Background: The infiltration of the construction industry has been central for the emergence and expansion of organized crime internationally. Sweden is a country in transition, with the sharpest turn towards economic inequality in Western Europe in recent decades. A concern for a society in transition is the emergence of organized crime.Aims and method: This study aims to contribute to the knowledge of the emergence of organized crime, and provides a comprehensive literature review on the function of corruption in the organized crime infiltration of the construction industry. Results: Corruption was identified in the enforcement of cartels and the organization of unregistered labor. Organized crime targeted unions, politicians and administrators in urban planning, as well as the courts, the elections and the military.Conclusions: Organized crime groups were shown to exploit both regulation and its absence to expand their profits and power. Factors related to the emergence of organized crime included structural and cultural incentives for corruption, transition economies, discretionary power, and the question of agency. The findings were compared to the question of organized crime in a Swedish context and its involvement in the construction industry.

Conformément au constat de l’OMS, il existe en France, comme ailleurs, des différences de santé entre différents groupes de population, qui découlent des conditions sociales dans lesquelles les gens naissent, grandissent, vivent, travaillent et vieillissent».En France, la réduction des inégalités sociales de santé est une priorité politique affichée, au travers notamment, des plans cancers successifs, les cancers étant les principales pathologies pourvoyeuses d’inégalités. Ces plans ont permis la mise en place du dépistage organisé du cancer colorectal et du cancer du sein, pour lesquels les inégalités sociales et territoriales de participation ainsi que les facteurs de non adhésion sont bien documentés et constituent autant de cibles potentielles pour des interventions. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’apporter des connaissances et des preuves nouvelles afin d’orienter les politiques et l’organisation du dépistage des cancers en se basant sur des éléments fondés, en particulier pour la réduction des inégalités sociales et territoriales. Elle présente deux études. PRADO est une étude d’intervention à unité de randomisation collective (Ilots Regroupés pour l’Information Statistique (IRIS)) multicentrique, stratifiée sur le caractère urbain/rural et la précarité des IRIS et conduite en deux groupes parallèles (Intervention vs Témoin), de 2011 à 2013 en Picardie. Dans le bras intervention, en complément des modalités usuelles du dépistage organisé du cancer colorectal un accompagnateur au dépistage a contacté par téléphone les sujets n’ayant pas réalisé le test de dépistage sur les deux campagnes précédentes. L’étude a montré que cette intervention a permis d’augmenter la participation et a identifié les conditions dans lesquelles ce type d’intervention pourrait réduire les inégalités sociales. La deuxième étude évalue l’intérêt d’un sénographe mobile (le mammobile) dans le cadre du dépistage organisé du cancer du sein. Une analyse rétrospective du mammobile de l’Orne sur 5 campagnes de dépistage montre que ce dispositif permet de réduire les inégalités sociales et territoriales de participation au dépistage. Le principe d’universalisme proportionné, le caractère multiniveau et intersectoriel de l’intervention, l’application du principe de littéracie et le respect du choix éclairé apparaissent comme les fondements d’une politique de santé publique visant à réduire les inégalités sociales dans le domaine du cancer. Le mode optimal d’évaluation de ces interventions dites complexes reste un enjeu de recherche majeur. / In accordance with the WHO's observation, there are differences in health between different population groups in France, as elsewhere, which result from the social conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.In France, the reduction of social inequalities in health is a political priority, notably through successive cancer plans, with cancers being the main pathologies that provide inequalities. These plans have led to the introduction of organized screening for colorectal cancer and breast cancer, for which social and territorial inequalities of participation as well as non-adherence factors are well documented and constitute potential targets for interventions. This thesis aims to provide new knowledge and evidence to guide the policies and organization of cancer screening based on evidence, particularly for the reduction of social inequalities and territorial. She presents two studies. PRADO is an interventional study with a collective randomization unit (Grouped Islets for Statistical Information (IRIS)) multicentric, stratified on the urban / rural character and precariousness of IRIS and conducted in two parallel groups (Intervention vs Control), from 2011 to 2013 in Picardy. In the intervention arm, in addition to the usual modalities of organized screening for colorectal cancer, a screening assistant contacted by telephone those who did not carry out the screening test in the two previous round. The study showed that this intervention has increased participation and identified the conditions under which this type of intervention could reduce social inequalities. The second study evaluates the interest of a mobile radiography (the mammobile) in organized breast cancer screening. A retrospective analysis of the Orne device on five screening rounds shows that this device makes it possible to reduce the social and territorial inequalities of participation in screening. The principle of proportional universalism, the multilevel and intersectorial nature of intervention, the application of the principle of literacy and respect for informed choice appear as the foundations of a public health policy aimed at reducing social inequalities in the cancer field. The optimal mode of evaluation of these so-called complex interventions remains a major research issue.

