Increased global migration has spurred a vibrant current of research into the economic effects of cultural diversity. Birthplace diversity has become an important indicator used to measure cultural diversity caused by bilateral migration. We detect a lack of studies that explore the short-term effects of birthplace diversity on economic growth. Using a panel dataset including data from 110 countries between years 1990 and 2014, we explore the short-term effects of birthplace diversity on GDP per capita growth. We anticipated that birthplace diversity would carry short-term costs that would negatively affect economic performance, and that the positive effects of birthplace diversity found in previous studies would materialize only in the long-run. Our results provide only weak support for our hypothesis. In the long run our results do indicate a small positive effect of increased birthplace diversity among immigrants on GDP per capita growth, and an increase of the relative size of the immigrant stock correlates with lower GDP per capita growth in the short run, in a more pronounced and negative way.

Le sujet des migrations internationales a récemment fait l’objet d’une attention sans précédent dans l’opinion publique comme dans les médias. Or, si le débat sur les effets des migrations internationales semble plus que jamais d’actualité, celui-ci attire l’attention des économistes depuis plusieurs décennies déjà. La présente thèse s’insère ainsi dans la littérature économique sur les effets des migrations internationales en proposant trois essais empiriques sur les implications de la mobilité humaine, à la fois pour les migrants, les natifs dans leur pays d’accueil et leurs proches restés dans leur pays d’origine. Le Chapitre 2 revisite de manière empirique l’impact du multiculturalisme (mesuré par un indice de diversité à l’intérieur du groupe des migrants et par des effets de contamination) sur les performances macro-économiques des États Américains sur la période 1960-2010. Nous distinguons les effets du multiculturalisme par niveaux d’éducation, en contrôlant pour les variables standards de la littérature sur la croissance ainsi que pour l’hétérogénéité inobservée et en prenant en compte le statut légal des migrants ainsi que leur âge d’entrée aux États-Unis. Dans le but d’identifier un effet causal, nous comparons plusieurs stratégies d’identification différentes de la littérature existante. Nos résultats convergent vers un effet robuste positif et significatif de la diversité des diplômés du tertiaire sur le PIB par tête. Aucun effet de la diversité pour les niveaux d’éducation inférieurs, ou d’effets de contamination ne sont mis en évidence. Le Chapitre 3 s’insère dans la littérature sur les déterminants de la performance des migrants sur le marché du travail dans leur pays d’accueil. Nous regardons si l’attitude des natifs affecte ou non les durées de chômage des migrants en Allemagne. En utilisant des données de panel (GSOEP) au niveau individuel sur la période 1984-2012 et un modèle de durée, nous trouvons que des niveaux de confiance plus faibles des natifs envers les résidents d’un pays donné (mesurés à l’aide des enquêtes Eurobarometers) sont associés à des durées de chômage plus longues pour les immigrés originaires de ce pays. Nos résultats soulignent le fait que, différents groupes d’immigrés font face à des obstacles différents en fonction de leur origine, pour s’insérer sur le marché du travail.
Le Chapitre 4 cherche quant à lui à comprendre si les migrants au niveau international contribuent ou non au progrès technologique dans les pays en développement en induisant un transfert de connaissances productives de leur pays d’accueil vers leur pays d’origine. En utilisant un indicateur pour le niveau de connaissances productives de chaque pays (ECI) et les stocks bilatéraux de migrants vers 20 pays de l’OCDE, nous montrons que la migration internationale est un canal de transmission important de la technologie. / International migration recently attracted unprecedented public attention and media coverage. However, while the debate on the effects on international migration on the economy seems now more relevant than ever, it already attracts the attention of economic researchers for decades. The present thesis provides three empirical studies that investigate the implications of international migration both for migrants themselves, natives in their host countries and those left behind. Chapter 2 empirically revisits the impact of multiculturalism on the macroeconomic performance of US states over the 1960-2010 period. We test for skill-specific effects of multiculturalism, controlling for standard growth regressors and a variety of fixed effects, and accounting for the age of entry and legal status of immigrants. To identify causation, we compare various instrumentation strategies used in the existing literature. We provide converging and robust evidence of a positive and significant effect of diversity among college-educated immigrants on GDP per capita. Conversly, we find no impact of low-skilled diversity or contamination effects. Chapter 3 fits within the literature looking at the determinants of the performance of immigrants in the destination country labor markets. We investigate how natives’ attitudes affect immigrants’ unemployment duration in Germany. Using individual level panel data from the German Socio Economic Panel from 1984 to 2012, we use survival analysis methods to model immigrants’ unemployment durations. We find that lower trust levels of natives towards the citizens of a given country, measured using Eurobarometer surveys, positively influence the unemployment duration of immigrants originating from this country. Our results highlight the fact that immigrants face different obstacles depending on their origin when it comes to integrating destination country labor markets. Chapter 4 analyses whether international migrants contribute to increasing technological advances in developing countries by inducing a transfer of productive knowledge from developed countries back to migrants’ home countries. Using the Economic Complexity Index as a proxy for the amount of productive knowledge embedded in each countries and bilateral migrant stocks of 20 OECD destination countries, we show that international migration is a strong channel of technological transmission.

