Depuis les années quatre-vingt-dix Cuba développe et commercialise des vaccins et méthodes en biotechnologies médicales dont certains sont des premières mondiales. L'île est alors encore considérée comme un pays en voie de développement et est la cible d’un embargo imposé par les États-Unis depuis plus de trente ans. Or les biotechnologies sont une science aussi coûteuse en matériel qu'en ressources humaines très spécialisées et elles sont de ce fait réservées aux pays de la sphère scientifique centrale. Ces réussites suggèrent la mise en place d'un potentiel scientifique et technique réel autant qu'elles peuvent constituer un artéfact dans un secteur moins développé ou moins pérenne qu'il n'y paraît. Quel est le vrai visage des biotechnologies cubaines au milieu des années deux-mille ? C'est à cette question que tente de répondre cette étude. Elle consiste dans un premier temps à retracer les paramètres du développement des institutions de recherche en biotechnologies dans un contexte qui connaît peu de répit depuis l'avènement de la Révolution : indicateurs socio-économiques bas, embargo, planification socialiste, isolement géopolitique, crises économiques mondiales, dissolution du bloc soviétique... Elle se poursuit avec une analyse bibliométrique permettant de donner un visage quantitatif des réalisations cubaines dans le domaine : au-delà des réalisations mises de l'avant, dans quelles revues et dans quels domaines les chercheurs cubains en biotechnologie publient-ils ? Avec quels pays collaborent-ils et par quels pays sont-ils cités ? Quelle est leur place dans le monde ? Nous exploiterons l'ensemble de ces indicateurs et de ces éléments historiques pour conclure, au tournant des années deux-mille, à l'existence d'un potentiel scientifique et technique développé mais d'une science aux ressources maigres constamment tenue de rapporter un certain capital économique aussi bien que politique. En cohérence avec la dialectique socialiste propre à l'île, les sciences cubaines, depuis 1959, ne constituent jamais une fin en soi mais restent un moyen politique et social. En 2006 elles le sont encore. Malgré leurs réalisations elles touchent aux limites de la planification et réclament leur indépendance face au politique afin d'exploiter pleinement leur potentiel, bien réel. / Since the 1990s, Cuba has developed and marketed vaccines and medical biotechnology methods of which some have been the first in the world. At that time, the island was considered a developing country and had been the target of an embargo imposed by the United States for more than thirty years, as it still is now. Yet biotechnology is a costly science both in terms of material resources and in terms of highly specialized human resources, and for this reason it is usually exclusive to the world’s leading scientific countries. These successes in Cuba thus suggest the creation of a real scientific and technical potential in country, as much as they constitute an artifact in a sector that is less developed or less established than might seem to be the case. What is the true face of Cuban biotechnologies at the turn of the millennium? This is the question that this study seeks to answer. The study first retraces the parameters of the development of Cuban research institutions in biotechnology in the context of the difficult circumstances that the country has experienced since the Revolution: low socio-economic indicators, the American embargo, socialist planning, geopolitical isolation, world economic crises, and the dissolution of the Soviet bloc. The study then presents a bibliometric analysis, which offers a quantitative vision of Cuban achievements in biotechnology. In which periodicals and in which domains have Cuban researchers in biotechnology published their results? To which countries do the researchers who have collaborated with them or cited them belong? What is their place in the world? We will use these indicators and historical elements to conclude that a developed scientific and technical potential exists in Cuba at the turn of the millennium but that the Cuban sciences remain relatively poor in resources and remain constantly pressured to yield political as well as economic capital. In accordance with the socialist dialectic proper to the island, the Cuban sciences since 1959 have never constituted an end in themselves but have been a means to achieve political and social goals. This remains the case in 2006. Despite their achievements, they remain subject to the limits of socialist planning. They require independence from political concerns in order to fully exploit their potential, which is very real

The subject of this thesis is the analysis of tax revenue of the post-socialist countries that are members of the European Union. In the theoretical part there are characterized tax systems of individual states. In the practical part I compare the tax revenues of the post-socialist countries. I analyze the tax quota, the tax mix and budgetary determination of taxes. Furthermore, I compare the tax revenues of the post-socialist member states and 15 original member states of the European Union. I focus on the tax quota, the tax mix and budgetary determination of taxes. From the analyses it is clear that the tax quota of the post-socialist countries is lower than in the older Member States of the European Union. Most of the tax revenue of the post-socialist countries stems from indirect taxation, particularly value added tax.

The main aim of this Master's thesis is to define the relationship between fertility rates and family policy in Central Europe, that experienced steep decline in fertility during the 1990s, and in Northern Europe, known for its stable and relatively high fertility. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, current models of family policy are defined and examples of policy measures that motivate people to start a family are found. The thesis also wants answer the question whether it is possible to implement a successful model of family policy in another region. The research focuses on two groups of countries, which went through similar development over the last decades: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary that share a similar socialist experience, while Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland attempted to find the third way between market economy and strong welfare state. Both regions also had to restructure their economy and reform their welfare states in the beginning of the 1990s. This development influenced today's beliefs about family support, childcare services or flexibility of the labour market, crucial in formulations of national family policy.