Tunisian Case Research Articles

The Evolution of Tunisian Salafism after the Revolution: FromLa Maddhabiyyato Salafi-Malikism

AbstractWhat shape does Salafism take in Tunisia after the ban of the Salafi-Jihadi group Ansar al-Shari‘a and the wave of securitization carried out by national authorities? This article argues that a constraining legal context put Salafism's doctrinal rigidity in tension with its survival and ultimately prompted a residual current of Salafi actors to accommodate their stance toward Malikism, the prevalent school (madhhab) in the country. This adaptation is at odds with contemporary Salafism, which traditionally dismisses all four law schools (lā madhabiyya), rejects their blind imitation (taqlῑd), and claims the superiority of the Qur'an, hadith, and consensus of thesalaf(pious predecessors) over jurisprudence (fiqh). To account for this puzzle, this article scrutinizes the historical development of Salafism and the evolution of its stance toward Malikism across three generational waves. It notably shows how religious securitization associated with the promotion of a “moderate” Islam pushed Salafi actors to redefine their ideology to preserve their preaching and teaching activities. We call Salafi-Malikism the outcome of this adaptive strategy. Drawing on the Tunisian case, we argue that, despite its purist claims, Salafism is not an immutable religious current, but can take different trajectories to survive in constraining environments.

DOES FDI AND CORRUPTION AFFECT ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IN TUNISIA?

This paper investigates the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and corruption on the environmental pollution in Tunisia over the period 1984–2014 by applying an autoregressive distributed lag model. Our results revealed the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve in Tunisian case. The pollution haven hypothesis postulates that polluting industrial activity in developed countries is shifting to developing countries with less stringent environmental regulations. This hypothesis has been proved. Hence, this study advises to make more aware to the negative effect of corruption. Overall, to improve environmental quality, the findings suggest that Tunisia should promote energy efficiency with sustainable growth. Therefore, results show that Tunisia should encourage more FDI inflows particularly in technology- intensive and environment-friendly industries.

Gender mainstreaming in the European Union development policy: the Tunisian case.

This paper examines gender mainstreaming in the European Union development policy to Tunisia. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the way in which Gender Mainstreaming is included in the European Union Development polity in a strategic country such as Tunisia. In doing this, I will examine to which extent the Gender Mainstreaming integration is genuinely achieving its aim of transforming unequal gender relations. The first section of the paper develops the theoretical frame. The second section explains the research methodology. The third section explains the research results showing how the European Union has overlooked a unique opportunity that would has given the chance to integrate Gender Mainstreaming in the post-revolution European Union development policy, into the national public policies and lastly, in establishing a more inclusive dialogue with an embryonic civil society and mature feminist movement. The paper concludes with the hope that this study will serve to guide and promote, in first place, a real integration of a transformative gender mainstreaming in the EU development policy and in second place, to boost the EU role as promoter of possible national reforms which will enable the implementation of transformative gender mainstreaming in national policies breaking once for all with the artificial neutrality of public policies.

Getting to the heart of the matter: diagnostic tools and therapeutic approach to cardiac involvement in Behçet syndrome A Tunisian case series.

The aim was to investigate the frequency and spectrum of cardiac involvement (CI) in patients with Behçet syndrome (BS) in the Tunisian context, and to assess the clinical and imaging features, treatment, and outcomes. We retrospectively retrieved the medical records of patients with CI among 220 BS patients admitted to the hospital internal medicine department between February 2006 and April 2019, who fulfilled the International Study Group diagnostic criteria for BS. Ten patients (8 men, 2 women) were eligible for the study. Mean age was 37.3 years. Three patients had 2 isolated episodes of cardiac BS. The different types of CI were coronary artery disease (5/10), intracardiac thrombus (4/10), pericarditis (1/10), myocarditis (1/10), and myocardial fibrosis (1/10). Five patients had associated vascular involvement (50%). Medical treatment was based on corticosteroids and colchicine in all patients (100%), anticoagulants in 8 (80%), and cyclophosphamide followed by azathioprine in 9 (90%). The clinical course was favorable in 9 patients; 1 patient died. CI remains an important feature of BS because of its association with increased risk of mortality and morbidity. Therefore, early screening and detection with imaging methods are paramount. Also, better cooperation between rheumatologists and cardiologists could improve outcomes.

