La microfinance entre utilité sociale et performances financières : Le rôle des normes dans la gouvernance d'un secteur mondialisé

Microfinance was designed as a development tool, but remains firmly anchored in the market economy. Its hybrid nature makes it unique among aid's instruments: microfinance benefits from subsidies, fiscal and regulatory support, while maintaining relative independence from governments and donors. To analyze its singular governance, we examine the interactions between its actors: both public and private as well commercial and non profit. This interplay is particularly oriented towards the definition of standards, codes, good practices, charters, labels, audit procedures, performance assessments, and other criteria aimed at regulating microfinance operations. Our purpose is to demonstrate that, beyond their technical specifications, norms that prescribe or evaluate MFIs' actions conceal different perceptions of what microfinance is, and what it should be. By studying the conventions used to supervise the financial, and subsequently, the social dimensions of this globalized field, this thesis deciphers the structures of authority that govern it.En fournissant des services financiers aux pauvres et aux exclus du système bancaire traditionnel, la microfinance remplit une mission sociale et de développement tout en étant ancrée dans le secteur marchand. Cette ambivalence lui confère un statut atypique parmi les instruments de l'aide au développement. Elle bénéficie ainsi de soutiens fiscaux, financiers et réglementaires, tout en gardant une autonomie relative à l'égard des États et des bailleurs de fonds. Pour éclairer ce mode singulier de gouvernance, ont été examinées les interactions entre des acteurs publics et privés, à buts lucratifs et non lucratifs. Celles-ci portent notamment sur la définition de standards, codes de conduite, bonnes pratiques, chartes, labels, procédures d'audit, mesures de performance et autres critères visant à encadrer l'activité de ce secteur. L'objectif consistait à démontrer qu'au-delà de leurs spécificités techniques, les normes qui prescrivent ou évaluent l'action des IMF constituent le support de conceptions distinctes de ce qu'est et de ce que doit être la microfinance. Au travers de l'étude des référentiels qui sont venus encadrer la dimension financière, puis sociale, de ce champ mondialisé, cette thèse explicite ainsi les structures d'autorité qui l'organisent

Pulsatile Hormonal Signaling to Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase: Exploring System Sensitivity to Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Pulse Frequency and Width

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is secreted in brief pulses that stimulate synthesis and secretion of pituitary gonadotropin hormones and thereby mediate control of reproduction. It acts via G-protein-coupled receptors to stimulate effectors, including ERK. Information could be encoded in GnRH pulse frequency, width, amplitude, or other features of pulse shape, but the relative importance of these features is unknown. Here we examine this using automated fluorescence microscopy and mathematical modeling, focusing on ERK signaling. The simplest scenario is one in which the system is linear, and response dynamics are relatively fast (compared with the signal dynamics). In this case integrated system output (ERK activation or ERK-driven transcription) will be roughly proportional to integrated input, but we find that this is not the case. Notably, we find that relatively slow response kinetics lead to ERK activity beyond the GnRH pulse, and this reduces sensitivity to pulse width. More generally, we show that the slowing of response kinetics through the signaling cascade creates a system that is robust to pulse width. We, therefore, show how various levels of response kinetics synergize to dictate system sensitivity to different features of pulsatile hormone input. We reveal the mathematical and biochemical basis of a dynamic GnRH signaling system that is robust to changes in pulse amplitude and width but is sensitive to changes in receptor occupancy and frequency, precisely the features that are tightly regulated and exploited to exert physiological control in vivo

Thermoelectricity - A Promising Complementarity with Efficient Stoves in Off-grid-areas

Thermoelectric modules produce electricity from heat flow. In areas without electricity, biomass is generally burnt in open fires or rudimentary stoves in order to generate heat, to cook and to produce domestic hot water. Combustion quality in these devices is very low and needs a large amount of wood extracted from surrounding forests. “Planète Bois” develops highly efficient clean multifunction stoves based on double chamber combustion. As an exhaust fan is necessary to adjust the primary and secondary air flows for optimal combustion, these stoves cannot currently be used without electricity. Thermoelectric modules incorporated in a heat exchanger between the flue and the hot water tank can supply the exhaust fan and also produce some electricity for other basic purposes. Our paper presents tests that were done on one of these stoves to size the thermoelectric generator and thus the produced electricity. These preliminary tests are used to identify an outlook for the successful implementation of these stoves

Congenital Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism Due to GNRH Receptor Mutations in Three Brothers Reveal Sites Affecting Conformation and Coupling

Congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) is characterized by low gonadotropins and failure to progress normally through puberty. Mutations in the gene encoding the GnRH receptor (GNRHR1) result in CHH when present as compound heterozygous or homozygous inactivating mutations. This study identifies and characterizes the properties of two novel GNRHR1 mutations in a family in which three brothers display normosmic CHH while their sister was unaffected. Molecular analysis in the proband and the affected brothers revealed two novel non-synonymous missense GNRHR1 mutations, present in a compound heterozygous state, whereas their unaffected parents possessed only one inactivating mutation, demonstrating the autosomal recessive transmission in this kindred and excluding X-linked inheritance equivocally suggested by the initial pedigree analysis. The first mutation at c.845 C>G introduces an Arg substitution for the conserved Pro 282 in transmembrane domain (TMD) 6. The Pro282Arg mutant is unable to bind radiolabeled GnRH analogue. As this conserved residue is important in receptor conformation, it is likely that the mutation perturbs the binding pocket and affects trafficking to the cell surface. The second mutation at c.968 A>G introduces a Cys substitution for Tyr 323 in the functionally crucial N/DPxxY motif in TMD 7. The Tyr323Cys mutant has an increased GnRH binding affinity but reduced receptor expression at the plasma membrane and impaired G protein-coupling. Inositol phosphate accumulation assays demonstrated absent and impaired Gαq/11 signal transduction by Pro282Arg and Tyr323Cys mutants, respectively. Pretreatment with the membrane permeant GnRHR antagonist NBI-42902, which rescues cell surface expression of many GNRHR1 mutants, significantly increased the levels of radioligand binding and intracellular signaling of the Tyr323Cys mutant but not Pro282Arg. Immunocytochemistry confirmed that both mutants are present on the cell membrane albeit at low levels. Together these molecular deficiencies of the two novel GNRHR1 mutations lead to the CHH phenotype when present as a compound heterozygote

Évaluer la microfinance, entre utilité sociale et performances financières

International audienc

¿Cooptación, cooperación o competencia? Microfinanzas y nuevas izquierdas en Bolivia, Ecuador y Nicaragua

La última década ha estado marcada por el resurgimiento de movimientos políticos izquierdistas en Latinoamérica. Sin embargo, la magnitud del alzamiento de estas “nuevas izquierdas” oculta a menudo la relación ambivalente entre estos movimientos y la sociedad, así como su lucha por encontrar alternativas al modelo de desarrollo prevaleciente. A lo largo del continente, el sector de las microfinanzas ha llenado el vacío dejado por los fallos de los bancos públicos, desarrollándose bajo una forma crecientemente comercial. Análisis de Nicaragua, Ecuador y Bolivia revelan que los nuevos gobiernos comparten su desconfianza hacia las IMF (instituciones de microfinanzas). Sin embargo, en la ausencia de alternativas viables para la provisión de servicios financieros, los gobiernos y las microfinanzas se ven obligados a coexistir. El medio en el cual lo hacen varía grandemente, dependiendo de políticas locales y factores institucionales. No obstante, algunas tendencias comunes pueden ser discernidas

La Microfinance : entre utilité sociale et rentabilité financière

International audienc

Dynamique des enherbements des pistes de ski en Savoie, leur gestion pastorale

During the construction of skiing pistes in the meadows and supraforest meadows of the Northern French Alps, the natural relief is reshaped by terraces. The naked substrates must be revegetated because they are very eroded: depending on the case, they are amended with stones, and organic matter. Then seeds of many herbaceous and graminaceous species are sown. Mineral or organic fertilizers and mulch are added. The plant populations are composed of very feedant species to constitute a resource for grazing herds. However, they must be used with care since they are fragile. They are submitted to a very fast evolution which leads to their stabilization in the most favorable cases. The objective of this study is to understand the dynamics of these populations, to define the role of the surrounding spontaneous vegetation, the behavior of the sown species in order to improve their management. / Lors de l'établissement de pistes de ski dans les prairies et les pelouses supra-forestières dans les Alpes Françaises du Nord on remodèle par endroits le relief naturel par des terrassements. Le substrats mis à nus sont très érodables, c'est pourquoi il faut les végétaliser : on les prépare selon les cas par des épierrages, des apports de matières organiques, on sème ensuite des semences de plusieurs variétés de légumineuses herbacées et de graminées auxquels on adjoint des nutriments sous forme minérale ou organique et un mulch. Les groupements végétaux issus de ces semis sont composés par des espèces très appétantes de sorte qu'ils constituent une ressource pour les troupeaux inalpés : cependant ils doivent être exploités avec précaution car ils sont fragiles : ils sont soumis à une évolution très rapide qui aboutit à terme à leur stabilisation dans les cas les plus favorables. Cette étude a pour objet de cerner la dynamique de ces groupements, de préciser le rôle de la végétation spontanée environnante, le comportement des espèces semées afin d'apporter des éléments de connaissance utiles à leur gestion pastorale