Comme une sorte de revers de la médaille, la fin des « Trente Glorieuses » est marquée par la reconnaissance de la problématique environnementale et les crises pétrolières des années 1970. La première grande conférence de l'ONU consacrée à l'environnement humain à Stockholm en 1972 se déroule dans contexte où scientifiques, industriels et politiques s'interrogent sur les modalités permettant de créer un nouveau modèle de société. De la croissance « vertes » en passant par la décroissance, les propositions ne manquent pas. Depuis le Sommet de la Terre de Rio en 1992, c'est du côté du changement technique, de l'innovation et des industriels que tous les regards sont rivés aujourd'hui. Seulement, la doctrine de l'innovation environnementale et les méthodes en matière d'éco-conception restent fragiles.Depuis la Révolution industrielle, le secteur des revêtements de sol résilients, ou souples, accompagne l'évolution des modes de vie au sein des habitations et représente un symbole d'une société de consommation de masse. Aux proies aux controverses, nous nous proposons de décrire comment les industriels de ce secteur gèrent et intègrent la pression environnementale ; et en particulier comment, de fait, mobilisent-ils le processus d'innovation environnementale pour résister à cette pression. / As a kind of a flipside of the coin, the end of the "Thirty Glorious Years" is marked by the recognition of environmental issues and the oil crises of the 1970s The first major UN conference dedicated to the Human Environment in Stockholm 1972 takes place in context where scientists, industrialists and politicians are questioning the methods for creating a new model of society. To The “Green Growth” to “degrowth”, proposals abound since this last decade. Since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, technical change, innovation and industry are the center of attention. But the doctrine of environmental innovation and methods for eco-design are still fragile.Since the Industrial Revolution, the sector of resilient floorings follows lifestyles whilst keeping its symbol of a society of mass consumption. Prey to controversies, we propose to describe how the industry manage and integrate environmental pressure; and especially how they mobilized the process of environmental innovation to withstand pressure.

Nesse trabalho buscou-se compreender como ocorreu a ocupação da Pedra Grande e o entorno, na região central do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, pelos Guarani desde o período inicial até o momento do contato, quando estes são inseridos em uma Redução Jesuítico-Guarani no início do século XVII. Com ênfase no estudo das escolhas técnicas inseridas na cadeia operatória de confecção dos artefatos cerâmicos, buscou-se perceber as permanências e as mudanças técnicas ocorridas a partir do contato nas diferentes etapas de sua confecção em relação a: a aquisição da argila, tratamento da pasta, técnicas de confecção, forma do artefato, acabamento de superfície e queima, quando as vasilhas estão prontas ao uso. Foram analisadas as coleções cerâmicas do sítio Ibm 4 Pedra Grande, onde se instalou a Redução, em comparação com os vasilhames do sítio Ibm 14 Rodolfo Mariano pertencentes a um contexto funerário datado do século XI da nossa era. A percepção da continuidade e da mudança técnica se deu pelas recorrências e variabilidades na cultura material, percebidas através de atributos técnicos aplicados a cada fragmento de artefato e com auxílio de análises de Microscopia Óptica, Fluorescência de Raios X e Difratometria de Raios X. Dessa forma, buscou-se compreender quais mudanças técnicas ocorreram inseridas num conjunto maior de transformações de todos os aspectos da cultura dentro de uma totalidade social. No momento do contato com os europeus, os Guarani se deparam com uma nova situação diferente da tradicional, em que novos artefatos e conhecimentos técnicos lhe são apresentados. Percebeu-se que dentro destas possibilidades de mudanças, os Guarani optaram por adotar algumas características técnicas novas e rejeitar outras, produzindo algumas mudanças técnicas perceptíveis no estudo da cultura material, e é sobre esse processo que procurou-se refletir na finalização do trabalho. / This work aimed at finding out how the occupation of Pedra Grande site, located at the central region of Rio Grande do Sul state, as well its surroundings, by the Guarani people, happened since the beginning of the settlement until the moment of first contact, when they were inserted into a Jesuit-Guarani settlement in the beginning of the XVII century. Focusing on the technological choices inserted in the Operation Sequence of ceramic artifact confection, one tried to notice the permanent or changed technological choices occurred from the first contact throughout the different stages of its confection considering: clay acquisition, paste treatment, techniques of manufacture, artifact forming and shaping, surface finishing, and firing, and vessels ready to be used. One analyzed the pottery collection of: Ibm 4 Pedra Grande site, where the settlement got place, in comparison to the vessels of Ibm 14 Rodolfo Mariano site that consists of a funerary context dated from the XI century from our era. The technological continuity and changing perception was possible due to the recurrence and variability on the material culture, noticed through technological attributes applied on each artifact fragment, assisted by Optical Microscopy, X Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and also X Ray Diffractometry. In this way, one searched about what technological changes occurred inserted into a bigger group of cultural transformations in a social totality. When in contact with Europeans, the Guarani people face a new situation if compared to the traditional one, in which new artifacts as well as technological knowledge are presented to them. It was noticed that among those possible changes, the Guarani people opted by adopting some of the new techniques but rejecting others, producing some of the technological changes noticed on the material culture study, which guided the final reflection in this work.

