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Compte tenu de l’évolution constante de la Belgique vers une plus grande décentralisation des compétences, le statut futur des institutions culturelles fédérales à Bruxelles demeure incertain. Afin d’élargir le champ du débat politique, le présent article présente une comparaison des configurations institutionnelles des institutions culturelles nationales dans différentes capitales fédérales. Les cas de Berlin, Brasília, Canberra, Ottawa et Bruxelles sont examinés, l’accent étant mis sur la répartition constitutionnelle des compétences et sur les mécanismes de coopération entre les niveaux de gouvernement. Cet état des lieux montre que le gouvernement fédéral joue invariablement un rôle dans l’administration des institutions culturelles nationales dans les différentes capitales. En outre, dans la plupart des capitales, des mécanismes de coopération culturelle sont mis en place pour coordonner l’action fédérale et celle des entités fédérées. Sur ce dernier point, il semble que des améliorations soient possibles à Bruxelles. In België worden steeds meer bevoegdheden overgeheveld naar de gewestendeelstaten, en dat maakt het toekomstige statuut van de federale culturele instellingen in Brussel onzeker. Om het politieke debat te verbreden, gaan we in dit artikel na hoe nationale culturele instellingen in verschillende federale hoofdsteden gestructureerd zijn. We nemen Berlijn, Brasilia, Canberra, Ottawa en Brussel onder de loep, met bijzondere aandacht voor de grondwettelijke verdeling van bevoegdheden en voor samenwerkingsmechanismen tussen regeringen. Uit het overzicht blijkt dat de federale overheid steevast een rol speelt in het bestuur van nationale culturele instellingen in deze hoofdsteden. Bovendien zijn er in de meeste hoofdsteden mechanismen voor culturele samenwerking ontstaan om federale en regionale deelstatelijke acties op elkaar af te stemmen. Op dat vlak is er in Brussel nog ruimte voor verbetering. Given Belgium’s continuing surge towards a greater devolution of powers, the future status of the federal cultural institutions in Brussels remains uncertain. To expand the scope of the political debate, this article provides a comparison of the institutional configuration of national cultural institutions in different federal capitals. This article will examine Berlin, Brasilia, Canberra, Ottawa, and Brussels with a particular focus on the constitutional distribution of powers and intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms. The overview shows that the federal government invariably plays a role in the administration of national cultural institutions in these capital cities. In addition, in most capitals, cultural cooperation mechanisms are established to coordinate federal and state action. On this latter point, there seems to be room for improvement in Brussels.

Compte tenu de l’évolution constante de la Belgique vers une plus grande décentralisation des compétences, le statut futur des institutions culturelles fédérales à Bruxelles demeure incertain. Afin d’élargir le champ du débat politique, le présent article présente une comparaison des configurations institutionnelles des institutions culturelles nationales dans différentes capitales fédérales. Les cas de Berlin, Brasília, Canberra, Ottawa et Bruxelles sont examinés, l’accent étant mis sur la répartition constitutionnelle des compétences et sur les mécanismes de coopération entre les niveaux de gouvernement. Cet état des lieux montre que le gouvernement fédéral joue invariablement un rôle dans l’administration des institutions culturelles nationales dans les différentes capitales. En outre, dans la plupart des capitales, des mécanismes de coopération culturelle sont mis en place pour coordonner l’action fédérale et celle des entités fédérées. Sur ce dernier point, il semble que des améliorations soient possibles à Bruxelles. In België worden steeds meer bevoegdheden overgeheveld naar de gewestendeelstaten, en dat maakt het toekomstige statuut van de federale culturele instellingen in Brussel onzeker. Om het politieke debat te verbreden, gaan we in dit artikel na hoe nationale culturele instellingen in verschillende federale hoofdsteden gestructureerd zijn. We nemen Berlijn, Brasilia, Canberra, Ottawa en Brussel onder de loep, met bijzondere aandacht voor de grondwettelijke verdeling van bevoegdheden en voor samenwerkingsmechanismen tussen regeringen. Uit het overzicht blijkt dat de federale overheid steevast een rol speelt in het bestuur van nationale culturele instellingen in deze hoofdsteden. Bovendien zijn er in de meeste hoofdsteden mechanismen voor culturele samenwerking ontstaan om federale en regionale deelstatelijke acties op elkaar af te stemmen. Op dat vlak is er in Brussel nog ruimte voor verbetering. Given Belgium’s continuing surge towards a greater devolution of powers, the future status of the federal cultural institutions in Brussels remains uncertain. To expand the scope of the political debate, this article provides a comparison of the institutional configuration of national cultural institutions in different federal capitals. This article will examine Berlin, Brasilia, Canberra, Ottawa, and Brussels with a particular focus on the constitutional distribution of powers and intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms. The overview shows that the federal government invariably plays a role in the administration of national cultural institutions in these capital cities. In addition, in most capitals, cultural cooperation mechanisms are established to coordinate federal and state action. On this latter point, there seems to be room for improvement in Brussels.

Compte tenu de l’évolution constante de la Belgique vers une plus grande décentralisation des compétences, le statut futur des institutions culturelles fédérales à Bruxelles demeure incertain. Afin d’élargir le champ du débat politique, le présent article présente une comparaison des configurations institutionnelles des institutions culturelles nationales dans différentes capitales fédérales. Les cas de Berlin, Brasília, Canberra, Ottawa et Bruxelles sont examinés, l’accent étant mis sur la répartition constitutionnelle des compétences et sur les mécanismes de coopération entre les niveaux de gouvernement. Cet état des lieux montre que le gouvernement fédéral joue invariablement un rôle dans l’administration des institutions culturelles nationales dans les différentes capitales. En outre, dans la plupart des capitales, des mécanismes de coopération culturelle sont mis en place pour coordonner l’action fédérale et celle des entités fédérées. Sur ce dernier point, il semble que des améliorations soient possibles à Bruxelles. In België worden steeds meer bevoegdheden overgeheveld naar de gewestendeelstaten, en dat maakt het toekomstige statuut van de federale culturele instellingen in Brussel onzeker. Om het politieke debat te verbreden, gaan we in dit artikel na hoe nationale culturele instellingen in verschillende federale hoofdsteden gestructureerd zijn. We nemen Berlijn, Brasilia, Canberra, Ottawa en Brussel onder de loep, met bijzondere aandacht voor de grondwettelijke verdeling van bevoegdheden en voor samenwerkingsmechanismen tussen regeringen. Uit het overzicht blijkt dat de federale overheid steevast een rol speelt in het bestuur van nationale culturele instellingen in deze hoofdsteden. Bovendien zijn er in de meeste hoofdsteden mechanismen voor culturele samenwerking ontstaan om federale en regionale deelstatelijke acties op elkaar af te stemmen. Op dat vlak is er in Brussel nog ruimte voor verbetering. Given Belgium’s continuing surge towards a greater devolution of powers, the future status of the federal cultural institutions in Brussels remains uncertain. To expand the scope of the political debate, this article provides a comparison of the institutional configuration of national cultural institutions in different federal capitals. This article will examine Berlin, Brasilia, Canberra, Ottawa, and Brussels with a particular focus on the constitutional distribution of powers and intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms. The overview shows that the federal government invariably plays a role in the administration of national cultural institutions in these capital cities. In addition, in most capitals, cultural cooperation mechanisms are established to coordinate federal and state action. On this latter point, there seems to be room for improvement in Brussels.

International environmental institutions are key for addressing global environmental problems, such as overfishing, climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet, as the overexploitation of natural resources as well as unsustainable practices of governance, settlement, and economic activities have been established over long periods of time, international environmental institutions are challenged to provide global environmental protection. These difficulties are amplified by the often-lacking cooperation and coordination of international environmental institutions in a fragmented global governance structure. Thus, integration is an indispensable part for achieving global environmental protection. Although both academics and practitioners are increasingly calling for more global environmental protection, there is no simple one-size-fits-all solution available that could ensure such an endeavor. What is needed is a thorough understanding of individual institutional specifications, interactions and interconnections and even systemic dynamics that emerge from institutional linkages over time. Institutional change analysis allows to study these aspects in a comprehensive way and to examine integration efforts of international environmental institutions over time. Rather than taking snapshots of international environmental institutions, this dissertation looks at longitudinal developments towards global environmental protection. Therefore, to discern high expectations and policy objectives from what is really happening, this dissertation addresses the following research question: How do international environmental institutions change and integrate in global governance? This dissertation draws a distinction between how international environmental institutions drive a process of integration in a larger institutional context which is external to them and how they integrate rules which are internal to them. The answer to the question emerged from four studies. Study 1 synoptically reviewed institutional change and integration in the global food governance system. It showed that actors are important for altering global governance processes. Especially, the role of private actors and governments needs to be taken into consideration for understanding the rules of the game. Study 2 provided findings that policy integration is a key institutional change process for global governance. Yet, most international environmental institutions do not integrate their institutional activities but remain in silos, which is a barrier to the achievement of global environmental protection. Study 3 shows in detail that an international environmental institution has the potential to be a driver of global environmental protection through policy integration while being challenged by multiple barriers at the same time. Thus, for international environmental institutions to alter global governance processes, they must actively take efforts in enabling and fostering policy integration as well as international cooperation and collaboration. Study 4 provided support for the idea that institutional change is a gradual transformational process in which there can be multiple variations of rule dynamics over time. Study 4 showed that bridging historical institutionalism and organizational science can bring new insights into institutional change at the sub-institutional level, i.e., internal developments of an organization. This dissertation postulates that international environmental institutions are central for altering global governance processes. Yet, the studies have shown that international environmental institutions are struggling at various fronts when it comes to a successful integration of policies, but also cooperation and coordination efforts.

