Dividend policy

The aim of this article is to analyze the various aspects of dividend policy. Emphasizing tax issues, theoretical frameworks of informational asymmetry of corporate governance and life cycles, we show that a static vision of dividends has been gradually replaced by a dynamic vision. Nevertheless, in spite of the numerous studies dealing with this topic, Black’s (1976) dividend puzzle still remains unsolved

Confined extensions and non-standard dynamical filtrations

In this paper, we explore various ways in which a factor $\sigma$-algebra $\mathscr{B}$ can sit in a dynamical system $\mathbf{X} :=(X, \mathscr{A}, \mu, T)$, i.e. we study some possible structures of the extension $\mathscr{A} \rightarrow \mathscr{B}$. We consider the concepts of super-innovations and standardness of extensions, which are inspired from the theory of filtrations. An important focus of our work is the introduction of the notion of confined extensions, whose initial interest is that they have no super-innovation. We give several examples and study additional properties of confined extensions, including several lifting results. Then, using $T, T^{-1}$ transformations, we show our main result: the existence of non-standard extensions. Finally, this result finds an application to the study of dynamical filtrations, i.e. filtrations of the form $(\mathscr{F}_n)_{n \leq 0}$ such that each $\mathscr{F}_n$ is a factor $\sigma$-algebra. We show that there exist non-standard I-cosy dynamical filtrations

Relating ordinary and fully simple maps via monotone Hurwitz numbers

A direct relation between the enumeration of ordinary maps and that of fully simple maps first appeared in the work of the first and last authors. The relation is via monotone Hurwitz numbers and was originally proved using Weingarten calculus for matrix integrals. The goal of this paper is to present two independent proofs that are purely combinatorial and generalise in various directions, such as to the setting of stuffed maps and hypermaps. The main motivation to understand the relation between ordinary and fully simple maps is the fact that it could shed light on fundamental, yet still not well-understood, problems in free probability and topological recursion.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure

Ubuntu, Anti-corruption Principle, and the Protection of the Right to Health in South Africa during the COVID-19: The Case Study of the Solidarity Fund (SF)

In the COVID-19 context, all States had to protect the right to health of their people by implementing emergency measures to mitigate the negative effects of this global pandemic. South Africa declared COVID-19 a National Disaster (March 15, 2020) under the Disaster Management Act, 2002, N°57. The government has full authority to adopt emergency measures, including the creation of a Solidarity Fund (March 23, 2020) to respond to the coronavirus’ “health, humanitarian and social consequences”. In a context of corruption that is familiar to South Africa (the country scored 44 out of 100 points [Transparency International, 2020]), the Presidency has strengthened anti-corruption agencies to investigate any suspicion of abuse of these donations and the arrest of anyone responsible for these criminal acts. Despite these measures, a wave of scandals, affecting the right to health for all, has struck South Africa. From 2020, over 4,780 corruption cases, involving government officials, senior civil servants, and the private sector, were reported. Diversion of food donations, embezzlement of social grants, as well as abuse of the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) and Unemployment Insurance Fund by businesses or/and public servants, were among these scandals. In 2022, was disclosed that of the 5,467 contracts regarding COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment awarded to 3,066 suppliers (for a total of R14.3 billion), 2,803 were irregular. All these frauds show the urgent need to reclaim African principles in combating corruption at the highest levels of society. In making its case the paper explores several biggest Covid-19-related scandals of corruption. Then it proceeds to examine, how this wrongdoing threatened the right to health and the importance of South African Ubuntu as an anti-corruption principle. It concludes by demonstrating how Ubuntu shall prevent another scandal of corruption in a pandemic context

Un ordre sanitaire non négociable ? Les habiletés relationnelles des techniciens vétérinaires

Le modèle d’inspection des services vétérinaires en abattoir repose sur une présence en continu des agents de l’Etat dans les espaces de travail. Les leçons institutionnelles tirées de la crise de la vache folle ont conduit à orienter le système de surveillance sanitaire vers l’autocontrôle et la responsabilisation des industriels. Les équipes vétérinaires ont accompagné la mise en place de ce système dans les entreprises, mais leur présence est actuellement disqualifiée car elle complexifie la détermination de la responsabilité juridique entre les acteurs privés et publics. L’observation de l’activité concrète des techniciens vétérinaires et d’une inspectrice dans un abattoir montre la diversité des registres de contrôle et de coopération avec le personnel, pour adapter les règles sanitaires aux réalités productives. En dépit des problèmes que pose ce mode d’inspection, il s’agit de comparer ses intérêts aux alternatives envisagées dans le cadre du « paquet hygiène ».health control, veterinary inspection, slaughterhouse, juridical responsibility

Dynamiques foncières et encastrement des marchés en Côte d’Ivoire : la fin du dogme du « Baoulé travailleur et non vendeur de terre » ?

