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Evidence emerging from our novel in-prison survey shows that non-criminal legal problems of prison inmates mainly relate to family law matters, contract liability, and administrative procedures. The rate of subjects who face legal issues increases after imprisonment. Employing logit estimation techniques, we test the hypothesis according to which isolation due to imprisonment obstructs legal problem resolution. Results suggest that the open-cell regime has increased the rate of resolution of some family-related problems (divorce and child custody) while not affecting others (legacy issues). Similarly, while common problems with the public administration seem easier to solve under the open-cell regime, those related to contract liability do not. We infer that the open-cell regime may support the resolution of legal problems that usually require standardised approaches. Policy implications supporting the open-cell regime follow.

A quasi-natural experiment has been carried out in which the Centre Meeting (CM) rules of some centres of a large Microfinance Institution (MFI) that offers microfinance services, in the form of group lending, were changed. The study has been carried out at the Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF), an MFI that operates in South Africa. The frequency of group meetings, organised as part of the “Monthly Centre Meetings” pilot programme, was reduced from bimonthly to monthly, and only one member per credit- group was asked to participate instead of all the group members. The purpose of these changes was to allow borrowers to save time to spend on their own economic activities. This new policy was put into force for one year, from May 2014 to the end of April 2015. After selecting a suitable control group of micro- borrowers, using Propensity Score Matching techniques, we ran difference-in-difference (DID) regressions to evaluate the impact of the policy changes on the client’s repayment and saving behaviour. The obtained estimates suggest that the change in the policy rules had led to a deterioration of the customers’ saving balances and had increased delayed repayments. Text mining techniques, applied to survey data, pointed towards a lack of trust within the groups, the members of which did not meet frequently outside the CMs, and this was found to be one of the main causes of failure of the pilot experiment. We have concluded that group meetings are an effective tool to stimulate the accumulation of social capital for some categories of clients, and that those MFIs that wish to implement similar interventions should be aware of the drawbacks pertaining to borrowers’ behaviour.

The economic literature provides evidence thatgrowth is associated with positive performance of the financial sector. This aspect is particularly important for developing countries. This study aims to investigate whether, in an environment of growing competition and regulation, the maintenance of their social mission may have led microfinance institutions (MFIs) to compromise their performance, in terms of efficient production of credit services. To this purpose, we use a two-stage approach to analyze the relationship between outreach and efficiency of MFIs in Bangladesh. In the first stage, a dynamic data envelopment analysis is exploited to measure the efficiency of MFIs from 2009 to 2014. The results show that most of the MFIs are operationally inefficient over the period, suggesting a considerable potential for future improvement. In the second stage, the study examines the potential trade-off between MFIs’ commitment to financial inclusion and depth of outreach on the one hand and efficiency on the other hand, using a double bootstrapping methodology that helps in limiting the problems arising from the endogenous nature of the measures of outreach with respect to efficiency. The results show that financial inclusion is positively associated with MFIs’ efficiency, whereas the relationship between deepening and efficiency turns up negative, providing partial evidence in support of ‘mission drift’ in the Bangladesh microfinance industry.This may be indicative of the fact that MFIs with stronger commercial objectives have expanded their business and their margins of efficiency to compete with other intermediaries. In contrast, the MFIs with a more intense social strategy may have suffered a decrease in their operating efficiency in order to maintain their social mission. Policy implications point towards a greater degree of awareness on the part of the regulatory authorities of the consequences of imposing constraints on the operating mechanisms of the microfinance industry, such as interest rate caps. We also suggest that rules disciplining competition should not be uniform, but rather tailored to specific outreach indicators.

The empirical literature has consistently shown that judicial ideal points can be estimated in a one‐dimensional space that reflects the traditional conservative‐progressive dichotomy. In this article, we develop an empirical methodology to analyze some features that may characterize bi‐dimensional courts when dissenting opinions are not frequent. We apply the analysis to the particular case of the Consell de Garanties Estatutaries de Catalunya (Catalan Constitutional Court). The results illustrate that judicial preferences on conservative‐progressive grounds are likely to affect the decision outcome of the Court on issues having significant public policy content. Conversely, judicial preferences regarding Spanish‐Catalan sovereignty tend to encroach on judgments concerning public policy, thus affecting the outcome of all judgments of the Court regardless of content type. Furthermore, we find that judicial preferences in the Spanish‐Catalan sovereignty dimension are pervasive enough to shift the outcome of all types of decisions in favor of Catalan institutions. Policy conclusions are derived.