International environmental institutions are key for addressing global environmental problems, such as overfishing, climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet, as the overexploitation of natural resources as well as unsustainable practices of governance, settlement, and economic activities have been established over long periods of time, international environmental institutions are challenged to provide global environmental protection. These difficulties are amplified by the often-lacking cooperation and coordination of international environmental institutions in a fragmented global governance structure. Thus, integration is an indispensable part for achieving global environmental protection. Although both academics and practitioners are increasingly calling for more global environmental protection, there is no simple one-size-fits-all solution available that could ensure such an endeavor. What is needed is a thorough understanding of individual institutional specifications, interactions and interconnections and even systemic dynamics that emerge from institutional linkages over time. Institutional change analysis allows to study these aspects in a comprehensive way and to examine integration efforts of international environmental institutions over time. Rather than taking snapshots of international environmental institutions, this dissertation looks at longitudinal developments towards global environmental protection. Therefore, to discern high expectations and policy objectives from what is really happening, this dissertation addresses the following research question: How do international environmental institutions change and integrate in global governance? This dissertation draws a distinction between how international environmental institutions drive a process of integration in a larger institutional context which is external to them and how they integrate rules which are internal to them. The answer to the question emerged from four studies. Study 1 synoptically reviewed institutional change and integration in the global food governance system. It showed that actors are important for altering global governance processes. Especially, the role of private actors and governments needs to be taken into consideration for understanding the rules of the game. Study 2 provided findings that policy integration is a key institutional change process for global governance. Yet, most international environmental institutions do not integrate their institutional activities but remain in silos, which is a barrier to the achievement of global environmental protection. Study 3 shows in detail that an international environmental institution has the potential to be a driver of global environmental protection through policy integration while being challenged by multiple barriers at the same time. Thus, for international environmental institutions to alter global governance processes, they must actively take efforts in enabling and fostering policy integration as well as international cooperation and collaboration. Study 4 provided support for the idea that institutional change is a gradual transformational process in which there can be multiple variations of rule dynamics over time. Study 4 showed that bridging historical institutionalism and organizational science can bring new insights into institutional change at the sub-institutional level, i.e., internal developments of an organization. This dissertation postulates that international environmental institutions are central for altering global governance processes. Yet, the studies have shown that international environmental institutions are struggling at various fronts when it comes to a successful integration of policies, but also cooperation and coordination efforts.

This thesis aims to answer what is happening to inequality in Indonesia for the past years. This empirical research consists of two parts, first, how is the relationship between inequality and development in Indonesia along with various aggregation levels; second, whether the accessibility to basic public services is the implication of inequality. The key messages of the first part of this thesis are as follows: over the last decades relatively high economic growth in Indonesia is associated with rapidly increasing income inequality. Regional convergence of inequality across islands and provinces is driven by the fact that incomes of the rich in poor regions grow faster than those of the poor in rich regions. In other words, the middle class and especially the top incomes seem to benefit most from the economic growth dynamics in Indonesia. In relation to urbanization, our examination shows that if the current trend of increasing average agglomeration size continues, we can expect that inequality will further go up. Further, high inequality in the past will increase the subsequent growth, this high growth is then associated with high inequality in the current period. If this current inequality is too high, then the change in inequality will be positive and large enough to reduce growth in the future. In other words, the impact of high inequality in the past is associated with the slowing down economic growth and worsening existing inequality. It seems that our results support the Piketty (2014) argument that inequality keeps increasing as societies accumulate wealth. With regards to the institutional quality, the type of institutional quality plays a significant role in shaping the association with economic growth in the future. This role looks more important if we interact with the initial inequality suggesting that a combination of a certain degree of inequality and institutional quality is required to boost the economic growth. The key messages of the second part of this thesis are as follows: given the health reform promoting inclusiveness in health access and given the complexity of connecting all people including from all the relatively small islands with huge disparities in terms of income and geography, insured people behave differently than uninsured people, and within the insured group, the subsidized people behave differently from the non-subsidized people. Ex ante moral hazard exists in insured and subsidized groups. The disparity in access to electricity and its supply is high across Indonesia. Despite the fact that electrification already started more than one hundred years ago, the electrification ratio remains low and the speed of technology diffusion is slow. Population density as an internal factor and power supply availability as an external factor contribute to increasing the electrification ratio at the province level. This external factor can be translated as island barrier. Hence, the heterogeneity at the province level contributes in shaping the diffusion patterns.

This thesis aims to answer what is happening to inequality in Indonesia for the past years. This empirical research consists of two parts, first, how is the relationship between inequality and development in Indonesia along with various aggregation levels; second, whether the accessibility to basic public services is the implication of inequality. The key messages of the first part of this thesis are as follows: over the last decades relatively high economic growth in Indonesia is associated with rapidly increasing income inequality. Regional convergence of inequality across islands and provinces is driven by the fact that incomes of the rich in poor regions grow faster than those of the poor in rich regions. In other words, the middle class and especially the top incomes seem to benefit most from the economic growth dynamics in Indonesia. In relation to urbanization, our examination shows that if the current trend of increasing average agglomeration size continues, we can expect that inequality will further go up. Further, high inequality in the past will increase the subsequent growth, this high growth is then associated with high inequality in the current period. If this current inequality is too high, then the change in inequality will be positive and large enough to reduce growth in the future. In other words, the impact of high inequality in the past is associated with the slowing down economic growth and worsening existing inequality. It seems that our results support the Piketty (2014) argument that inequality keeps increasing as societies accumulate wealth. With regards to the institutional quality, the type of institutional quality plays a significant role in shaping the association with economic growth in the future. This role looks more important if we interact with the initial inequality suggesting that a combination of a certain degree of inequality and institutional quality is required to boost the economic growth. The key messages of the second part of this thesis are as follows: given the health reform promoting inclusiveness in health access and given the complexity of connecting all people including from all the relatively small islands with huge disparities in terms of income and geography, insured people behave differently than uninsured people, and within the insured group, the subsidized people behave differently from the non-subsidized people. Ex ante moral hazard exists in insured and subsidized groups. The disparity in access to electricity and its supply is high across Indonesia. Despite the fact that electrification already started more than one hundred years ago, the electrification ratio remains low and the speed of technology diffusion is slow. Population density as an internal factor and power supply availability as an external factor contribute to increasing the electrification ratio at the province level. This external factor can be translated as island barrier. Hence, the heterogeneity at the province level contributes in shaping the diffusion patterns.

En retraçant le processus de mise à l’agenda ayant conduit à l’appropriation du concept de Smart City par la Région bruxelloise en 2014, cet article interroge les choix de politiques publiques visant à faire de Bruxelles une « ville intelligente ». Tandis qu’un des objectifs théoriques de la Smart City consiste à vouloir décloisonner l’action publique en favorisant la réalisation de politiques transversales par le recours aux technologies, force est de constater que les politiques bruxelloises en la matière restent essentiellement cantonnées aux compétences de l’organisme technique régional. Cet article tente ainsi de comprendre pourquoi aucune politique transversale en matière de mobilité – secteur habituellement prioritaire pour ce type de projets – n’émerge dans le cadre de la Smart City bruxelloise, tandis qu’une politique sécuritaire s’impose comme son principal chantier. La centralisation de la vidéosurveillance régionale constitue l’unique politique du projet Smart City bruxellois parvenue à dépasser le cloisonnement institutionnel régional. Cet article démontre par conséquent comment, à Bruxelles, l’organisation politico-institutionnelle régionale influence les choix de politiques publiques. Door het proces van agendasetting dat leidde tot de toe-eigening van het concept Smart City door het Brussels Gewest in 2014 te traceren, onderzoekt dit artikel de beleidskeuzes om van Brussel een “slimme stad” te maken. Een van de theoretische doelstellingen van de Smart City bestaat erin om het overheidsoptreden te ontzuilen door met behulp van technologieën de uitvoering van een transversaal beleid te bevorderen. Toch moeten we vaststellen dat de Brusselse beleidsmaatregelen op dit vlak hoofdzakelijk beperkt blijven tot de bevoegdheden van de gewestelijke technische instelling. Dit artikel tracht te begrijpen waarom er geen transversaal beleid inzake mobiliteit – een sector die gewoonlijk prioritair is bij dergelijke projecten – wordt gevoerd in het kader van de Brusselse Smart City, maar een veiligheidsbeleid het voornaamste werkterrein blijkt te zijn. De centralisering van de gewestelijke videobewaking is de enige beleidslijn van het Brusselse Smart City-project, waarbij men erin slaagt om de gewestelijke institutionele verzuiling te doorbreken. Dit artikel toont dan ook aan hoe de gewestelijke politiek-institutionele organisatie de beleidskeuzes beïnvloedt in Brussel. This article reviews the agenda-setting process which led to the approval of the Smart City concept by the Brussels Region in 2014 and questions the public policy choices aimed at making Brussels a “Smart City”. While one of the theoretical objectives of the Smart City is to decompartmentalise public action by promoting the implementation of cross-cutting policies through the use of technology, it is clear that the policies of Brussels in this area remain essentially limited to the competences of the regional technical body. This article attempts to understand why a cross-cutting policy in the area of mobility – a sector which is normally a priority for this type of project – has not emerged in the framework of the Brussels Smart City, while a security policy has gained a foothold as its main focus. The centralisation of regional video surveillance is the only policy of the Brussels Smart City project which has managed to overcome regional institutional compartmentalisation. This article therefore demonstrates how the regional political and institutional organisation in Brussels influences public policy choices.

