Public Economics and Startup Entrepreneurs

This paper surveys the various forms of market failure that can arise when innovating entrepreneurs consider entering an industry, and outlines possible implications for public policy. Externalities can arise from entrepreneurial activities such as spillover benefits from new innovations and spillover costs on incumbent firms. New entrepreneurs can also face various barriers to entry, either natural ones or those created by incumbent firms or government policy. They may also face problems in obtaining credit at efficient terms if there are information asymmetries in markets for either loan or equity finance. Finally, asymmetric information may also plague new firms in the hiring of workers. These various inefficiencies are of contradictory sign, some calling for an incentive to startup firms and other for the opposite. Thus, public policy is ambiguous and depends on the circumstances at hand.

L’autonomie gouvernementale autochtone, le droit et le politique, ou la difficulté d’établir des normes en la matière

Cet article traite des rapports étroits qu’entretiennent le droit et le politique dans le débat entourant l’autonomie gouvernementale autochtone au Canada. Il propose, à l’aide d’une revue des écrits et des événements récents, une discussion sur la place des tribunaux canadiens dans ce champ politique et sur les limites de leurs interventions. Le texte présente une relecture de l’opposition usuelle entre droit et politique, par le biais d’une réflexion plus générale sur les différents types et enjeux de pouvoir qui sont au coeur du débat. Selon l’auteur, la judiciarisation des débats sur l’autonomie gouvernementale s’intègre dans des discussions plus vastes sur les normes et les valeurs fondatrices de la société. Plus concrètement, cette judiciarisation serait symptomatique de la complexité d’une gestion de l’autonomie gouvernementale à un niveau plus politique.This article addresses the close relationship between law and politics in the debate on Aboriginal self-government in Canada. Through a review of the literature and an examination of recent events, it proposes to assess the place of Canadian courts in the political sphere and the limitations on their involvement. This essay proceeds to offer a new interpretation of the traditional tension between law and politics, through a broader reflection on the different types and manifestations of power that lie at the centre of the debate. According to the author, the judicialization of the discourse on self-government can be placed within the broader concerns over the founding values and standards of society. In more concrete terms, this judicialization is symptomatic of the inherent complexity of managing self-government at the political level

The Efficiency of Voluntary Pollution Abatement when Countries can Commit

We characterize a mechanism for reducing pollution emissions in which countries,　acting non-cooperatively, commit to match each others’ abatement levels and may　subsequently engage in emissions quota trading. The mechanism leads to an efficient level of emissions, and if the matching abatements process includes a quota trading stage, the marginal benefits of emissions are also equalized across countries. Given equilibrium matching rates, the initial allocation of emission quotas (before trading) reflects each country’s marginal valuation for lower pollution relative to its marginal benefit from emissions. These results hold for any number of countries, in an environment where countries have different abatement technologies and different benefits from emissions, and even if the emissions of countries are imperfect substitutes in each country’s damage function. In a dynamic twoperiod setting, the mechanism achieves both intra-temporal and inter-temporal efficiency. We extend the model by assuming that countries are voluntarily contributing to an international public good, in addition to undertaking pollution abatements, and find that the level of emissions may be efficient even without any matching abatement commitments, and the marginal benefits of emissions may be equalized across countries even without quota trading.Voluntary pollution abatement, matching commitments, emissions quota trading

Que font les employeurs comme préparation à la négociation collective ?

