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Durant les années 1990, les réformes des marchés agricoles ont été au centre des efforts de libéralisation dans la plupart des pays dAfrique sub-saharienne. Les gouvernements de ces pays ont alors réduit leur intervention dans la commercialisation des produits agricoles. Le Système Public dInformation sur les Marchés (SPIM) a été lune des plus importantes institutions du marché qui a accompagné ces réformes. De grands impacts positifs sont attendus de ces changements mais, peu de travaux d'évaluation empiriques existent à ce sujet. Cette thèse se propose danalyser les impacts de ces réformes, spécialement le SPIM, sur le choix des modes de transaction des producteurs et sur lefficacité du marché des produits agro-alimentaires, en particulier le maïs, la céréale la plus produite et la plus échangée sur le marché intérieur et sous-régional. La Nouvelle Economie Institutionnelle (NEI), et plus particulièrement la Théorie des Coûts de Transaction en ont constitué le fil conducteur. En effet, contrairement à la théorie néoclassique qui assume les coûts de transaction nuls, la Nouvelle Economie Institutionnelle part du principe selon lequel, les agents prenant des décisions sur différents types de transactions, le font ainsi d'une manière coûteuse. Elle se propose, non seulement dexpliquer les déterminants des institutions et leur évolution dans le temps, mais aussi dévaluer leurs impacts sur la performance économique. Les données analysées dans ce document proviennent des enquêtes de terrain, réalisées sur un échantillon aléatoire stratifié de 241 producteurs dans les communes de Pobè et Kétou du département du Plateau, la plus grande zone productrice de maïs au Bénin. Un sous-échantillon réduit de 124 producteurs a été suivi pendant un an (octobre 2006 - septembre 2007) afin de mieux comprendre les caractéristiques de leurs transactions. Au total, 323 transactions ont été observées. Enfin, une dernière enquête a été conduite sur un échantillon représentatif de 105 commerçants-grossistes fréquentant les marchés les plus importants pour la commercialisation du maïs au Bénin. Les analyses sont réalisées principalement avec le Nested Logit et le Parity Bounds Model. Le Nested Logit permet dappréhender les raisons du choix des différents modes de transaction des producteurs de maïs sous lhypothèse de la non indépendance des différentes possibilités de choix. Le Parity Bounds Model, quant à lui, permet non seulement d'évaluer les taux d'efficacité ou d'intégration spatiales des marchés, mais aussi d'estimer les taux d'arbitrage, d'autarcie, d'opportunités profitables et de violation des conditions d'arbitrage des marchés. Si les résultats montrent que les réformes agricoles mises en uvre depuis le début des années 1990 ont favorisé laugmentation du niveau global de l'offre de maïs au Bénin, elles nont cependant pas permis daccroître significativement sa productivité, ni de réduire ses coûts de transaction ou de commercialisation. Toutefois, les producteurs demeurent rationnels dans leurs prises de décisions commerciales. En effet, pour vendre leurs excédents de maïs, ils utilisent trois modes de transaction : vente sous contrat, vente sans contrat au village et vente sans contrat sur des marchés urbains ou distants. Les résultats danalyse de ces trois modes de transaction ont montré que la vente sans contrat au village apparaît comme l'option la plus avantageuse financièrement dans l'environnement institutionnel de la zone d'étude. La quantité de maïs produite ne constitue pas la plus importante barrière d'accès des ménages agricoles ruraux aux marchés distants. Au contraire, létude a montré que la probabilité de se déplacer vers des marchés distants est dautant plus faible lorsque le producteur dispose dun surplus commercialisable important. Les grands et moyens producteurs retirent une plus grande utilité que les petits producteurs en maintenant des relations contractuelles avec les commerçants. Auprès de ces intermédiaires, ils obtiennent des petits crédits de consommation ou de production. Les petits producteurs sont les plus orientés vers des marchés distants. Malgré la diversité des sources de communication promues par l'Office National d'Appui à la Sécurité Alimentaire (ONASA) au Bénin, la grande majorité des producteurs continuent dutiliser les moyens traditionnels de communication en loccurrence la transmission orale de linformation concernant les prix, loffre et la demande. Cependant, certains producteurs, utilisateurs fréquents des moyens d'information de l'ONASA, semblent être globalement satisfaits de cette initiative et expriment un impact positif sur leurs décisions commerciales. Lutilisation du SPIM permet aux producteurs dobtenir de meilleurs prix de vente du maïs quelque soit loption de transaction choisie. Lhypothèse selon laquelle les producteurs feraient un meilleur choix du mode de transaction s'ils avaient accès à de bonnes