En retraçant le processus de mise à l’agenda ayant conduit à l’appropriation du concept de Smart City par la Région bruxelloise en 2014, cet article interroge les choix de politiques publiques visant à faire de Bruxelles une « ville intelligente ». Tandis qu’un des objectifs théoriques de la Smart City consiste à vouloir décloisonner l’action publique en favorisant la réalisation de politiques transversales par le recours aux technologies, force est de constater que les politiques bruxelloises en la matière restent essentiellement cantonnées aux compétences de l’organisme technique régional. Cet article tente ainsi de comprendre pourquoi aucune politique transversale en matière de mobilité – secteur habituellement prioritaire pour ce type de projets – n’émerge dans le cadre de la Smart City bruxelloise, tandis qu’une politique sécuritaire s’impose comme son principal chantier. La centralisation de la vidéosurveillance régionale constitue l’unique politique du projet Smart City bruxellois parvenue à dépasser le cloisonnement institutionnel régional. Cet article démontre par conséquent comment, à Bruxelles, l’organisation politico-institutionnelle régionale influence les choix de politiques publiques. Door het proces van agendasetting dat leidde tot de toe-eigening van het concept Smart City door het Brussels Gewest in 2014 te traceren, onderzoekt dit artikel de beleidskeuzes om van Brussel een “slimme stad” te maken. Een van de theoretische doelstellingen van de Smart City bestaat erin om het overheidsoptreden te ontzuilen door met behulp van technologieën de uitvoering van een transversaal beleid te bevorderen. Toch moeten we vaststellen dat de Brusselse beleidsmaatregelen op dit vlak hoofdzakelijk beperkt blijven tot de bevoegdheden van de gewestelijke technische instelling. Dit artikel tracht te begrijpen waarom er geen transversaal beleid inzake mobiliteit – een sector die gewoonlijk prioritair is bij dergelijke projecten – wordt gevoerd in het kader van de Brusselse Smart City, maar een veiligheidsbeleid het voornaamste werkterrein blijkt te zijn. De centralisering van de gewestelijke videobewaking is de enige beleidslijn van het Brusselse Smart City-project, waarbij men erin slaagt om de gewestelijke institutionele verzuiling te doorbreken. Dit artikel toont dan ook aan hoe de gewestelijke politiek-institutionele organisatie de beleidskeuzes beïnvloedt in Brussel. This article reviews the agenda-setting process which led to the approval of the Smart City concept by the Brussels Region in 2014 and questions the public policy choices aimed at making Brussels a “Smart City”. While one of the theoretical objectives of the Smart City is to decompartmentalise public action by promoting the implementation of cross-cutting policies through the use of technology, it is clear that the policies of Brussels in this area remain essentially limited to the competences of the regional technical body. This article attempts to understand why a cross-cutting policy in the area of mobility – a sector which is normally a priority for this type of project – has not emerged in the framework of the Brussels Smart City, while a security policy has gained a foothold as its main focus. The centralisation of regional video surveillance is the only policy of the Brussels Smart City project which has managed to overcome regional institutional compartmentalisation. This article therefore demonstrates how the regional political and institutional organisation in Brussels influences public policy choices.

En retraçant le processus de mise à l’agenda ayant conduit à l’appropriation du concept de Smart City par la Région bruxelloise en 2014, cet article interroge les choix de politiques publiques visant à faire de Bruxelles une « ville intelligente ». Tandis qu’un des objectifs théoriques de la Smart City consiste à vouloir décloisonner l’action publique en favorisant la réalisation de politiques transversales par le recours aux technologies, force est de constater que les politiques bruxelloises en la matière restent essentiellement cantonnées aux compétences de l’organisme technique régional. Cet article tente ainsi de comprendre pourquoi aucune politique transversale en matière de mobilité – secteur habituellement prioritaire pour ce type de projets – n’émerge dans le cadre de la Smart City bruxelloise, tandis qu’une politique sécuritaire s’impose comme son principal chantier. La centralisation de la vidéosurveillance régionale constitue l’unique politique du projet Smart City bruxellois parvenue à dépasser le cloisonnement institutionnel régional. Cet article démontre par conséquent comment, à Bruxelles, l’organisation politico-institutionnelle régionale influence les choix de politiques publiques. Door het proces van agendasetting dat leidde tot de toe-eigening van het concept Smart City door het Brussels Gewest in 2014 te traceren, onderzoekt dit artikel de beleidskeuzes om van Brussel een “slimme stad” te maken. Een van de theoretische doelstellingen van de Smart City bestaat erin om het overheidsoptreden te ontzuilen door met behulp van technologieën de uitvoering van een transversaal beleid te bevorderen. Toch moeten we vaststellen dat de Brusselse beleidsmaatregelen op dit vlak hoofdzakelijk beperkt blijven tot de bevoegdheden van de gewestelijke technische instelling. Dit artikel tracht te begrijpen waarom er geen transversaal beleid inzake mobiliteit – een sector die gewoonlijk prioritair is bij dergelijke projecten – wordt gevoerd in het kader van de Brusselse Smart City, maar een veiligheidsbeleid het voornaamste werkterrein blijkt te zijn. De centralisering van de gewestelijke videobewaking is de enige beleidslijn van het Brusselse Smart City-project, waarbij men erin slaagt om de gewestelijke institutionele verzuiling te doorbreken. Dit artikel toont dan ook aan hoe de gewestelijke politiek-institutionele organisatie de beleidskeuzes beïnvloedt in Brussel. This article reviews the agenda-setting process which led to the approval of the Smart City concept by the Brussels Region in 2014 and questions the public policy choices aimed at making Brussels a “Smart City”. While one of the theoretical objectives of the Smart City is to decompartmentalise public action by promoting the implementation of cross-cutting policies through the use of technology, it is clear that the policies of Brussels in this area remain essentially limited to the competences of the regional technical body. This article attempts to understand why a cross-cutting policy in the area of mobility – a sector which is normally a priority for this type of project – has not emerged in the framework of the Brussels Smart City, while a security policy has gained a foothold as its main focus. The centralisation of regional video surveillance is the only policy of the Brussels Smart City project which has managed to overcome regional institutional compartmentalisation. This article therefore demonstrates how the regional political and institutional organisation in Brussels influences public policy choices.

Cette fact sheet reprend les principaux résultats d’une enquête réalisée auprès de milieux d’accueil de la petite enfance francophones à Bruxelles entre les mois de juillet et d’octobre 2018. Elle aborde successivement les modalités et critères d’inscription, l’organisation de l’entrée et des premiers jours d’accueil, les caractéristiques du public et la contribution financière des parents. Deze factsheet stelt de belangrijkste resultaten voor van een enquête die tussen juli en oktober 2018 werd afgenomen bij Franstalige kinderopvang in Brussel. De auteurs bespreken achtereenvolgens de inschrijvingsmodaliteiten en -criteria, de organisatie van de instap en van de eerste opvangdagen, de kenmerken van het publiek en de financiële bijdrage van de ouders. This fact sheet includes the main results of a survey of French-speaking childcare centres in Brussels between the months of July and October 2018. It deals with the registration procedures and criteria, the organisation of the first days of childcare, the characteristics of users and the financial contribution of parents.

Deze factsheet stelt de belangrijkste resultaten voor van een enquête die tussen juli en oktober 2018 werd afgenomen bij Franstalige kinderopvang in Brussel. De auteurs bespreken achtereenvolgens de inschrijvingsmodaliteiten en -criteria, de organisatie van de instap en van de eerste opvangdagen, de kenmerken van het publiek en de financiële bijdrage van de ouders. Cette fact sheet reprends les principaux résultats d’une enquête réalisée, entre les mois de juillet et d’octobre 2018, auprès de milieux d’accueil de la petite enfance francophones à Bruxelles. Elle aborde successivement les modalités et critères d’inscription, l’organisation de l’entrée et des premiers jours d’accueil, les caractéristiques du public et la contribution financière des parents. This fact sheet includes the main results of a survey of French-speaking childcare centres in Brussels between the months of July and October 2018. It deals with the registration procedures and criteria, the organisation of the first days of childcare, the characteristics of users and the financial contribution of parents.

The number of municipal councillors and aldermen in the Brussels-Capital Region is relatively high, and increases at each election. In the debates on the functioning of the political institutions of the Region the idea to reduce the number of local representatives is regularly raised. This contribution explores the possible implications of such a reduction. Three scenarios are examined: a reduction by 10 %, by 20 % and by 30 %. For each of these scenarios, the consequences for the ideological diversity in the municipal councils, the workload for the representatives and the aldermen, the formation of coalitions, the gender balances and the position of the Dutch speaking elected representatives are simulated. For the smaller groups, the Dutch speaking representatives and the gender balances the effects are clearly negative. Le nombre de conseillers communaux et d’échevins dans la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale est relativement élevé et augmente à chaque élection. Au cours des débats sur le fonctionnement des institutions politiques de la Région, l’idée de réduire le nombre de mandataires locaux est régulièrement mise sur la table. La présente contribution étudie les implications possibles d’une telle diminution. Trois scénarios sont envisagés : une diminution de 10 %, de 20 % et de 30 %. Pour chacun de ces scénarios, une simulation a été faite de ses effets sur le pluralisme dans les conseils communaux, sur la charge de travail des conseillers et échevins, sur la formation de coalitions, sur les équilibres de genres et sur la position des élus néerlandophones. Pour les petits groupes, pour les néerlandophones et pour l’égalité des genres, les effets seraient clairement négatifs. Het aantal gemeenteraadsleden en schepenen in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest is relatief hoog, en stijgt bij elke verkiezing. In de debatten over het functioneren van de politieke instellingen van het Gewest wordt regelmatig het idee geopperd om het aantal lokale mandatarissen te verminderen. Deze bijdrage onderzoekt welke de mogelijke implicaties van een dergelijke vermindering zouden zijn. Drie scenario’s worden bekeken: een vermindering met 10 %, met 20 % en met 30 %. Voor elk van die scenario’s wordt gesimuleerd welke de gevolgen zijn voor de ideologische diversiteit in de gemeenteraden, de werklast voor de raadsleden en schepenen, de coalitievorming, de genderevenwichten en de positie van de Nederlandstalige verkozenen. Voor kleine fracties, voor de Nederlandstaligen en voor de genderevenwichten zouden de effecten duidelijk negatief zijn.

