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This paper analyzes the behavior of cross-country growth rates with respect to resource abundance and dependence. We reject the linear model that is commonly used in growth regressions in favor of a multiple-regime alternative. Using a formal sample-splitting method, we find that countries exhibit different behaviors with respect to natural resources depending on their initial level of development. In high-income countries, natural resources play only a minor role in explaining the differences in national growth rates. On the contrary, in low-income countries, abundance seems to be a blessing but dependence restricts growth.

International audience; The distinction between effort and other factors, such as family background, matters for correcting policies and normative reasons when we appeal to inequality of opportunity. We take advantage of a purposefully designed survey on secondary schools in rural Bangladesh to offer a comprehensive view of the importance of overall effort when measuring inequalities of opportunity in education. The analysis comprises decomposition exercises of the predicted variance of student performance in mathematics and English by source (effort, circumstances, etc.) and subgroup (within- and between-schools) based on parametric estimates of educational production functions. Pupils’ effort, preferences, and talents contribute between 31% and 40% of the total predicted variances in performance scores. The contribution of overall effort falls by 10% when the correlation between effort and circumstances is taken into account. These findings are robust to the choice of estimation strategy (i.e. combined within- and between-schools variation models versus multilevel random-effect models). All in all, these results advocate that social determinism in education can be mitigated by individual effort at school.

Son preference is common in many Asian countries. Though a growing body of literature examines the drivers and socioeconomic impacts of phenomenon in case of China and India, work on other Asian countries is scarce. This study uses nationally representative survey of over 13 thousand households from Pakistan (PDHS 2012-13) to analyze the effects of observed preference for sons on women’s participation in intra-household decision-making. Four key intra-household decisions are considered: decisions regarding healthcare, family visits, large household purchases and spending husband's income. These correspond to four categories of household decisions, namely healthcare, social, consumption and financial. Probit and Ordered Probit are employed as the main estimation techniques and other determinants of household decision-making are controlled for. Besides, a number of matching routines are employed to account for the possibility of potential selection bias.We find that women with at least one son have more say in household decisions. Bearing at least one son is associated with 5%, 7% and 5% higher say in decisions involving healthcare, social and consumption matters respectively. Women's role in financial affairs, however, does not differ significantly from women with no sons. Female participation in decisionmaking grows significantly with the number of sons but only up to the third parity. These results are particularly visible among younger, wealthier and educated women, and those who got married earlier. The findings suggest a limited improvement in women's bargaining power at home resulting from the birth of one or more sons. This in part explains higherdesire for sons expressed by women compared to men in household surveys.; La préférence pour les garçons est courante en asie. Alors que beaucoup d’étudess’intéressent aux facteurs et aux impacts socioéconomiques de ce phénomène en Chine et enInde, les travaux sur les autres pays asiatiques sont plus rares. A partir d’une enquêtenationale réalisée sur plus de 13 000 ménages pakistanais (PDHS 2012-13), cette étudeanalyse les effets de la préférence pour les garçons sur la participation des femmes auxdécisions prises dans le ménage. Quatre décisions importantes du ménage seront prises encompte : celles relatives aux soins de santé, aux visites de famille, sur les achats du ménage etsur l’affectation des dépenses des revenus du mari. Celles-ci représentent quatre catégoriesdes décisions au sain du ménage : les décisions lié à la santé, aux liens sociaux, à laconsommation et aux affaires financières. Les méthodes Probit et Probit Ordinal sontutilisées pour les estimations de base et d’autres déterminants liés aux décisions prises dans leménage seront pris en compte. De plus, méthodes d’appariment sont utilisées pour tenircompte d’éventuels biais de sélection.Les résultats indiquent que le fait d’avoir au moins un fils a une influence sur les décisions duménage. Le fait d’avoir au moins un fils est associé à une hausse de 5%, 7% et 5% sur lesdécisions impliquant respectivement les soins de santé, les relations sociales et laconsommation. L’implication des femmes dans les finances du ménage ne varie pourtant passignificativement avec celle des femmes sans fils. La participation des femmes dans les prisesde décision augmente avec le nombre de fils mais seulement jusqu’à 3 garçons. Ce résultatentraine une amélioration relative sur le pouvoir de négociation des femmes au sein duménage suite à la naissance d’un ou plusieurs garçons. Cela explique en partie le désir plusfort des femmes d’avoir des fils par rapport aux hommes, selon les enquêtes ménages.

ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase, initially discovered as part of the NPM-ALK fusion protein, resulting from a chromosomal rearrangement frequently associated with anaplastic large cell lymphomas. The native ALK protein is normally expressed in the developing and, at a weaker level, adult nervous system. We recently demonstrated that ALK is a novel dependence receptor. As such, in the absence of ligand, the ALK receptor is kinase inactive and its expression results in enhanced apoptosis, whereas kinase activation, due to a ligand or constitutive as in NPM-ALK, decreases apoptosis. Unligated/kinase unactivated ALK receptor facilitates apoptosis via its own cleavage by caspases, a phenomenon allowing the exposure of a proapoptotic juxta-membrane intra-cellular domain. This review summarizes the biological significance of the ALK receptor in cancer and development, in perspective with its dependence receptor function. The dual function of ALK in the physiology of development is illustrated in the visual system of Drosophila. In this part of the nervous system, ALK in the presence of ligand appears essential for axonal guidance, whereas in the absence of ligand, ALK expression can lead to developmental neuronal apoptosis. ALK is also found expressed in neural crest-derived tumors such as human neuroblastomas or glioblastomas but its role is not fully elucidated. However, an excessive or constitutive ALK tyrosine kinase activation can lead to deregulation of cell proliferation and survival, therefore to human cancers such as lymphomas and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors. Our observations could have important implications in the therapy of ALK-positive tumors harboring the chimeric or wild type ALK protein.