Remittances (money sent home by migrants) to developing countries are estimated to have reached US$ 325 billion in 2010 (World Bank, 2011). These amounts reflect only officially recorded transfers, transferred through formal channels and calculated as the sum of three items of the Balance of Payments Statistics, namely: compensation of employees, workers’ remittances and migrants’ transfers (Salomone, 2006; Aggarwal et al. 2011). Unrecorded remittances could represent 50 to 100% of recorded flows (World Bank, 2006; Hagen-Zanker and Siegel, 2007).<p>Remittances are three times the size of official development assistance (ODA) and the second source of external funds after foreign direct investment (FDI) for developing countries. Given their weight in receiving countries’ economies and household livelihood in many developing countries (for instance, remittances flows represent more than 25% of Lesotho’ and Moldavia’s gross domestic product in 2008), there is increasing policy and research interest in remittances as development resource. Furthermore, unlike FDI and ODA, remittances have the particularity to be directly affected to families, even those in remote areas, where development funds don’t arrive (Shaw, 2006). The thesis addresses the relationship between microfinance and the impact remittances have on domestic investment in developing countries. <p>Like other sources of external finance, remittances allow the economy to invest in human and physical capital (health, education), which contribute to growth (Ziesemer, 2006; Acosta et al. 2008). However, as remittances may be either directly consumed (remittances allow households to smooth their consumption, see for instance Lucas and Stark, 1985 and Glytsos, 2005) or used to invest in physical and human capital, it appears that their impact on domestic investment is perceived to be low or limited, given the amount of money they represent each year. According to literature, this is due to the small share that is dedicated to the launch or the support of economic activities. Actually, the allocation between consumption and investment, which depends on various factors such as the level of dependence households have with remittances, the migrant gender, and the existence of a credit constraint, varies on average around 10-20% of remittances that are not directly consumed (Salomone, 2006; Sorensen, 2004; Orozco, 2004). In the thesis we focus on the share of remittances that is saved and wonder how to maximize its impact, whatever this share. We are interested in the role of microfinance institutions, as actors of the financial sector, on this issue. Actually, two recent contributions, Mundaca (2009), and Giuliano and Ruiz-Arranz (2009), stress the role of the development of the financial sector. More precisely, the thesis focuses on a set of questions or issues that may be important for the microfinance industry to consider when interested in remittances flows and the deposits they may generate. <p>Financial development is generally defined as “increasing efficiency of allocating financial resources and monitoring capital projects, through encouraging competition and increasing the importance of the financial system. In other words, the development is about structure, size and efficiency of a financial system” (Huang, 2006). A large line of research work provides evidence that development of a financial system is a key driver of economic growth. <p>King and Levine (1993) argue that greater financial development increases economic growth. Levine and Zervos (1993) shows that growth is related to stock market activity, among other variables. Levine (1999) finds a significant effect of determinants of financial intermediation on economic growth. Beck et al. (2004) find strong evidence in favor of the financial-services view which stresses that financial systems provide key financial services, crucial for firm creation, industrial expansion, and economic growth. Levine (1997), Levine et al. (2000), and Beck et al. (2000) also stress the impact of financial development on growth. There is also an empirical literature that argues that the expansion and the deepening of the financial system lead to higher investment (see for instance Rajan and Zingales, 1998; Demirgüç-Kunt and Macksimovic, 1998). <p>By providing financial services to people whom traditionally do not have access to financial institutions, microfinance institutions (MFIs) may contribute to increasing the size of the financial system in many developing countries. Actually, according to the CFSI’s 2011 report, the one thousand-plus MFIs that report to the Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) have 88 million borrowers and 76 million savers. Total assets of these MFIs amount to US$ 60 billion (CFSI, 2011). <p>The quite recent literature on remittances, financial development and growth can be categorized under two main approaches (Brown et al. 2011). One approach explores the relationship between remittances and financial development, with a view to assessing their impact on the level of financial development in receiving countries. The underlying argument is that remittances potentially contribute to financial development through both demand- and supply- side effects: by increasing households’ demand for and use of banking services, and by increasing the availability of loanable funds to the financial sector. According to this approach which consider the direct relationship between remittances and financial development, remittances have an impact on both financial outreach and depth in receiving countries, respectively through the fostering of financial literacy among remittances receivers and through the increasing availability of funds (see for instance Gupta et al. 2009, Aggarwal et al. 2011, Brown et al. 2011). <p>The second approach examines the remittances – financial development relationship indirectly by investigating how the