Les PME jouent un rôle important dans l’économie Mexicaine et elles sont une source d’emplois locaux pour le pays. Mais leur durée de vie est menacée parce qu’elles ont des difficultés à se maintenir en activité et à développer une performance sociale et économique en face des exigences toujours plus grandes de compétitivité entraînées par la mondialisation. Cependant, une de leurs qualités est la flexibilité qui s’accompagne souvent d’une structure familiale. Le dernier aspect n’est pas sans présenter des inconvénients quant à l’attitude des dirigeants et leur mode de sélection et d’apprentissage qui ne privilégie pas les qualités de négociateur. Ceci génère souvent des structures centralisées ne favorisant pas la recherche de consensus avec les autres acteurs de l’entreprise ainsi que des comportements participatifs tant individuels qu’entre les groupes.Les PME constituent le champ de recherche ; car le problème primordial des PME est l’absence de prévision sur le futur de l’entreprise. Le propriétaire-dirigeant de la PME est totalement concentré sur l’activité opérationnelle à court terme, au détriment des activités à plus forte valeur ajoutée et des réflexions stratégiques, principalement sur le développement du potentiel humain parce qu’il constitue un levier de changements socio-économiques capital pour l’avenir de l’entreprise.Notre hypothèse de recherche consiste à proposer des voies d’amélioration de leur niveau de compétitivité internationale par la formulation de stratégies proactives qui auront pour effet de diminuer les coûts cachés et de contribuer au développement socio-économique de l’organisation.Pour le recueil de données de recherche, nous appliquons une méthodologie de recherche-intervention dans trois PME mexicaines, à partir d’une observation scientifique de la gestion et de l’interactivité cognitive entre l’intervenant-chercheur et tous les acteurs de l’organisation y compris le propriétaire-dirigeant. L’objectif de la recherche-intervention, dans la théorie socio-économique est de générer une transformation profonde des les structures et des comportements des PME. / SME play a big role in the mexican economy and they are a source of local employment for the country. But their lifespan is threatened because they havedifficulties of being maintained in activity and to develop a social and economic performance opposite the increasingly larger requirements of competitiveness pulled by globalisation. However, one of their qualities and reflection is often accompanied by a family structure. The last aspect is not presenting advantages as for the attitude of the leaders and their mode of selection and training which does not privilege qualities as a negotiator.This often generates centralized structures not supporting research of consensus with the other actors of the company as well as participative behaviors so much individual which enters the groups. SME constitute the research field; because the paramount problem of SME is the absence of forecast on the future of the company. The owner-leader of SME is completely concentrated on the short-term operational activity, with the detriment of the activities with stronger added value and the strategic reflections, mainly on the development of the human resources because it constitutes a lever of socio-economicchanges for the future of the company. Our assumption of research consists in proposing ways of improvement of their level ofinternational competitiveness by the formulation of proactive strategies which willcause to reduce the hidden costs and to contribute to the socio-economic developmentof the organization. For the collection of data of research, we apply a methodology of research-intervention in three Mexican SME, starting from a scientific observation of management and cognitive interactivity enters the speaker-researcher and all the actors of theorganization including the owner-leader.The objective of the research-intervention, in the socio-economic theory is to generate amajor transformation as of the structures and behaviors of SME.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The study aimed to identify the supply chain of APROCCIMA meat, the brand as well as to identify the perceptions of quality in the chain of production and consumer behavior with respect to the product. This meat brand is organized to work in the form of alliance marketing with certification of origin. The research method involved three distinct stages: 1 - through interviews with coordinators of the alliance, the four officers involved were identified in the production chain: producers, processing agro-industry, retailers and consumer market; 2 - application of structured questionnaires to the three first links with common questions that aimed to identify perceptions of quality between these agents. In the second part of the questionnaire there were questions surrounding the characterization of alliance marketing, for descriptive purposes of identification of the SWOT matrix; 3 - consumer acceptance test, made by meat samples distributed to potential consumers of these products, directly in the points identified in the analysis of the production chain. The characterization of the supply chain has followed a consistent conceptual approach to the systemic understanding