informations sur les marchés est confirmée avec les résultats du Nested Logit, qui montrent que l'accès préalable aux informations de qualité sur les marchés alternatifs améliore la capacité de négociation du producteur, puis accroît la probabilité de choix de vente de maïs au village. De même, les expériences acquises par le producteur en matière de commercialisation des produits agricoles renforcent ce choix. Ce résultat n'a pas pu être attribué au Système Public d'Information sur les Marchés (SPIM) mais plutôt au réseau social d'informations des producteurs. Cela ne veut pas dire que le SPIM soit inutile ; au contraire, ce résultat pointe du doigt limportance de ce système. Seulement, il doit être amélioré pour jouer pleinement son rôle. Par ailleurs, les résultats du Parity Bounds Model ont montré que, même si les réformes n'ont pas pu améliorer significativement les degrés d'efficacité ou d'intégration spatiale parfaite des marchés du maïs au Bénin, elles ont induit assez d'opportunités commerciales, malheureusement sous-exploitées. Les taux d'autarcie qui mesurent l'étendue suivant laquelle des échanges n'ont pas eu lieu entre des paires de marchés, du fait des coûts de transfert plus élevés, ont connu en moyenne une diminution avec le temps. Des améliorations sont observées sur certains marchés. En dehors des régions de Nikki et Parakou, Cotonou demeure mieux intégré avec Bohicon, Glazoué, Azovè et Kétou. Les résultats ont aussi montré que les opportunités commerciales entre Bohicon et Parakou sont bien exploitées au cours de la période 2001-2007. Cependant, dune manière générale, les niveaux élevés d'inefficacité ne permettent pas au système de fournir convenablement les services tant attendus par les producteurs et les consommateurs. En conséquence, des instruments de politique plus efficaces sont suggérés afin de renforcer la concurrence sur le marché et de rendre le système capable de répondre aux aspirations des différents acteurs. Une amélioration des moyens d'information sur le marché, la formation des producteurs à son utilisation et un accès favorable aux crédits spécifiques permettront aux producteurs non seulement de choisir un meilleur mode de transaction mais aussi daméliorer leur capacité de négociation avec les commerçants. Il est par ailleurs nécessaire de former les producteurs aux techniques de commercialisation des produits agro-alimentaires. Enfin, laccès amélioré des petits commerçants aux crédits et aux informations va leur permettre de mieux exploiter les opportunités commerciales offertes par les réformes.

Anthropogenically forced climate change has emerged as one of the most important, and polarizing, issues of our time. Afforestation generated carbon offset projects hold a position in Canada as potentially influential, yet frustratingly under-utilized, options to mitigate climate change. This dissertation responds to the question, “what are the economic implications of afforestation generated carbon offset institutions in Canada – and how appropriate are the tools of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) in their identification?” I establish the context for discussion by arguing that the NIE, as practiced, seems incapable of providing rigorous analysis while simultaneously responding to questions of power and distribution. The case of afforestation generated carbon offset marketing is presented as an appropriate context for exploring this point. A literature review is then used to establish general patterns regarding aggregating institutions for offset production and marketing, and aggregating institutions are presented as a response to the effects of transaction costs on the Canadian offset market. I then develop supply and demand curves to describe the equilibrium state of the Canadian offset market, into which the transaction costs borne by three aggregators are integrated. Their performance in fulfilling various policy objectives is evaluated. The results indicate that the primary variation between scenarios is the distribution of benefits. This focus on the distribution of benefits continues through demonstrating how subtle variations in modeling coefficients affect the regional distribution of afforestation projects within Canada, identifying the power associated with policy maker ideology. The role of policy maker ideology is then explicitly examined through a survey of government analysts and technicians and the application of discriminant analysis. The primary axes of afforestation ideology are identified, and demonstrated to be independent of concerns of transaction costs and aggregation. These results are integrated to argue that distributional concerns, particularly when ideologies are active in informing policy maker preferences, are critical to achieving sustainable policy outcomes, and that the NIE can respond to such concerns, but only if reform takes place to legitimate these techniques as part of the standard economic discourse.

