A eletrificação rural é um desafio caracterizado pela população rarefeita, baixo consumo per capita, longas distâncias para atender aos consumidores e vias de difícil acesso para manutenção das redes. No Rio Grande do Sul, as primeiras iniciativas de eletrificação rural foram viabilizadas por meio de Cooperativas de Eletrificação Rural (CERs) que, com o passar do tempo, começaram a enfrentar problemas provocados pela privatização do setor elétrico brasileiro. Para sobreviverem, as CERs desenvolveram iniciativas de mútua cooperação, implementaram novos negócios, se articularam com e pelas estruturas de representação. Deste contexto emerge o questionamento: Como se desenvolvem a intercooperação e o empreendedorismo cooperativo no Cooperativismo de Eletrificação Rural Gaúcho e qual a contribuição destes para a produção de energia elétrica e de alimentos sob a lógica da sustentabilidade? Para se construir a resposta à questão, definiu-se como objetivo: Investigar se e como o empreendedorismo cooperativo e a intercooperação fomentam o Cooperativismo de Eletrificação Rural Gaúcho e a produção de energia elétrica e de alimentos sob a lógica da sustentabilidade. A teoria que embasa o estudo faz alusão ao displacement of concepts para se averiguar a apropriação do conceito de organização pela Teoria Organizacional e, também, como o conceito de cooperação é apropriado pelos Estudos Organizacionais. Trata-se a temática da cooperação sob as perspectivas da Biologia, da Sociologia e da Teoria Organizacional. Aborda-se o surgimento, as principais teorias e os princípios do cooperativismo. Discute-se o que é a organização cooperativa com ênfase naquelas abordagens que destacam o processo de os sujeitos, por meio deste tipo de organização, promoverem soluções a problemas comuns. A intercooperação é discutida enquanto um dos princípios do cooperativismo e também como lógica competitiva. É tratado, ainda, o fenômeno do empreendedorismo sob as abordagens de negócios, coletivo, social e cooperativo, com foco nesta última perspectiva. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas em profundidade com gestores de 13 das 15 CERs, sendo 17 gestores de CERs entrevistados, 11 experts do cooperativismo, 5 associados de CERs, 3 gestores de estruturas de representação de organizações cooperativas e 1 líder de classe de trabalhadores. Os resultados apontam que as CERs nasceram em um ambiente de intercooperação e que algumas têm conseguido desenvolver a capacidade de promover arranjos intercooperativos, inclusive em nível internacional. As iniciativas de intercooperação, entretanto, ainda não avançaram para ações como a de compras conjuntas. Sobre o empreendedorismo cooperativo, as iniciativas se dão no sentido da criação das CERs, geração de energia elétrica de forma individual e compartilhada, e o reforço de redes de distribuição. Já, no que tange à contribuição para a produção de energia elétrica e de alimentos sob a lógica da sustentabilidade, as CERs viabilizaram a permanência das famílias em suas propriedades ao disponibilizarem a energia elétrica, assim como favoreceram o uso de tecnologias para o aumento da produção e produtividade, aspectos que contemplam as dimensões social e econômica. Na geração de energia elétrica, são identificadas as dimensões social, ambiental e econômica. Emergem, ainda as dimensões territorial, política e tecnológica da sustentabilidade. / Rural electrification is a challenge characterized by sparse population, low per capita consumption, long distances to meet the consumer and the process of difficult access to network maintenance. In Rio Grande do Sul, the first initiatives of rural electrification were made possible through Rural Rlectrification Cooperatives (RECs) which, over time, began to face problems arising from the the privatization of the Brazilian electricity sector. To survive, the RECs have developed mutual cooperation initiatives, implemented new business, and were articulated with and by its representation structures. From this context arises the question: How to develop the inter-cooperation and cooperative entrepreneurship in the Cooperative Rural Electrification Gaucho and what their contribution to the electricity and food production under the sustainability logic? To build the answer to this question, it was defined as objective: To investigate whether and how the cooperative entrepreneurship and inter-cooperation hold up Rural Electrification Cooperativism gaucho and the production of food and electricity, under the logic of sustainability. The theory that underlies the study alludes to the displacement of concepts to determine the appropriation of organization concept by the Organizational Theory and also how the cooperation concept ois appropriated by Organizational Studies. Discusses the cooperation issues from the Biology, Sociology and Organizational Theory perspectives. It is argued what is the cooperative organization with an emphasis on those approaches that highlight the process of the subject, through this type of organization, promote solutions to common problems. The inter-cooperation is discussed as one of the principles of the cooperative as well as competitive logic. It is treated also the entrepreneurship phenomenon in business, collective, social and cooperative approaches, focusing