We studied the effects of a pilot project that strengthened savings incentive mechanisms. The project was established by The Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF), a leading microfinance institution based in South Africa. The program introduced a savings stimulus in the form of a Goal Card: clients subscribing to this (non-coercive) tool were required to identify a savings goal and to commit to regular payments to reach it. The experiment had a quasi-natural approach as it was implemented by SEF in non-randomly selected locations. Difference-in-differences estimates show improved savings habits among those of the foundation’s customers who were involved in the program, compared to the counterfactual that are identified using propensity score matching. The effect of the program manifested in its second semester, suggesting a persistent change of habits but a slow accumulation of savings. We conclude that asking microcredit customers to identify a savings goal and commit to a regular savings amount to achieve it is a promising savings incentive mechanism.

We report the generation of unprecedented 10 PetaWatt laser pulses obtained from each of the two beamlines of the High Power Laser System (HPLS) of ELI-NP (Extreme Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics) research infrastructure. The laser system is a hybrid system made of a double CPA based on amplification within Titanium Sapphire crystals combined with an OPCPA with a parametric amplification stage boosting the energy to 10 mJ at the entrance of the second CPA. A XPW filter is also inserted between the two CPA and in combination with the OPCPA improves the temporal contrast of the pulses by typically 7 orders of magnitude. The spectral effects occurring during amplification such as gain narrowing and wavelength shifting are compensated through the use of spectral filters. Final amplification stages are involving large aperture Ti:Sapphire crystals (up to 200 mm) which are pumped by high energy frequencydoubled Nd:Glass lasers delivering each 100 J of green light. Laser beams have been amplified respectively up to 332 J and to 342 J of pulse energy at 1 shot per minute without any occurrence of ASE and transverse lasing thanks to index matching fluid surrounding the crystal over is entire length and pump deposition management over the time before each beam pass within the Ti:Sapphire crystal. We have demonstrated full aperture compression by metric gratings of these amplified pulses down to 22.6 fs and therefore made the full demonstration for the first time ever of 10 PW capability from a laser system.

This paper investigates the effects of the intra-European posting of workers on domestic labour markets in the years 2007–2009. Instrumental variables related to neighbouring countries’ populations are used to address the endogeneity between posting and labour market features. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that an intensification of posting inflows is not likely to displace domestic workers, at any educational levels. Instead, an increase in posting from abroad may raise domestic labour costs. No significant effects are found on sending country labour market variables. Results point towards the development of possible synergies between domestic and posted workers, so that posting can actually improve labour efficiency and put upward pressure on labour costs.

This study is based on a randomized control trial (RCT) aimed at understanding the effectiveness of a financial literacy pilot program conducted in 2014-2016 at the Institute for Indian Mother and Child, a non-profit micro-finance institution based near Kolkata. Significant impacts are revealed in terms of improvements in saving accumulation and punctuality in the repayment of the loan installments for borrowers belonging to the treated group, compared to the group of borrowers who did not participated to the program. In particular, positive contribution emerges from the evolution of both the cognitive skills and the level of financial knowledge developed by the beneficiaries during the training program. Estimates provide evidence that enhancing cognitive abilities turn out to be strongly beneficial in fostering the accumulation savings, whereas financial principles also had an (although weaker) impact on stimulating a more timely reimbursement of the installments. We conclude that the financial literacy pilot program has significantly activated women cognitive abilities, giving them the opportunity to apply them both in the course and in their businesses.

Belgian Constitutional Court – Conflicts between regions, communities and the central government – Allocation of competences – Decisions with high political content – Degree of political alignment between the parties in litigation and judicial behaviour at the Court – Empirical testing – All decisions of the Belgian Constitutional Court, 1985-2012 – Alignment between the alleged political preferences of the judges and the political affiliation of the Petitioner increases the rate of success of the latter

Using data from a leading Italian microfinance provider we investigate the effect of kinship relations between borrowers and cosigners on loan defaults. We address causality issues using an instrumental variable built on the exogenous rule imposed by the lender that requires personal guarantees for loans exceeding € 5000. Results show that the presence of closely related cosigners tends to reduce defaults. We find that this is the result of a possible combined effect of both stronger solidarity and more effective psychological pressure exerted by relatives compared to other categories of cosigners.