given level of financial development in a country affects the impact of remittances on growth. This growth-focused approach allows for interactions between remittances and financial development in estimating growth equations for remittances receiving countries. Within the set of studies related to this approach, two opposing positions have emerged. The first position hypothesizes that the greater availability of financial services helps channel remittances to better use, thus boosting their overall impact on growth. Remittances are seen as financial flows in search of good investment projects, and good financial institutions are needed to facilitate the channeling of remittances to such investments. In this sense, remittances and financial system are complements. This position is supported by Mundaca (2009) who find that financial intermediation increases the responsiveness of growth to remittances in Latin America and the Caribbean over the 1970-2002 period. Other few studies also argue that channeling remittances through the banking sector enhances their development impact (see for instance Hinojosa Ojeda, 2003 and Terry and Wilson, 2005). <p>The other position argues that remittances contribute to investment and growth by substituting for inefficiencies in credit and capital markets. Remittances provide an alternative source of funding for profitable investments by alleviating liquidity constraints. In this sense, remittances promote growth more in less financially developed countries by substituting for lack of credits from financial institutions. This hypothesis is supported by Giuliano and Ruiz-Arranz (2009) who argue that poor households use remittances to finance informal investment in poorly developed financial markets with liquidity constraints. In their study, they interact remittances with a measure of financial development in standard growth equations, for a sample of 73 countries over the 1975-2002 period. Ramirez and Sharma (2009) obtain similar results using data from 23 Latin American countries over the 1990-2005 period. <p>The thesis contributes to existing knowledge on this indirect, growth-focused approach. Given the two existing opposite views on remittances impact on investment and the level of financial intermediation (a high level of financial development implies a high level of financial intermediation), in the thesis we first analyze the relationship that links these variables. We then analyses questions related to microfinance institutions (MFIs), as financial intermediaries. <p>Our focus on microfinance is made from two different perspectives, leading to different research questions. First, from the demand or microfinance clients’ perspective, we question about the interest for them to have MFIs entering the money transfers market (through the money transfer facilities and/or financial products that may be directly linked to remittances). The underlying argument is that MFIs enter the remittances market by providing money transfer services because there is a need for such services (and for other financial services) from their (potential) clients who are remittances receivers and migrants. According to this point of view, MFIs can contribute to recycle remittances flows into the financial system by contributing to the financial inclusion of remittances receivers and migrants thanks to the supply of adapted financial products. The occurrence of this assumption can therefore be measured by considering the involvement of MFIs on the remittances market as a determinant of financial inclusion indicators. Second, from the supply or MFIs’ perspective, we question about the rationale for MFIs to enter the remittances market. Here, the underlying argument is that MFIs are interested in operating on the remittances market because working with migrants can potentially contributes to the improvement of their financial and social performances. According to this perspective, remittances market opportunities as well as MFIs’ characteristics will determine the offer of money transfer services by MFIs. This supply approach therefore leads to the consideration of money transfers activities in MFIs as depending on remittances market opportunities and institutional variables. <p>Therefore, our papers related to microfinance will be articulated around these two questions (interest for clients and rationale for MFIs to have MFIs operating on the money transfers industry) by focusing, as argued earlier, on the deposits resulting from remittances flows. <p>As a matter of facts, by studying the relationship between microfinance and remittances respectively through the demand and the supply perspective, we raise causality issues related to MFIs’ money transfer activities and their impacts on MFIs performances. Actually, MFIs’ characteristics such as the right to collect public savings, as a potential source of efficiency gains, may significantly determine the supply of a money transfer service (MFIs’ perspective), while a money transfer service may itself be the determinant of some MFIs’ performance indicators related to financial inclusion, such as the volume of deposits made by clients (demand approach). However, given currently existing data on MFIs’ involvement on the remittances market we cannot consider simultaneously both perspectives in order to implement causality treatment techniques. Actually, the indicator of MFIs’ involvement we will use in our regressions is time invariant, therefore we are not able to build instrumental variables for instance (such as lagged values of our variable of interest) to eliminate econometric issues in our regressions. Nevertheless, through these two approaches taken separately, we contribute to some extend to the knowledge by putting in perspective different issues at stake for the microfinance industry. <p>Before we tackle our research questions we have an introductory chapter related to remittances flows: what are their trends, determinants and characteristics? The chapter also includes the definition of money transfer activities that we will use in the thesis, as well as an overview of MFIs’ involvement on the money transfers market. <p>Then, our research framework is divided into 4 sub-questions. The first one, treated in Chapter 2, is about the relationship between our variables of interest. What is the impact of the financial sector development (FSD) on the remittances’ impact on investment? This chapter aims at stressing the relationship existing between financial intermediation and remittances’ impacts on investment, which motivated our focus on MFIs (as financial intermediaries between remittances and the formal economy) in the following chapters. We focus on two transaction costs that decline with FSD. The first is the “Cost of Bank Depositing”, henceforth CDEP, which measures the difficulties of savers, particularly the less well-off, of depositing their savings in the formal banking system. The second transaction cost is the “Cost of External Finance”, henceforth CEXF, which measures the marginal cost for the banking system of borrowing in global financial markets. This cost is notably associated with the robustness of the country’s financial sector. In a stylized model of the lendable funds market, we analyze how both these variables affect the marginal effect of remittances on investment. We test model’s propositions using country-level data on remittances, investment, and proxies for both CDEP and CEXF, on a sample of 100 developing countries. We perform empirical tests using both cross-section and panel-data with country fixed effects, over the period 1975-2004. The results demonstrate, theoretically and empirically, that remittances and ease of access to the banking sector act as complements to stimulate domestic investment, while remittances and external borrowing are substitutes. We find that remittances flows stimulate local investment, as a part of remittances indeed become banks’ deposits, which increases the availability of lendable funds, reduces the interest rate and stimulates investment. In terms of policy implication, results suggest that enhancing financial sector development is crucial as it allows remittances to better fuel domestic investment. This is even truer when the access to international funds is difficult or costly. Improving the financial inclusion of remittances receivers by developing domestic banks’ ability to collect their savings is then a straightforward recommendation to policymakers who want to improve remittances impact on investment. <p>The second question, developed in Chapter 3 is related to the demand perspective of the relationship between microfinance and remittances. We want to assess whether there is a need from remittances receivers for financial products that may be linked to remittances. We aboard this question by assessing whether the supply of MTA leads to higher volume of deposits mobilized by MFIs, meaning that MFIs actually contribute or succeed in turning remittances into deposits. Using an original database of 114 MFIs –operating in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), South Asia (SA), East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), and Africa–, we perform empirical tests to study whether MFIs are able to capture migrants’ savings thanks to their money transfer activity. We test the impact of money transfer activity on deposits, using the natural logarithm of deposits as explained variable. Our main result suggests that money transfer activity has a significant positive impact on savings collection. MFIs involved in the remittances market thus attract more savings than MFIs that are not involved in it, probably coming from migrants and remittances receivers who are in need of adapted financial services. This confirms the opportunity MFIs may represent as a tool or a channel to improve remittances impact on investment. In that sense, MFIs should then be encouraged to operate on the remittances market, and to design financial products dedicated to migrants and remittances receivers. <p>The third question, developed in Chapter 4, is related to the supply approach of the relationship between remittances and microfinance. More precisely, we try to identify factors that seem to explain the availability of such service in the scope of services provided by MFIs. In this chapter, we focus first on potential sources of efficiency gains linked to the money transfer activity as a rationale for diversification (i.e. the expansion of the offer). And second, using an original database of 435 MFIs –operating in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), South Asia (SA), East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), and Africa–, we perform empirical tests using cross-section over the year 2006, to identify which environmental and institutional parameters have an impact on the willingness of a MFI to provide a money transfer service. We test the impact of various variables that are related to one of the rationale for MFIs to enter the money transfer market, namely economies of scale and scope as a source of efficiency gains, on the probability to have a money transfer service provided by a given MFI. Our main result suggests that the size, as well as the fact that an MFI collects savings have a positive and significant impact on this probability, while the level of financial development negatively impact it. This confirms among other things that the ability to realize economies of scale through a potential increase of collected deposits may be a determinant of managers’ choice to diversify. Policies that contribute to reduce entry barriers in low financially developed countries should then, among other things, be encouraged to have MFIs fully playing their role of intermediaries between remittances and the (formal) economy. <p>The chapter 5 questions