Do Euro-Med agreements improve democracy and the quality of institutions in EU partner countries ?.

The European Union enforced respect of human rights and democratic principles an essential elements of all its preferential and non preferential trading agreements since the beginning of the 90's. In all EU external agreements, an essential element would imply that the EU can impose sanctions against violating states, that is, "suspension of high-level bilateral contacts, trade embargoes, suspension of arms sales, suspension of military cooperation and suspension of cooperation", as was the case for Serbia and Burma because of human rights abuses such as torture, political arrests or censorship. But its preference is to use positive action rather than penalties. This paper deals with Euro-Med Agreements, it aims at assessing the impact of these constraints on EU partners governance. Using within comparisons and difference-in-differences estimates, we find that these agreements improved Mediterranean countries governance but not the respect of democratic principles.Trade agreements; Panel data analysis; Governance; Euro-med; Partenariat euro-méditerranéen;

Corruption and trust in political institutions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cet article explore les interactions entre la confiance institutionnelle et la corruption à partir d’un riche corpus d’enquêtes-ménages comparables : les enquêtes Afrobaromètre réalisées dans 18 pays d’Afrique sub-saharienne. Plus précisément, il teste les théories de l’ « huile dans les rouages » selon lesquelles la corruption peut renforcer la confiance des citoyens en leur permettant d’accéder à des services publics autrement inaccessibles. Nos résultats infirment clairement ces théories. Nous montrons que la corruption réduit clairement la confiance et ce quelque soit la qualité des services gouvernementaux. Ils suggèrent toutefois que l’expérience et la perception de la corruption ont des effets distincts sur la confiance institutionnelle.This paper analyzes the impact of corruption on the extent of trust in political institutions using a rich collection of comparable data provided by the Afrobarometer surveys conducted in 18 sub-Saharan African countries. More specifically, we set out to test the “efficient grease” hypothesis that corruption can strengthen citizens’ trust since bribe paying and clientelism open the door to otherwise scarce and inaccessible services and subsidies, and that this increases institutional trust. Our findings reject this theoretical argument. We show that corruption never produces trust-enhancing effects regardless of the evaluation of public service quality. The results reveal how perceived and experienced corruption impact negatively, but differently, on citizens’ trust in political institutions. The adverse effect of perceived corruption decreases with the fall in public service quality, whereas the negative effect of experienced corruption decreases as public service quality increases.Africa; Trust; Corruption;

Regard sur la pratique ergothérapique en déficience intellectuelle au Québec : une enquête exploratoire

Introduction : Au Québec, le développement de la pratique de l’ergothérapie en déficience intellectuelle est en pleine émergence au regard du nombre d’ergothérapeutes engagés dans l’offre de services destinée à cette clientèle. Néanmoins, les écrits et les outils liés à l’ergothérapie au Québec dans ce domaine restent limités pour soutenir les ergothérapeutes dans l’accomplissement de leur plein potentiel professionnel. Objectif : Cette étude vise à brosser le portrait de la pratique de l’ergothérapie auprès des personnes ayant une déficience intellectuelle au Québec. Méthode : L’enquête utilisant un questionnaire en ligne, diffusé aux ergothérapeutes par le biais de leur association professionnelle, comprenait des questions liées aux motifs de référence en ergothérapie, aux stratégies d’évaluation et aux méthodes d’intervention utilisées, ainsi qu’aux défis rencontrés dans la pratique. Résultats : Un total de 53 ergothérapeutes a rempli le questionnaire. Les participants travaillent dans divers contextes de pratique et répondent à une variété de demandes de consultation, principalement en lien avec le soutien à l’autonomie. Les ergothérapeutes utilisent plusieurs outils d’évaluation, mais notent un défi concernant la standardisation et l’utilisation des valeurs normatives. Les ergothérapeutes agissent majoritairement à titre de consultants et constatent un accès limité à des formations pour soutenir leur développement professionnel. Conclusion : Bien que les rôles de l’ergothérapeute soient multiples, il semble qu’une faible implication de ces professionnels soit observée dans plusieurs sphères de vie des personnes ayant une déficience intellectuelle. Divers champs d’exercices de l’ergothérapie resteraient à développer au Québec, notamment dans le soutien aux transitions de vie, auprès des personnes présentant des incapacités significatives, et dans l’inclusion socioprofessionnelle. ----- Introduction: In Quebec, the occupational therapy practice in intellectual disability is in full development with regard to the number of occupational therapists involved in services intended for people with an intellectual disability. Nevertheless, scientific literature and professional tools related to occupational therapy specific to this context remains limited to support occupational therapist in achieving their full potential. Aim: This study aims to explore the occupational therapy practice amongst people with an intellectual disability in Quebec. Method: This survey using an online questionnaire, distributed to occupational therapists through their professional association, included closed and open-ended questions related to reasons for referral in occupational therapy services, currently used assessment strategies and intervention methods, as well as challenges encountered by occupational therapists. Results: A total of 53 occupational therapists completed the survey. Participants work in many practice settings and respond to a variety of consultation requests, primarily related to support of autonomy in daily activities. Occupational therapists use several assessment tools, but identify a challenge regarding the standardization and the use of normative values. Occupational therapists mostly act as consultants and report limited access to training supporting their professional development. Conclusion: Although the roles of occupational therapist are multiple, a limited involvement of these professionals is noted in several life domains of people with an intellectual disability. Various fields of expertise still need to be developed in Quebec, notably in the support during life transitions, in interventions with people with significant disabilities, and in socioprofessional inclusion