Using data from a World Bank survey carried out in Bangladesh during the period 1991-1992, we compare the impact of microfinance programs and other types of credit on agricultural investment. After controlling for several measurable determinants of credit agreements, such as interest rates and collateral, estimates still show that microfinance programs are more likely to increase variable input expenditure than informal and bank credit are able to do. This provides evidence that microfinance incentive devices (joint responsibility, peer monitoring, social sanctions, future credit denial in case of default, etc.), perhaps together with other services associated with programs, are effective in order to promote a productive use of funds.

In 2005 the European Commission has adopted the so called Third Directive on Anti-Money Laundering (AML), which was to be implemented into the national laws at the latest in December 2007. The key feature that characterizes the Third Directive is the idea that the regulatory framework should be risk-based (RBA). The aim of the regulation is to elicit a high level of outcome in terms of AML effectiveness from self-interested financial institutions (Fis) who possess private information. But how to design the role of FIs and regulators, and their relationships, in order to increase the effectiveness of the AML rules? In this paper we analyze the problem using a principal-agent framework to describe the AML setting when a RBA is applied, focusing on incentive problems arising in a three-layer hierarchy, which includes public authorities, financial institutions, and regulators.

The dynamic thermal issues of the Yb:CaF $$_{2}$$ crystals within a multi-tens-mJ-energy multipass amplifier operating in the 20–100 Hz repetition rate range and pumped in quasi-cw regime have been studied at different timescales. Thermal response times of the system have been precisely investigated and analyzed, for the first time to our best knowledge in such amplifiers. This study includes a dual timescale analysis: in the long-time-scale (second) with direct thermography mapping and in the millisecond range with thermal lensing in a pump-probe configuration. Very atypical positive lens behavior with fluorites will also be presented and discussed. This complete analysis is used to demonstrate the capability of $$\hbox {Yb:CaF}_{2}$$ multipass amplifier systems for operating the amplifier at 20 Hz with 57 mJ and 100 Hz with 32-mJ stable regime. Indeed, high repetition rate multipass amplifier has been realized for the first time with $$\hbox {Yb:CaF}_{2}$$ and for this energy. The results have been analyzed precisely to take into account the thermal issues and excellent beam quality, with a $$M^2$$ of 1.1. The pointing stability of 20 μrad has been measured documenting the reliability of the high repetition rate mJ amplifier.

Using Italian data in the period 1999-2002, we estimate the impact of trial delays on the willingness to commit crimes against property. However, the endogenous relationship that links the former to the latter could generate serious problems of inconsistency in the estimation procedure. Since geographical distance can be considered an exogenous determinant of the probability of belonging to peripheral courts, which are typically considered less efficient than main ones, it should represent a valid candidate instrument for trial delay. Estimates obtained by means of Two-Stage Least Squares show a significant positive effect of trials duration on crimes, supporting the hypothesis that some criminals are either sensitive to the discounting process of punishment or aware of the probability of prescription, or both. As a side result, we also find a relationship between courts' fragmentation and trial duration. This suggests that an optimal dimension of courts is likely to exist, and that policy makers should take this into consideration in the design of the jurisdictional geography. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

We investigate the effect that exchange rate regimes have on the degree of central bank involvement in banking supervision. Using both de jure and de facto exchange rate regimes, we find that, conditional on several other factors affecting supervisory power allocation, policymakers are more willing to delegate this task to central banks when the latter are pegging their currency to some kind of parity. This evidence is confirmed when instrumental variables are added, in order to account for possible endogeneity. Results suggest that exchange rate regime features can mitigate the trade offs that political authorities face in evaluating the possibility of assigning supervision to monetary authorities.

A hybrid Ti:Sa CPA/BBO OPCPA system with a XPW filter in between the two has been developed to produce a broadband high contrast seeder of 10 mJ for the two 10 PetaWatt beamlines of ELI NP infrastructure.

A laser system made of two beams of 10 PW each has been designed and is currently built for ELI-NP research infrastructure. Design is presented as well as preliminary results up to the 1PW level amplifier.