Le nombre de conseillers communaux et d’échevins dans la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale est relativement élevé et augmente à chaque élection. Au cours des débats sur le fonctionnement des institutions politiques de la Région, l’idée de réduire le nombre de mandataires locaux est régulièrement mise sur la table. La présente contribution étudie les implications possibles d’une telle diminution. Trois scénarios sont envisagés :une diminution de 10 %, de 20 % et de 30 %. Pour chacun de ces scénarios, une simulation a été faite de ses effets sur le pluralisme dans les conseils communaux, sur la charge de travail des conseillers et échevins, sur la formation de coalitions, sur les équilibres de genres et sur la position des élus néerlandophones. Pour les petits groupes, pour les néerlandophones et pour l’égalité des genres, les effets seraient clairement négatifs., Cet article est une traduction de :Minder lokale mandatarissen in Brussel? Scenario’s en impact (https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1868) Autre(s) traduction(s) de cet article :Fewer local representatives in Brussels? Scenarios and impact (https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1913), SCOPUS: re.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

De bestuurlijke complexiteit vormt een grote uitdaging voor grootschalige projecten in Brussel. Bij gebrek aan een overkoepelende autoriteit moeten meerdere actoren met uiteenlopende bevoegdheden gezamenlijk een beslissing maken en uitvoeren. De hier besproken methode beoogt het draagvlak te bepalen voor dergelijke multi-actor, multi-level-projecten. De verschillende actoren worden ingedeeld op basis van hun rol.Projectalternatieven worden getoetst op criteria die door elk van de actoren worden aangedragen. Hiermee wordt de wenselijkheid van elk alternatief ingeschat voor iedere actor, maar ook voor iedere groep actoren die verantwoordelijk is voor een bepaalde taak. De methode werd toegepast als participatief luik binnen een studie naar infrastructuur-alternatieven voor de Brusselse Noord-Zuid-spoorverbinding. Niet zozeer de veel-onderzochte verdubbelingsvarianten van de huidige noord-zuidas, maar vooral de varianten die nieuwe spoorverbindingen mogelijk maken lijken veelbelovend voor verdere studie. De studie streeft in deze fase niet naar een definitieve oplossing, maar een gemeenschappelijke basis voor het politieke besluitvormingsproces. Dans le cadre de la planification de grands projets à Bruxelles, la complexité administrative représente un grand défi. En l’absence d’une autorité centrale, plusieurs acteurs aux fonctions et compétences différentes doivent prendre et exécuter une décision. La méthode COMCA permet de déterminer la portée de projets impliquant plusieurs acteurs et plusieurs niveaux et de soutenir ainsi les décideurs dans leur prise de position. Les différents acteurs sont répartis sur base de leur rôle dans le projet. Les divers aspects d’un projet sont testés selon les critères présentés par chacun des acteurs. Ainsi, l’opportunité de chaque aspect est évaluée pour chaque acteur, mais aussi pour chaque groupe d’acteurs, responsable d’une tâche déterminée du projet. L’article décrit l’application de la méthode en tant que volet participatif d’une étude de solutions d’infrastructure pour la jonction ferroviaire Nord-Midi de Bruxelles. Ce ne sont pas tant les variantes, longuement examinées, de doublement de l’actuel axe nord-midi, mais plutôt celles qui rendent possibles de nouvelles liaisons ferroviaires qui paraissent prometteuses pour une prochaine étude. Le but de l’application, dans cette phase, n’est cependant pas d’offrir une solution définitive, mais de donner forme à une structure d’évaluation et de concertation susceptible d’amorcer le processus politique de prise de décision. Administrative complexity is a major challenge in the planning of large-scale projects in Brussels. For want of an overarching authority, multiple actors with different functions or powers have to make and implement a concerted decision. The COMCA method is used to determine the support for multi-actor, multi-level projects and thus to assist policy makers in their decisions. The various players are classified according to their role in the project. Project alternatives are assessed on criteria established by each of the actors. The desirability of each alternative is evaluated for each actor, but also for every group of actors responsible for a specific task in the project. This article describes how the method was applied as a participatory component in a study on infrastructural alternatives for the Brussels North-South rail link. Variants allowing for new rail links appear to be more promising for further study than the frequently examined doubling variants of the current North-South axis. However, the purpose of the application at this stage is not to offer a final solution, but to design an evaluation and consultation structure that provides input for the political decision-making process.

Dans le cadre de la planification de grands projets à Bruxelles, la complexité administrative représente un grand défi. En l’absence d’une autorité centrale, plusieurs acteurs aux fonctions et compétences différentes doivent prendre et exécuter une décision. La méthode COMCA permet de déterminer la portée de projets impliquant plusieurs acteurs et plusieurs niveaux et de soutenir ainsi les décideurs dans leur prise de position. Les différents acteurs sont répartis sur base de leur rôle dans le projet. Les divers aspects d’un projet sont testés selon les critères présentés par chacun des acteurs. Ainsi, l’opportunité de chaque aspect est évaluée pour chaque acteur, mais aussi pour chaque groupe d’acteurs, responsable d’une tâche déterminée du projet. L’article décrit l’application de la méthode en tant que volet participatif d’une étude de solutions d’infrastructure pour la Jonction ferroviaire Nord-Midi de Bruxelles. Ce ne sont pas tant les variantes, longuement examinées, de doublement de l’actuel axe nord-midi, mais plutôt celles qui rendent possibles de nouvelles liaisons ferroviaires qui paraissent prometteuses pour une prochaine étude. Le but de l’application, dans cette phase, n’est cependant pas d’offrir une solution définitive, mais de donner forme à une structure d’évaluation et de concertation susceptible d’amorcer le processus politique de prise de décision. De bestuurlijke complexiteit vormt een grote uitdaging voor grootschalige projecten in Brussel. Bij gebrek aan een overkoepelende autoriteit moeten meerdere actoren met uiteenlopende bevoegdheden gezamenlijk een beslissing maken en uitvoeren. De hier besproken methode beoogt het draagvlak te bepalen voor dergelijke multi-actor, multi-level-projecten. De verschillende actoren worden ingedeeld op basis van hun rol. Projectalternatieven worden getoetst op criteria die door elk van de actoren worden aangedragen. Hiermee wordt de wenselijkheid van elk alternatief ingeschat voor iedere actor, maar ook voor iedere groep actoren die verantwoordelijk is voor een bepaalde taak. De methode werd toegepast als participatief luik binnen een studie naar infrastructuur-alternatieven voor de Brusselse Noord-Zuid-spoorverbinding. Niet zozeer de veel-onderzochte verdubbelingsvarianten van de huidige noord-zuidas, maar vooral de varianten die nieuwe spoorverbindingen mogelijk maken lijken veelbelovend voor verdere studie. De studie streeft in deze fase niet naar een definitieve oplossing, maar een gemeenschappelijke basis voor het politieke besluitvormingsproces. Administrative complexity is a major challenge in the planning of large-scale projects in Brussels. For want of an overarching authority, multiple actors with different functions or powers have to make and implement a concerted decision. The COMCA method is used to determine the support for multi-actor, multi-level projects and thus to assist policy makers in their decisions. The various players are classified according to their role in the project. Project alternatives are assessed on criteria established by each of the actors. The desirability of each alternative is evaluated for each actor, but also for every group of actors responsible for a specific task in the project. This article describes how the method was applied as a participatory component in a study on infrastructural alternatives for the Brussels North-South rail link. Variants allowing for new rail links appear to be more promising for further study than the frequently examined doubling variants of the current North-South axis. However, the purpose of the application at this stage is not to offer a final solution, but to design an evaluation and consultation structure that provides input for the political decision-making process.

Administrative complexity is a major challenge in the planning of large-scale projects in Brussels. For want of an overarching authority, multiple actors with different functions or powers have to make and implement a concerted decision. The COMCA method is used to determine the support for multi-actor, multi-level projects and thus to assist policy makers in their decisions. The various players are classified according to their role in the project. Project alternatives are assessed on criteria established by each of the actors. The desirability of each alternative is evaluated for each actor, but also for every group of actors responsible for a specific task in the project. This article describes how the method was applied as a participatory component in a study on infrastructural alternatives for the Brussels North-South rail link. Variants allowing for new rail links appear to be more promising for further study than the frequently examined doubling variants of the current North-South axis. However, the purpose of the application at this stage is not to offer a final solution, but to design an evaluation and consultation structure that provides input for the political decision-making process. Dans le cadre de la planification de grands projets à Bruxelles, la complexité administrative représente un grand défi. En l’absence d’une autorité centrale, plusieurs acteurs aux fonctions et compétences différentes doivent prendre et exécuter une décision. La méthode COMCA permet de déterminer la portée de projets impliquant plusieurs acteurs et plusieurs niveaux et de soutenir ainsi les décideurs dans leur prise de position. Les différents acteurs sont répartis sur base de leur rôle dans le projet. Les divers aspects d’un projet sont testés selon les critères présentés par chacun des acteurs. Ainsi, l’opportunité de chaque aspect est évaluée pour chaque acteur, mais aussi pour chaque groupe d’acteurs, responsable d‘une tâche déterminée du projet. L’article décrit l’application de la méthode en tant que volet participatif d’une étude de solutions d’infrastructure pour la jonction ferroviaire Nord-Midi de Bruxelles. Ce ne sont pas tant les variantes, longuement examinées, de doublement de l’actuel axe nord-midi, mais plutôt celles qui rendent possibles de nouvelles liaisons ferroviaires qui paraissent prometteuses pour une prochaine étude. Le but de l’application, dans cette phase, n’est cependant pas d’offrir une solution définitive, mais de donner forme à une structure d’évaluation et de concertation susceptible d’amorcer le processus politique de prise de décision. De bestuurlijke complexiteit vormt een grote uitdaging voor grootschalige projecten in Brussel. Bij gebrek aan een overkoepelende autoriteit moeten meerdere actoren met uiteenlopende bevoegdheden gezamenlijk een beslissing maken en uitvoeren. De hier besproken methode beoogt het draagvlak te bepalen voor dergelijke multi-actor, multi-level-projecten. De verschillende actoren worden ingedeeld op basis van hun rol. Projectalternatieven worden getoetst op criteria die door elk van de actoren worden aangedragen. Hiermee wordt de wenselijkheid van elk alternatief ingeschat voor iedere actor, maar ook voor iedere groep actoren die verantwoordelijk is voor een bepaalde taak. De methode werd toegepast als participatief luik binnen een studie naar infrastructuur-alternatieven voor de Brusselse Noord-Zuid-spoorverbinding. Niet zozeer de veel-onderzochte verdubbelingsvarianten van de huidige noord-zuidas, maar vooral de varianten die nieuwe spoorverbindingen mogelijk maken lijken veelbelovend voor verdere studie. De studie streeft in deze fase niet naar een definitieve oplossing, maar een gemeenschappelijke basis voor het politieke besluitvormingsproces.

