Ces dernières années, lhistoriographie des premières Guerres dItalie (1494-1525) sest considérablement enrichie notamment grâce aux études de D. Le Fur, N. Hochner, A.-M. Lecoq et R. W. Scheller. Croisant délibérément des sources variées (littéraires, politiques et iconographiques) ainsi que les méthodes (celle de lhistorien des textes et celle de lhistorien dart), leurs travaux se sont attachés à définir les différents aspects du pouvoir royal et la manière dont celui-ci se met en scène tout spécialement sous les règnes de Charles VIII, de Louis XII et de François Ier. Force est donc de constater que la figure du roi de France domine lhistoriographie récente des premières Guerres dItalie. Pourtant, à chaque fois que les souverains des fleurs de lys sont mis en scène, ils noccupent pas seuls le discours politique. Dautres personnages, la France et les Français, apparaissent à côté deux. Le premier est dépeint, selon une tradition établie, comme un espace bénéficiant de qualités exceptionnelles. Lesdites qualités conditionnent la nature du deuxième personnage les Français , lequel sintègre dès lors à un portrait de la nation. Durant les Guerres dItalie, ce discours sur la France et les Français ne sert pas uniquement à décrire le royaume lui-même. Il permet avant tout aux artisans de la propagande royale délaborer une pensée légitimant la conquête de lItalie et permettant dy imposer une nouvelle culture politique et sociale dinspiration française. Cet amalgame dimages à propos de lItalie française ou Franco-Italia traverse lensemble de la période, croisant parfois la figure royale, mais sen éloignant aussi très souvent. Létude dune telle idéologie révèle enfin un intérêt supplémentaire. Au cours des premières décennies du XVIe siècle, la France connaît un véritable bouleversement de son modèle dorganisation sociale traditionnel. Nous voulons parler des trois ordres du féodalisme (oratores, bellatores et laboratores). Certes, dans la réalité quotidienne, le système ternaire ne reflète plus, depuis des siècles, la complexité des relations politiques et sociales. Par contre, la remise en cause de ce modèle au sein de la pensée politique curiale, en somme dans la culture de lélite, est une donnée relativement nouvelle en ce début de XVIe siècle. Ainsi, le discours sur lItalie française sert de champ dexpérimentation aux théoriciens du politique, aux polémistes ainsi quaux chroniqueurs et même aux poètes, leur permettant de redéfinir les contours dun schéma ternaire qui, dans sa forme traditionnelle, leur apparaît désuet. On laura compris : notre thèse soriente donc vers létude, non dun seul mode de pensée, mais plutôt dune pluralité de concepts et dopinions ayant comme dénominateur commun la redéfinition des contours de lItalie et également de la France. Il sagira de comprendre la manière dont les auteurs de la cour de France regardent la Péninsule et ses habitants et comment, de cette expérience de laltérité, ils en arrivent à pratiquer un retour sur eux-mêmes et à relire leur propre mode dorganisation sociale, autrement dit, les cadres théoriques de leur existence. Cette histoire des lys qui sévertuent à fleurir dans les champs dune Italie pourtant bien décidée à les faucher sera loccasion dentrevoir sous un angle neuf cette période de bouleversements et dinquiétudes que sont les premières Guerres dItalie.

This thesis consists of three empirical chapters that examine issues in development economics. Chapter 1 focuses on the effects of civil wars on the welfare of individuals. I use a unique data set that contains information on war casualties of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, and exploit the variation in war intensity and birth cohorts of children, to identify the effects of the war on schooling attainment. I find that cohorts affected by war are less likely to complete secondary schooling, if they resided in municipalities that endured higher levels of war intensity. Ancillary evidence suggests that my estimates are most likely picking up immediate, rather than long-term effects. Furthermore, direct mechanisms such as the destruction of infrastructure and the out-migration of teachers do not seem to matter; instead, the ancillary evidence suggests that youth soldiering may be more important. Chapter 2 studies the impact of the partition which ended the Bosnian War on the post-war provision of public goods at the municipality-level. Comparing trends in the provision of public schooling across partitioned and unpartitioned municipalities during the 1986-2006 period, I find that partitioned municipalities provide 58 percent more primary schools and 37 percent more teachers (per capita). I also find evidence which suggests that convergent preferences - operating via ethnic politics - for ethnically oriented schools may be an important driver of the results, although I cannot rule out the possibility of mechanical explanations. In addition, as the increase in public goods provision may be ethnically oriented, only the ethnic majority profits from this arrangement. Chapter 3 provides an estimation of network effects among rural-urban migrants from Nang Rong, Thailand, by using heterogeneous migration responses to regional rainfall shocks among villagers as exogenous variation affecting network size. I find that social networks significantly reduce the duration of job search, and surprisingly, draw new migrants into the agricultural sector. I argue that this is not because agricultural jobs are more attractive than non-agricultural ones, but rather that my estimates are essentially local average treatment effects that are estimated off agricultural workers who are most affected by rainfall shocks.