Assessing the correlation between service flexibility and the cost of modernized large-scale pressurized irrigation systems: a perspective of resilience

Traditional static design approaches are often challenged by multifaceted uncertainties such as climate change, future demand, supply options, high-tech opportunities as well as budgetary constraints. However, robust approaches that incorporate the option of flexibility combined with optimization advances are likely to meet threshold performance criteria with the least amount of associated expenses. To this aim, several countries have started the process of modernizing their irrigation schemes, foreseeing their on-demand operation. The re-modernized schemes are facing the challenge of the inadequacy of the service reported by the users/ratepayers, whose livelihoods are threatened by it as they mainly rely on agricultural production, and the sustainability of the modernization process. This study develops an adaptive framework that applies a two-pronged approach: it incorporates, on the one hand, a qualitative analysis through a rapid appraisal procedure (RAP) that fills the big data-gap issue, and a top–down approach on the other hand, mainly based on an iterative process that assesses the correlation between the flexibility of the service provided under uncertainties, as well as the financial feasibility. The latter is associated with the sensitive parameters of Clement’s first formula mainly used in the Mediterranean Region to design on-demand irrigation systems, and more specifically: the elasticity assigned at the feed hydrant of the distribution network, the coefficient of utilization of the network in the peak period, and the quality of the service. Applied to a Tunisian case study, the results clearly show that when adequately combining the flexibility levels of these parameters, an optimal quality service may be achieved with an average cost increment ranging between 13 and 16%, with a view of proactively increasing the resilience of the irrigators’ community.

Tokophobia or post-traumatic stress disorder ? about a tunisian case

IntroductionPregnancy and delivery are considered to be an important transition stage in a woman’s life. Although this experience is emotionally rich, it varies from one person to another and each woman goes through it in her own way.Objectivesdiscuss the psychiatric outcomes after a childbirth with somatic complications.Methodscase reportResultsMrs X is a 32 years old woman, she has no particular history of illness until she gave birth to her son. He is now three and a half years old and he is an outpatient at the child and teen psychiatry department in a Tunisian hospital. After her delivery, Mrs X had several physical and psychological complications. She was hospitalized in the cardiology department for cardiomyopathy of Meadows for three weeks among it one week in the medical reanimation ward because she needed respiratory assistance. Furthermore, she suffered of left femoral head’s necrosis for which she was operated, and a total hip prosthesis replacement was done. Psychologically, Mrs X. presented a postpartum depression which resolved in its own after 9 months. Ever Since the childbirth, the patient presents symptoms concording with post-traumatic stress disorder and symptoms that may be linked to a specific phobia (fear of birthchild or tokophobia).ConclusionsIn addition to the usual health care provided to women during pregnancy and after childbirth, looking for mental health disturbances and eventually referring them for psychiatric assessment is important specially for women who have experienced traumatic events during the pregnancy or the deliveryConflict of interestNo significant relationships.

Internalization of external congestion and CO2emissions costs related to road transport: The case of Tunisia

All productive activities have associated a set of external effects with the same diverse nature. Considering transport as an economic production process makes it possible to account for its overall balance both in terms of the products and the resources it consumes. Road transport involves a series of costs that can be separated internally when they are borne by the user, the infrastructure operator, or the transport service and externally, which are not those paid for by the user and may affect society. In this paper, an economic engineering method (EEM) to internalize external congestion and CO2 emission transport costs in the Tunisian case to quantify the environmental impact of atmospheric pollution emissions associated with fuel-based energy carriers (negative transport externalities) is used. The method is applied in Tunisia to compare the potential impact of other policy options and the need to rebalance existing policies, develop a central transport network, develop research and development programs, and take steps to complement existing legal measures. The results allow for the quantification of congestion and CO2 emission in road transport to discuss some marginal and policy implications in sustainable road transport. Advances in the internalization of transport externalities have made it possible to establish a more suitable framework for dealing with many transport problems.

Autonomous water and nutritional anti‐stress device to solve a plant irrigation problem based on harvested rainwater: A Tunisian case study*

AbstractWater consumption has increased significantly around the world in recent years, whereas existing water resources are becoming rarer. Even in tropical areas, where the rains offer an average of 2600 mm of water yearly, the soil water source can reduce gradually throughout the dry season and limit the growth of vegetation. Different irrigation methods have been developed to meet plants’ water needs for productivity. These methods depend closely on mobilization of the water source and its permanent control. In this paper, we have proposed an autonomous water and nutritional anti‐stress device for plants based on the recovery of rainwater. It is a new concept inspired by irrigation in antique clay pots. It is designed to ensure regular cyclical storage and transfer to the plant of an almost constant daily flow of mobilized rainwater. These waters are also enriched with nutrients during their journey to the plant. This delayed water storage and transfer process will compensate for the lack of water necessary for the survival of the plant in dry periods. The device was tested in a reduced environment and has given good results in decreasing water stress and increasing the level of nutrition for plants.

