Does corruption impact on firms'ability to conduct business in Mauritania ? evidence from investment climate survey data

This paper seeks to understand whether Mauritanian firms deem corruption as an obstacle to operate and grow, to identify the profile of firms that are more likely to make informal payments, and to quantify the size of these payments. The results of the analysis show that perceptions of corruption can be potentially misleading. Corruption is not considered to be one of the most taxing factors impeding the growth of firms in Mauritania. Yet, its cost to firms is significant and greater than in the comparator group countries. This means that corruption is internalized by firms and considered an accepted practice. Alternatively, firms may fear reporting corruption practices for fear of retaliation. Econometric evidence on the propensity and intensity of bribes suggests that medium-size firms suffer the most from corruption in Mauritania. Larger firms are more established and connected, do not fear exiting the market, and are less likely to be harassed. Smaller firms are less visible and may be able to escape the control of public officials by operating largely in the informal sector. Medium-size firms are the most likely to pay bribes and to pay the highest amounts as a percentage of their total annual sales, which places a heavy burden on their ability to grow.Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures,Access to Finance,Governance Indicators,Microfinance,National Governance

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose: la economía política del desarrollo impulsado por las rentas en Mauritania

Tras cuatro decenios de desarrollo impulsado por las rentas que han acabado de forma sistemática con toda competencia en los principales sectores de la economía, Mauritania sigue siendo intrínsecamente proclive a intervenciones autoritarias cuando se ven amenazados intereses importantes. La economía sigue creciendo a un ritmo relativamente lento y sigue sin diversificarse. Aunque la elección de Uld Cheikh Abdallahi en 2007 sí que supuso una ruptura con el pasado, su breve mandato se caracterizó por las mismas tensiones sin resolver que han venido provocando sistemáticamente la intervención de “hombres fuertes” desde la independencia del país en 1960. La economía de Mauritania se basa en los recursos naturales: mineral de hierro, pesca, cobre, oro y, más recientemente, petróleo. Los decenios de desarrollo impulsado por las rentas en estos sectores han fomentado el surgimiento de un sistema basado en el clientelismo y el trato de favor. Unos cuantos grupos poderosos controlan de facto las grandes empresas de comercio y el sector bancario, un fenómeno que ha impedido el surgimiento de un sector privado competitivo. Aunque las elecciones de 2007 dieron lugar a la Asamblea Nacional más plural desde el punto de vista político de la historia de Mauritania, el bloque de parlamentarios vinculado a la “vieja guardia” siguió controlando la mayoría de los escaños. El país presenta una compleja mezcla cultural y étnica. El grado de representación política y de poder económico, las cuestiones lingüísticas y el acceso a la tierra en el valle del río Senegal son algunos de los principales aspectos de la “cuestión nacional” aún por resolver, que caracteriza la interacción entre los principales grupos etnoculturales de Mauritania. En el futuro, la estabilidad del país dependerá de la capacidad de la clase política para empezar a abordar abiertamente estas cuestiones y darles una respuesta efectiva

The Mauritanian labor market through the lens of the 2004 national household survey

This paper provides a snapshot of Mauritania’s labor market using data from the 2004 national household survey. The results show that the labor market is characterized by lower participation rates, lower employment-to-population rates, and relatively higher unemployment rates than in neighboring countries. The non poor fare better in the labor market than the poor. Although the labor force participation of the poor is higher than that of the non poor, the poor display a higher unemployment rate and a lower employment rate than the non poor. The data also suggest a negative correlation between wage employment and poverty. Substantial differences in labor market indicators emerge when disaggregating the analysis by gender and age-group. Female non-participation is extremely high. Women systematically earn less than men independently of their sector and type of employment and controlling for other factors, such as education. Young adults face considerable difficulties in entering the labor market: more than half of the population aged 15-24 is neither studying nor participating in the labor force. As gender disparities remain important for similar levels of education, more work is needed to understand whether cultural factors may prevent women from entering the labor market. Concerning young adults, future poverty reduction strategies need to pay more explicit attention to the promotion of employment through informed labor market policies.Labor Markets,Population Policies,Rural Poverty Reduction,Labor Policies,