on the latter perspective. In conducting the survey, data was collected by in-depth interviews with managers of 13 of the 15 RECs, totaling 17 RECs managers interviewed, 11 cooperativism experts, 5 families of members of RECs, three structures representation of cooperative organizations managers and one working class leadership.The results demonstrate that RECs are born in a intercooperation environment and that, throughout its history, some have been able to develop the ability to promote intercooperatives arrangements, including at the international level. The inter-cooperation initiatives, however, have not come forward to actions such as joint purchasing. Regarding the co-operative entrepreneurship, the main initiatives are given towards the creation of RECs, the RECs capitalization for creating enterprises, individual and shared electric power generation, and strengthening distribution networks. Already, regarding the contribution to food and electricity production under the logic of sustainability, RECs possible the permanence of families in their ownership by delivering electrical energy, as well as promoted the use of technology to increase production and productivity, all of which include the social and economic dimensions of sustainability. In power generation, the social, environmental and economic dimensions are identified. Emerge, although the territorial, political and technological sustainability dimensions.

abstract: This dissertation explores the functional purpose of imagination as it is enacted in the context of shaping large transitions in sociotechnical systems. Large sociotechnical systems undergoing profound transitions embody instantiations where societies experience profound changes in the ‘rules of the game’ that underpin the conduct of daily life. The forms of imagination that guide these transformations, known in the political theory literature as ‘imaginaries,’ play a profound yet undertheorized role in transition of sociotechnical systems from one configuration to another. Expanding on this relationship, the study draws on three case studies of energy systems change in the United States during 20th and 21st century. Each case study explores unique element of how actors at a variety of levels – transnational governance, regional electrification, and in-home energy marketing – define and the possibilities for ideal human and technological action and interaction through a transition. These actors defining the parameters of a new form of systems operation and configuration are as equally focused on defining how these new configurations shape fundamental ideas that underpin American democratic sensibility. Moreover, in the process of articulating a new configuration of energy and society – be that in terms of managing global resource flows or the automation of energy use in a residential home – questions of what makes an ideal member of a society are interlinked with new contractual relationships between energy producers and energy users. Transitions research could and should pay greater attention to the normative commitments emergent systems actors – as it is in these commitments we can chart pathways to redefine the parameters that underpin emergent transitions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology 2018

Submitted by PAULO SÉRGIO BARBOSA DOS SANTOS null (engpaulo.sbs@gmail.com) on 2018-02-06T17:08:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Paulo - Final - Corrigida Biblioteca.pdf: 21517617 bytes, checksum: d34ad9ead2be2ac124eecf296f0febfa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Cristina Alexandra de Godoy null (cristina@adm.feis.unesp.br) on 2018-02-06T19:22:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_psb_dr_ilha.pdf: 21517617 bytes, checksum: d34ad9ead2be2ac124eecf296f0febfa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-06T19:22:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_psb_dr_ilha.pdf: 21517617 bytes, checksum: d34ad9ead2be2ac124eecf296f0febfa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-27 / A bioenergia, energia da biomassa, possui um papel fundamental na matriz elétrica brasileira, sendo que o setor sucroenergético é merecedor de destaque com a produção de excedentes de energia elétrica. No entanto, até bem pouco tempo atrás haviam entraves para o incremento na cogeração nesse setor devido à limitação a 30 MW da exportação da energia incentivada através da concessão de descontos nas tarifas de transmissão e distribuição da energia às usinas. Com a atualização recente da legislação, esse limite foi ampliado para 50 MW para as usinas já existentes e para 300 MW para novos projetos, como forma de incentivo para a implantação de novos investimentos. Diante deste contexto, no presente trabalho foram analisadas tecnologias para potencializar a cogeração de energia, a partir da queima da biomassa da cana-de-açúcar, no setor sucroenergético, a fim de possibilitar ganhos com a venda de excedentes de energia elétrica. Para tanto, foi estudado o incremento do uso da palha como combustível, por meio da regulagem dos extratores da colhedora e transporte da mesma junto com a cana, nas proporções de 4, 6, 8, 10 e 12 % em relação à cana entregue na usina e posterior passagem por sistema de limpeza a seco antes da queima