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Consacrer une thèse à la lutte contre le crime organisé aux Émirats Arabes Unis peut paraître assez étonnant. La sécurité dans ce pays atteint un niveau très élevé et les autorités gardent un contrôle très ferme sur une population composée à 90% d’étrangers. Considérés généralement comme un des pays les plus sûrs au monde, le crime organisé n’a pas sa place aux Émirats. Mais le sujet se justifie parce que la lutte contre le crime organisé ne se conçoit que dans un cadre global qui met au premier plan les pays aux économies avancées. Les Émirats sont parties prenantes à la stratégie et à la coopération internationale qui se développent fermement depuis plus d’une trentaine d’années pour réduire les organisations criminelles. Ces organisations toujours actives ont été rejointes par des organisations terroristes qui se financent par des trafics et des activités illégales. Cette jonction entre le crime et le terrorisme, prouvée par les enquêtes sur le terrain, est un facteur d’aggravation de l’instabilité et un défi pour les forces de police. Dans le Golfe, région sensible, il convient de surveiller étroitement les flux commerciaux qui peuvent dissimuler des activités criminelles. Mais il faut aussi, détecter les flux financiers issus d’activités criminelles qui sont recyclés dans l’économie prospère des Émirats. Sur ces deux plans, les Emirats jouent un rôle décisif en raison de ses moyens financiers importants, des technologies de surveillance et de la volonté politique de ses dirigeants. Cette thèse replace l’action des Emirats dans le cadre normatif et institutionnel fixé par des traités, relayé sur place par le droit national. Dans ce domaine, il n’est pas raisonnable de viser la disparition du crime organisé qui est une activité liée à la globalisation des échanges mondiaux. L’objectif des Emirats est de ne pas permettre l’implantation du crime organisé sur son territoire. De ce point de vue, ce but est atteint et les efforts des autorités et des forces de police des Emirats sont tendus vers une consolidation de ce résultat pour l’avenir. / A thesis devoted to the fight against organized crime in the United Arab Emirates may seem rather surprising. Security in this country is at a very high level and the authorities maintain a very strong control over a 90% foreign population. Generally regarded as one of the safest countries in the world, organized crime has no place in the UAE. But the subject is justified because the fight against organized crime can only be conceived in a global framework that puts countries in advanced economies at the forefront. The UAE is a major partner in the strategy and international cooperation that has been developing steadily for more than 30 years to reduce criminal organizations. These still active organizations have been joined by terrorist organizations that finance themselves through trafficking and illegal activities. This junction between crime and terrorism, proven by field investigations, is a factor in worsening instability and a challenge for police forces. In the Gulf, there is a need to closely monitor trade flows that may conceal criminal activity. But it is also necessary to detect financial flows from criminal activities that are recycled in the prosperous economy of the UAE. On both counts, the UAE plays a decisive role because of its significant financial resources, surveillance technologies and the political will of its leaders. This thesis places the action of the Emirates in the normative and institutional framework established by treaties, relayed by national law. In this area, it is unreasonable to target the disappearance of organized crime, which is an activity linked to the globalization of world trade. The achievable objective of the Emirates is not to allow the implantation of organized crime on its territory. From this point of view, this goal is achieved and the efforts of UAE authorities and police forces are tense towards a consolidation of this result for the future.

This dissertation studies how organized crime and corruption can penetrate the legal economy. In the first chapter I document the infiltration of organized crime in public procurement auctions in the aftermath of natural disasters. I focus on recent earthquakes that occurred in Italy between 2008 and 2016 and I utilize investigative data on participation in procurement auctions of firms associated with the mafia (in short, "mafia firms''). I show that criminal firms increase their participation in public procurement auctions in emergency-designated municipalities, particularly after relief status is declared over. Emergency status leads to a temporary increase in monitoring efforts, but a permanent positive shock to affected municipalities' reconstruction budgets, thus explaining the lagged effect. Using information on awarding procedures, I show that after the emergency the participation of mafia firms increases only in auctions with minimum discretion, suggesting it is not the result of collusion with local administrators. In Chapter 2, I investigate whether windfalls from natural resources increase corruption and how this varies across countries with different institutions. I utilize leaked information on the beneficiaries of secret offshore entities to construct a measure of malfeasance. I find that countries respond to a rise in the price of the commodities they export with increased incorporation of offshore entities in tax havens. However, such a relationship exists only for autocratic regimes. In Chapter 3, I develop a theoretical model to explain the role of political brokers in mediating clientelistic transactions between parties and voters. Brokers enjoy an informative advantage over parties: they observe the electorate's political preferences as well as their need for a private good (hospital beds) provided by the government. A party hires the broker to make a deal with the voters. The broker insures them against the risk of not receiving the private good when in need (sick) in exchange for their vote. The presence of the broker reduces aggregate welfare if parties focus on the electoral benefits coming from the provision of the private good and thus reduces the amount of public good (schools) below the optimal level. On the other hand welfare increases if private goods are delivered to citizens in need who would have not received them, had the broker not been present.