Anthropogenically forced climate change has emerged as one of the most important, and polarizing, issues of our time. Afforestation generated carbon offset projects hold a position in Canada as potentially influential, yet frustratingly under-utilized, options to mitigate climate change. This dissertation responds to the question, “what are the economic implications of afforestation generated carbon offset institutions in Canada – and how appropriate are the tools of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) in their identification?” I establish the context for discussion by arguing that the NIE, as practiced, seems incapable of providing rigorous analysis while simultaneously responding to questions of power and distribution. The case of afforestation generated carbon offset marketing is presented as an appropriate context for exploring this point. A literature review is then used to establish general patterns regarding aggregating institutions for offset production and marketing, and aggregating institutions are presented as a response to the effects of transaction costs on the Canadian offset market. I then develop supply and demand curves to describe the equilibrium state of the Canadian offset market, into which the transaction costs borne by three aggregators are integrated. Their performance in fulfilling various policy objectives is evaluated. The results indicate that the primary variation between scenarios is the distribution of benefits. This focus on the distribution of benefits continues through demonstrating how subtle variations in modeling coefficients affect the regional distribution of afforestation projects within Canada, identifying the power associated with policy maker ideology. The role of policy maker ideology is then explicitly examined through a survey of government analysts and technicians and the application of discriminant analysis. The primary axes of afforestation ideology are identified, and demonstrated to be independent of concerns of transaction costs and aggregation. These results are integrated to argue that distributional concerns, particularly when ideologies are active in informing policy maker preferences, are critical to achieving sustainable policy outcomes, and that the NIE can respond to such concerns, but only if reform takes place to legitimate these techniques as part of the standard economic discourse.

Community-based approaches to natural resource management have become increasingly popular because of their potential to stimulate rural economic development and promote sustainable natural resource use. The appeal of such approaches have been supported by recent developments in economic theory regarding collective action and common property institutions, which have replaced the long-held idea that resources held in common are doomed to overuse and degradation. In particular, a wide array of empirical and experimental studies have led to the emergence of ‘second generation’ collective action theories which are able to reconcile observed behaviour in social dilemma settings with rational choice theory. Second generation theories of collective action also encompass the concept of social capital; viewing forms of social capital as the fundamental motivations for collective action. Therefore, based on a second generation theoretical framework, social capital ought to play an important role in the emergence and maintenance of self-driven CBNRM projects. Despite this, there have been limited assessments of the explicit role of social capital in cases of self-driven CBNRM. Consequently, this study set out to evaluate the role of social capital and its relationship with the performance of a self-driven CBNRM case study in South Africa. In order to achieve this aim, a mixed methods research design was employed to assess the roles and relationships of social capital at different levels of analysis. Qualitative results highlighted the major role of social capital in building various forms of trust at the project level. On the other hand, quantitative results obtained from exploratory factor analysis uncovered a number of latent dimensions of social capital at the household level. In addition, two binary logistic regression models demonstrated both positive and negative relationships between latent dimensions of household-level social capital and indicators of successful collective action in the Umgano Project. The crucial role of traditional leaders in maintaining and mobilizing social capital was a cross-cutting feature of the results in this study. Overall, the findings of this study support the stance of second generation collective action theories regarding the role of social capital in enhancing collective action outcomes. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / Unrestricted

Den här studien ämnar besvara frågeställningen om kriminalitet har en inverkan på företagandet i Sveriges kommuner mellan 2008 och 2018, studien använder sig av teorier från New institutional economics och resultat från tre tidigare studier för att underbygga sin hypotes om att kriminaliteten påverkar företagandet negativt. Kriminalitet operationaliseras genom antalet rån, inbrott och fall av skadegörelse per capita. Företagande operationaliseras genom antalet anställda i handelsnäringen per capita. Hypotesen testas i resultatet genom OLS-regressionsanalyser med fem olika kontrollvariabler. Studien kommer till slutsatsen att kriminaliteten har en svagt negativ effekt på företagandet, men att denna effekt troligtvis beror på bakomliggande variabler i en kedja av kausala mekanismer snarare än ett särskilt stort direkt samband. / This study tries to answer the question if criminality has an effect on business in Swedish municipalities between the years of 2008 and 2018. The study uses theories from New institutional economics and results from three earlier studies to reinforce the hypothesis that criminality affects businesses negatively. Criminality is operationalized as the number of robberies, burglary and vandalism per capita. Businesses are operationalized as the number of people hired within the trade and market sector per capita. The hypothesis is tested through OLS-regression analysis with five different control variables. The study comes to the conclusion that criminality has a weak negative effect on business, but that this effect probably is caused by underlying variables in a chain of causal mechanisms rather than by a considerable amount of direct connection.