We present a high-contrast 10-fs Front-End for Ti:sapphire PW-lasers within the Apollon-10PW project. This injector uses OPCPA pumped at 100Hz by Yb-based CPA chain. Combination of OPCPA and XPW permits a >1012 contrast ratio.

A hybrid Ti:Sa CPA/BBO OPCPA system with a XPW filter inbetween the two has been developed to produce a broadband high contrast seeder of 10 mJ for the two 10 PetaWatt beamlines of ELI NP infrastructure.

International audience; Applications using multi-PW lasers necessitate high temporal pulse quality with a tremendous contrast ratio (CR). The first crucial prerequisite to achieve multi-PW peak power is the generation of ultrashort pulses with good spectral phase quality. Second, to avoid any deleterious pre-ionization effect on targets, nanosecond contrast better than 10$^{12}$ is also targeted. In the framework of the Apollon 10 PW French laser program, we present a high-contrast 10 fs front-end design study to inject highly energetic Ti:sapphire PW lasers. The CR has been measured and analyzed in different time ranges highlighting the different major contributions for each scale.

A Ti:Sa amplifier (1.2 mJ, 25 fs, CR=10^8) and dual-crystal cross polarized wave generation setup is demonstrated to deliver few-cycle, high-contrast pulses (10 fs, CR>10^10) appropriate for seeding a multi-petawatt laser system.

International audience; We report on a compact energy-scalable device for generating high-fidelity femtosecond laser pulses based on spatial filtering through a hollow-core fiber followed by a nonlinear crystal for crosspolarized wave (XPW) generation. This versatile device is suited for temporal pulse cleaning over a wide range of input energies (from 0.1 to >10 mJ) and is successfully qualified on different ultrafast laser systems. Full characterization of the XPW output is presented. In particular, we demonstrate the generation of 1.6 mJ energy pulses starting from 11 mJ input pulse energy. The temporal contrast of the pulses is enhanced by more than 4 orders of magnitude. In addition, pulse shortening from 40 fs down to 15 fs Fourier-transform limit yields an overall peak-power transmission of up to 50%. This device not only serves as an integrated pulse contrast filter inside an ultrafast laser amplifier but also as a simple back-end solution for temporal post-compression of amplified pulses.

We present the development of the front-end of the Apollon 10PW laser. It is based on broadband OPCPA stages pumped by high energy diode pumped Yb based amplifiers to produce up to 30 mJ, 10-fs pulses at 20–100 Hz to seed Ti:Sapphire amplifiers.

We present our recent progress on the development of a joule-class diode pumped amplification chain dedicated to pump a high energy sub-10 fs OPCPA system. Results on various multipass amplifiers based on Yb:KYW and Yb:CaF2 crystals are presented.

The objective of the "Institut de Lumie`re Extreme" consists in providing early in 2014 to the international scientific community an unique laser based facility delivering 150 J, 15 fs pulses at 1 shot per minute repetition rate allowing to investigate an unexplored domain of laser-matter interaction at 1023 - 1024 W/cm2 intensity level.

Cross polarized wave generation (XPW) is a well established technique for contrast enhancement of ultrashort pulses in high energy laser systems [1]. Efficient conversion with XPW only occurs at high intensities. Weaker, unconverted pre and post pulses are thus rejected by the second polarizer, thereby improving the temporal contrast of the pulse. XPW has several drawbacks especially in terms of simultaneously achieving high conversion efficiencies and output energies. Limitations in seeding the nonlinear filter with high energies arise from the upper intensity limit of white light generation while high conversion efficiencies require excellent beam quality.

International audience; High-power diode-pumped laser operation at 992-993nm under a pumping wavelength of 981 of 986nm is demonstrated with Yb:CaF2 operating at cryogenic temperature (77K), leading to extremely low quantum defects of 1.2% and 0.7%, respectively. An average output power of 33Whas been produced with an optical efficiency of 35%. This represents, to the best of our knowledge, the best laser performance ever obtained at such low quantum defects on intense laser lines.

International audience; A 80 μJ, 6 fs, CEP-stable high-contrast injector is demonstrated. The device relies on standard pulse post-compression in hollow-core fiber followed by a temporal filter based on cross-polarized wave generation. Pulses with a Gaussian spectrum over 350 nm, centered at 750 nm, are generated. Temporal measurements show that the contrast of the few-cycle pulses is enhanced on a femtosecond and picosecond time scale. The carrier-envelope phase stability is preserved (0.3 rad RMS). These performances make the system an ideal seed laser for high-power, high-contrast OPCPA systems.