The number of municipal councillors and aldermen in the Brussels-Capital Region is relatively high, and increases at each election. In the debates on the functioning of the political institutions of the Region the idea to reduce the number of local representatives is regularly raised. This contribution explores the possible implications of such a reduction. Three scenarios are examined: a reduction by 10 %, by 20 % and by 30 %. For each of these scenarios, the consequences for the ideological diversity in the municipal councils, the workload for the representatives and the aldermen, the formation of coalitions, the gender balances and the position of the Dutch speaking elected representatives are simulated. For the smaller fractions, the Dutch speaking representatives and the gender balances the effects are clearly negative., SCOPUS: re.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Cursustekst voor het opleidingsonderdeel Inleiding tot de Voornaamste Moderne Staten (plichtvak Eerste jaar Bachelor of Laws in de Rechten/keuzevak Bachelor of Science in de TEW, Bachelor of Science in de Politieke Wetenschappen). Deze cursustekst bevat in gevulgariseerde vorm veel van mijn lopende en vroegere onderzoek op het snijvlak van politieke, diplomatieke en rechtsgeschiedenis.

In België is het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest de belangrijkste toegangspoort voor internationale migranten. Zoals overal in Europa zijn migratie en vooral postmigratie, namelijk de integratie van de nieuwkomers in de gastsamenleving, zeer delicate kwesties. Binnen de Belgische federale Staat hebben de deelgebieden een verschillend integratiebeleid opgezet, dat onlangs ingrijpend gewijzigd werd, vooral in Brussel, waar de situatie interpellerend is. Er zijn immers verschillende instellingen (die met elkaar kunnen concurreren) bevoegd voor het integratiebeleid. Vandaag bestaan er op hetzelfde grondgebied twee inburgeringstrajecten: een Nederlandstalig en een Franstalig. Het artikel strekt ertoe die trajecten in detail te beschrijven binnen de uitermate complexe Brusselse institutionele context. Het is niet enkel de bedoeling om het institutionele labyrint waarin het inburgeringsbeleid wordt gevoerd, te bestuderen en te begrijpen, maar ook om de trajecten te vergelijken. Die institutionele puzzel heeft gevolgen voor de actoren, zowel voor de overheden als voor de migranten zelf. En Belgique, la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale constitue la principale porte d’entrée de la migration internationale. Comme partout en Europe, l’enjeu de l’immigration et en particulier de son « après », à savoir l’insertion des nouveaux arrivants dans la société d’accueil, y est particulièrement sensible. Au sein de l’Etat fédéral belge, les entités fédérées ont mis en place des politiques d’intégration différentes. Récemment, celles-ci ont connu des bouleversements majeurs, en particulier à Bruxelles où le résultat est interpellant. En effet, des institutions différentes (potentiellement concurrentes) y sont compétentes et il existe, aujourd’hui, sur un même territoire, deux parcours d’intégration civique : un néerlandophone et un francophone. L’ambition de cet article est de détailler ces politiques, en les inscrivant dans le contexte institutionnel bruxellois, particulièrement complexe. Il s’agit non seulement d’étudier et de comprendre le dédale institutionnel dans lequel ces politiques s’inscrivent mais aussi de les décrire afin de les comparer. Ce puzzle institutionnel n’est pas sans conséquences pour les acteurs: que ce soit les autorités ou les migrants eux-mêmes. In Belgium, the Brussels-Capital Region constitutes the main gateway for international migration. Like everywhere in Europe, the challenge of immigration and in particular what happens afterwards, namely the integration of new immigrants in the host society, is particularly palpable in Brussels. Within the Belgian federal state, the federated entities have implemented different integration policies. Recently, these policies have experienced major upheavals, especially in Brussels where the result raises questions. Different (and possibly competing) institutions are competent, and today there are two civic integration programmes in the same territory: one from the Dutch-speaking community and the other from the French-speaking community. The aim of this article is to examine these policies by placing them in the particularly complex institutional context of Brussels. This involves studying and understanding the institutional labyrinth in which these policies exist, as well as describing them in order to compare them. This institutional puzzle has consequences for the stakeholders, i.e. the authorities and the migrants themselves.

Sinds de introductie van CCTV (closed circuit television) in de vroege jaren negentig in de Brusselse publieke ruimte groeide dit cameratoezichtsysteem qua reikwijdte en doeleinden. Het cameranetwerk van de Belgische hoofdstad kent opeenvolgende uitbreidingsgolven en wint geleidelijk terrein, zowel fysiek als ideologisch. In dit artikel onderzoeken we de geografische uitbreiding en de verdeling van camera’s in de Brusselse publieke ruimte, evenals het beleid en de beweegredenen die daaraan ten grondslag liggen. We hebben een exhaustieve kaart gemaakt van de ruimtelijke verdeling van de beveiligingscamera’s op schaal van de stadsregio’s. Deze ruimtelijke analyse werd aangevuld met een reeks van semigestructureerde interviews met publieke autoriteiten en lokale politie. We beschrijven het Brusselse CCTV-netwerk enerzijds in een context van wereldwijd verweven stedelijke concurrentie en neoliberaal beleid ten opzichte van onveiligheid, maar anderzijds bekijken we de daadwerkelijke ontwikkeling van videosurveillance in het licht van zijn lokale politieke economie., Traduction de Arnoud van Adrichem, Aussi disponible en français et en anglais, http://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1428, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Thesis title: Institutional Change and Economic Development: Evidence from Natural and Artefactual Field Experiments in Ethiopia Mequanint Biset Melesse Abstract Institutions are the essential underpinning of economic development. A large volume of empirical literature has documented conclusive evidence supporting this hypothesis. Yet, our knowledge on how to bring about institutional change and improvement is still quite imperfect. Moreover, putting in place good institutions that have undergirded the growth of the developed world has not always produced desired results in developing countries. This thesis studies the complex relationship between institutional change and economic development. Its primary focus is on the endogenous formation of institutions and outcomes of institutional changes on the quality and sustainability of other institutions and the dynamics of economic development. It employs randomized field experiments, propensity score matching and instrumental variables approaches to tackle the problem of causal inference. The results indicate that an effective institutional development requires a good knowledge of the interaction between formal and informal institutions and the complex dynamics that such interaction entails. Customary institutions are malleable. Local institutions condition the success and effects of formal institutional changes in important ways. Institutional change is a nonlinear, complex and non-ergodic process, where multiple intended and unintended outcomes are possible. Overall, the results indicate that formal and informal institutions interact out of entrenched corners with both constructive and deleterious repercussions for economic development.

Keywords: Base of the pyramid, Bottom of the pyramid, Supply chains, Export market integration, Market learning, Developing and Emerging countries, Exploitation and Exploration, Institutional arrangements, Transaction cost economics, Livelihood performance, BoP producers Abstract Organizing supply chains that are based in producer groups that live in conditions of widespread poverty and weak institutional support (sometimes referred to as the Base of the Pyramid [BoP] producers) is challenging. These challenges have predominantly been studied in the development literature, while the marketing perspective has received less attention. Drawing on both transaction cost and market learning theories, the thesis integrates producers’ opportunity exploitation and exploration processes with the institutional framework adopted in the development literature to understand producers’ integration with export markets. Overall, the findings show that exploitation mediates between drivers investigated by development economists (quality of infrastructure, microcredit, and community culture) and integration with export markets. The results show that BoP producers’ export market integration also depends on the institutional arrangements that exporting companies offer. The results indicate that contrary to more-developed settings like those in Western Europe and Northern America, there is no need to develop both opportunity exploration and exploitation in environments characterized by scarce opportunities with relatively high purchasing powers. The findings imply that developing competencies that enable to produce the demanded quality are crucial in seizing export market integration opportunities.

Local institutions and rural development: Evidence from Liberia This thesis focusses on the role of local (informal) institutions for development, based on data from Liberia. I show that dense family networks can be an obstacle for economic decision making, due to strict income sharing obligations that often belong to them. I also demonstrate the importance of local governance quality: corrupt village leaders negatively affect daily investment decisions by villagers. Finally, I evaluate the impact of a rural development project that aims to strengthen food security and social cohesion between villagers. The results indicate that the impact is marginal at most, and local institutions again do play a role. Institutions are difficult to change, as they are rooted in an historical context. However, policy makers could support the emergence of alternative institutions. Either way, a deeper understanding of the far-going impact of local institutions is important: this research contributes to that.