of its structure and functioning. As results of this study are to characterize the production chain and consumer behavior in relation to the product, identification of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of alliance marketing, study the acceptance of potential customers and identifying new markets for the product APROCCIMA meat. The production chain is characterized by thirteen producers, agribusiness and only four retail outlets that sell in two cities. The two most cited strengths were management alliance and product quality and weaknesses were low individual and full-scale production and production costs. The greatest opportunities identified were technological innovation and training of the workforce and greater threats were large companies in general meat trade and the lack of rural labor in the region. / O trabalho teve como objetivo identificar a cadeia produtiva de carne bovina da marca APROCCIMA, bem como identificar as percepções de qualidade na cadeia de produção e o comportamento do consumidor com relação ao produto. Essa marca de carne está organizada para trabalhar na forma de aliança mercadológica com certificação de origem. O método de pesquisa envolveu três momentos distintos: 1 por meio de entrevista aos coordenadores da aliança, foram identificados os quatro agentes envolvidos na cadeia de produção: produtores, agroindústria de processamento, varejistas e mercado consumidor; 2 aplicação de questionários estruturados aos três primeiros elos, com perguntas comuns que visaram identificar as percepções de qualidade entre esses agentes. Na segunda parte dos questionários existiram perguntas que envolveram a caracterização da aliança mercadológica, com objetivos descritivos de identificação da matriz SWOT; 3 teste de aceitabilidade dos consumidores, feito por meio de amostras de carne distribuídas aos potenciais consumidores desses produtos, diretamente nos pontos identificados na análise da cadeia de produção. A caracterização da cadeia produtiva seguiu uma abordagem conceitual coerente com a compreensão sistêmica de sua estrutura e funcionamento. Como resultados do presente trabalho estão à caracterização de toda a cadeia produtiva bem como o comportamento do consumidor em relação ao produto, a identificação dos pontos fortes e fracos, oportunidades e ameaças da aliança mercadológica, estudo da aceitação de potenciais consumidores e identificação de novos mercados para o produto carne bovina APROCCIMA. A cadeia de produção está caracterizada por treze produtores, uma agroindústria e apenas quatro mercados varejistas que comercializam em duas cidades. Os dois pontos fortes mais citados foram gestão da aliança e qualidade do produto e os pontos fracos foram baixa escala de produção individual e total e custos de produção. As maiores oportunidades apontadas foram inovação tecnológica e treinamento da mão de obra e as maiores ameaças foram grandes empresas do comércio de carnes em geral e a falta de mão de obra rural na região.

O objetivo geral da presente pesquisa consiste em averiguar a percepção dos usuários externos dos relatórios anuais das empresas quanto à qualidade das informações sociais e ambientais neles contidas. As principais justificativas para a realização do estudo são: (i) os relatórios anuais das empresas são considerados importante meio de evidenciação; (ii) o número de empresas que divulgam informações socioambientais tem aumentado consideravelmente; (iii) o mercado de capitais é considerado importante usuário da informação contábil e foco de muitos estudos, mas não o único; por isso, se fazem necessários estudos que possam averiguar a qualidade da informação para os demais usuários. A pesquisa, de caráter descritivo, foi conduzida por uma survey, utilizando questionários como instrumento de coleta de dados. Os questionários foram hospedados no site do Formsite.com. Considerou-se a amostra por acessibilidade, composta de 169 representantes de empresas de capital aberto, 438 analistas credenciados na CVM e 220 acadêmicos, representados por professores de programas de pós-graduação em ciências contábeis recomendados pela CAPES. Foram obtidas 211 respostas válidas, representando um índice de resposta de aproximadamente 30%. Antes da análise dos dados, foi averiguada a confiabilidade do instrumento e o efeito da não resposta. O teste de confiabilidade demonstrou satisfatória a consistência interna do instrumento. O teste da não resposta apontou a não rejeição da hipótese de que não existe diferença significativa entre os respondentes pontuais e retardatários. Após os testes de consistência e não resposta, realizou-se, inicialmente, a análise descritiva dos dados, que consistiu na organização, sumarização, descrição da amostra, evidenciada por meio de tabelas e gráficos. Na segunda parte da análise, foram realizados testes de significância, com a finalidade de explorar relações de semelhanças/dessemelhanças entre os grupos estudados, por meio do teste paramétrico ANOVA e dos testes não paramétricos Qui Quadrado, Teste Exato de Fischer e Teste de Mann-Whitney. As análises demonstraram que os usuários consideram úteis tanto as informações sociais e ambientais, quanto a DVA. No entanto, usuários que não reconhecem a utilidade dessas informações não as utilizam, especialmente, analistas. Os