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.

<p>Industrial systems resist change, more often, because heavy production facilities and industrial constructions are expensive and have long economic lives, but also because people tend to defend ingrained conceptions of how things are and how activities ought to be performed. Starting out from the question: “How does technological change come about in an international, industrial system?” the thesis investigates the interplay between technological, social, and economic factors. Empirically the work is located to the steel and metals industries and covers business exchange within and between several economic entities performing international business operations.</p><p>It is shown that technological change is driven by strategic intention, but that it also occurs as a result of chance or “necessity”, or follows on everyday enterprise operations. In an attempt to realize strategic intentions actors involve in games of negotiation while referring to different power bases. Backed by organizational role (hierarchic level/managerial position), personal “luminosity” (charisma/leadership), or control over critical resources (that other actors are interested in) various arguments are put to the test on “the arena for negotiations and change”. While involving in negotiations actors may relate to existing business and/or social relations for support or they may take advantage of full-blown coalitions.</p><p>Constrained by the games of negotiation, which unfold in an institutional environment, the process of technological change adopts evidently evolutionary characteristics, and it follows implicitly that the single actor has at its disposal only limited possibilities to determine the process outcome. Technological change as an evolutionary process consists of three underlying sub-processes, viz. innovation, interaction, and institutionalization, it is argued.</p>

Dans un contexte de changement technologique, d'organisations matricielles ou en réseaux, les entreprises recherchent aujourd'hui les moyens d'harmoniser, de structurer et de fluidifier leurs processus et leurs systèmes de management. Entre autres moyens, elles recourent de façon croissante aux Progiciels de Gestion Intégrés (PGI), systèmes destinés à traiter les informations de gestion en temps réel et en réseau au sein de l'entreprise, dans l'espoir d'en améliorer la performance. Cependant l'investissement en PGI ne se traduit pas forcément par une performance organisationnelle. Le retour sur investissement s'avère parfois bien en deçà des espérances, ce qui provoque déceptions et interrogations des décideurs quant à la pertinence des choix technologiques effectués. Fondée sur une approche structurationniste, cette thèse s'interroge sur l'appropriation de cette technologie au sein de l'entreprise. Elle analyse de manière approfondie les liens entre gestion de processus, logique de formation et appropriation d'un PGI par les utilisateurs. La formation, organisée en appui à l'implantation d'un PGI est considérée comme un construit social, pouvant s'inscrire dans une approche instrumentale ou intégrative (selon le processus de changement initié par le management). Cette formation est ainsi susceptible de structurer des formes contrastées d'appropriation. Réalisée, au sein d'entreprises implantées en Belgique, cette recherche permet de montrer, au-delà de tout déterminisme technologique, que le processus selon lequel le changement est conduit est déterminant quant aux résultats obtenus. Différents choix sont ouverts aux gestionnaires en matière d'implication des utilisateurs du PGI, d'objectifs et de méthodes de formation, d'organisation de la formation. Ces choix, s'ils sont parfois peu pesés dans la relative urgence du changement, ont cependant un poids déterminant quant au degré d'appropriation du PGI par les utilisateurs et, en conséquence, quant aux résultats finaux. / In a context of technological change, of matrix organizations and networks, companies strive to harmonize, structure and improve their management processes and systems. One means for this is to implement an ERP, that is a system intended to process management information instantly within the organizational network, with the hope to improve performance. However, investments in ERPs do not bring out automatically organizational performance. Sometimes, the return on investment is far below expectations, which causes managers disappointment and questioning about the relevance of technological choices carried out. Based on theories analyzing interactions between technology and organization, this thesis questions “appropriation processes” of an ERP within companies. It analyses the links between process management, training logic and appropriation of an ERP by users within the firm. Training organized on the ERP for personnel in the firm is considered as a social construction that can adopt very different types of approach, either instrumental or integrative (according to the process of change management conducted within the company). As a result, contrasted types of appropriation can occur, related to what type training logic has been put in place. Carried out within firms set up in Belgium, this research shows that, beyond all technological determinism, the change process is the determining factor regarding outcomes. Managers have various choices as regards the degree of involvement of ERP users in change and in training. However, if those choices are sometimes slightly weighed up because of short deadlines in the implementation of the ERP, they have a determining role in the final appropriation of the ERP within an organization and consequently in its final outcomes.