The burgh of Canongate, situated next to Edinburgh, was deeply affected by the British Civil Wars (1638-49). The Canongate kirk session records, the parish-based bureaucratic and disciplinary records of the Reformed (Presbyterian) Kirk, provide a detailed portrait of daily life in Canongate during that tumultuous period. The records are particularly revealing of early modern gender history as they show how both men and women interacted with the local kirk, and reveal key social trends in the burgh, especially relating to sex and marriage. Illicit sex and its issue adultery, fornication and illegitimacy were a common and serious concern for the Reformed Kirk, and their persecution was more of a national preoccupation than in England or other parts of Europe. This concern is reflected in the large number of fornication and adultery cases that came before the Canongate kirk session between 1640 and 1650. The marital partnership, as the economic and social cornerstone of early modern society, was also an important issue in Canongate, and the kirk session records provide a glimpse at the nature and significance of marriage in the parish. Scotlands kirk session records offer one of few windows into the daily lives of early modern women, and they allow us to see some of the many ways in which women were active agents in the kirks system of godly discipline. Through the Canongate kirk session records, therefore, it is possible to glean understanding about Scottish womens lives in relation to one of the most rigorous disciplinary systems of early modern Europe.

This thesis analyzes the inherent significance of trade wars in a practical as well as in a theoretical sense. The preliminary intention of the present research is to provide three different understandings of the trade war concept. Firstly, a general understanding of trade wars is introduced, primarily focusing on the technical aspects of the issue and its political and economic dimensions. Secondly, trade wars are viewed in a specific case study context: the Japanese-American commercial relations and their bilateral trade disputes that escalated into trade wars are investigated, focusing on semiconductor and biotechnology industries. Thirdly, the trade wars concept is correlated to Raymond Vernon&amp / #8217 / s Product Cycle theory, introducing the theoretical understanding of trade wars. The combination of these research themes endeavors to establish whether trade wars are primarily fought between successful industrial states over leading strategic core industries, those that are knowledge-intensive, and produce high-value-added products.

This thesis consists of three empirical chapters that examine issues in development economics. Chapter 1 focuses on the effects of civil wars on the welfare of individuals. I use a unique data set that contains information on war casualties of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, and exploit the variation in war intensity and birth cohorts of children, to identify the effects of the war on schooling attainment. I find that cohorts affected by war are less likely to complete secondary schooling, if they resided in municipalities that endured higher levels of war intensity. Ancillary evidence suggests that my estimates are most likely picking up immediate, rather than long-term effects. Furthermore, direct mechanisms such as the destruction of infrastructure and the out-migration of teachers do not seem to matter; instead, the ancillary evidence suggests that youth soldiering may be more important. Chapter 2 studies the impact of the partition which ended the Bosnian War on the post-war provision of public goods at the municipality-level. Comparing trends in the provision of public schooling across partitioned and unpartitioned municipalities during the 1986-2006 period, I find that partitioned municipalities provide 58 percent more primary schools and 37 percent more teachers (per capita). I also find evidence which suggests that convergent preferences - operating via ethnic politics - for ethnically oriented schools may be an important driver of the results, although I cannot rule out the possibility of mechanical explanations. In addition, as the increase in public goods provision may be ethnically oriented, only the ethnic majority profits from this arrangement. Chapter 3 provides an estimation of network effects among rural-urban migrants from Nang Rong, Thailand, by using heterogeneous migration responses to regional rainfall shocks among villagers as exogenous variation affecting network size. I find that social networks significantly reduce the duration of job search, and surprisingly, draw new migrants into the agricultural sector. I argue that this is not because agricultural jobs are more attractive than non-agricultural ones, but rather that my estimates are essentially local average treatment effects that are estimated off agricultural workers who are most affected by rainfall shocks.