respondentes concordam que as informações sociais e/ou ambientais divulgadas nos relatórios anuais das empresas têm por finalidade atender a acionistas, administradores, credores, empregados, governo, investidores institucionais e, notadamente, à sociedade. Os usuários consideram a preocupação com a imagem da empresa o principal motivo, dentre os sugeridos, para a evidenciação de informações sociais e/ou ambientais e entendem que, como consequência da referida evidenciação, as empresas passam a utilizar o relatório anual como meio de promoção. Os usuários são favoráveis a normas que exijam a evidenciação de informações de caráter social e ambiental e preferem que essas sejam evidenciadas, no relatório anual, em uma seção separada. Os usuários entendem que a DVA tem por fim demonstrar a contribuição da empresa para a riqueza nacional, a contribuição da empresa para a sociedade e a carga tributária. Os analistas demonstraram ser menos satisfeitos com as características qualitativas das informações. Os resultados apontam que a percepção dos usuários, quanto às informações sociais e/ou ambientais, bem como em relação à DVA, é divergente. Adicionalmente, analisou-se, por meio da Regressão Logística, a existência de relação entre o uso das informações sociais e/ou ambientais, inclusive a DVA, para tomada de decisões e a qualidade dessas informações, sob a perspectiva dos usuários. Os resultados apresentados pelas regressões logísticas não suportam que as características qualitativas sejam atributos que tornem as informações sociais e/ou ambientais, incluindo a DVA, úteis aos usuários. Os resultados apresentados não são, portanto, coerentes com a teoria. / This research has as propose to investigate the perception of external users of company annual reports about the quality of social and environmental information. The main reasons for conducting the study are: (i) the companies\' annual reports are considered important means of disclosure, (ii) the number of companies that disclose environmental information has increased considerably, (iii) the capital market is considered important user of accounting information and focus of many studies, but not the sole, so that investigations are necessary to ascertain the quality of information for other users. A survey was conducted by using questionnaires as a tool for data collection. The questionnaires were staying at the site Formsite.com. We considered the accessibility of sample composed of 169 representatives from public companies, 438 analysts registered in CVM and 220 academics, represented by teachers in graduate programs in accounting recommended by CAPES. We obtained 211 valid responses, representing a response rate of approximately 30%. Before data analysis, was determined the reliability of the instrument and the effect of non-response. Reliability testing demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency. The test of no response indicated the nonrejection of the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between punctual and late respondents. After the tests of consistency and non-response, there was initially a descriptive analysis of data, which consisted in the organization, summarization, description of the sample, as evidenced by tables and graphs. In the second part of the analysis, significance tests were performed, aiming to explore relationships of similarities/dissimilarities between groups through parametric test ANOVA and nonparametric tests Chi-Square, Fisher\'s exact test and Mann- Whitney. Analysis showed that users find useful both social and environmental information, as DVA. However, users who do not recognize the usefulness of this information does not use them, especially analysts. The respondents agree that social and/or environmental information disclosed in company annual reports are designed to attend shareholders, managers, creditors, employees, government, institutional investors and, especially, to society. Users consider the concern with corporate image the main reason, among those suggested for the disclosure of social and/or environmental information and understand that as a consequence of that disclosure, the companies started to use the annual report as a means of promotion. The users are in favor of regulations requiring disclosure of social and environmental information and prefer that these be shown in the annual report in a separate section. Users understand that DVA is intended to demonstrate the company\'s contribution to national wealth, the company\'s contribution to society and the tax burden. Analysts have been shown to be less satisfied with the qualitative characteristics of information. The results indicate that user´s perspective, about the social and/or environmental information, as well as about DVA, is divergent. Additionally, we analyzed, by logistic regression, the existence of a relationship between the use of social and/or environmental information, including DVA, for decision making and the quality of the information from the user´s perspective. The results presented by logistic regressions do not support that the qualitative features are attributes that make the social and/or environmental information, including DVA, useful to users. The results presented are not consistent with the theory.