Local institutions and rural development: Evidence from Liberia This thesis focusses on the role of local (informal) institutions for development, based on data from Liberia. I show that dense family networks can be an obstacle for economic decision making, due to strict income sharing obligations that often belong to them. I also demonstrate the importance of local governance quality: corrupt village leaders negatively affect daily investment decisions by villagers. Finally, I evaluate the impact of a rural development project that aims to strengthen food security and social cohesion between villagers. The results indicate that the impact is marginal at most, and local institutions again do play a role. Institutions are difficult to change, as they are rooted in an historical context. However, policy makers could support the emergence of alternative institutions. Either way, a deeper understanding of the far-going impact of local institutions is important: this research contributes to that.

Keywords: Base of the pyramid, Bottom of the pyramid, Supply chains, Export market integration, Market learning, Developing and Emerging countries, Exploitation and Exploration, Institutional arrangements, Transaction cost economics, Livelihood performance, BoP producers Abstract Organizing supply chains that are based in producer groups that live in conditions of widespread poverty and weak institutional support (sometimes referred to as the Base of the Pyramid [BoP] producers) is challenging. These challenges have predominantly been studied in the development literature, while the marketing perspective has received less attention. Drawing on both transaction cost and market learning theories, the thesis integrates producers’ opportunity exploitation and exploration processes with the institutional framework adopted in the development literature to understand producers’ integration with export markets. Overall, the findings show that exploitation mediates between drivers investigated by development economists (quality of infrastructure, microcredit, and community culture) and integration with export markets. The results show that BoP producers’ export market integration also depends on the institutional arrangements that exporting companies offer. The results indicate that contrary to more-developed settings like those in Western Europe and Northern America, there is no need to develop both opportunity exploration and exploitation in environments characterized by scarce opportunities with relatively high purchasing powers. The findings imply that developing competencies that enable to produce the demanded quality are crucial in seizing export market integration opportunities.

Thesis title: Institutional Change and Economic Development: Evidence from Natural and Artefactual Field Experiments in Ethiopia Mequanint Biset Melesse Abstract Institutions are the essential underpinning of economic development. A large volume of empirical literature has documented conclusive evidence supporting this hypothesis. Yet, our knowledge on how to bring about institutional change and improvement is still quite imperfect. Moreover, putting in place good institutions that have undergirded the growth of the developed world has not always produced desired results in developing countries. This thesis studies the complex relationship between institutional change and economic development. Its primary focus is on the endogenous formation of institutions and outcomes of institutional changes on the quality and sustainability of other institutions and the dynamics of economic development. It employs randomized field experiments, propensity score matching and instrumental variables approaches to tackle the problem of causal inference. The results indicate that an effective institutional development requires a good knowledge of the interaction between formal and informal institutions and the complex dynamics that such interaction entails. Customary institutions are malleable. Local institutions condition the success and effects of formal institutional changes in important ways. Institutional change is a nonlinear, complex and non-ergodic process, where multiple intended and unintended outcomes are possible. Overall, the results indicate that formal and informal institutions interact out of entrenched corners with both constructive and deleterious repercussions for economic development.

Het doel van het project Kennis & Innovatie Impuls Greenportregio Boskoop is een extra impuls te geven aan het innovatieve vermogen van het greenportcluster boomkwekerij, aan het delen en toepassen van (nieuwe) kennis, aan duurzaam ondernemerschap en het zorgen voor voldoende en gekwalificeerd groen personeel voor de toekomst. Met het project wordt een ‘lerend ondernemersnetwerk’ tot stand gebracht waarin alle relevante regiopartijen participeren. Doelgroepen van het EFRO-project zijn ondernemers, kennisinstellingen (onderzoeks-, onderwijs- en adviespartijen) en overheden actief in de regio Boskoop. Een verkenning naar de wijze van opzet en invulling.

Het doel van het project Kennis & Innovatie Impuls Greenportregio Boskoop is een extra impuls te geven aan het innovatieve vermogen van het greenportcluster boomkwekerij, aan het delen en toepassen van (nieuwe) kennis, aan duurzaam ondernemerschap en het zorgen voor voldoende en gekwalificeerd groen personeel voor de toekomst. Met het project wordt een ‘lerend ondernemersnetwerk’ tot stand gebracht waarin alle relevante regiopartijen participeren. Doelgroepen van het EFRO-project zijn ondernemers, kennisinstellingen (onderzoeks-, onderwijs- en adviespartijen) en overheden actief in de regio Boskoop. Een verkenning naar de wijze van opzet en invulling.

Dit artikel sluit aan op een studiebezoek van de auteur in het kader van een vergelijking tussen Brussel en Washington. Het artikel toont aan dat de metropolitane benadering die thans voor Brussel wordt gevolgd, zeer atypisch is in vergelijking met de literatuur of het Amerikaanse voorbeeld van Washington, DC en veeleer voortvloeit uit een typisch Belgisch compromis dan uit de toepassing van klassieke modellen voor metropolitane samenwerking, die vaak de klemtoon leggen op het voluntarisme van de verschillende actoren. In het Brussels geval wordt de Hoofdstedelijke Gemeenschap “van bovenaf” opgelegd, ook al werd daarop aangedrongen door een aantal partijen die deelnamen aan de onderhandelingen over de federale staatshervorming. In tegenstelling tot wat in Amerika het geval is, heeft de federale overheid in geen enkele stimulans voorzien. De Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Gemeenschap is dan ook een structuur sui generis, omdat ze niet bestemd is voor andere grote steden van het land, terwijl voor de metropolitane organisatie van Washington enkel een regel wordt toegepast die voor alle grote Amerikaanse steden geldt. De vergelijking legt ook de nadruk op de tijd die nodig is om samenwerking tot stand te brengen. In Washington bestaat er al meer dan 60 jaar een traditie van metropolitaan overleg, die geleidelijk tot stand is gekomen, te beginnen met de gebieden waar dat het meest voor de hand lag, namelijk het openbaar vervoer. L’article fait suite à une mission d’étude comparative. Il montre que l’approche métropolitaine actuellement à l’œuvre à Bruxelles est très atypique si on la confronte à la littérature ou à l’exemple américain de Washington, DC. Elle relève plus de mécanismes belgo-belges de compromis que de la mise en œuvre de modèles classiques de coopération métropolitaine, qui mettent souvent l’accent sur l’implication volontaire des différents acteurs. Dans le cas bruxellois, le fait métropolitain s’est finalement imposé « par en haut », même si elle était réclamée par une partie des partenaires de la réforme de l’État. Mais contrairement au cadre américain, aucun incitant n’est prévu par l’autorité fédérale. La communauté métropolitaine bruxelloise est aussi spécifique parce que cette structure n’est pas prévue pour d’autres grandes villes du pays, alors que l’organisation métropolitaine de Washington ne fait qu’appliquer une règle commune à toutes les grandes villes américaines. La comparaison souligne aussi le temps nécessaire à la mise en place de la coopération. La concertation métropolitaine est pratiquée à Washington depuis plus de 60 ans et s’est faite progressivement en commençant par les domaines où c’était le plus évident, comme les transports publics. This article follows a comparative study mission. It shows that the metropolitan development of Brussels is clearly atypical when compared to the literature or the example of Washington, DC. It falls within the scope of Belgian mechanisms of compromise rather than the implementation of classic models of metropolitan cooperation, which often emphasise the voluntary involvement of the different stakeholders. In the case of Brussels, the metropolitan reality was imposed “from above”, even if it was claimed by some of the partners of the state reform. Contrary to Washington, there are no incentives planned by the federal authorities. The Brussels metropolitan community is also unique because this structure is not applicable to other big cities in the country, whereas the metropolitan organisation in Washington simply applies a rule which is common to all major American cities. The comparison also underlines the time required for cooperation to take root. Metropolitan cooperation has been practised in Washington for more than sixty years and has developed gradually, starting with the most straightforward issues such as public transport.

This thesis is about peasant and indigenous struggles for water rights in the Ecuadorian Highlands. It is based on the following main research question: How have peasant and indigenous communities developed multi-scalar political agency in water governance to gain and maintain their water access and related rights in the Ecuadorian Highlands since the 1980s? To answer this question, this thesis analyses the histories and relationships between organized water users, water reforms and non-governmental development organisations (NGOs) active in the Ecuadorian irrigation sector. Through state reforms, and processes of coproduction between NGOs and local peasant and indigenous communities, water user associations were created in many supra-community irrigation systems. Once created, these organisations formed the basis for the development of provincial and national federations and policy advocacy networks and platforms that now form the building blocks of the Ecuadorian water users movement.

The farmer cooperative sector in China has experienced rapid development in the past two decades, in particular after the implementation of the Famer Cooperative Law in 2007. Farmer cooperatives are considered important to mediate between farmers and other actors in the wider social, economic and political environment. Farmer cooperatives also can provide relevant services to improve production and marketing and enhance agricultural and rural development. This thesis investigates how Chinese farmer cooperatives coordinate production and marketing activities of farmers and act as intermediaries in relation to external actors. Central to the research are both the processes and outcomes of intermediation.

Horticultural greenhouse firms operate in a changing environment. This thesis has investigated the socio-economic consequences of market environment changes on supply, demand and prices throughout the Dutch greenhouse horticulture chain. The following market changes were studied: the increasing need for reducing fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions, the on-going consolidation among retail companies, and the increasing probability of health scares and border closures due to higher frequency of food safety hazards or reforms in trade regulations. Partial equilibrium models which dealt with these market environment changes, such as trade regulations, increasing market concentration and environmental changes, are reviewed. Subsequently, the economic consequences of the changes are examined.