The burgh of Canongate, situated next to Edinburgh, was deeply affected by the British Civil Wars (1638-49). The Canongate kirk session records, the parish-based bureaucratic and disciplinary records of the Reformed (Presbyterian) Kirk, provide a detailed portrait of daily life in Canongate during that tumultuous period. The records are particularly revealing of early modern gender history as they show how both men and women interacted with the local kirk, and reveal key social trends in the burgh, especially relating to sex and marriage. Illicit sex and its issue adultery, fornication and illegitimacy were a common and serious concern for the Reformed Kirk, and their persecution was more of a national preoccupation than in England or other parts of Europe. This concern is reflected in the large number of fornication and adultery cases that came before the Canongate kirk session between 1640 and 1650. The marital partnership, as the economic and social cornerstone of early modern society, was also an important issue in Canongate, and the kirk session records provide a glimpse at the nature and significance of marriage in the parish. Scotlands kirk session records offer one of few windows into the daily lives of early modern women, and they allow us to see some of the many ways in which women were active agents in the kirks system of godly discipline. Through the Canongate kirk session records, therefore, it is possible to glean understanding about Scottish womens lives in relation to one of the most rigorous disciplinary systems of early modern Europe.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the bonds that form between people as consumers of popular visual media and to discuss the relationship and impact of the resulting subcultures on the larger culture. Star Wars costumers offer a magnified glance at some of the ways in which people engage with images. As reflections of popular culture, costumers display their textual devotions and opinions; they embody spectatorship by reincarnating their favorite characters and contexts from text-bound sources. Moreover, they embrace modes of visual representation by performing the roles of both image consumer and image producer. I strive to understand the activities shared by audiences after the viewing experience is over; they are highly articulate interpreting media texts in a variety of interesting and unexpected ways. Whether they impart opinions or pursue alternative relationships with some aspect of the text, people do form communities and celebrate their connections to visual texts. As fans, individuals appropriate movie materials to fulfill personal goals and build social connections. While not all-encompassing, these smaller communities say a lot about the social impact of movies---the impact of images on individuals. This thesis combines an ethnographic study of Star Wars costumers within a theoretical framework of cultural studies and performance to investigate the ways in which media images impact individuals. In documenting events from the perspective of the costumer, I seek to understand the costumer as a member of a visual audience, a reflection of popular culture, and a participant in the dominant culture.

This dissertation consists of three essays on reputation and repeated games. Reputation models typically assume players have full memory of past events, yet in many applications this assumption does not hold. In the first chapter, I explore two different relaxations of the assumption that history is perfectly observed in the context of Ely and Välimäki's (2003) mechanic game, where reputation (with full history observation) is clearly bad for all players. First I consider "limited history," where short-run players see only the most recent T periods. For large T, the full history equilibrium behavior always holds due to an "echo" effect (for high discount factors); for small T, the repeated static equilibrium exists. Second I consider "fading history," where short-run players randomly sample past periods with probabilities that "fade" toward zero for older periods. When fading is faster than a fairly lax threshold, the long-run player always acts myopically, a result that holds more generally for reputation games where the long-run player has a strictly dominant stage game action. This finding suggests that reputational incentives may be too weak to affect long-run player behavior in some realistic word-of-mouth environments. The second chapter develops general theoretical tools to study incomplete information games where players observe only finitely many recent periods. I derive a recursive characterization of the set of equilibrium payoffs, which allows analysis of both stationary and (previously unexplored) non-stationary equilibria. I also introduce "quasi-Markov perfection," an equilibrium refinement which is a necessary condition of any equilibrium that is "non-fragile" (purifiable), i.e., robust to small, additively separable and independent perturbations of payoffs. These tools are applied to two examples. The first is a product choice game with 1-period memory of the firm's actions, obtaining a complete characterization of the exact minimum and maximum purifiable equilibrium payoffs for almost all discount factors and prior beliefs on an "honest" Stackelberg commitment type, which shows that non-stationary equilibria expand the equilibrium set. The second is the same game with long memory: in all stationary and purifiable equilibria, the long-run player obtains exactly the Stackelberg payoff so long as the memory is longer than a threshold dependent on the prior. These results show that the presence of the honest type (even for arbitrarily small prior beliefs) qualitatively changes the equilibrium set for any fixed discount factor above a threshold independent of the prior, thereby not requiring extreme patience. The third chapter studies the question of why drug trafficking organizations inflict violence on each other, and why conflict breaks out under some government crackdowns and not others, in a repeated games context. Violence between Mexican drug cartels soared following the government's anti-cartel offensive starting in 2006, but not under previous crackdowns. I construct a theoretical explanation for these observations and previous empirical research. I develop a duopoly model where the firms have the capacity to make costly attacks on each other. The firms use the threat of violence to incentivize inter-cartel cooperation, and under imperfect monitoring, violence occurs on the equilibrium path of a high payoff equilibrium. When a "corrupt" government uses the threat of law enforcement as a punishment for uncooperative behavior, violence is not needed as frequently to achieve high payoffs. When government cracks down indiscriminately, the firms may return to frequent violence as a way of ensuring cooperation and high payoffs, even if the crackdown makes drug trafficking otherwise less profitable. / text

In recent decades historians have documented the nature and impact of religious violence within French Catholicism during the French Wars of Religion (1562-1629). My dissertation introduces the question of religious nonviolence within French Catholicism in this era by examining the religiosity practiced and promoted by Francois de Sales (1567-1622). By interpreting the words, actions, and impact of this clergyman across three different contexts - the mission field of the Chablais, in lay spiritual counseling, and in the Order of the Visitation- this research presents a fresh perspective on the nature of Catholicism in early modern France and an important historical case study of the possibilities and limits of moderation in a society reeling from religious extremism.