The present study offers an in-depth examination of the institutional framework within which money operated as an economic agent in the Roman empire. Analyses focus on Classical Roman Law as reflected in the writings of Roman jurists from the second and early-third centuries CE. The legal sources are augmented by documentary materials, which give independent, albeit sporadic, evidence for actual practice. The thesis follows current trends in economic history to adopt approaches advanced by New Institutional Economics (NIE), while generally accepting Keynesian claims for the endogenous nature of money. Its innovative contribution is in suggesting a complexity-oriented approach to modelling the behaviour of money in the Roman empire; seeing money as a complex economic phenomenon, i.e. as a diverse and manifold apparatus which allows for new patterns of activity to be created by individuals, who self-adjust their use of it to the continuously evolving system in which they operate. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first is introductory. The second concerns the legal institutional framework for economic interaction; with discussions generally organised according to Roman legal categorisation, and considers developments in the role allocated to money in legal definitions for exchange transaction. The third part examines two study-cases of money-related institutions, namely, the instrument of interest, and interest-bearing deposits, demonstrating how money stimulated the interconnected dynamics within and between legal traditions operating under Roman regime. The fourth and last part is dedicated to a more general analysis of the complex nature of Roman money, attempting to model the historical example of Roman money with the help of complexity-oriented visualisations.

No atual contexto mundial de incessante busca por fontes renováveis de energia, o desenvolvimento do mercado de etanol tem sido recorrentemente discutido na academia, assim como na sociedade como um todo. Nesse sentido, abre-se espaço para estudos que visam o aperfeiçoamento desta cadeia agroindustrial, bem como o aprimoramento dos programas destinados à promoção deste biocombustível. Frente a esta demanda, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo realizar uma análise comparativa entre os mercados brasileiro e canadense de etanol, tendo na Nova Economia Institucional o aporte teórico para efetuar esta avaliação, a qual permite identificar algumas semelhanças e divergências. Para tanto, são abordados os seguintes aspectos pertinentes a cada país: informações primárias dos mercados (complexo industrial, produção, consumo, matéria-prima, processo produtivo, frota automotiva, dentre outros aspectos), estrutura de governança (hierárquica, híbrida ou mercado) adotada pelas usinas na regência do elo de suprimento agrícola, e ambiente institucional em que as indústrias, brasileira e canadense, de etanol estão inseridas (políticas de promoção, proteção e regulação do mercado de etanol). Com relação à primeira vertente observada, nota-se que o Brasil possui um mercado de etanol muito mais consolidado em relação ao canadense, ainda que este último demonstre potencial de crescimento. Além disso, o etanol produzido pela indústria nacional apresenta expressiva vantagem competitiva em termos de rendimento agrícola/industrial e ambiental. No que diz respeito ao ambiente institucional, destaca-se a forte intervenção do governo canadense na conduta da indústria doméstica de etanol, de forma a contrastar com a atual posição do Estado nacional, já que este pouco tem atuado na arena decisória do setor sucroenergético brasileiro. Quanto à última questão avaliada, a estrutura de governança, para o mercado brasileiro foi identificado o regime hierárquico (integração vertical cana própria) como predominante, enquanto no Canadá a estrutura mais frequente é a híbrida (estabelecimentos de contratos de compra e venda junto aos fornecedores de matéria-prima agrícola). Divergência explicada, em grande parte, pela elevada especificidade da cana-de-açúcar frente ao milho e trigo. / In the current context of incessant search for renewable energies, the development of ethanol market has been often discussed at academic scenery, as well as the whole society. Thus, this situation creates room for studies aimed at improve the ethanol agro-industrial chain, even as the upgrading of programs linked with ethanol promotion. Facing it, this thesis makes a comparative analysis between Brazilian and Canadian ethanol markets, using the New Institutional Economics to identify some similarities and differences. In order to reach this goal, three aspects regarding each country are observed: primary information of markets (industrial complex, production, consumption, raw material, production process, automotive fleet and so on), governance structure (hierarchical, hybrid and market) adopted by ethanol plants to manage their agricultural raw material supply chain, and institutional environment where Brazilian and Canadian mills are involved (policies for promotion, protection and regulation of the ethanol market). Regarding the first analyzed item, it is possible to see that Brazil has an ethanol market much more consolidated than Canadian market, although the last one demonstrates potential for growth. Moreover, the ethanol produced by the domestic industry has significant competitive advantage in terms of agricultural/industrial and environmental yield. About the institutional environment, the results show strong intervention of Canadian government in the conducted of domestic ethanol industry, differently what happens in Brazil, where national state has currently made just few interventions on Brazilian ethanol sector. Regarding the third studied element, the governance structure, for Brazil hierarchical structure was identified as predominant, on the other hand hybrid (establishments of purchase and sale contracts with suppliers of agricultural raw material) structure was considered the most common in Canada. Divergence largely explained by the high specificity of sugarcane compared to corn and wheat.