L’étude vise à combler le manque de connaissance sur la préparation à la négociation collective et, plus particulièrement, celle des employeurs. Malgré qu’elle soit considérée comme une phase de première importance du processus de la négociation collective, les études de terrain sur le sujet sont quasi inexistantes. Le modèle de la préparation patronale à la négociation collective utilisé a été testé à partir d’un échantillon de 232 répondants provenant des organisations syndiquées du Québec, à l’exception des fonctions publiques provinciale et fédérale. Les résultats de l’analyse montrent que, globalement, la préparation des employeurs est jugée comme étant une activité importante, surtout la préparation politique, suivie des préparations synoptique et technique. Pour la première fois à notre connaissance, une étude présente ce que font concrètement les organisations en guise de préparation, tout en permettant une analyse théorique de la dynamique de cette phase du processus de la négociation collective.Preparation for bargaining is considered by many to be the most important stage in the collective bargaining process. However, surprisingly, preparation for collective bargaining seems to have received little attention in the literature presenting experimental results. Faced with this situation, we sought to answer the following question: How do employers prepare for collective bargaining? Using a theoretical model which defines total preparation for collective bargaining as a construct with three dimensions (technical, political and synoptic dimensions), each containing four components, we sought to determine the occurrence of activities pertaining to this stage in the collective bargaining process as well as the relative importance of total preparation and its dimensions/components.In a survey of those responsible for preparing employers for collective bargaining conducted in 2003, the latter were asked to fill out a self-administered questionnaire. The survey aimed at unionized organizations in Quebec, with the exception of the provincial and federal public services. Two-hundred-and-thirty-two (232) valid questionnaires were used for analysis. This random sample proved to be representative of the different sectors of economic activity in Quebec, except for an over-representation of manufacturing industries (32% versus 23.8%) and an under-representation of the wholesale and retail sector (6.5% versus 21.5%). Each of the dimensions/components was measured based on four sets of behavioural and attitudinal indicators aimed at assessing, on the one hand, the practices that were implemented the last time they prepared for collective bargaining and, on the other hand, the relative importance attached by the organization to each practice. The results are reported as a percentage of the relative importance of each of the variables examined.A mean score of 62.1% (standard deviation (SD) = 13.5) corresponded to the rate at which respondents stated that they had prepared for the last round of collective bargaining. The aggregate index for technical preparation showed that the organizations’ average level of preparation was 50.5% (SD = 14.4). With a minimum of 21.1% and a maximum of 91.1%, the importance attached to technical preparation varied substantially, although no organization was found to have omitted to conduct this activity. Similarly, the results showed that no organization conducted all the technical preparation activities and considered them as “very important.” The activities associated with analysis of the internal environment (73.3%) were most highly valued, followed in order by those related to sectoral analysis (50.3%), external environment (43.7%) and lastly forecast analysis (34.3%). Our results showed that the importance attached to analysis of the internal environment stood out markedly from the other three components.On the other hand, the results pertaining to political preparation showed that this preparation, which had a mean score of 69.6% (SD = 16.3) was the dimension with the highest mean score when the three types of preparation were compared. It appears that meeting with the agents (85.7%) and creation of a bargaining committee (85.3%) obtained the greatest results. Not far behind these two components, the result associated with consultation of managers at different levels (76.3%) also revealed the great importance attached by the organizations to this activity. As regards the results for analysis of union activities (31.1%), the activities pertaining to this component appeared to be relatively marginal in terms of actual achievement and relative importance.Lastly, synoptic preparation appeared to be the second most “important” dimension of employer preparation for collective bargaining, with a mean score of relative importance of 66.2% (SD = 19.6). The analysis of results showed that the formulation of the list of demands (72.8%) was the most important component of the synoptic dimension. Almost at the same level, the elements related to the implementation of a bargaining strategy (65.3%), the validation of the mandate and the strategy (62.7%) as well as the evaluation of bargaining power (62.3%) also showed the great importance attached by the organizations to these components of synoptic preparation.Based on the analysis of all the research results, it can be maintained that the activities involved in employer preparation based on the theoretical model used were present in the preparation carried out by almost all the organizations surveyed. Although the actual presence of these activities can be unequivocally identified, their relative importance should nevertheless be differentiated. Although our results are firmly in line with the literature, they nevertheless reveal some elements that should be considered. It is surprising to note that, of the three types of preparation, technical preparation appeared to be the least important for the organizations participating in the survey. With regard to these participants, the results associated with employer political preparation seem to lead to an analysis of the dynamic of the collective bargaining process which is in line with the evolving theoretical advances put forward by American authors associated with the strategic approach in industrial relations. The same is true of the results for synoptic preparation, in particular with regard to the proactivity of employers in the formulation of a list of demands. Moreover, while some authors highlight the advantages of formulating strategies in the framework of a collective bargaining process, our research results show that there was a real implementation of a bargaining strategy, in line with these authors’ recommendations. Despite the intrinsic limitations due to its innovative character and small sample size, our study opens the door for future research in order to better understand the dynamic involved in preparing the parties for collective bargaining.El estudio se propone subsanar la escasez de conocimientos sobre la preparación de la negociación colectiva y, particularmente, la preparación de los empleadores. A pesar que esta sea considerada como una fase de primera importancia en el proceso de la negociación colectiva, los estudios de terreno sobre este sujeto son casi inexistentes. El modelo de la preparación patronal de la negociación colectiva aquí utilizado ha sido corroborado con una muestra de 232 participantes provenientes de organizaciones sindicales del Quebec, a excepción de la función pública provincial y federal. Los resultados del análisis muestran globalmente que la preparación de los empleadores es juzgada como una actividad importante, sobre todo la preparación política, seguido de las preparación sinóptica y técnica. Por la primera vez, según nuestro conocimiento, este estudio permite de constatar lo que las organizaciones hacen concretamente en términos de preparación y al mismo tiempo nos permiten un análisis teórico de la dinámica de esta fase del proceso de la negociación colectiva

La préparation patronale à la négociation collective : ses attributs, ses déterminants et sa perspective stratégique

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Conceptions et pratiques déclarées relatives à l'enseignement des groupes constituants de la phrase de base au troisième cycle du primaire

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

L'agriculturisme et le roman de la terre québécois : (1908-1953)

La défaite des Patriotes en 1837-1838 constitue sans doute l'un des points tournants de l'histoire du Québec, puisqu'elle a inauguré une ère qui devait s'étendre jusqu'à la Révolution tranquille, ère durant laquelle le nationalisme revendicateur, teinté de libéralisme et d'anticléricalisme, qui avait connu un essor important durant les années 1820 et 1830, fut mis en veilleuse et dut céder l'avant-scène au nationalisme conservateur, soutenu principalement par le clergé et la petite bourgeoisie des campagnes. Ce nationalisme de conservation, dont les préoccupations se concentraient autour du maintien de la langue française et de la religion catholique, visait essentiellement à préserver intacte la société canadienne française telle qu'héritée de l'époque de la Nouvelle-France, notamment en essayant de la soustraire aux influences étrangères et aux courants de pensée incompatibles avec le maintien du statu quo. A ce sujet, le roman de la terre québécois joua un rôle exemplaire, tant comme émanation que comme agent du processus de diffusion du nationalisme de conservation canadien français, surtout pendant la première moitié de 20eme siècle. De ce point de vue, le roman du terroir québécois de cette époque peut être considéré essentiellement en tant qu'instrument destiné à la fois à légitimer l'ordre établi ainsi que le mode de vie traditionnel, mais aussi à disqualifier et à marginaliser tout ce qui est étranger ou incompatible avec cet ordre et ce mode de vie. La poursuite de ces objectifs notamment s'effectue notamment aux moyens de la mise en scène et de l'opposition de personnages stéréotypés, tels le «vieux paysan», le «curé de campagne», le «jeune paysan», etc. L'étude et la description de ces personnages constituent l'objet du présent mémoire