Reaching the millennium development goals : Mauritania should care

Mauritania is a resource-rich developing country. As many other African nations, it will not reach most of the Millennium Development Goals, unless the authorities commit to accelerating progress. To succeed by 2015, the government needs to: mobilize additional financial resources, introduce policy changes at the sector level, and strengthen the links between strategic objectives and the budget. Adopting the Millennium Development Goals as the overarching development framework will keep policy-makers focused on concrete results and help them avoid the so-called"natural resource curse."This paper calculates the total cost of the Millennium Development Goals and financing gap (on aggregate and for each goal); recommends changes in domestic sector policies; and proposes ways to integrate the Millennium Development Goals into the budget process. Over 2008-2015, the total cost of reaching the goals in Mauritania and the resulting financing gap stand at, respectively, around 9 and 3 percent of non-oil gross domestic product on average per year. Education is the most expensive goal in absolute terms, but the individual financing gaps are widest for poverty reduction and improving maternal health. On the policy side, sector strategies need to be aligned with the goals and resources allocated more than proportionally to the disadvantaged groups, mainly at the local level.Population Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Rural Poverty Reduction,Health Systems Development&Reform,

Musical narration, performance and excess: the creation of horror in the Swedish opera Tintomara by Lars Johan Werle

Johanna Ethnersson Pontara untersucht die verschiedenen Schichten in der Oper Tintomara von Lars Johan Werle und Leif Söderström (Stockholm 1973), die auf der Novelle The Queen’s Jewel von Carl Johan Love Almqvist basiert und deren Aussage durch die Kompositionstechnik erweitert wird, so Pontaras These. Durch die Montage der  verschiedenen Stile bringt Werle das Verhältnis von Narration und Performance ins Oszillieren. Vor allem aber nutzt er seine Erfahrung als Filmmusikkomponist um Schockeffekte, wie man sie von der Musik in Horrorfilmen kennt, herzustellen und auf die Körper der Zuhörenden Macht auszuüben. Ethnersson Pontara wendet Theorien des Films an und kann so zeigen, dass die Orientierung und Veranlagung Tintomaras, einem Hermaphroditen, durch das in Romanzen, Porno- und Horrorfilmen traditionelle Machtgefälle zwischen männlichen Subjekten und weiblichen Objekten unterwandert wird.Johanna Ethnersson Pontara examines the different layers in the opera Tintomara by Lars Johan Werle and Leif Söderström (Stockholm 1973), based on the short story The Queen\u27s Jewel by Carl Johan Love Almqvist. Pontara’s thesis claims that the opera\u27s message is expanded by the composition technique. By assembling the different styles Werle brings the relationship between narration and performance to oscillation. He uses his experience as a film music composer to create shock effects, such as those caused by the music in horror films, in order to perform them on the listeners\u27 bodies. Ethnersson Pontara applies film theories to reveal how the orientation and disposition of the hermaphrodite Tintomaras is undermined by the power disparities between male subjects and female objects as they are traditionally represented in romances, porn and horror films

Gandhi: el político y su pensamiento

Gandhi fue un revolucionario. Su lucha noviolenta anti-colonial es un interesante –e inspirador- ejemplo de movimiento de resistencia contra los imperios. Su doctrina ético-política –cuyos conceptos básicos son ahimsa, satya, satyagraha y sarvodaya- contiene un mensaje todavía muy relevante para los movimentos sociales y los grupos de resistencia civil empeñados en su oposición contra la globalización de la violencia y los procesos violentos de globalizaciónGandhi was a revolutionary. His anti-colonial nonviolent struggle is an interesting -and inspiring- example of the resistance movement against empires. His ethical-political doctrine -whose basic concepts are ahimsa, satya, satyagraha and sarvodaya- contains a message which is still very relevant for the social movements and civil resistance groups involved in the opposition against the globalization of violence and the violent process of globalization.Gandhi era um revolucionário. Sua luta não-violenta e anti-colonial é um interesante –e inspirador- exemplo de movimento de resistência contra os impérios. Sua doutrina ética e política -cujos conceitos básicos são ahimsa, satya, satyagraha e sarvodaya- contém uma mensagem ainda muito relevante para os movimentos sociais e grupos de resistência civis envolvidos em sua oposição à globalização da violência e processos violentos da globalizaçã

Variações espaço-temporais no crescimento de Dalbergia nigra (Vell.) Allemão ex Benth