Industrial systems resist change, more often, because heavy production facilities and industrial constructions are expensive and have long economic lives, but also because people tend to defend ingrained conceptions of how things are and how activities ought to be performed. Starting out from the question: “How does technological change come about in an international, industrial system?” the thesis investigates the interplay between technological, social, and economic factors. Empirically the work is located to the steel and metals industries and covers business exchange within and between several economic entities performing international business operations. It is shown that technological change is driven by strategic intention, but that it also occurs as a result of chance or “necessity”, or follows on everyday enterprise operations. In an attempt to realize strategic intentions actors involve in games of negotiation while referring to different power bases. Backed by organizational role (hierarchic level/managerial position), personal “luminosity” (charisma/leadership), or control over critical resources (that other actors are interested in) various arguments are put to the test on “the arena for negotiations and change”. While involving in negotiations actors may relate to existing business and/or social relations for support or they may take advantage of full-blown coalitions. Constrained by the games of negotiation, which unfold in an institutional environment, the process of technological change adopts evidently evolutionary characteristics, and it follows implicitly that the single actor has at its disposal only limited possibilities to determine the process outcome. Technological change as an evolutionary process consists of three underlying sub-processes, viz. innovation, interaction, and institutionalization, it is argued.

This study is an attempt for providing a socio-historical perspective to the smart home concept that is a proposal for the future domestic sphere by the application of intelligent technologies. For achieving this attempt, the smart home is investigated with its roots within the social history of domestic technology, by posing the question of a relation between the machine house idea of modern architecture and the smart home concept as the main question of the research. After an inquiry on the smart home concept and on the future private sphere that is envisaged within it, the emergence of modern private sphere, the transformation of private sphere under the impacts of industrialization, the appearance and the social consequences of the machine house idea, the introduction of mass produced appliances to the home and the impacts of it on private sphere, the development of communication and information technologies and their domestication processes are investigated. The coconstructive relationship of technology with the private sphere is pursued throughout this investigation. The research questions of the study are answered in the light of the gained knowledge and critical perspective throughout the investigations. At the end, it is revealed that the smart home has conceptual, technical, and ideological constructive roots within the histories of the modern private sphere, modern architecture and design, and domestic communication and information technologies. It is discussed that these roots constitute the smart home as a domain of social reproduction, which also provides the ground for its conceptualization and promotion as the future domestic sphere.