Orientador: Pedro Ramos / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T14:24:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Moura_IracemaFerreirade_M.pdf: 656456 bytes, checksum: 813dfc0aec708c18cd91fcd421d6a92c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Este estudo tem como objetivo identificar e caracterizar as principais estratégias de viabilização econômica e social adotadas nos assentamentos rurais, com ênfase na agregação de valor e comercialização, destacando seus elementos explicativos, os fatores restritivos e potencializadores. Trata-se de trazer para o debate acadêmico formas identificadas nos assentamentos rurais de organização social voltadas à agregação de valor. Dessa forma, procura-se, através da análise de um estudo de caso do Assentamento Santa Maria, Paranacity - Pr, compreender essas questões analisadas. A questão central é como e em que medida as estratégias de viabilização, com ênfase na agregação de valor e comercialização adotados no Assentamento estudado, têm contribuído para a melhoria das condições de vida das famílias assentadas e com o desenvolvimento do assentamento? Para desenvolver esta analise, no primeiro capítulo expõe-se a problemática na qual está inserido o objeto de pesquisa, incluindo um apanhado da luta pela terra e as condições históricas da política agrária e agrícola em torno dela. No segundo capítulo, são abordadas, com base em pesquisa recente, as análises dos assentamentos rurais destacando as estratégias de viabilização com ênfase na agregação de valor e comercialização. Por fim, no terceiro capítulo expõe-se o estudo de caso do Assentamento Santa Maria, o qual se confunde com a Cooperativa de Produção Agropecuária (CPA), denominada COPAVI, fundada bem antes da oficialização do assentamento. Ali, são expostas e analisadas, desde a conquista da terra até a fase atual, com vistas a compreender, as estratégias adotadas em torno da agregação de valor e da comercialização adotadas. Para finalizar, são tecidas algumas considerações e apresentadas algumas questões suscitadas no desenvolvimento desse estudo / Mestrado / Economia Agricola e Agraria / Mestre em Desenvolvimento Econômico

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-20T12:31:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ceci Sales-Campos.pdf: 2811573 bytes, checksum: 7be484fbb01156c4d85c71184e7aedc4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-30 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / There is in the Amazon region a great amount of residues (wood, agro-forest and agroindustrial), which has been underestimated, and constitutes potential sources for the cultivation of edible fungi in the region. The biodiversity of the Amazon draws the worldwide interest about its resources, specially for the microorganisms with potential for commercial use. Amongst these organisms there are the edible and medicinal mushrooms. In this way, the cultivation of edible mushrooms in the state of Amazon could represent an alternative source for the regional development. Thus, this research had the objective to test the development of different wild edible mushroom species, as well as testing the use of different regional residues in the substrate composition for their cultivation. Preliminary tests were carried out with the species Pleurotus ostreatus, Lentinus strigosus, Polyporus arcularius and with five wood residues (marupá, pau de balsa, amapá doce, muiratinga and breu) and two of agro-industrial origin (sugar cane bagasse and the stem of pupunheira palm tree). In this experimental phase the micelial growth of the fungi in substrates made from the above residues was evaluated. In the subsequent tests, based on the results obtained in these preliminary tests, Pleurotus ostreatus, two wood residues (marupá and pau de balsa sawdust) and two agro-industrial ones (sugar cane bagasse and stem of pupunheira palm tree) were chosen. All the substrates were supplemented with a mixture of cereal brans (rice, wheat and corn), were evaluated for: 1- production of basidioma (yield), productivity, through the biological efficiency of formulated substrates, loss of the organic matter, biological behavior of the strain (period of colonization, primordia formation and production of basidioma) referred in Chapter 2; 2- Mineral composition of: the raw material, the initial and spent substrates (post-harvest), and of the mushroom (Chapter 3); 3 - Nutritional composition of: the mushroom, the raw material