about the institutional consequences for MFIs to collect migrants’ savings. The aim of this chapter is to give an insight on the opportunity migrants’ money (including remittances) could represent for the microfinance industry as a source of stable medium- and long-term funds. It is therefore related to the supply approach and the motivation for MFIs to enter the remittances market by analyzing the impact of migrants’ deposits (which include remittances) on another potential source of efficiency gains, namely the internal capital market. Through a case study approach, this chapter is devoted to the analysis of funding risk in microfinance, comparing migrants’ and locals’ time deposits. Migrants’ time deposits are expected to be of longer term and more stable (in terms of early withdrawals) than locals’ deposits. This assumption had never been tested yet. Based on an original database of 7,828 deposit contracts issued between 2002 and 2008 by 12 village banks belonging to a major Malian rural microfinance network (PASECA-Kayes), we used the Cox proportional hazard model to identify the variables that have an impact on the probability to have early withdrawals, and the technique of re-sampling to calculate withdrawal rates and deposits at risk. Results from the Cox methodology suggest that the migration status is not a direct determinant for the probability to have an early withdrawal. However, this probability increases with the amount deposited and the term of the contract which are both higher for migrants compared to non-migrants. The re-sampling method results suggest that withdrawal rates are not the same for the two categories of depositors observed. We find higher withdrawal rate distributions for migrants than for locals. The value at risk is also higher on migrants’ deposits than on locals’ deposits. However, as migrants tend to deposit for longer term than locals, through the calculation of durations we have measured to which extend migrants’ deposits still have a positive impact on MFIs’ liabilities. It appears that migrants’ money has a marginal but positive impact on time deposits durations, either when considering early withdrawals, which impacts are very limited, except in 2007 (the worst year in terms of amount withdrawn early). As our results show that MFIs that receive migrants’ deposits are not necessarily better-off than without migrants’ money in terms of funding risk - and durations - this paper has stressed the importance of assessing more carefully the role of migrants for the microfinance industry. <p><p><p><p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Contexte : Les hommes gais sont largement stigmatisés dans le monde. Dans ce contexte, plusieurs choisissent de migrer vers des sociétés plus tolérantes envers l'homosexualité en vue d'accéder non seulement à de meilleures conditions socioéconomiques, mais aussi à un climat culturel, social et politique adéquat et sécuritaire leur permettant une vie plus satisfaisante. En ce sens, le Québec apparaît comme une destination de choix du fait que les personnes gaies y bénéficient d'une égalité juridique complète et d'une relative acceptation sociale. Or, on en sait peu sur les expériences post-migratoires et le bien-être des immigrants gais. Objectifs : L'objectif général de cette thèse est de comprendre comment l'expérience de vie d'immigrants gais au Québec façonne leur bien-être. Plus spécifiquement, nous cherchons à : 1) saisir leurs représentations de leur vie quotidienne au Québec, les sentiments qu'ils éprouvent au regard de cette vie ainsi que les actions qu'ils mettent en place pour l'orienter; 2) identifier les stratégies qu'ils déploient en vue de favoriser leur bien-être; 3) identifier les possibilités et contraintes de bien-être dans leur vie au Québec; 4) faire état de leur bien-être en examinant leur satisfaction à l'égard de leur vie au Québec et leur sentiment d'être heureux. Méthodologie : Un devis qualitatif a été utilisé. Nous avons mené des entretiens individuels semi-dirigés auprès de 25 jeunes hommes originaires de pays où l'homosexualité est peu acceptée, ayant immigré volontairement à Montréal ou Québec depuis quelques années. Des questions ouvertes leur ont été posées pour obtenir une vue d'ensemble de leur vie au Québec à travers quatre dimensions (économique et matérielle, sociale et intime, identitaire, sanitaire), et pour cerner les éléments qui les rendent plus ou moins heureux et satisfaits. Les données ont été analysées selon un processus d'analyse thématique. Nous avons complété la collecte de données et validé l'analyse en organisant trois groupes de discussion avec 14 participants de l'échantillon initial. Résultats : La majorité des participants se considèrent heureux et satisfaits de leur vie au Québec. D'autres sont plus affectés par différentes épreuves ; et quelques-uns, plutôt malheureux, sont déçus de leur vie dans leur société d'accueil. Leur expérience de vie au Québec et les éléments qui façonnent leur bien-être s'articulent autour de cinq thématiques. 1) Le projet migratoire : Les motifs de l'ensemble des participants pour immigrer au Québec s'inscrivent dans un récit de réalisation de leurs aspirations à une meilleure vie à travers leur situation socioéconomique d'une part, et la possibilité de vivre leur orientation sexuelle en sécurité et plus librement, d'autre part. Une moitié donne une visée permanente à ce projet, alors que l'autre n'envisage pas son avenir en terre québécoise de façon aussi définitive. 2) La situation socioéconomique et professionnelle : Alors qu'une moitié des participants était financièrement à l'aise et s'actualisait professionnellement, les autres souffraient plutôt des barrières socioéconomiques et professionnelles liées surtout à leur condition d'immigrants. 3) L'environnement physique, culturel et sociopolitique québécois : Le milieu naturel et bâti, le niveau de vie, le mode de vie, la paix sociale et la liberté auxquels ils ont accès, en particulier en tant qu'hommes gais, apparaissent comme de grandes sources de bien-être pour l'ensemble des participants. 4) L'expression de l'orientation sexuelle et l'expérience d'homophobie : Presque tous expriment plus facilement leur orientation sexuelle au Québec mais demeurent affectés par l'homophobie. Ils déploient trois principales stratégies : tenter d'échapper à l'identification comme gais, demeurer dans un environnement social exempt d'homophobie, et s'efforcer d'être acceptés malgré leur orientation sexuelle. 5) Les relations sociales et intimes : Gais dans un monde hétéronormé, racisés dans une société blanche et portant un bagage culturel, linguistique ou religieux étranger à la majorité, ils sont régulièrement vus à travers le prisme de la différence. Néanmoins, ils se sentent plus acceptés comme gais, et les milieux gais peuvent servir de portes d'entrée pour s'intégrer à leur société d'accueil. Enfin, ils explorent et vivent généralement mieux au quotidien une homosexualité autrefois contenue, mais peinent souvent à trouver un conjoint stable. Conclusions : Cette thèse apporte un éclairage nouveau sur les possibilités et les contraintes qui façonnent la vie en terre québécoise d'immigrants gais et leur bien-être. Elle apporte des connaissances essentielles aux acteurs et actrices en santé communautaire pour œuvrer en faveur du bien-être de cette population. / Context: Gay men are widely stigmatized around the world. In this context, many choose to migrate within societies that are more tolerant of homosexuality in order to access not only better socio-economic conditions, but also an adequate and safe cultural, social and political climate that allows them a more satisfying life. Thus, the Province of Quebec appears to be a destination of choice since gay people living there can enjoy a complete legal equality and a relative social acceptance. However, little is known about the post-migration experiences and the well-being of gay immigrants. Objectives: The general objective of this thesis is to understand how the life experience of gay immigrants in Quebec shapes their well-being. More specifically, we seek to: 1) understand their representations of their daily life in Quebec, the feelings they experience with regard to this life as well as the actions they put in place to orientate it; 2) identify the strategies they deploy to promote their well-being; 3) identify the possibilities and constraints of well-being in their lives in Quebec; 4) report on their well-being by examining their satisfaction with their life in Quebec and their feeling of being happy. Methodology: A qualitative design was used. We conducted semi-directed individual interviews with 25 young men coming from countries where homosexuality is not widely accepted, and who voluntarily immigrated to Montreal or Quebec City a few years ago. Open-ended questions were asked to them to get an overview of their life in Quebec through four dimensions (economic and material; social and intimate; identity; and health dimensions), and to identify the elements that make them more or less happy and satisfied. The data was analyzed using a thematic analysis process. We then completed the data collection and validated the analysis by organizing three focus groups with 14 participants from the initial sample. Results: The majority of participants consider themselves happy and satisfied with their life in Quebec. Others are more affected by different hardships; and a few, rather unhappy, are disappointed with their life in their host society. Their experience of life in Quebec and the elements that shape their well-being revolve around five themes. 1) The migration project: For all participants, reasons for immigrating to Quebec are part of a story of the realization of their aspirations for a better life through their socioeconomic situation on the one hand and, on the other hand, the possibility of living their sexual orientation with more safety and freedom. For half of them, this project aims to be permanent, while the other half does not consider their future in the province in such a definitive way. 2) The socioeconomic and professional situation: While half of the participants were financially comfortable and were actualizing themselves professionally, the others suffered rather from socioeconomic and professional barriers mainly related to their immigrant status. 3) The physical, cultural and sociopolitical environment of Quebec: The natural and built environment, the standard of living, the way of life, the social peace and the freedom to which they have access, in particular as gay men, appear as major sources of wellbeing for all participants. 4) The expression of sexual orientation and the experience of homophobia: Almost all express their sexual orientation more easily in Quebec but remains affected by homophobia. They deploy three main strategies: trying to avoid being identified as gay; ensuring they stay in spaces that are free from homophobia; and attempting to be accepted despite heterosexist norms. 5) Social and intimate relationships: As gay men in a heteronormative world and racialized immigrants in a white society carrying a cultural, linguistic or religious background that is unfamiliar to a majority of people, they are regularly seen through the prism of difference. Nevertheless, they feel more accepted as gay men, and gay environments can serve as gateways to integrate themselves into their host society. Finally, they generally explore and live better on a daily basis with a homosexuality that was formerly restrained, but often struggle to find a stable partner. Conclusions: This thesis sheds new light on the possibilities and constraints that shape the lives of gay immigrants in Quebec and their well-being. It provides essential knowledge to community health actors to work for the well-being of this population.