Cryogenic cooling is a very interesting and promising apparatus for high power lasers, especially with Yb-doped materials. In fact, it is now well known that operating this type of laser materials at cryogenic temperatures such as 77K (liquid nitrogen temperature) positively affects their performance, especially at high power levels, because of increased thermal conductivities and absorption and emission cross sections. We present a high-power diode-pumped Yb:CaF 2 laser operating at cryogenic temperature (77 K). A laser output power of 97 W at 1034 nm was extracted for a pump power of 245 W. The corresponding global extraction efficiency (versus absorbed pump power) is 65%. The laser small signal gain was found equal to 3.1. The laser wavelength could be tuned between 990 and 1052 nm with peaks which well correspond to the structure of the gain cross section spectra registered at low temperature.

We demonstrate a 80μJ, 5fs, CEP-stable injector with high spectro-temporal quality. The device relies on post-compression in a hollow-core fiber followed by XPW filtering and is an ideal seed for high-power high-contrast OPCPA systems.

Laser operation at 992.7 nm under 981-nm diode-pumping is demonstrated with Yb:CaF2 operating at 77 K leading to a extremely-low quantum-defects of 1.2 % with 33W average power with an optical-efficiency of 35 %.

International audience; Within the development of the ILE French project aiming on the building of a 10 PW, 150 J∕15 fs laser chain (named APOLLON), a design study for a sub‐10‐fs, 100 mJ pilot laser operating at 800 nm have been conceived. This system is based on a non‐collinear optical parametric chirped‐pulse amplification (NOPCPA) of the spectrally broadened and compressed pulses of a Ti:Sapphire laser system providing 1.5‐mJ, 25‐fs, pumped at 515 nm by a high‐energy diode‐pumped Yb‐doped‐based laser chain. The envisioned system, based on a novel combined architecture of picosecond and nanosecond NOPCPA stages, will finally deliver carrier envelope phased (CEP) stabilized 1 ns pulses (compressible to less than 10 fs) at 800 nm with 100 mJ energy and at a repetition rate in the range of 10-100 Hz.

Using data from a World Bank survey carried out in Bangladesh during the period 1991-1992, this paper compares the impact of microfinance programs and other types of credit agreements on households' investment in productive activities. We find that group-lending positively affects variable input expenditure while fixed assets are more likely to be financed through bank credit. These features characterize the non agricultural sector, while farmers seem to rely on informal loans. Results are not a consequence of the differences in the amount borrowed, interest rates, collateral, and borrowers' wealth. This provides evidence that non-measurable determinants of credit agreements, such as for example liability, sanctions, repayment schedules, and non-credit services, play a considerable role in determining households' attitudes towards different investment choices.

In this paper we present a model of competition between informal lending and group lending. The paper is organized as follows. The second paragraph reviews the economic literature that analyzes separately group contracts and informal lending markets. The third paragraph tries to answer the following question: "Can the credit group play a role in competitive markets?", where competitive markets are characterized by two features: markets where the lender acts under no profit condition, and at the same time the borrower can choose among different types of contracts (i.e., informal lending contracts and credit group contracts). The fourth paragraph concludes.

International audience; A compact and robust, dual-crystal cross polarized wave generation setup combined with a hollow waveguide filter is implemented to deliver few-cycle, high-contrast laser pulses sourced from a commercial multipass Ti:Sa amplifier. The initial 25-fs pulses with a temporal contrast of 108 are shortened to 10 fs with an improved contrast of at least 10^10. The single nonlinear stage for spectral broadening and contrast enhancement of a commercial amplifier serves as an ideal injector for petawatt-class laser systems.

We report a diode-pumped Yb:KYW amplifier delivering up to 27 mJ pulses at a repetition rate of 100 Hz and a spectral bandwidth of 5.5 nm, centered at around 1030 nm. The system is based on a double-head multipass amplifier configuration where the pump thermal load is distributed over two relatively thin laser crystals, which permits a sufficiently large number of passes with minimal passive losses, thus maximizing the energy extraction efficiency. The amplified pulse bandwidth theoretically supports 340 fs pulses, and as a demonstration, a small fraction of the amplified pulses has been compressed to 560 fs.