and substrates (Chapter 4). In general, it can be concluded that the strain of P. ostreatus has developed in a satisfactory way in all tested substrates, making it possible to use these residues (with low or no commercial value) in the mushroom cultivation. Moreover, it is an ecologically correct use of the residues, since it prevents the discard of these residues in the environment, promoting the bioconversion into added-value product edible mushroom and of high nutritional value, and that could become a source of regional sustainable development / Há na região amazônica uma grande quantidade de resíduos (madeireiros, agroflorestais e agroindustriais), cujo quantitativo tem sido subestimado, os quais constituem fontes potenciais para utilização no cultivo de fungos comestíveis na região. A riqueza promovida pela biodiversidade da Amazônia começa a despertar interesse mundial a cerca de seus recursos, com acentuada atenção para os microrganismos com potencial de utilização comercial. Dentre estes organismos encontram-se os fungos comestíveis e medicinais. Desta forma, o cultivo de cogumelos comestíveis no estado do Amazonas, poderá representar uma fonte alternativa para o desenvolvimento regional. Assim, esta pesquisa teve por meta testar o desenvolvimento de diferentes espécies de cogumelos comestíveis nativos, bem como testar o uso de diferentes resíduos regionais na composição de substratos para o cultivo dos mesmos. Foram feitos inicialmente testes preliminares com as espécies Pleurotus ostreatus, Lentinus strigosus e Polyporus arcularius e com cinco resíduos madeireiros (marupá, pau de balsa, amapá doce, muiratinga e breu) e dois de origem agroindustrial (bagaço cana-de-açúcar e estipe de pupunheira). Nesta fase experimental avaliou-se o crescimento micelial das espécies fúngicas em substratos à base dos resíduos anteriormente citados. Nos testes subseqüentes, com base nos resultados obtidos nestes testes preliminares, escolheu-se o P. ostreatus, dois resíduos madeireiros (marupá e pau de balsa) e dois agroindustriais (bagaço de cana-deaçúcar e estipe de pupunheira). Todos os substratos foram também suplementados com uma mistura de farelo de cereais (arroz, trigo e milho), sendo avaliados: 1- produção de basidiomas (rendimento), produtividade, através da eficiência biológica dos substratos formulados, perda da matéria orgânica, comportamento biológico da linhagem (período de colonização, de formação dos primórdios e de produção dos basidiomas) abordados no Capítulo 2; 2- Composição mineral da matéria-prima, dos substratos iniciais, residuais (pós-colheita) e do cogumelo (Capítulo 3); 3- Composição nutricional do cogumelo, da matéria-prima e dos substratos de cultivo (Capítulo 4). De uma forma geral, conclui-se que a linhagem de P. ostreatus desenvolveu-se de uma forma satisfatória em todos os substratos testados, o que viabiliza o uso destes resíduos (com baixo ou nenhum valor comercial) para a fungicultura. Além disso, é uma aplicação ecologicamente correta, uma vez que evita que estes resíduos sejam descartados na natureza, permitindo-lhes a bioconversão em um produto de valor agregado cogumelo comestível e de elevado valor nutricional e que poderá vir a tornar-se uma fonte de desenvolvimento sustentável regional

Tidigare studier har diskuterat att många små och medelstora företag sett revisorn och revideringen som en kostsam tjänst som ger lite värde. I och med avskaffandet av revisionsplikten år 2010 bestämde sig många små företag att avskaffa sina revisorer som en konsekvens av deras kostsamma tjänster. Därför läggs det idag större vikt på revisionsvärdet och mervärdet. Studiens syfte är att förstå hur revisionsvärde skapas från ett klientperspektiv. Tanken är att fem olika perspektiv som kopplas ihop med bland annat agentteorin och professionsteorin ska öka förståelsen för hur revisionsvärde skapas. Utifrån de fem olika perspektiven har studiens modell skapats. Det empiriska materialet består av tio semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts av småföretagare i olika branscher. Resultatet av studien visar att revisionsvärde och mervärde skapas från alla fem perspektiv, vilket stämmer överens med tidigare studier. Dock upptäcktes ett värde från ett sjätte perspektiv som studien inte fångar. Det sjätte perspektivet är revisionsbyråer. Slutsatsen är att revisionsvärdet skapas utifrån revisorn, revisionen, revisionsrådgivningen, den fristående rådgivningen, revisor-klient-relationen och revisionsbyråer.