Horticultural greenhouse firms operate in a changing environment. This thesis has investigated the socio-economic consequences of market environment changes on supply, demand and prices throughout the Dutch greenhouse horticulture chain. The following market changes were studied: the increasing need for reducing fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions, the on-going consolidation among retail companies, and the increasing probability of health scares and border closures due to higher frequency of food safety hazards or reforms in trade regulations. Partial equilibrium models which dealt with these market environment changes, such as trade regulations, increasing market concentration and environmental changes, are reviewed. Subsequently, the economic consequences of the changes are examined.

The farmer cooperative sector in China has experienced rapid development in the past two decades, in particular after the implementation of the Famer Cooperative Law in 2007. Farmer cooperatives are considered important to mediate between farmers and other actors in the wider social, economic and political environment. Farmer cooperatives also can provide relevant services to improve production and marketing and enhance agricultural and rural development. This thesis investigates how Chinese farmer cooperatives coordinate production and marketing activities of farmers and act as intermediaries in relation to external actors. Central to the research are both the processes and outcomes of intermediation.

Water is increasingly becoming a limiting factor for sustainable economic growth and development, particularly in developing countries. Besides technical innovations, water institution reforms may contribute to improving water allocation decisions. Appropriately designed water institutions can motivate water users to conserve and use water efficiently for irrigation and other uses. In northern China, growing demands on agricultural water due to relatively low water availability and increasing grain production are putting more and more pressure on improving water resource management. The Ministry of Water Resources of the P.R. China has initiated a number of pilot projects to gain experience with the development of water-saving irrigation systems. These pilot projects focus on the construction of engineering systems as well as institutional innovations in water resource management. Analysing the household-level effects of the implemented measures is hence of great importance for further policy development. The project ‘Building a Water-saving Society in Zhangye City’, initiated early 2002 in Zhangye City in northwest China, is the first pilot project of this kind in China. It provides a unique opportunity to examine the economic effects of changes in water policies and institutions. Minle County, the research area for this study, is located within Zhangye City. A large potato processing company was established in Minle County in 2008. After the factory started its activities, the local government intervened in the allocation of irrigation water within the region by assigning more water to a specific variety of potatoes (i.e. Atlantic potatoes) that the factory needs for processing. This further makes Minle County an interesting case for analysing the link between output market development and institutional change in irrigation water management. The general objective of this study is to empirically investigate the household-level impacts of policies and institutional changes in irrigation water use. From this general objective, the following four specific objectives are defined and analysed in separate chapters. 1) To examine the impact of the institutional setup of Water Users Associations (WUAs) on productivity of irrigation water use by the WUA member households, based on a user-based resource governance framework. 2) To analyse the effects of a policy affecting the availability of water for different crops on farmers’ acreage allocation among crops. 3) To evaluate the internal valuation (i.e. marginal value) of irrigation water, before and after the introduction of the water policy as explained above. 4) To investigate the effects of output market development on irrigation water trading. The information used for the empirical analyses mainly comes from two surveys that were carried out in Minle County in May 2008 and May 2010. These surveys cover information for the years 2007 and 2009, that is before and after the potato processing factory became operational. A stratified sampling approach was used for selecting the households and WUAs to be interviewed in the surveys. Additional interviews were held by the author in August 2010 with the Water Management Bureaus (WMBs) that are responsible for water allocation within the seven irrigation areas in Minle County. Chapter 2 investigates the underlying causes of differences in WUA performance by analysing the impact of WUA characteristics on the productivity of irrigation water use. Total crop production value and household income obtained from crop production, both expressed per m3 of water, are used as dependent variables in the empirical analysis. The explanatory variables in the analysis are derived from an established user-based resource governance framework, that specifies the conditions under which user groups are expected to sustainably govern common-pool resources. These conditions are grouped into resource characteristics, group characteristics, relationships between resources and user groups, and the external environment (markets, technology). Applying a random intercept model, the estimation results show that group characteristics, particularly group size and number of water users groups, and the existing pressure on available water resources are important WUA characteristics explaining water productivity. Chapter 3 analyses the impact of the local government intervention in irrigation water allocation on farmers’ crop planting decisions. A system of unconditional crop acreage demand functions depending on prices of variable inputs, levels of quasi-fixed inputs and prices of outputs is estimated. Two hypotheses are tested: Firstly, the government intervention results in an increase in land allocated to Atlantic potatoes and a decrease in land allocated to other crops; Secondly, among the alternative crops (i.e. other crops than Atlantic potatoes), the water policy is expected to cause a relatively small response for grain crops, because grains are mainly used for domestic consumption. The empirical results do not support the first hypothesis. The increased water allocation to Atlantic potatoes does not significantly affect the land allocated to this crop, because its planting decisions are mainly taken by village leaders instead of households. Instead, the intervention results in a shift from planting potatoes towards grains with relatively low water requirements.The second hypothesis is partly supported by the empirical results. The estimated impact of the government intervention is found to be stronger for local potato varieties than for grains, but the impact on the area planted with cash crops does not differ significantly from zero. Output prices seem to play a more important role in cash crop planting decisions than the water allocation intervention. Chapter 4 examines the economic valuation (i.e. marginal value) of irrigation water, before and after the local government intervention in water allocation. To accomplish this, a system of translog production functions is estimated. Two hypotheses are tested: Firstly, the valuation of irrigation water is expected to be equal across different crops before the start of the new water policy. And secondly, valuation of irrigation water is expected to be lower for Atlantic potatoes as compared to the alternative crops after the water policy change. The empirical results do not support the first hypothesis. The valuation of irrigation water used on grain crops is very low, and is even below the actual water prices charged to farm households. This is probably due to self-consumption of grain by households, and to government subsidies for grain farmers that are based on the planted area with grains. The second hypothesis is supported by the empirical results, except for grains. The valuation of irrigation water used on Atlantic potatoes is lower than the value of water used on other (non-grain) crops. Moreover, the returns for irrigation water used on other crops are higher in the year after the water allocation intervention than in the year before the intervention. Chapter 5 aims to provide insights into the impact of output market development on the trading of water use rights by farm households. Theresults of the two farm household surveys indicate that water markets have emerged at a small scale in response to the development of the potato market in Minle County. Observed water trade in the second survey, that was held after the establishment of the potato processing factory, consists mainly of the exchange of water without payment between relatives or neighbours, and seems to be meant to improve the timing of water applications to crops with different seasonal water requirements. Those who have started trading water rights tend to have more land with water use rights than other potato farmers. High transaction costs and information asymmetry between the government and water users, however, severely constrain the trading of water use rights in the region. Chapter 6 summarizes and integrates the main findings, discusses the policy implications and the limitations of the research, and presents some suggestions for further research.

This thesis is about peasant and indigenous struggles for water rights in the Ecuadorian Highlands. It is based on the following main research question: How have peasant and indigenous communities developed multi-scalar political agency in water governance to gain and maintain their water access and related rights in the Ecuadorian Highlands since the 1980s? To answer this question, this thesis analyses the histories and relationships between organized water users, water reforms and non-governmental development organisations (NGOs) active in the Ecuadorian irrigation sector. Through state reforms, and processes of coproduction between NGOs and local peasant and indigenous communities, water user associations were created in many supra-community irrigation systems. Once created, these organisations formed the basis for the development of provincial and national federations and policy advocacy networks and platforms that now form the building blocks of the Ecuadorian water users movement. Dit proefschrift gaat over de strijd om water en waterrechten van kleine boeren en inheemse gemeenschappen in de Ecuadoraanse hooglanden. De volgende onderzoeksvraag staat hierin centraal: hoe hebben gemeenschappen van kleine boeren en de inheemse bevolking in de Ecuadoraanse hooglanden hun politieke macht voor het verkrijgen en behouden van toegang tot water en bijbehorende rechten sinds de jaren 1980 ontwikkeld op verschillende bestuurlijke niveaus? Om deze vraag te beantwoorden heb ik de geschiedenis van - en de relatie tussen - georganiseerde watergebruikers, hervormingen in de watersector en niet-gouvernementele organisaties (NGO’s) werkzaam in dit veld geanalyseerd. Als gevolg van, en in reactie op overheidshervormingen en door samenwerkingen tussen NGO’s en watergebruikers, werden er in veel irrigatiesystemen watergebruikersorganisaties opgezet, zowel in autonome als in door de overheid beheerde systemen. Deze organisaties vormen de basis voor de ontwikkeling van provinciale en nationale federaties, belangenbehartigingsorganisaties en platforms waaruit de watergebruikersbeweging van Ecuador is ontstaan.