Questa tesi e’ composta da cinque articoli sui temi dell’innovazione, diffusione e adozione di tecnologie energetiche efficienti. Il primo capitolo presenta una rassegna della letteratura empirica sulle dinamiche del cambiamento tecnologico in campo ambientale. Il secondo capitolo studia le piu’ importanti determinanti del flusso di conoscenza. Il terzo capitolo identifica le maggiori determinanti di domanda e offerta dell’innovazione, con particolare attenzione al ruolo della conoscenza internazionale. I risultati presentati mostrano come gli spillover di conoscenza favoriscano ulteriori innovazioni. I capitoli quarto e quinto studiano il settore di produzione dell’energia elettrica. Il capitolo quarto presenta un database di brevetti in technologie energetiche efficienti. Il capitolo quinto studia le determinanti dell’efficienza energetica nella produzione di energia elettrica da fonti fossili, con particolare attenzione al ruolo della tecnologia. / This dissertation is a collection of essays on innovation, diffusion and adoption of energy technologies. Chapter 1 presents a state-of-the art review of empirical contributions on TC dynamics as applied to eco-innovation. Chapter 2 explores the main determinants of knowledge flows and how they favor or hinder the flow of knowledge across border. Both geographical and technological distance hinder the flow of eco-knowledge. Chapter 3 identifies the main demand and supply-side determinants of innovation, with particular attention to the role of foreign knowledge. I point to the importance of knowledge spillovers in fostering further eco-innovation, especially in countries with medium to low innovative abilities. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on TC in the electricity sector, a main contributor to GHG emissions. In Chapter 4 presents the data selection process used to identify patents in efficient fossil electricity technologies and provides a worldwide analysis of innovation trends in these technologies. Chapter 5 studies the evolution of energy efficiency in fossil-fuel based electricity production, devoting particular attention to the contribution of knowledge to production efficiency.

This thesis represents an attempt to explore critical issues in the national military literature and bring up findings for further studies by exploring military innovation,smart management of defense R&amp / D, critical and dual-use technologies concepts in detail. The study has two main components. The first part provides a conceptual and theoretical framework to discuss and understand military innovation, critical technology and dual-use technology. A military that fails to innovate when their contemporaries are innovating is destined to face its dire consequences. So the quest for change within military organizations is a rational and hopefully encouraged behavior. In this thesis the modes of innovation are at the center stage. However, the main intention focus is on technological innovation. As certain technologies are at the core of decisive military innovation, the initial step in innovation is normally to procure the new technology. A country that must purchase technology from abroad is arguably less likely to wield it as effectively as the country that is capable of inventing or manufacturing it, as the latter is usually better equipped to exploit and further refine technology. In order to insure the flow of technological innovations, a sound technology investment strategy must be formulated. A strategy built on a foundation of three integrated building blocks (optimal in-house R&amp / D, expanded collaborative efforts, and smart outsourcing) will enable the military to be an effective smart buyer and smart provider. The thesis proceeds with a brief discussion of critical technologies, specifically the ones that are critical for military and national importance, in order to provide guidance for identifying which technologies harbor the greatest payoff potential. Closely related to this discussion is the question of national economic growth based on technological developments in particular the development of technologies with potential for use in either the civilian or military sectors, and promotion of partnerships among actors / military, industry, academia. Such technologies are referred as dual-use technologies. The dual-use relationships among actors are spin-off, spin-on, venture capital model, and military support/pull model. The second part of the thesis develops a kind of empirical case study analysis based on a rotary-wing upgrade project about the importance of upgrade and system integration technology as a core capability. The last chapter concludes the thesis with the discussion of findings.

Aquesta tesi representa un model teòric i metodològic per a l’estudi del canvi tecnològic en Arqueologia. El marc teòric, que rep el nom d’Arqueometria del canvi tecnològic, té els seus fonaments en la teoria de la dissonància cognitiva procedent de la Psicologia social. D’altra banda, el marc metodològic es basa en l’aplicació de tècniques arqueomètriques. El cas d’estudi el representa el canvi en el disseny dels primers tipus d’àmfora romana produïts al nord de la província romana Hispania Tarraconensis. / This thesis presents a theoretical and methodological model to study technological change processes. The model is based on cognitive dissonance theory which is used as an interpretative framework in the change of the designs of the first Roman amphorae types produced along the Hispania Tarraconensis Roman province during the change of the Era.