La présente étude s’intéresse aux effets de l’endettement des ménages canadiens sur les inégalités de patrimoine de 1999 à 2012. Elle s’inscrit au cœur même de tout ce débat sur l’endettement des ménages qui oppose ceux qui voient la hausse d’endettement comme une détérioration de la situation financière des ménages et ceux qui soutiennent que les ménages demeurent tout à fait solvables. Reconnaissant d’emblée que l’endettement est un phénomène qui est situé à l’intersection du marché du travail et du marché financier, nous dégageons les effets de l’endettement sur les inégalités de patrimoine à deux échelles : i) la distribution de patrimoine; et ii) les classes socioéconomiques. Cela est accompli notamment par une étude approfondie des deux principales composantes du patrimoine – les actifs et les passifs – que nous avons décomposées selon une classification que nous avons élaborée. L’étude des finances des ménages selon la stratification sociale permet d’expliquer exactement ce que l’explication principale de l’endettement des ménages, l’hypothèse des cycles de vie de Modigliani, ne peut pas : la hausse spectaculaire d’endettement des ménages canadiens de 1999 à 2012. L'étude de l'endettement par le prisme des inégalités sociales permet de mettre en évidence un fait jusqu'ici peu souligné : les inégalités de patrimoine reflètent forcément des différences marquées des capacités d'emprunt. Les résultats indiquent que la hausse d’endettement que nous avons observée de 1999 à 2012, aussi remarquable soit-elle, n’est pas due à la détérioration généralisée de la situation financière des ménages, mais, au contraire, à la croissance des inégalités de patrimoine à l’échelle des classes socioéconomiques. Les résultats nous invitent à concevoir le crédit à la fois comme une facette de l’épargne moderne, un facteur d’inégalité et une forme d’exclusion sociale. / The present study is on the effects of household debt on wealth inequality in Canada from 1999 to 2012. It aims to contribute to the debate that is currently taking place between two camps, those who view rising household debt as the deterioration of household finances, and those who argue that the level of household debt remains serviceable. Recognizing household debt as a phenomenon situated at the intersection of the labour market and the financial market, we sought to determine its effects on household wealth at two levels of analysis: i) the wealth distribution; and ii) socioeconomic classes. This was accomplished notably by a detailed analysis of the two principal components of wealth (assets and debts), which were decomposed according to an original classification of financial categories. The study of household finances from a stratification perspective allows us to explain precisely what the principal explanation of household debt, the lifecycle hypothesis, cannot: the reasons why the rise in household debt between 1999 and 2012 was so spectacular. The study of household debt through the prism of social inequality allows us to highlight a fact that is rarely acknowledged: wealth inequality reflects important differences in borrowing capacities. The results show that the rise in household debt observed between 1999 and 2012, as remarkable as it was, did not lead to the deterioration of household finances, but it did lead to an increase in wealth inequality between socioeconomic classes. These results invite us to view credit as a facet of modern household savings, a leading factor of inequality and a form of social exclusion.