En Afrique, et singulièrement en Côte d’Ivoire, les peuples sont unanimes que la terre est un bien commun, sacré. Elle ne peut être cédée qu’à titre temporaire. En dépit de cette idéologie, il est apparu un marché foncier dans toutes les zones forestières et de transition. Cette étude part de l’hypothèse qu’une terre qui est favorable à une spéculation en « vogue » fait apparaître un marché foncier, qui subit les normes des autres marchés préexistants, et les normes traditionnelles de gestion foncière s’en trouvent déconstruites, dépassées. L’étude de type ethnographique a eu pour terrain empirique les villages des sous-préfectures de Kpouebo et de Kpacobo situés, respectivement dans les départements de Toumodi et Taabo (Centre-sud ivoirien), avec le village d’Adahou (dans la sous-préfecture de Kpouebo) comme cas de marché foncier. Les données ont été produites par une recherche documentaire couplée d’observations directes dans les villages desdites souspréfectures. De plus, des entretiens semi-directifs ont été faits auprès du Souspréfet de Kpouebo, du chef de village d’Adahou et sa notabilité, du président des jeunes et des membres de la mutuelle de développement d’Adahou, des chefs de ménages dudit village ayant accepté ou refusé de vendre leurs biens fonciers familiaux, enfin auprès des intermédiaires de vente de terre d’Adahou et de Kpouebo. Cette étude se fixe pour objectif d’appréhender tous les marchés fonciers comme des marchés encastrés, enchevêtrés dans des relations sociales locales et nationales. L’analyse des résultats montre que, tout comme les peuples forestiers qui n’ont pu s’abstenir de céder leurs terres, sous la ruée de migrants pour la cacaoculture ou l’urbanisation, les Baoulé du Centre-sud de la Côte d’Ivoire sont devenus « vendeurs » de terres rurales, sous la pression des élites politiques favorables à l’hévéaculture. Dès lors, l’apparition du marché foncier dans la zone d’étude doit être perçue comme les effets de l’encastrement des marchés fonciers d’autres régions forestières ivoiriennes, et non comme de la paresse caractérielle. En outre, il est à retenir que le marché foncier d’Adahou est spécifique, car la population a choisi de vendre des portions de terres familiales afin d’édifier un nouveau village et améliorer son cadre de vie. En somme, le marché foncier d’Adahou a engendré un nouveau village moderne. Cependant, ce marché n’a permis à la population de se créer des vergers d’hévéa. Il a plutôt entrainé le transfert de manteaux forestiers arables au profit des élites, rendant les propriétaires coutumiers des paysans sans terre. In Africa and particularly in Ivory Coast, people are of the view that land is a common and sacred property. It can only be transferred temporarily. Despite this ideology, there is a land market in all the forest or transitional areas. This study starts from the hypothesis that a land which is favorable to a speculation in "vogue" gives rise to a land market, which is subject to the norms of other pre-existing markets, and the traditional norms of land management are thereby deconstructed and exceded. The ethnographic study took place in empirical land in the villages of Kpouebo and Kpacobo located respectively in the department of Toumodi and Taabo (in the middle-south of Ivory Coast) with the village of Adahou (in the sub region of Kpouebo) as an example of land market. The data was produced by a documentary research coupled with direct observations in the villages of the said sub-prefectures. Moreover, semi-structured interviews have been carried out with the sub prefect of Kpouebo, the chief of the village of Adahou and its leading members, the youth representative and the members of the association for the  development of the village of Adahou, the Chief of the family of the village who have accepted or refused to sell their family lands, and finally with middlemen who use to sell Adahou and Kpouebo’s land. This paper focuses on understanding all markets land as embedded one, entangled in local and national social relationships. The analysis of the results show that like other people living in forest who could not give up their lands under the pressure of migrants for cocoa or urbanization, the Baoule people located in the middle South of Ivory Coast are becoming the “sellers” of rural lands under the pressure of political leaders in favor of rubber. The emergence of the land market in the study area should be seen as the effects of the embedding of land markets in other Ivorian forest regions, and not as laziness. In addition, it should be remembered that the Adahou land market is specific, as the population has chosen to sell portions of family land in order to build a new village and improve its living environment. In short, the Adahu land market has spawned a new modern village. However, this market did not allow the population to create orchards of rubber trees. Rather, it resulted in the transfer of arable forest coats for the benefit of the elites, making the customary owners of the landless peasants

Interoperable geographically distributed astronomical infrastructures: technical solutions

The increase of astronomical data produced by a new generation of observational tools poses the need to distribute data and to bring computation close to the data. Trying to answer this need, we set up a federated data and computing infrastructure involving an international cloud facility, EGI federated, and a set of services implementing IVOA standards and recommendations for authentication, data sharing and resource access. In this paper we describe technical problems faced, specifically we show the designing, technological and architectural solutions adopted. We depict our technological overall solution to bring data close to computation resources. Besides the adopted solutions, we propose some points for an open discussion on authentication and authorization mechanisms.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP