to construct roles creatively. The thesis also considers the quality of creativity at a general level. In addition, the question expands to consider directing and, briefly, the ethics of making theatre. The first section discusses acceptation as a tool for opening the blocks that restrain creativity. It also discusses what the use of acceptation causes and what challenges it brings when creativity begins. The second and the third sections deal with two productions that have changed the author's view of creativity and theatre. The first production is "Medeia Goes Karaoke". This section considers the influence of listening and being in contact when making the role of Medeia. The second production is about directing, "My Roots are Water and Blood". This section considers revising performing and directing and especially the influence of the Alexander-technique. The last section concerns the definition of what good acting is. It also discusses the differences between performing and acting and presents the author's opinions concerning the ethics of acting. The aim of this work is to define creativity in acting, performing and theatre-making, through the author' s personal experiences.

8-month non-use of a language. A case tudy. A longitudinal study of the effects on non use of one of the languages (Spanish) of a German L1 multilingual

Under the Dynamic Model of Multilingualism multilinguals are especially vulnerable to language attrition. It was the aim of the present study to verify if this was the case and to observe whether the different linguistic skills (receptive vs. descriptive) and the different linguistic levels (syntactic, lexical, morphological, etc.) would be affected equally.Data were gathered longitudinally by means of a language test for the subject’s reading, writing, listening and speaking skills as well as her knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Although the overall accuracy remained intact and no proof for attrition in the receptive skills was found, the productive skills - mainly fluency - were shown to have suffered from language attrition. This was demonstrated by an increase in the number of pauses, hesitations, repetitions and self-corrections among others and decrease in the percentage of error-free clauses and decrease in the clause length, in oral and written fluency respectively.

A sequential model for older workers' labor transitions after a health shock

In this work we study older workers'(50-64) labor force transitions after a health/disability shock. We find that the probability of keeping working decreases with both age and severity of the shock. Moreover, we find strong interactions between age and severity in the 50-64 age range and none in the 30-49 age range. Regarding demographics we find that being female and married reduce the probability of keeping work. On the contrary, being main breadwinner, education and skill levels increase it. Interestingly, the effect of some demographics changes its sign when we look at transitions from inactivity to work. This is the case of being married or having a working spouse. Undoubtedly, leisure complementarities should play a role in the latter case. Since the data we use contains a very detailed information on disabilities, we are able to evaluate the marginal effect of each type of disability either in the probability of keeping working or in returning back to work. Some of these results may have strong policy implications.

Iowa's Adult Basic Education Program Annual Benchmark Report Executive Summary, 2002

The purpose of this publication is to present the Executive Summary for the Program Year 2002 report on Iowa’s adult basic education program benchmarks. The passage of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 [Public Law 105-220] by the 105th Congress has ushered in a new era of collaboration, coordination, cooperation and accountability. The overall goal of the Act is “to increase the employment, retention, and earnings of participants, and increase occupational skill attainment by participants, and, as a result improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Nation.”