La période spéciale en temps de paix, cette crise économique aiguë vécue à Cuba causée par la fin de la coopération avec l’Union soviétique en 1990, a entrainé d’énormes bouleversements dans la société cubaine, particulièrement en matière d’alimentation. Face à sa condition d’insularité en quelque sorte doublée, qui est due à des facteurs géographique et politique, le régime cubain doit dès lors affronter la question de la sécurité alimentaire nationale pour garantir la nourriture et la santé du peuple. De graves problèmes de distribution des denrées sont alors survenus, rendant laborieuse la reproduction de l’alimentation d’avant-crise. C’est dans ce contexte qu’une rupture peut être considérée dans la transmission du patrimoine alimentaire ainsi que de la conservation et des pratiques alimentaires, surtout dans les maisonnées urbaines. Les résultats des entrevues effectuées à La Havane avec 17 citoyens et notables démontrent que la recherche d’une alimentation saine et variée ne fut pas prioritaire au lendemain de la crise des années 1990, et que l’alimentation tend aujourd’hui vers des choix familiers et stables, répondant aux besoins immédiats. En plus des contraintes vécues à l’échelle nationale et le l’embargo américain, la modernité est un facteur à l’œuvre dans la formation et le maintien des pratiques alimentaires. C’est donc le résultat d’influences locales, régionales et internationales qui déterminent les préférences des Cubains. Malgré son isolement relatif, Cuba n’est après tout pas exempt de ces influences qui se déploient à l’échelle mondiale. / The acute economic crisis that prevailed in Cuba during the 1990’s, the so-called special period in times of peace, had tremendous impacts on daily life in Cuba, among other things on food provisioning. In a context of double insularity caused by both geographic and political factors, the Cuban regime had to tackle the issue of food security to guarantee a minimum of food and health conditions to its people. Serious distribution problems of fresh produce arose with oil shortages, thus making it difficult to reproduce before-crisis feeding patterns. It is in this context that a potential rupture may be considered in the transmission of the food heritage and conservation and culinary practices, especially for urban Cuban households. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 17 residents and key informants from La Havana showed that the search for healthy and diverse food is not a priority in the aftermaths of the 1990’s the crisis and that food trends today tend towards the selection of known and stable options in sufficient quantities to help secure the basics. In addition to national economic constraints and the U.S. embargo, modernity is a factor at work in shaping and transmitting food consumption and transformation practices. The result is a mixed bag of local, regional, and international influences determining Cubans’ food preferences. Despite its relative isolation, Cuba is not exempt from influences spreading globally after all.

Dans cette thèse, nous avons étudié l'impact des politiques de transport sur l'évolution des disparités régionales. L'outil dont nous nous sommes servi était la nouvelle économie géographique (NEG) qui est une branche de l'économie spatiale issue du modèle de concurrence monopolistique à la Dixit-Stiglitz et Krugman. Par ailleurs, la zone géographique sur laquelle nous nous sommes concentrés était le Québec. Dans un premier chapitre, après avoir donner une description détaillée du fonctionnement du modèle fondateur de la nouvelle économie géographique (Krugman, 1991), nous avons estimé les paramètres du modèle avec des données québécoises puis nous avons simulé l'évolution des disparités régionales au Québec pour différents scénarios de politiques de transport. Dans un deuxième chapitre, nous avons modifié le modèle de base en y introduisant un paramètre reflétant l'introduction de nouvelles technologies de transport moins polluantes. Les résultats différaient du modèle de base si au yeux des consommateurs ces nouvelles technologies étaient réellement bénéfique pour l'environnement. Dans un troisième chapitre, à travers une étude empirique portant sur le Québec ainsi que 20 pays, nous avons identifié le climat comme étant un important facteur de la concentration spatiale des activités. Par conséquent, nous avons introduit un forçage climatique dans le modèle de base. Par ailleurs, nous avons aussi introduit un coût de congestion pour le centre ville de montréal. La performance empirique du modèle s'étant grandement améliorée suite à ces corrections, nous en avons conclu que les modèles de type NEG devraient inclure des facteurs géographiques.

Dans le plateau central mexicain, en zone semi-aride, les communautés rurales marginales font face à des situations de vie précaires, l’agriculture et le faible emploi dans la région ne permettant pas l’atteinte de conditions de vie satisfaisantes. Cette étude a pour objectif de vérifier si un système agroforestier adapté aux conditions du milieu, aux besoins et aux savoir-faire des femmes pourrait être adopté pour améliorer leurs conditions de vie, leur environnement ainsi que pour générer un engagement communautaire. L’enquête réalisée, à travers des questionnaires et diverses rencontres, nous a permis de rencontrer 30 femmes de deux communautés marginales de l’État du Querétaro, ainsi que des intervenants. Il appert que le capital naturel environnant fait partie de la vie des femmes et qu’il pourrait être partie intégrante d’un système agroforestier. Il semble également qu’il serait possible de revaloriser les connaissances traditionnelles liées à l’usage de certaines espèces. Cependant, le manque de motivation, de désir d’engagement ainsi que la désorganisation constitueraient sans doute d’importantes contraintes à la réalisation d’un projet agroforestier. / In the semi-arid region of the central Mexican plateau, the rural and marginal communities face precarious living situations, as the practice of agriculture and the low employment in the region do not allow satisfactory living conditions. This study aims to determine whether an agroforestry system adapted to local conditions and to the needs and skills of women, could be adopted to improve their living conditions, their environment, and to generate social participation. The survey, through questionnaires and a few meetings, allowed us to meet 30 women from two marginal communities in the state of Querétaro, as well as various stakeholders. Investigations showed that the surrounding natural capital is part of women’s daily activities and that many of its species could be integrated into an agroforestry system. It also seems that it would be possible to reassert the value of traditional knowledge related to the use of certain local species. However, the lack of motivation and willingness of commitment, combined with disorganization, could be a major challenge to the realization of an agroforestry project.