Detta examensarbete syftar till att undersöka och analysera miljöcertifieringarnas påverkan på den svenska bostadsmarknaden. Fokus ligger på tre huvudsakliga miljöcertifieringssystem: BREEAM, LEED och Miljöbyggnad. Studien avser att identifiera om och hur dessa certifieringar kan skapa ett ekonomiskt mervärde för fastigheter, med särskild uppmärksamhet på hur dessa värden uppfattas och värderas av fastighetsägare. Examensarbetet har som mål att analysera hur miljöcertifieringar påverkar fastighetsvärden på den svenska bostadsmarknaden och undersöka om certifieringarna leder till mervärde eller eventuella konkurrensfördelar på bostadsmarknaden. En kvalitativ metod används, där semi-strukturerade intervjuer med nyckelpersoner inom fastighetsbranschen utgör den primära datainsamlingen. Urvalet av respondenter baseras på deras erfarenheter och insikter i utvecklingen och förvaltningen av hållbara bostäder. Den teoretiska ramen inkluderar värdeteori och en detaljerad genomgång av de valda miljöcertifieringssystemen. Studien visar att miljöcertifieringar kan erbjuda flera konkurrensfördelar för fastighetsutvecklare och förvaltare. Miljöcertifierade byggnader tenderar att ha högre hyres- och försäljningspriser samt lägre driftkostnader tack vare minskad energiförbrukning och vattenanvändning. Resultaten indikerar dock att värdet av miljöcertifieringar varierar beroende på marknadssegment och kundernas miljömedvetenhet. Utmaningar inkluderar höga kostnader för certifieringsprocessen och osäkerheter kring de ekonomiska fördelarna, vilket kräver noggrann avvägning från fastighetsägarnas sida. Studien bidrar till en fördjupad förståelse av hur miljöcertifieringar kan påverka bostadsmarknaden och ger värdefulla insikter för fastighetsutvecklare och förvaltare i deras framtida beslut om hållbarhetsinvesteringar. / This thesis aims to investigate and analyze the impact of environmental certifications on the Swedish housing market. The focus is on three main environmental certification systems: BREEAM, LEED, and Miljöbyggnad. The study seeks to identify whether and how these certifications can create economic value for properties, with particular attention to how these values are perceived and evaluated by property owners. The aim of this thesis is to analyze how environmental certifications affect property values in the Swedish housing market and to investigate whether the certifications lead to added value or potential competitive advantages in the housing market. A qualitative method is employed, with semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the real estate industry serving as the primary data collection method. Respondents were selected based on their experiences and insights into the development and management of sustainable housing. The theoretical framework includes value theory and a detailed review of the selected environmental certification systems. The study shows that environmental certifications can offer several competitive advantages for real estate developers and managers. Certified buildings tend to have higher rental and sales prices and lower operating costs due to reduced energy and water consumption. However, the results indicate that the value of environmental certifications varies depending on market segment and customer environmental awareness. Challenges include high certification process costs and uncertainties about economic benefits, requiring careful consideration by property owners. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of how environmental certifications can impact the housing market and provides valuable insights for real estate developers and managers in their future sustainability investment decisions.