na caldeira. Além disso, foi realizada a eletrificação dos acionamentos dos equipamentos que operavam com turbinas a vapor de baixa eficiência e alto consumo de vapor. Neste trabalho também foi verificado o efeito do uso de camisas de alta drenagem (rolo Lótus), a fim de reduzir os impactos do fenômeno da reabsorção do bagaço e, consequentemente, da umidade do bagaço, resultando em ganhos no Poder Calorífico Inferior (PCI), melhorando, assim, a qualidade do combustível queimado nas caldeiras. Por fim, foram realizadas as análises econômicas dos casos de cogeração propostos, através de técnicas de Valor Presente Líquido (VPL) e Taxa Interna de Retorno (TIR), afim de verificar os casos com viabilidade econômica, cujos resultados demonstraram é necessário a venda do MWh no mínimo a R$ 180,00. / Bioenergy, biomass energy, has a fundamental role in the Brazilian electricity matrix, and the sucroenergy sector is worthy of note with the production of surplus electricity. However, until very recently there were obstacles to an increase in cogeneration in this sector due to the limitation of 30 MW in energy exports encouraged through the concession of discounts on energy transmission and distribution tariffs to the mills. With the recent updating of the legislation, this limit was extended to 50 MW for existing plants and to 300 MW for new projects, as an incentive for the implementation of new investments. In view of this context, in the present work, technologies for potentializing energy cogeneration, from the burning of sugarcane biomass, in the sugar-energy sector, were introduced in order to make gains from the sale of surplus electricity. In order to do so, the increase of the use of straw as fuel was studied by regulating the extractors of the harvester and transporting it together with the cane, in the proportions of 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12% in relation to the sugar cane delivered in the and subsequent passage through the dry cleaning system before burning in the boiler. In addition, the study was complemented with the electrification of the drives of the equipment that operated with steam turbines of low efficiency and high consumption of steam. In this work the effect of the use of high drainage liners (Lotus roll) was also verified, in order to reduce the impacts of the reabsorption of bagasse and, consequently, bagasse moisture, resulting in gains in the Lower Calorific Power (LCP), thereby improving the quality of the fuel burned in the boilers. Finally, the economic analyzes of the proposed cogeneration cases were carried out using Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) techniques, in order to verify cases with economic viability, the results of which showed that it is necessary to sell the MWh for a minimum of R$ 180,00

Orientador: Vera Mariza de Miranda Costa / Banca: Wilma Peres da Costa / Banca: Flavio Marques Saes / Banca: Maria Encarnação Sposito / Conteúdo: Transparência 1 - Estado de São Paulo. Zonas demográfico-econômicas, principais ferrovias e principais municípios - Transparência 2 - Estado de São Paulo. Divisão político-administrativa de 1970. Regiões administrativas e municípios sede - Transparência 3 - Estado de São Paulo. Divisão político-adminstrativa de 30 de novembro de 1938. Municípios e distritos - / Resumo: Não disponível / Abstract: Not available / Doutor

A eletrificação rural é um desafio caracterizado pela população rarefeita, baixo consumo per capita, longas distâncias para atender aos consumidores e vias de difícil acesso para manutenção das redes. No Rio Grande do Sul, as primeiras iniciativas de eletrificação rural foram viabilizadas por meio de Cooperativas de Eletrificação Rural (CERs) que, com o passar do tempo, começaram a enfrentar problemas provocados pela privatização do setor elétrico brasileiro. Para sobreviverem, as CERs desenvolveram iniciativas de mútua cooperação, implementaram novos negócios, se articularam com e pelas estruturas de representação. Deste contexto emerge o questionamento: Como se desenvolvem a intercooperação e o empreendedorismo cooperativo no Cooperativismo de Eletrificação Rural Gaúcho e qual a contribuição destes para a produção de energia elétrica e de alimentos sob a lógica da sustentabilidade? Para se construir a resposta à questão, definiu-se como objetivo: Investigar se e como o empreendedorismo cooperativo e a intercooperação fomentam o Cooperativismo de Eletrificação Rural Gaúcho e a produção de energia elétrica e de alimentos sob a lógica da sustentabilidade. A teoria que embasa o estudo faz alusão ao displacement of concepts para se averiguar a apropriação do conceito de organização pela Teoria Organizacional e, também, como o conceito de cooperação é apropriado pelos Estudos Organizacionais. Trata-se a temática da cooperação sob as perspectivas da Biologia, da Sociologia e da Teoria Organizacional. Aborda-se o surgimento, as principais teorias e os princípios do cooperativismo. Discute-se o que é a organização cooperativa com ênfase naquelas abordagens que destacam o processo de os sujeitos, por meio deste tipo de organização, promoverem soluções a problemas comuns. A intercooperação é discutida enquanto um dos princípios do cooperativismo e também como lógica competitiva. É tratado, ainda, o fenômeno do empreendedorismo sob as abordagens de negócios, coletivo, social e cooperativo, com foco nesta última perspectiva. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas em profundidade com gestores de 13 das 15 CERs, sendo 17 gestores de CERs entrevistados, 11 experts do cooperativismo, 5 associados de CERs, 3 gestores de estruturas de representação de organizações cooperativas e 1 líder de classe de trabalhadores. Os resultados apontam que as CERs nasceram em um ambiente de intercooperação e que algumas têm conseguido desenvolver a capacidade de promover arranjos intercooperativos, inclusive em nível internacional. As iniciativas de intercooperação, entretanto, ainda não avançaram para ações como a de compras conjuntas. Sobre o empreendedorismo cooperativo, as iniciativas se dão no sentido da criação das CERs, geração de energia elétrica de forma individual e compartilhada, e o reforço de redes de distribuição. Já, no que tange à contribuição para a produção de energia elétrica e de alimentos sob a lógica da sustentabilidade, as CERs viabilizaram a permanência das famílias em suas propriedades ao disponibilizarem a energia elétrica, assim como favoreceram o uso de tecnologias para o aumento da produção e produtividade, aspectos que contemplam as dimensões social e econômica. Na geração de energia elétrica, são identificadas as dimensões social, ambiental e econômica. Emergem, ainda as dimensões territorial, política e tecnológica da sustentabilidade. / Rural electrification is a challenge characterized by sparse population, low per capita consumption, long distances to meet the consumer and the process of difficult access to network maintenance. In Rio Grande do Sul, the first initiatives of rural electrification were made possible through Rural Rlectrification Cooperatives (RECs) which, over time, began to face problems arising from the the privatization of the Brazilian electricity sector. To survive, the RECs have developed mutual cooperation initiatives, implemented new business, and were articulated with and by its representation structures. From this context arises the question: How to develop the inter-cooperation and cooperative entrepreneurship in the Cooperative Rural Electrification Gaucho and what their contribution to the electricity and food production under the sustainability logic? To build the answer to this question, it was defined as objective: To investigate whether and how the cooperative entrepreneurship and inter-cooperation hold up Rural Electrification Cooperativism gaucho and the production of food and electricity, under the logic of sustainability. The theory that underlies the study alludes to the displacement of concepts to determine the appropriation of organization concept by the Organizational Theory and also how the cooperation concept ois appropriated by Organizational Studies. Discusses the cooperation issues from the Biology, Sociology and Organizational Theory perspectives. It is argued what is the cooperative organization with an emphasis on those approaches that highlight the process of the subject, through this type of organization, promote solutions to common problems. The inter-cooperation is discussed as one of the principles of the cooperative as well as competitive logic. It is treated also the entrepreneurship phenomenon in business, collective, social and cooperative approaches, focusing on the latter perspective. In conducting the survey, data was collected by in-depth interviews with managers of 13 of the 15 RECs, totaling 17 RECs managers interviewed, 11 cooperativism experts, 5 families of members of RECs, three structures representation of cooperative organizations managers and one working class leadership.The results demonstrate that RECs are born in a intercooperation environment and that, throughout its history, some have been able to develop the ability to promote intercooperatives arrangements, including at the international level. The inter-cooperation initiatives, however, have not come forward to actions such as joint purchasing. Regarding the co-operative entrepreneurship, the main initiatives are given towards the creation of RECs, the RECs capitalization for creating enterprises, individual and shared electric power generation, and strengthening distribution networks. Already, regarding the contribution to food and electricity production under the logic of sustainability, RECs possible the permanence of families in their ownership by delivering electrical energy, as well as promoted the use of technology to increase production and productivity, all of which include the social and economic dimensions of sustainability. In power generation, the social, environmental and economic dimensions are identified. Emerge, although the territorial, political and technological sustainability dimensions.