Ce mémoire analyse les déterminants des conditions de vie des Inuit du Nunavik. De façon particulière, l'accent est mis sur la contribution de l'éducation sur les comportements économiques. Les résultats montrent que l'éducation influence relativement la distribution des emplois et des revenus mais, d'autres facteurs tels que les caractéristiques du marché du travail ainsi que les caractéristiques individuelles influenceraient considérablement les activités sur le marché du travail. À la lueur des résultats obtenus, il semblerait que l'applicabilité des théories existantes sur les déterminants des emplois et des revenus dépende du contexte dans lequel elles sont appliquées. Finalement, les résultats indiquent aussi que l'éducation contribue à l'élévation du niveau de vie des Inuit en contribuant à la poursuite des activités traditionnelles et en influençant le contrôle des naissances.

Cette étude tente de comprendre les conditions d’octroi des prêts de microcrédit aux populations pauvres des pays en développement plus précisément au Bénin ainsi que l’impact de ces prêts sur les bénéficiaires. À partir d’une analyse secondaire des travaux sur le sujet, nous avons mis en évidence l’impact du microcrédit sur les bénéficiaires. Les bibliothèques de l’Université d’Abomey-Calavi ainsi que celle du Fonds national de la microfinance du Bénin sont les principales sources de nos données. Au terme de l’étude, nous avons constaté que les prêts de microcrédit contribuent à l’amélioration des conditions de vie des populations bénéficiaires contrairement à ce que certains écrits font comprendre. Ces prêts leur ont permis d’entreprendre des activités génératrices de revenus dont les revenus ont été utilisés pour les besoins élémentaires. Bien que les conditions d’octroi des prêts nécessitent des améliorations, elles n’empêchent pas dans la majorité des cas la réalisation des projets pour lesquels ils ont été contractés. Mais ces prêts pourront contribuer efficacement à la lutte contre la pauvreté si en amont, les IMF accordaient plus de crédits à moyen et long terme aux activités agricoles. / This study tries to understand the conditions of granting of the loans of microcredit to population of developing countries more precisely in Benin and along with the impact of these loans on the beneficiaries. We brought to light, by means of a secondary analysis the impacts of microcredit on the beneficiaries. The libraries of the University of Abomey-Calavi and that of Benin national Fund of the microfinance are the main sources of our data. The main results of the study were that the loans of microcredit contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the profitable populations contrary to what certain papers lead to think. These loans allowed beneficiaries to begin generative activities of income, income of which was used for the elementary needs. Although, the conditions of granting of the loans require improvements, they do not prevent in the majority of the cases the realization of the projects for which they were contracted. But these loans can contribute effectively to the fight against poverty if upstream, IMFs gave more credit to medium and long term agricultural activities.

Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 2013

Depuis l'éclatement du conflit israélo-palestinien, le Liban a accueilli de nombreux Palestiniens (Sayigh, 1995). Ce mémoire présente les stratégies de survie de palestiniennes vivant dans le camp de réfugiés de Bourj El Barajneh au Liban. Pour cette recherche de type exploratoire, une méthodologie qualitative a été utilisée. L'échantillon s'est composé de 15 Palestiniennes du camp de Bourj El Barajneh et la collecte de données s'est effectuée à l'hiver 2006 sous forme de récits de vie thématiques. Les résultats révèlent un milieu de vie qui est difficile : pollué, surpeuplé, précaire, instable, violent et discriminatoire. Les responsabilités de la majorité des femmes gravitent essentiellement autour des rôles de mère et d'épouse. Enfin, les participantes multiplient les stratégies de survie; entre autres, elles planifient et s'organisent; elles sont solidaires face à leur famille et à leur communauté; elles s'investissent dans l'éducation et, en temps de guerre, certaines assistent les combattants et s'élèvent contre les agressions.