The Himalaya plays a vital role in shaping the hydro-climate of South Asia and beyond, but their climate has not yet been monitored and modelled as well as some other regions. As the summer monsoon is the dominant climate system over South Asia, including the Himalaya, realistic simulation of the South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) should be a prerequisite for the satisfactory simulation of the Himalayan climate. The present research tests the assumption that higher resolution modelling will provide improved representation of the SASM, both regionally and over the Himalaya region. The first part of this research assesses the strength and stability of the temporal relationships between the monsoon rainfall indices (MRIs) and the large-scale monsoon circulation indices (MCIs), as a precursor to using such indices for model evaluation. The remainder of the thesis evaluates model performance in simulating various characteristics of SASM, mainly with regard to precipitation. In particular, the sensitivity of a regional climate model (RCM) simulation to domain size and added value of high resolution RCM simulation are evaluated. For this purpose, the Hadley Centre unified model - HadGEM is utilized in its regional and, in few instances, global configurations. The RCM simulations are performed at 0.44° and 0.11° horizontal resolutions and they are forced by the ERA interim dataset. Results show that i) the MRI-MCI relationship exhibits considerable low-frequency variability, ii) RCM simulation of SASM, particularly precipitation, shows sensitivity to domain size and simulation with a moderately sized domain that partially excludes bias prone equatorial Indian ocean outperform those with larger domains, iii) high resolution RCM simulation adds value in many aspects of SASM precipitation, including the seasonal mean, relative frequency distribution, extremes, and active and break monsoon composites, but the improvements are generally seen over the Indo-Gangetic plain rather than the Himalaya. The findings promote use of a high resolution RCM over a moderate sized domain (~ 25,000,000 sq. km) for the realistic simulation of SASM, but the study needs to be repeated with multiple realizations and different RCMs before arriving at a robust conclusion.

The aim of this thesis is to show how Europe is constructed at the intersection between archaeology, money and politics within EU cultural actions. Ever since the 1970s, the European Community has invested money and prestige in the idea of a common cultural heritage for Europe. Alongside symbolic attributes such as the flag and anthem, archaeological sites have been used as rhetorical fuel to create a sense of European belonging, much like in national identity building. As a result, archaeologists and heritage professionals have benefitted from EU funding for restoration of sites, training schools and cooperation projects since 1976. In order to address this mutual engagement, the research in this thesis explores the ways that EU grant systems in culture have fostered specific approaches to Europeanness, and how supported projects have responded to notions about a common heritage. By considering EU officials, expert reviewers, consultants and archaeologists as co-creators of the frameworks they participate in, this study raises the idea of financial ties as a place of interaction. The study takes an ethnographic approach and uses discourse analysis and tools from Actor-Network Theory. The material consists of observations made during an internship at the European Commission, 41 interviews with different actors, as well as policy documents, budgets and collected information about 160 supported projects with archaeological themes. This research demonstrates how the expectations linked to archaeology have turned it into both a problem and a promise in the search for a 'usable past' for the EU. On the one hand, archaeology has functioned as an anchor, mooring the notion of a common heritage to something solid. On the other, because of its strong commitment to nationhood, what archaeology claims for its own has often undermined the very idea of a shared European inheritance. Projects benefitting from EU support have taken advantage of the expectations placed upon archaeology to help create a European identity, using buzzwords and 'application poetry' in their proposals. Many projects continuously used EU goals and symbols in their outputs. Sometimes a European past and present was connected by rhetorically tying archaeological periods (such as the Middle Ages and Roman Era) and phenomena (rock art or landscapes) to the EU political project. This link was more manifest in public settings than in academic ones. Taken together, the considerations brought up in this study show that funding matters. The EU strategy of vagueness, in which instructions and evaluation criteria foremost decide the frames but not the content of the projects, has inspired applicants to 'think Europe without thinking.' Once an application is written and submitted, a chain of translations by different actors works to depoliticise the act of constructing Europe. The EU, just as other funding bodies, has become entangled in the political ecology of archaeology. An entanglement