We present an overview of laser results we obtained with Yb-doped calcium fluoride and its isotype strontium fluoride. In order to study the laser performance in femtosecond and high power regimes, spectral and thermal properties are first discussed including the potential of these crystals at room and cryogenic temperatures. Experimental demonstrations of high-power and ultrashort pulse oscillators and amplifiers are presented and analyzed.

We are presenting a 57 mJ multipass amplifier based on Yb:CaF2 operating at 20 Hz. Special attention has been given to the thermal measurement and management in order to push it to the 100 Hz regime.

We present an overview of laser results we obtained with Yb-doped calcium-fluoride. Spectral and thermal properties will be discussed, and experimental demonstration on high-power and ultrashort pulse oscillators and amplifiers will be presented.

Vesicles of the acidic lipid dimyristoyl phosphatidylglycerol (DMPG), at physiological conditions, show a highly cooperative gel-fluid transition, around 23°C. However, at low ionic strength, DMPG bilayers display a peculiar thermo-structural behavior, presenting a broad gel-fluid transition, between 18°C and 35°C. Several interesting properties of this "transition region" led to different models for DMPG dispersion at low ionic strength. Here, we use computer simulations (1) of the electron spin resonance signal of spin labels incorporated into DMPG vesicles to evaluate the structure of the vesicles along the gel-fluid transition. At temperatures below and above the phase transition, in the gel and fluid phases of the bilayer, only one lipid population can be detected. But along the phase transition region, two lipid populations coexist: one very mobile, even more fluid than lipids in the bilayer fluid phase, and another one more rigid and organized, typical of lipids in the gel phase. The more mobile population appears at ca. 18°C and disappears by the end of the phase transition. In accord with previous works (2-4), we propose that this highly mobile lipid population is associated with the formation of pores at the bilayer, and these mobile lipids are located at the edges of the pores. Hence, spin labels can monitor the increase and decrease of bilayer perforations along the membrane phase transition.Financially supported by USP, FAPESP, CNPq.(1)Schneider, Freed, Biological Magnetic Resonance, vol. 8, 1, 1989; (2) Riske, Fernandez, Nascimento, Bales, Lamy-Freund, Chem. Phys. Lipids 124, 69, 2003; (3) Riske, Amaral, Dobereiner, Lamy, Biophys. J. 86, 3722, 2004; (4) Enoki, Henriques, Lamy, Chem. Phys. Lipids 165, 826, 2012.

This paper presents an estimation of ideal points for the Justices of the Supreme Court of Spain in the specific area of administrative review for the period 2000-2008. The estimated ideal points allow us to identify political clusters in the Supreme Court which seems inconsistent with the formal and traditional views that a career judiciary is not strongly politically aligned and favors consensus, formalism and dissent avoidance. We suggest that our empirical analysis mitigates the myth of political insulation by career judges.

This paper presents an estimation of ideal points for the Justices of the Supreme Court of Argentina for 1984–2007. The estimated ideal points allow us to focus on political cycles in the Court as well as possible coalitions based on presidential appointments. We find strong evidence to support the existence of such coalitions in some periods (such as President Carlos Menem’s term) but less so in others (including President Néstor Kirchner’s term, a period of swift turnover in the Court due to impeachment processes and resignations). Implications for comparative judicial politics are discussed.

Most Microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide focus their efforts in relieving the poor from financial constraints through micro-loans. This research focuses on integrating a money management and entrepreneurial training plan to a lending program in a non-profit MFI in Kolkata, India. The paper’s main purpose is to measure the marginal impact of training on the beneficiaries through a randomized control trial. Positive and significant effects are found on both institutional outcomes (number of missing or delayed repayments, average weekly savings) and financial management skills of the clients (ability to separate personal and business money, to track revenues and expenses, to calculate profits). Initiative and self-confidence measures also increase, while business outcomes and entrepreneurial skills of the participants exhibit no significant changes. The effects appear stronger on those for whom the training was compulsory, and for those who expressed more interest in the course before the beginning of the program. A formal set-up and incentives linked with the completion of the training are therefore advised when considering similar interventions.