Cosméticos verdes são aqueles que alegam ser desenvolvidos de acordo com princípios ecológicos, sendo geralmente associados às características natural, orgânica e/ou vegana. Os sistemas de certificação desses produtos visam assegurar o cumprimento de diretrizes préestabelecidas e comunicar o consumidor sobre os atributos dos produtos. Considerando a importância da certificação para a consolidação e o fortalecimento desse mercado, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar a percepção de empresas produtoras de cosméticos verdes e consumidores a respeito da certificação natural, orgânica e vegana sob a perspectiva da Nova Economia Institucional. Para isso, foi empregada a triangulação metodológica, baseada em diversas abordagens de pesquisa, incluindo a realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com representantes de empresas produtoras de cosméticos verdes certificadas e a aplicação de questionários de elaboração própria em amostra não-probabilística de 416 consumidores de cosméticos via Facebook. Os dados das entrevistas foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo e os questionários foram analisados por meio de estatística descritiva, ambos interpretados à luz da Nova Economia Institucional. Verificou-se que as empresas produtoras de cosméticos verdes atribuem à certificação um importante papel na comunicação sobre apelos ecológicos aos consumidores, no alinhamento de princípios com fornecedores, atuando como mecanismos de execução contratual e na obtenção de vantagens de mercado. As principais desvantagens relatadas pelas empresas produtoras foram os custos de transação decorrentes da obtenção e manutenção da certificação e possíveis dificuldades de comunicação com os consumidores. Em relação aos consumidores, predominaram na amostra usuários de cosméticos verdes. Porém, de modo geral, os consumidores possuem baixo nível de conhecimento e baixo grau de confiança nas principais certificações de cosméticos naturais, orgânicos e veganos atuantes no Brasil, além de perceberem tais certificações como pouco rigorosas. A disposição dos consumidores para pagar por cosméticos certificados foi estimada em 10 a 50% do preço dos produtos não certificados. A disposição para pagar está correlacionada com o nível de conhecimento e o grau de confiança dos consumidores nas certificações. Considerando os resultados do estudo, foram sugeridas estratégias para minimizar as desvantagens relacionadas aos custos de transação e às dificuldades de comunicação das certificações com os consumidores e ampliar suas vantagens, principalmente no que se refere à redução de assimetrias de informação e à obtenção de vantagens de mercado, de modo a contribuir para a consolidação e expansão do crescente mercado desses produtos / Green cosmetics are those that claim to be developed according to ecological principles, and are generally associated with natural, organic and/or vegan characteristics. Certification systems for these products aim to ensure compliance with pre-established guidelines and communicate the consumer about the attributes of the products. Considering the importance of certification for the consolidation and strengthening of this market, it is necessary to analyze the role of certification systems, both for producers and consumers. Thus, this work aims at analyzing the perception of producers of green cosmetics and consumers regarding natural, organic and vegan certification from the perspective of the New Institutional Economy. In order to do that, we used methodological triangulation, based on multiple research approaches, including the collection of primary data through semi-structured interviews with representatives of certified producers of green cosmetics and the application of closed questionnaires in nonprobabilistic sample of cosmetic consumers via Facebook. The information obtained from the interviews were submitted to content analysis, while the results of the questionnaires were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics. Both results were interpreted in the context of the New Institutional Economics. It was found that green cosmetic companies attribute to certification an important role in communicating ecological appeals to consumers, in aligning principles with suppliers, acting as contractual enforcement mechanisms and in obtaining market advantages. The main disadvantages reported by the companies were the transaction costs from obtaining and maintaining certification and possible communication difficulties with consumers. Regarding the questionnaires applied to consumers, the sample was predominantly composed of users of green cosmetics. However, it was found that consumers, in general, have a low level of knowledge and a low degree of confidence in the main certifications of natural, organic and vegan cosmetics in Brazil. Consumers also perceive such certifications as not very strict. The willingness of consumers to pay for certified cosmetics has been estimated at 10 to 50% of the price of non-certified products. The willingness to pay is correlated with the level of knowledge and the degree of consumer confidence in the certifications. Based on the results of the study, we suggested strategies to minimize the disadvantages of certification systems related to transaction costs and the difficulties of communication and to extend their advantages, especially regarding the reduction of information asymmetries and the market advantages, aiming at contributing to the consolidation and expansion of the growing market of these products