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-25T12:19:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria de Lourdes Lucena Dantas.pdf: 597173 bytes, checksum: 2c5a6fd3cf8664ca1d2b1cd0d68f44ee (MD5) Previous issue date: 2001-07-25 / The aim of this dissertation is the analysis of life conditions in the Imbiras II Settlement, a rural community in Massaranduba county (PB), expropriated by INCRA (National Institute for Agrarian Reform), since 1996, in which there were 64 families living without enjoying the benefit of electric power. These people were waiting for the implantation of an electrification project worked out by CELB (Borborema Power Company), since 1998, which had been promised by many politicians in their various campaigns. Thus we have observed their lifestyle, activities, expectations for the future, and how they relate to public policies. These were the issues approached by a case study carried out between July 1998 and September 2000. We used the participative research method, and applied both written questionnaires and recorded interviews. We chose Antonio Candido´s work Os parceiros do Rio Bonito as a starting point and basis for our theoretical discussions. This work is the result of a research Candido carried out in a rural community and it turned out to be his doctoral thesis. The nature of this study is sociologic and anthropologic, and this is also the nature of the present work. The lack of electric power does not stop the settlers from having access to such mass media resources as television, which they have been using for long, thanks to the battery system. However this does not assure them the gamut of information that may change their routine, mainly insofar as women are concerned. Most of them have a great many children and they do not have the habit of paying regular visits to the doctor, which may prevent a number of diseases. The expectation of the provision of electric power leads some of the settlers to make plans for the future, including the acquisition of tools that will help them in their agricultural activities, as well as household appliances. Though this is an area INCRA itself expropriated, which is supposed to provide the settlers with orientation regarding the best planting methods available, there is no such a thing: INCRA is not supportive at all, and as a result these settlers did not become aware of an opportunity available to them of making a loan from Banco do Nordeste do Brasil, which would make it possible for them to buy the furniture and electrical appliances they needed so badly. The results will not surprise anyone who is aware of the situation of the peasantry in Brazil, particularly those from Northeast Brazil, but they point out such hardships that will anguish and encourage one to try and find alternatives, particularly because those who are supposed to do so do not care to do what they ought to. The inevitable conclusion is that expropriation alone will not work in the least; if the peasants are not given the conditions that will assure them full productivity and citizenship. / Este trabalho objetivou estudar as condições de vida no Assentamento Imbiras II, uma comunidade rural do município de Massaranduba, no Estado da Paraíba, desapropriada pelo Incra desde 1996, e onde 64 famílias viviam sem energia elétrica, à espera de que os políticos cumprissem promessas de campanha ou de que fosse executado o projeto de eletrificação elaborado pela Companhia Energética da Borborema (Celb) desde 1998. Como vivem, o que fazem, quais as suas perspectivas para o futuro, qual a sua relação com as políticas públicas, foram algumas questões que se buscou responder, num estudo de caso feito por meio de uma pesquisa participativa, entre julho de 1998 e setembro de 2000, em que foram utilizados um formulário e entrevistas gravadas. Como ponto de partida e fio condutor para orientar as discussões teóricas, buscou se subsídio em Antonio Candido, especialmente na obra Os parceiros do Rio Bonito, uma pesquisa realizada também numa comunidade rural, por se tratar de um estudo de base sociológica e antropológica, o mesmo que se pretendia para este trabalho. A ausência de energia elétrica não impede que os habitantes tenham acesso aos meios de comunicação de massa como a televisão, que há muito é usada por muitos deles, graças ao sistema de bateria. Mas o fato de terem acesso a um veículo de grande penetração como a televisão não garante àquelas pessoas informações que podem modificar o seu cotidiano, principalmente no que diz respeito às mulheres, que em geral têm muitos filhos, não têm o hábito de ir ao médico e nenhuma noção de como se prevenir de doenças. A perspectiva de contar com a energia leva alguns dos moradores a fazer projetos para o futuro, incluindo a aquisição de equipamentos para facilitar o trabalho no campo ou de aparelhos eletrodomésticos. Embora sendo uma área desapropriada pelo Incra, a quem caberia orientar os moradores quanto ao melhor aproveitamento da terra, os assentados não têm qualquer apoio nesse sentido, não contam com assistência técnica para desenvolver a produção agrícola, e por isso não usaram a verba de custeio do Banco do Nordeste do Brasil para esse fim, empregando a na aquisição de móveis e eletrodomésticos. Os resultados não surpreendem quem tiver um olhar atento para a situação do homem do campo no Brasil, especialmente os camponenses do Nordeste. Mas mostram uma dura realidade, que angustia e que instiga a se apontarem caminhos, especialmente porque sequer o órgão responsável pela desapropriação vem cumprindo o seu papel, numa prova inequívoca de que de nada adianta tornar os camponeses proprietários se não se lhes forem oferecidas as condições necessárias para produzir e assegurar a sua cidadania.