Newtoning financial development with heterogeneous firms

Abstract: This article theoretically and empirically tests the link between financial constraints and the extensive (proportion of exporters) and intensive (volume of exports) margins of international trade. The article's main contribution is its macroeconomic analysis of this relationship, which is further reaching than the sector-based focus found in the current literature. It also presents new information on firm behavior under financial constraints. The paper develops a trade model with heterogeneous firms and shows that countries with a high level of financial development have a lower productivity cut-off above which firms export and a higher proportion of exporting firms. Nevertheless, financial development is not correlated with firms' export volumes once they become exporters. An empirical analysis is developed on the basis of an international trade database on 135 countries between 1994 and 2007. The empirical analysis estimates a two-step gravity equation using panel data and confirms the first theoretical proposition that finance has a positive impact on the extensive margin. However, the intensive margin results are striking. They find a negative relationship between financial development and trade flows, confirmed by all the sensitivity tests. Despite the positive effect of financial development found by the literature in some economic sectors, the macroeconomic impact on overall exports was negative during the analyzed period

Independence and trade: the specic effects of French colonialism

The consequences on international trade of colonial rule have received anincreasing attention. This paper investigates the effect of independence on trade with a focus on former French colonies. Thanks to an original dataset including data on pre-independence bilateral trade for former French colonies, we obtain more accurate results on the effect of independence on bilateral trade patterns. We show that that independence reduces trade (imports andexports) with the former metropole and that this effect is mainly driven byformer French colonies. We also show that, after independence, trade (importsand exports) of all former colonies increase with the rest of the world (othercountries not belonging to the same empire)

Independence and trade: new evidence from French colonial trade data

The consequences on international trade of country breaks-up have receivedan increasing attention. This paper investigates the effect of independence on bilateral trade of former French colonies with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.Thanks to an original dataset including data on pre-independence bilateraltrade we obtain more accurate results. We also show that former Frenchcolonies in Sub-Saharan Africa exhibit distinctive post-colonial trade patternsas compared to other former French colonies

International trade and face-to-face diplomacy

International audienceThis paper examines the effects of foreign visits by public officials on international trade. Using an original database that gathers more than 13,000 visits of French officials abroad and of foreign officials in France over the 1977–2007 period, it is shown that a bilateral visit to a foreign country is associated with an increase in French exports by 8% on average. This average effect hides considerable heterogeneity across world regions. The paper provides some evidence on the underlying mechanisms and finds that face-to-face visits mitigate trade costs related to contractual enforcement, insecurity and information. Indeed, analysis at the sectoral level reveals that visits increase French exports of a large variety of products, but that their effect is larger for differentiated products, i.e., goods highly exposed to contractual risks. Furthermore, bilateral visits reinforce trade, particularly in countries characterized by weak contract enforcement, corruption and lower political proximity with France, as well as by a smaller number of French migrants

La corruption influence t-elle les performances économiques du secteur informel en Afrique de l'Ouest ?

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The Empire strikes back? French-African trade after independance

This paper studies the effects of foreign influence on trade, focusing on the close relations between France and its former colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It shows that between 1960 and 1989 - the golden age of French-African relations - France exported more to its former SSA colonies than to any comparable countries, while they did not export more to France. This excess of French exports concerned a large variety of products, and particularly luxury goods and products in which France was least competitive. An investigation of the underlying mechanisms shows that migration explains most of this additional trade