Water is increasingly becoming a limiting factor for sustainable economic growth and development, particularly in developing countries. Besides technical innovations, water institution reforms may contribute to improving water allocation decisions. Appropriately designed water institutions can motivate water users to conserve and use water efficiently for irrigation and other uses. In northern China, growing demands on agricultural water due to relatively low water availability and increasing grain production are putting more and more pressure on improving water resource management. The Ministry of Water Resources of the P.R. China has initiated a number of pilot projects to gain experience with the development of water-saving irrigation systems. These pilot projects focus on the construction of engineering systems as well as institutional innovations in water resource management. Analysing the household-level effects of the implemented measures is hence of great importance for further policy development. The project ‘Building a Water-saving Society in Zhangye City’, initiated early 2002 in Zhangye City in northwest China, is the first pilot project of this kind in China. It provides a unique opportunity to examine the economic effects of changes in water policies and institutions. Minle County, the research area for this study, is located within Zhangye City. A large potato processing company was established in Minle County in 2008. After the factory started its activities, the local government intervened in the allocation of irrigation water within the region by assigning more water to a specific variety of potatoes (i.e. Atlantic potatoes) that the factory needs for processing. This further makes Minle County an interesting case for analysing the link between output market development and institutional change in irrigation water management. The general objective of this study is to empirically investigate the household-level impacts of policies and institutional changes in irrigation water use. From this general objective, the following four specific objectives are defined and analysed in separate chapters. 1) To examine the impact of the institutional setup of Water Users Associations (WUAs) on productivity of irrigation water use by the WUA member households, based on a user-based resource governance framework. 2) To analyse the effects of a policy affecting the availability of water for different crops on farmers’ acreage allocation among crops. 3) To evaluate the internal valuation (i.e. marginal value) of irrigation water, before and after the introduction of the water policy as explained above. 4) To investigate the effects of output market development on irrigation water trading. The information used for the empirical analyses mainly comes from two surveys that were carried out in Minle County in May 2008 and May 2010. These surveys cover information for the years 2007 and 2009, that is before and after the potato processing factory became operational. A stratified sampling approach was used for selecting the households and WUAs to be interviewed in the surveys. Additional interviews were held by the author in August 2010 with the Water Management Bureaus (WMBs) that are responsible for water allocation within the seven irrigation areas in Minle County. Chapter 2 investigates the underlying causes of differences in WUA performance by analysing the impact of WUA characteristics on the productivity of irrigation water use. Total crop production value and household income obtained from crop production, both expressed per m3 of water, are used as dependent variables in the empirical analysis. The explanatory variables in the analysis are derived from an established user-based resource governance framework, that specifies the conditions under which user groups are expected to sustainably govern common-pool resources. These conditions are grouped into resource characteristics, group characteristics, relationships between resources and user groups, and the external environment (markets, technology). Applying a random intercept model, the estimation results show that group characteristics, particularly group size and number of water users groups, and the existing pressure on available water resources are important WUA characteristics explaining water productivity. Chapter 3 analyses the impact of the local government intervention in irrigation water allocation on farmers’ crop planting decisions. A system of unconditional crop acreage demand functions depending on prices of variable inputs, levels of quasi-fixed inputs and prices of outputs is estimated. Two hypotheses are tested: Firstly, the government intervention results in an increase in land allocated to Atlantic potatoes and a decrease in land allocated to other crops; Secondly, among the alternative crops (i.e. other crops than Atlantic potatoes), the water policy is expected to cause a relatively small response for grain crops, because grains are mainly used for domestic consumption. The empirical results do not support the first hypothesis. The increased water allocation to Atlantic potatoes does not significantly affect the land allocated to this crop, because its planting decisions are mainly taken by village leaders instead of households. Instead, the intervention results in a shift from planting potatoes towards grains with relatively low water requirements.The second hypothesis is partly supported by the empirical results. The estimated impact of the government intervention is found to be stronger for local potato varieties than for grains, but the impact on the area planted with cash crops does not differ significantly from zero. Output prices seem to play a more important role in cash crop planting decisions than the water allocation intervention. Chapter 4 examines the economic valuation (i.e. marginal value) of irrigation water, before and after the local government intervention in water allocation. To accomplish this, a system of translog production functions is estimated. Two hypotheses are tested: Firstly, the valuation of irrigation water is expected to be equal across different crops before the start of the new water policy. And secondly, valuation of irrigation water is expected to be lower for Atlantic potatoes as compared to the alternative crops after the water policy change. The empirical results do not support the first hypothesis. The valuation of irrigation water used on grain crops is very low, and is even below the actual water prices charged to farm households. This is probably due to self-consumption of grain by households, and to government subsidies for grain farmers that are based on the planted area with grains. The second hypothesis is supported by the empirical results, except for grains. The valuation of irrigation water used on Atlantic potatoes is lower than the value of water used on other (non-grain) crops. Moreover, the returns for irrigation water used on other crops are higher in the year after the water allocation intervention than in the year before the intervention. Chapter 5 aims to provide insights into the impact of output market development on the trading of water use rights by farm households. Theresults of the two farm household surveys indicate that water markets have emerged at a small scale in response to the development of the potato market in Minle County. Observed water trade in the second survey, that was held after the establishment of the potato processing factory, consists mainly of the exchange of water without payment between relatives or neighbours, and seems to be meant to improve the timing of water applications to crops with different seasonal water requirements. Those who have started trading water rights tend to have more land with water use rights than other potato farmers. High transaction costs and information asymmetry between the government and water users, however, severely constrain the trading of water use rights in the region. Chapter 6 summarizes and integrates the main findings, discusses the policy implications and the limitations of the research, and presents some suggestions for further research.

Keywords: Cooperation, contract arrangements, traders´ performance, market uncertainty, diversification, coffee, Mexico. The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the institutional environment prevailing in the Mexican coffee sector and its effect on the producers, traders and households. Specific topics we examine are the contract arrangements and trade performance, the factors influencing the growers´ willingness to join a cooperative, the effects of cooperation on price variability, the influence of cooperation on the growers’ welfare, and coffee producers’ response to the falling coffee price through their engagement in diversification activities. To accomplish the main objectives we have used primary and secondary data. We applied ordinarily least squares, logistic, probit and multivariate probit regressions in the analysis. The main findings indicate that farmers were better off under the quota system than they are under the free market. Results also indicate that being a roaster and selling cherry coffee negatively affects traders’ use of contracts, whereas being vertically integrated has a positive effect on contracting. On the other hand, selling cherry coffee, participating in a competitive environment and having contracts positively influence intermediaries’ performance. Other results show that some individual, family and farm factors, as well as variability of the coffee price at the municipal level favour cooperative affiliation; whereas housing conditions, the proportion of farmers in the municipality and the level of producers selling to intermediaries at the municipal level negatively affect prospects for cooperative membership. We discovered overall positive effects of cooperative participation on household welfare through an increase in the price and total coffee income; results also indicate that households responded to the low coffee price periods with an increase in diversification.

The expansion of modern hybrid varieties in maize (Zea mays L.) in China has caused the rapid loss of local varieties, including farmer maintained varieties and landraces. With growing international recognition of the importance of agro-biodiversity conservation and on-farm crop improvement, participatory plant breeding has been accepted as a complementary strategy in modern agricultural research. Participatory plant breeding has been conducted in Guangxi province in the Southwest China since 2000. It has introduced technical options to the formal breeding programme as well as institutional options at a range of levels, including new, formalised benefit sharing arrangement among stakeholders. This study seeks to understand these challenges and, through action research to induce supportive multi-level institutional change through and for participatory plant breeding within the local socio-technical context. The core research questions of this study are: • What were the changes in the distribution of maize landraces and hybrids from 1998 to 2008 in the three southwest provinces, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou? • What are the potentials of participatory plant breeding for maize hybrid improvement in this context? • How do the institutional changes in the organization of the seed supply system in China influence small holder-oriented seed supply? • What is the contribution of action researching to institutional innovation in the case of developing access and benefit sharing mechanisms in the context of the participatory plant breeding programme in southwest China? • How has public value been created, strengthened and rewarded through participatory plant breeding and related market mechanisms in selected cases?

In the early 1970s, microfinance came to public attention as a promising tool to reduce poverty. However, some people began to claim that microcredit is unsuitable for sustainable development. Nevertheless, the lack of scientific support for both viewpoints has created a need for empirical studies to disentangle whether microfinance interventions should be implemented, and if so, how. The objective of this thesis is to provide evidence on the role of microfinance in Latin America, with a particular emphasis on Mexico. The main innovation of this study is the focus on four topics that have thus far received relatively little attention. Firstly, the relationship between efficiency and the ownership structure of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America is investigated. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Cooperative/Credit Unions are found to be less technically efficient and have an inferior technology relative to Banks and Non-Banks Financial Intermediaries (NBFIs). Secondly, this study assesses five different microfinance programs on household welfare in Mexico. The findings reveal that savings-oriented microfinance programs outperform programs that primarily offer microcredit, in reducing poverty. Thirdly, the impact of microfinance on vulnerability to poverty is analyzed. The results of this analysis show that membership in a savings and credit society in Mexico improves the well-being of households and reduces their vulnerability. Finally, the impact of the loan officer’s characteristics on determining repayment rates in microfinance is examined. The main outcome suggests that the gender of the loan officer and his/her professional experience are important determinants of repayment rates. Further conclusions are that loan officers who work longer in Pro Mujer have higher default probabilities and that peer monitoring of group members is not a significant determinant of loan default.

In the early 1970s, microfinance came to public attention as a promising tool to reduce poverty. However, some people began to claim that microcredit is unsuitable for sustainable development. Nevertheless, the lack of scientific support for both viewpoints has created a need for empirical studies to disentangle whether microfinance interventions should be implemented, and if so, how. The objective of this thesis is to provide evidence on the role of microfinance in Latin America, with a particular emphasis on Mexico. The main innovation of this study is the focus on four topics that have thus far received relatively little attention. Firstly, the relationship between efficiency and the ownership structure of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America is investigated. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Cooperative/Credit Unions are found to be less technically efficient and have an inferior technology relative to Banks and Non-Banks Financial Intermediaries (NBFIs). Secondly, this study assesses five different microfinance programs on household welfare in Mexico. The findings reveal that savings-oriented microfinance programs outperform programs that primarily offer microcredit, in reducing poverty. Thirdly, the impact of microfinance on vulnerability to poverty is analyzed. The results of this analysis show that membership in a savings and credit society in Mexico improves the well-being of households and reduces their vulnerability. Finally, the impact of the loan officer’s characteristics on determining repayment rates in microfinance is examined. The main outcome suggests that the gender of the loan officer and his/her professional experience are important determinants of repayment rates. Further conclusions are that loan officers who work longer in Pro Mujer have higher default probabilities and that peer monitoring of group members is not a significant determinant of loan default.