Over the last decades sleep research has focused on epidemiological studies of how different factors affect sleep, and how sleep influences other physiologic and cognitive functions. However, the complex dynamics of sleep stage transitions and arousals which occur at time scales of seconds to minutes during healthy sleep and constitute the sleep micro-architecture are not yet understood. I analyze long-term continuous EEG recordings in rats and human, and dissect emergent signatures of criticality in the dynamics of cortical rhythm bursts in relation to their correlation properties and reciprocal coupling. I show that active states durations follow a power-law distribution while the quiet states durations follow an exponential-like behavior. Such emerging bursting activity in the brain rhythm dynamics described by power-laws and exhibiting long-range spatio-temporal correlations has been proposed as an indication of self-organized criticality (SOC). To have a deeper understanding of SOC in cortical rhythm bursting dynamics, it is essential to study the dynamical evolution of an entire network of physiologic interactions in the context of different physiologic states and pathologic conditions. The human organism comprises various physiological systems, each with its own structural organization and dynamic complexity, leading to transient, fluctuating and nonlinear signals. Understanding integrated physiologic function as emergent phenomena from complex interactions among diverse organ systems is the main focus of a new field, Network Physiology. I apply Network Physiology approach and the novel concept of time delay stability (TDS), and I demonstrate their utility to study transient synchronous bursts in systems dynamics as a fundamental form of physiologic network communications. My results demonstrate that during a given physiological state, the physiological network is characterized by a specific topology and coupling strength between systems. Probing physiological network connectivity and the stability of physiological coupling across physiological states provide new insights on integrated physiological function. / 2023-03-04T00:00:00Z

Hybrid governance in Latin America A case study of the response of Mexican criminal syndicates to the COVID-19 pandemic Wordcount: 20282 International Master in Security Intelligence and Strategic Studies 2409572N 29/07/2021 Abstract In the academia, long dominated by a Western state-centric approach, the idea of the coexistence of different orders of social domination emerged in the nineties. It set the premises for the academic literature on hybrid governance. This research area is very recent and still developing. Hence, the fields of application of this concept in the academic literature are diverse but still too limited. Therefore, this dissertation arises from the consideration that it would be interesting to further investigate the applicability of this under-exploited notion. In particular, it looks at criminal organizations in Latin America through the case study of Mexican drug cartels amid the pandemic. This case presents the key characteristics of hybridity, hence making it a relevant tool to analyze it. The finding of the possibility of the applicability of hybrid governance as an analytical lens to understand Mexican drug cartels during the pandemic suggests the possibility to expand the field of application of this concept. It leads to a broader reflection on hybrid governance schemes with...

This research paper investigates how Transnational Organized Crime has expanded and increased their presence and their activities across borders in the European Union. Four significant concepts and theories; Globalization, migration, the social embeddedness theory, and the illegal enterprise theory were applied in order to explain how a crucial factor, globalization, in different forms has facilitated for the expansions. Using data in form of reports, documents, and news articles, a qualitative content analysis was conducted. The results show that globalization within certain industries such as transportation and trade has facilitated for the expansion in terms of activities. While globalization in terms of an enhanced movement of people across borders facilitated for the expansions in terms of recruitment of new members. Based on the results, the term globalization itself is not efficient enough to explain why and how it has facilitated for the expansions. Hence the importance of the theories and concepts that in this case have enhanced the analysis and enlarged the discussion which led to the above stated conclusion on how globalization in different forms have facilitated for Transnational Organized Crime to expand across borders.

This dissertation examines the relationship between violent organized crime and foreign direct investment (FDI) through sub-national analysis focused on the case of Mexico. The results indicate that FDI decisions vary based on the type of violent organized crime.

When an individual decides to end a criminal lifestyle, it becomes crucial to understand how both society and the surrounding view the individual. The labeling that previously existed can still be used against the defector and reduce the opportunities in society that can be offered. This also becomes an obstacle for the individual to make a role exit and delays the change process. However, the surroundings and new interests become a motivation for not making a relapse.The purpose of the research is to study the process of change that young adult men make when they leave the criminality and the adversities they encounter during their lifetime. A qualitative method was applied to study the topic where seven participants were interviewed and shared their life stories. With a phenomenological starting point, the social reality that defectors make when they leave organized crime is accounted for. Furthermore, the research is based on eleven previous researches that have been done in Sweden, South Africa and the USA, which describe important aspects. The theoretical framework consists of Ebaughs role exit theory and Goldberg's labeling theory. The previous research shows a connection and understanding that exists among the responses of defectors, and the theories reinforce what is emphasized in the analysis. There is a central reason why the defectors chose to break off the relationship with the gang, which is described as maturity, among other things. Even prosocial relationships become the reason for the decision of defectors to leave criminality. This will also be crucial for the participants' life chances to be able to reintegrate into society.