which is unavoidable, but which needs to be critically addressed. Funding sources matter for the way we understand both the past and the meaning of archaeology in the present. / Denna avhandling undersöker hur Europa skapas i gränslandet mellan arkeologi, pengar och politik inom den Europeiska Unionens kulturpolitiska finansieringsprogram. Vid sidan av symboliska attribut såsom flagga och nationalsång har företrädare för den Europeiska Gemenskapen och EU engagerat sig i idén om ett gemensamt europeiskt kulturarv, på ett metaforiskt såväl som ett materiellt plan. Politisk legitimitet har sökts med hänvisning till en mångtusenårig samhörighet. I samband med detta engagemang har arkeologer och kulturarvsarbetare sedan 1970-talet erhållit finansiellt stöd för restaureringsprojekt på platser av europeisk betydelse och transnationella samarbetsprojekt som kan skapa europeiskt mervärde. Studien undersöker banden mellan EU och arkeologi genom att lyfta finansiering som en plats för interaktion och meningsskapande. En etnografisk metod har tillämpats, där empirin består av fältobservationer från en praktikantperiod på Europeiska kommissionen, 41 intervjuer med olika aktörer, samt policydokument och arkeologiska texter. En databas med 160 arkeologiska projekt har även skapats. Diskursanalys och nätverksteoretiska begrepp såsom översättningar och svarta lådan har använts för att lokalisera och begreppsliggöra iakttagelser och meningsfulla skärningspunkter i materialet. Studien visar hur EU-tjänstemän, expertgranskare, konsulter och arkeologer alla deltar i utformandet av arkeologiska problemställningar och byggandet av professionella nätverk. EUs mjuka strategier, inom vilka instruktioner och utvärderingskriterier främst bestämmer ramarna men inte innehållet i de finansierade projekten, har inspirerat sökande att tänka Europa utan att tänka. När en ansökan skrivs och lämnas in startar en kedja av översättningar som leder till att olika aktörer avpolitiserar skapandet av Europa i samtiden. I resultaten framkom att arkeologiska projekt, genom att använda EUs målformuleringar i sina projektansökningar, ofta har utnyttjat EUs förväntningar på arkeologi om att skapa en europeisk identitet. I flera projekt knöts en europeisk samhörighet i det förflutna samman med dagens EUropa. Dessutom fortsatte många projekt att använda EUs mål och symboler i sina outputs. Här var EU-kopplingen tydligare i publika sammanhang än i akademiska. Sammantaget visar studien att val av finansieringskälla spelar stor roll. EUs finansieringsprogram har blivit en del av arkeologins politiska ekologi, en sammanflätning som är oundviklig men viktig att kritiskt uppmärksamma. Dessa band påverkar både vår syn på det förflutna och samhällets syn på arkeologi idag.

La littérature n'est pas unanime quant à l'effet favorable ou défavorable du changement climatique sur les pays en voie de développement. En effet, si plusieurs travaux concluent que l'agriculture des pays en voie de développement est vulnérable au changement climatique à cause de la prédominance de l'agriculture à faible capital, d'autres suggèrent le contraire. Cette thèse a pour objectif d'étudier l'impact du changement climatique sur l'agriculture tunisienne en utilisant une analyse ricardienne de la valeur ajoutée agricole. Nous effectuons une analyse spatio-temporelle de la réponse de la valeur ajoutée agricole au changement climatique sur une base de données relative à 21 gouvernorats de la Tunisie qui couvre la période 1992-2007. Sur la base des résultats d'estimation de cette analyse, nous procédons à une simulation de l'impact du changement climatique sur l'agriculture relativement aux projections d'un scénario modéré à l'horizon 2020. Les résultats suggèrent que le changement climatique combiné à une évolution du niveau technologique aurait des effets bénéfiques sur l'agriculture tunisienne. Ce résultat remettrait en question les conclusions de la majorité des travaux existants dans la littérature qui insistent sur les effets négatifs du changement climatique sur l'agriculture. / The literature is not unanimous as for the effect of the climatic change on developing countries. Indeed, if several studies conclude that the agriculture of developing countries is vulnerable to the climatic change because of the predominance of weak capital agriculture, others suggest that climate change will be benefit to agriculture. This thesis has for objective to study the impact of the climate change on the Tunisian agriculture while using an analysis ricardienne of the agricultural value added. We execute a spatiotemporal analysis of the answer of the agricultural value added to the climate change on a relative data base of 21 governates of Tunisia that covers the period 1992-2007. On the basis of results of evaluation of this analysis, we proceed to a simulation of the impact of the climate change on agriculture relatively on the projections of a moderate scenario on the 2020 horizon. Results suggest that the climate change combined to an evolution of the technological level would have some beneficial effects on the Tunisian agriculture. This result would put back in question findings of the existing study that insist on the negative effects of the climatic change on agriculture.