Spatio-temporal variation in soil resource availability associated with topography and seasonality may drive patterns of tree growth and phenology, but these links are poorly characterized for most tropical tree species. We use dendroecological methods to test the hypothesis that variation in topographic position is related to radial growth and phenology for individuals of the endangered tropical tree Dalbergia nigra under uniform conditions of climate and irradiance, and to examine effects of seasonality on plant phenology and growth periodicity. Dendrometer-based measurements of stem diameter change over 26 months and local measurements of soil nutrient and water availability were compared for 24 individuals of D. nigra distributed equally between summit and valley positions within a topographically heterogeneous fragment of Atlantic rain forest in southeast Brazil. Soil water and nutrient availability, and cumulative radial growth, were greater for trees in valley than summit positions. Monthly diameter increment was seasonal and positively related to monthly rainfall. D. nigra was seasonal in all phenophases, regardless of topographic position, and there were no differences in the frequency, timing or intensity of phenophases among topographic positions. We conclude that low soil nutrient and/or moisture availability reduce radial growth of D. nigra individuals growing in summit positions, while trees growing in valleys exhibit faster annual growth, but that vegetative or reproductive phenology are unaffected by fine-scale variation in topography.Dalbergia nigra é uma arbórea endêmica da Floresta Atlântica, que ocorre no leste do Brasil. Produz madeira valiosa, mas este recurso foi altamente explorado que é a causa da classificação como vulnerável. Neste estudo, foi investigado os mecanismos que determinam a abundância, distribuição e crescimento de uma população de D. nigra em um fragmento da Mata Atlântica. No primeiro capítulo, usamos métodos dendroecologia para testar a hipótese de que a variação na posição topográfica, estaria relacionada com o crescimento radial de Dalbergia nigra em condições uniformes de clima e irradiância. O alto teor de alumínio, baixa fertilidade e umidade do solo presente na parte alta do fragmento ocasionou menor crescimento de árvores de D. nigra. No segundo capítulo, determinamos se a topografia e a variação em fina escala de disponibilidade de recursos podem resultar em diferentes taxas de mortalidade e de crescimento em plântulas de D. nigra. A topografia influenciou a taxa de sobrevivência e crescimento de plântulas e de indivíduos jovens de D. nigra, com maior crescimento e recrutamento na parte baixa do fragmento. Além disso, a taxa de sobrevivência e crescimento de plântulas foram menores na estação seca do que na estação chuvosa. Assim, a sensibilidade à seca sazonal na fase de plântulas pode ser fortemente dependente da umidade local. No capítulo 3, examinamos se há variação no incremento radial de D. nigra entre diferentes classes de diâmetro e como a densidade da madeira varia em relação a fatores abióticos como fertilidade e umidade do solo. Precipitação foi a variável medida mais forte implicados no crescimento de D. nigra, independentemente do tamanho da classe. Os fatores edáficos também foram determinantes no crescimento e na densidade da madeira de D. nigra. O efeito da heterogeneidade de fatores abióticos em um pequeno fragmento de Mata Atlântica ofereceu condições distintas que resultaram em maior ou menor sucesso no recrutamento e crescimento dos indivíduos de D. nigra de acordo com sua distribuição no mosaico de recursos.CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoCAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superio

Multi-Drive Powertrain Configurations for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

Over the last fifteen years, the automotive market experienced a renewed interest towards electric and hybrid cars which, in turn, pushed the mayor manufacturers to increase investments in this sector, while also allowing new players to enter the market with innovative solutions. This gave rise to traction systems significantly different from the traditional ones, also from the conceptual point of view. An example is the powertrain “splitting”, namely the subdivision of the propulsive power between several subsystems more or less independent from each other. Literature shows that this solution can bring significant benefits, both under the powertrain point of view and the vehicle as a whole. Since the tractive effort is divided among several sub-components, these can be sized to a lower rated power, be more compact and easier to accommodate in the vehicle. Furthermore, the power splitting brings to higher reliability and enhanced vehicle dynamic performance. Eventually, for selected power ranges, it has been found possible to supply the traction drives at ultra-low voltage, i.e. 48 V, still achieving interesting performances, with clear benefits in terms of safety and simplicity. The research activity found practical application in the “AMBER-ULV” FP7 European project, for which a two-motor, two-axle, two-batteries traction system with a centralized control unit was developed. A model of the high-level control algorithm was conceived and run on the ECU thanks to model-based automatic code generation with integration of a stability control algorithm externally provided. The research activity also included the design of the traction drives, the low-level software and their integration on the vehicle. The prototype was also widely tested in several conditions in order to demonstrate the validity of the design process and choices