This report argues that historic landscape preservation efforts need to embrace biodiversity planning. Historic landscape preservation sites need to develop biodiversity plans because they are uniquely qualified to provide the continuous monitoring that successful biodiversity planning requires. Not only will biodiversity monitoring at various historic landscape sites contribute to a nationwide collection of biodiversity planning data, but it will also provide a rich source of information that can be presented to draw a wider audience into the biodiversity discussion. After considering three precedents: Old Sturbridge Village, Old World Wisconsin, and Tucson Botanical Gardens, the report focuses on the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project and its real and potential impacts on biodiversity planning in southern Arizona and more broadly. Finally, the report considers how seed libraries and seed swaps might serve a similar purpose in other parts of the country. / text

Using a critical feminist approach, and with attention to participants’ broad life experiences, this qualitative study explores seven women’s challenging, transformative decisions to give birth at home with midwives in Ontario, Canada. To make this choice, the women had to draw on their own strength, take responsibility for their decisions, and resist the dominant view of birth as inherently risky, and of women’s birth experiences as unimportant and incompatible with more narrowly defined good outcomes. As participants became informed decision-makers, resisted medicalized birth, and envisioned more woman-centred possibilities, they were empowered as active agents in their births. They were able to trust that with the care of their midwives, and the support of their partners or close family, they could have satisfying and safe births at home.

Using a critical feminist approach, and with attention to participants’ broad life experiences, this qualitative study explores seven women’s challenging, transformative decisions to give birth at home with midwives in Ontario, Canada. To make this choice, the women had to draw on their own strength, take responsibility for their decisions, and resist the dominant view of birth as inherently risky, and of women’s birth experiences as unimportant and incompatible with more narrowly defined good outcomes. As participants became informed decision-makers, resisted medicalized birth, and envisioned more woman-centred possibilities, they were empowered as active agents in their births. They were able to trust that with the care of their midwives, and the support of their partners or close family, they could have satisfying and safe births at home.

The work is devoted to The Memorial of Master John Hus as his presupposed birthplace. The first part deals with the history of this monument, it brings the summary of proprietary relations and maps the care about this historical object and the looks of Hus{\crq}s house. It also deals with the honour to the personality of Master John Hus and its forms through the historical periods. There are the oldest mentions about this respect, some legends, celebrations and other forms of respect in various periods. The second part deals with contemporary effort of professional public which is aimed to preparation of a new expozition in the Memorial of Master john Hus in Husinec. This preparation started in 2004 - 2005 by means of professional lectures. Finally the work introduces the project The Restoration of the Birthplace of Master John Hus which reakts on professional discussions from previous years and which is the alternative solution of current renewal of actual expozition installed in 1975. There is also pictured enclosure prezenting previous and current looks of Hus{\crq}s birthplace.