Este estudo faz uma abordagem da produção de energia hidroelétrica sob a perspectiva da Geografia crítica e releva que a água é um elemento natural em todas as manifestações, sendo o seu uso o que a transforma em recurso natural e produtivo. A água não é fonte direta de energia elétrica, ela é condição natural de um lugar. A construção de usinas hidroelétricas coloca-a em circuitos de fixos, fazendo com que se integrem aos circuitos produtivos. O levantamento desses equipamentos, especialmente as grandes usinas construídas no Brasil com essa finalidade, é importante para a Geografia do ponto de vista teórico, pois têm grande fixidez no território e são agregadas a ele como verdadeiras próteses territoriais. Sua análise serve ao ordenamento do espaço, que é fundamental para o planejamento do País. / This study approaches the production of hydroelectric power from the perspective of critical geography and emphasizes that water is a natural element in all of its manifestations, being that its use transforms it into a natural and productive resource. Water is not a direct source of electricity. It is a natural condition of a place. The construction of hydroelectric power plants puts water in fixed circuits, making it a part of productive circuits. The data collection of these equipments, especially large hydropower plants in Brazil, is important for geography from a theoretical point of view because they have great fixity on the territory and are aggregated as true territorial prostheses. Their analysis serves as spatial planning, which is crucial for the planning of the country.

This thesis focuses on the electricity sector in developing economies. This is an important sector given the well-documented contribution of high quality electricity services to economic growth and social welfare. Yet, today, 1.2 billion people worldwide lack access to electricity - half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. The sector is characterized by the high cost of electricity investments combined with the tight fiscal constraints often faced by developing countries' governments. In this context, many electricity utilities around the world either do not perform satisfactorily or operate under severe financial stress. In order to improve the performance of the electricity sector, policy makers need to prioritize among competing objectives and identify the most relevant tools. The first chapter is called "Procuring the right supervisors for infrastructure investments in developing countries". It fits into the set of challenges regarding access that regulatory choices available to policy makers can address. This chapter focuses on a possible way to increase the efficiency of infrastructure investments financed by international financial institutions (IFI) in poor governance countries that has been under studied in the past: the role of supervision consultants, who typically supervise the performance of a contractor firm building the actual infrastructure on behalf of a principal such as the Ministry of Works. I argue that the incentive remuneration of supervisors - understood as a combination of a threat of non-payment and reputation to obtain future contracts - is exogenous to the quality of governance of the country of work. I then apply this exogeneity to the classical Laffont-Tirole (1991) three-tier principal-agent with supervisor setting. I find that the induced contractor's power of incentives of their seminal model change: if the supervisor's incentive remuneration is high enough, effort is optimal; if it decreases, then the effort is sub-optimal but capture is avoided; and if the remuneration decreases even further, then the supervisor is always captured. I then suggest that IFIs could enhance efficiency of infrastructure invesmtents by (i) linking the resources allocated to monitor projects with the corruptibility of the country, and (ii) adding the corruptibility of the country in which the supervisor has successfully conducted previous assignments as a selection criteria when procuring new supervisors. The second chapter is called "Does size matter for performance? Evidence from Brazilian electricity distribution utilities". It fits into the set of challenges regarding affordability that market structure choices available to policy makers can address. In this chapter, I study the relationship between the size and the evolution of total factor productivity in 33 Brazilian electricity distribution utilities (both public and private) representing 97% of the market. This is of particular interest at this point in time given that the renewal of many concessions of utilities is set to start in 2015. I use an input distance function in a stochastic frontier analysis framework with 2 outputs (number of connections and electricity sold) and 3 inputs (operational expenses, length of the network, and capacity of transformers). I apply this methodology to a database spanning from 2003 to 2012 and then decompose the productivity into various components, paying a particular attention to the effect of firm size on productivity. I find that while large utilities are at the minimum efficient scale, the others are slowly moving towards that point. In addition, I find that, when grouping utilities according to size categories, the scale component of technical change explains an important part of the TFP changes. Brazilian policy makers and the regulator would lose an opportunity if they did not consider these findings in the imminent renewal of concessions. The third and last chapter is called "When and how does rural electrification increase labor supply?" and is co-authored with Christian Lehmann. It fits into the set of challenges regarding access and growth that technology choices available to policy makers can address. This chapter is motivated by the expanding empirical literature studying the effects of rural electrification in developing countries that has emerged in the last few years. It focuses on the effect of rural electrification on the labor markets. While the literature tends to agree that labor supply increases with electrification, the underlying mechanisms through which this happens are not well documented: while some authors argue that it is the external market labor supply that goes up, others claim that it is the in-house labor supply of marketable goods that increases. We develop a household model that provides a theoretical framework to integrate the results of most existing empirical studies and explain the theoretical mechanisms behind them. Our model has three types of goods to which the household can allocate its labor: a subsistence good, an informal good, and a formal good. We find that, depending on a number of parameters, electrification increases labor supply either through more labor provided to the market or through more labor devoted to home production of tradable goods. This result is in line with previous empirical work. We also find that the effect of electrification is heterogeneous across households and deduce a number of predictions that, to the best of our knowledge, have not been tested by the empirical literature yet. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

There is growing interest in research and development activities on biomass gasification technologies as an alternative to fossil fuels technologies. However not much has been done in terms of technology transfer, particularly in under-developed and developing countries such as South Africa. This is mainly because of the lack of resources such as funding. Most parts of the under-developed and developing countries fall within rural areas and semi-urban centers, which are endowed with biomass resources. South Africa has a number of sawmill operators who generate tons of biomass waste during processing of timber; the large proportion of this is burned in furnaces as a means for waste management while a very small proportion is collected and used by people in rural areas for cooking their food. The majority of people in rural areas of South Africa are either unemployed or cannot afford the current energy services. The main aim of this research was to establish the viability of electricity generation for community economic development through biomass gasification, specifically using the locally designed System Johansson Biomass Gasifier™ (SJBG), and to establish the efficiency of the gasifier and associated components with a view of developing strategies to enhance it. The study established the technical and economic feasibility of using the SJBG to generate low-cost electricity for community empowerment. The study also developed strategies to improve the particle collection efficiency of the cyclone. In addition to this, a low-cost gas and temperature monitoring system capable of monitoring gas and temperature at various points of the gasifier was developed. The system was built from three Non- Dispersive Infrared gas sensors, one Palladium/Nickel gas sensor and four type K thermocouples. The study also investigated the impact of fuel compartment condensates on gasifier conversion efficiency. This is an area that has not yet been well researched since much has been done on energy recovery using combined heat and power applications that do not utilize the energy in condensates because these are produced in the gasifier and drained with chemical energy stored in them. The study established that the condensates do not have a significant impact on efficiency.

As of today, 1.1 billion people in the world lack access to electricity, while 2.9 billion rely on polluting fuels such as firewood, charcoal and kerosene for cooking. This is most prominent in Sub-Saharan Africa where two thirds of the population do not have access to electricity and modern cooking fuels. As electricity serves a prominent part of modern society, electrification is often referred to as a key enabler for socio-economic development. The United Nations have agreed on 17 Sustainable development Goals with the aim to stimulate action over the next fifteen years in areas of critical importance for ending poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. According to the World Bank, energy is interconnected with 125 out of the total 169 sub-targets that are included in the Sustainable Development Goals. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the relation between access to electricity and relevant development indicators. By assessing previous research within the field of electrification and development, a number of key indicators have been selected for further analysis. A statistical analysis on the development of these indicators in the case study of Rwanda was performed and demonstrated that access to electricity services does have considerable impact on socio-economic development.