The Occurrence of Skeletons of Silicoflagellata and Other Siliceous Bioparticles in Floral Honeys.

Siliceous marine microfossils were unexpectedly discovered during the analysis of flower honey samples from Poland and Tunisia. The microfossils were represented by protist with siliceous skeletons: silicoflagellates, diatoms, and endoskeletal dinoflagellates. This is the first record of such microfossils in honeys. Based on the high percent of anemophilous pollen grains and spores in the sample, it was hypothesized that silicoflagellates were deposited from the air onto the nectariferous flowers, then bees harvested them with the nectar. Based on the comparison of pollen content of honeys and flowering calendar of Tunisia, the harvest time of honey was identified as a period between 1 April and 31 May 2011. Trajectory analysis of air masses in this period confirmed that siliceous microfossils could be aerosolized by wind from the rocks of the so-called Tripoli Formation of Messinian age (6–7 Ma). Similar to the Tunisian case, the Polish trajectory simulation also supports the hypothesis of atmospheric transport of silicoflagellates from outcrops of Oligocene age in the Polish Outer Carpathians. In the case of diatom content of honey, however, the source can be both natural (wind) and artificial (diatomaceous earth filters). For a correct determination, natural sources of siliceous bioparticles, such as wind transport from nearby outcrops should be also considered. Silicoflagellates could be used as complementary indicators of the geographical origin of honeys collected in areas characterized by diatomite outcrops, supporting the results obtained with other methods; thus, such indicators merit further studies within the area of honey authenticity.

The assessment of buildings and constructions sector of economy proposal: an environmental perspective.

Environmental impact assessment methods suffer from an applicability issue which could impede their use and development. The main subject of this article is to present a method to evaluate the applicability of building environmental assessment method in a given country. Here, when we say that a method is applicable in a given country, it means that it could be widely used and that it could produce the expected effects in terms of energy savings, environmental impact minimization, economic gain, etc. So, for this applicability evaluation purpose, the main criteria that affect the building environmental assessment method applicability were identified and were weighted by studying different scenarios. Then, the evaluation method was applied to the Tunisian case. Moreover, in order to contribute to a better understanding of the importance of building environmental assessment method implementation, stakes related thereto are reviewed. It was reported that building environmental assessment method would concur to improve building energy efficiency, enhance social capital, and contribute to environmental, social, and economic stability. In addition, it could be one of the major solutions for the collection of statistical data, which in turn would contribute to the success of projects undertaken as part of the green economy. Eventually, the building environmental assessment could be one of the major green marketing tools and should be taken into account by a company to improve profitability. The developed method and the presented stakes could be agood management and decision making tools and could help legislators and policy-makers for the best implementation of building environmental assessment method.

Complementary funded pensions and economic growth: Theoretical and empirical evidence using an overlapping generations model applied to the case of Tunisia

This paper presents a prospective analysis to guide effective pension reform. Using an overlapping generations model with differing returns on free savings and compulsory returns on funded pensions, we put into perspective the results largely supported in the economic literature that assume that replacing a pay-as-you-go pension scheme by funded plans boosts economic growth. We show that this reform is not necessarily synonymous with economic growth due to a crowding-out effect. Our contribution is not limited to theoretical results: we also assess the impacts empirically. Thus, we extend the theoretical model to take into account several periods and 55 generations. Simulation results, using a dynamic overlapping generations computable general equilibrium model calibrated for the Tunisian case, indicate that whether pension reform promotes capital accumulation and economic growth depends on the rate of return on funded pension savings relative to free savings.

From Mistrust to Understanding: Inclusive Constitution-Making Design and Agreement in Tunisia

In 2014, Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly (NCA) almost unanimously approved the country’s first democratic constitution despite significant identity-based divisions. Drawing on the Tunisian case, the article explores the role of an inclusive constitution-making process in fostering constitutional agreement during democratization. Emerging studies that link different process modalities to democracy have so far brought only limited illumination to how inclusive processes matter, nor were these propositions systematically tested. Using process tracing, and building on original interviews gathered in Tunisia between 2014 and 2020, this article traces a causal mechanism whereby an inclusive constitution-making process allowed for a transformation of interpersonal relationships between political rivals. It demonstrates that more than two years of regular interactions allowed NCA deputies to shatter some of the prejudices that initially separated especially Islamist and non-Islamist partisans and develop cross-partisan ties, thus facilitating constitutional negotiations. However, I argue that the way these transformations contributed to constitutional settlement is more subtle than existing theories envisaged, and suggest alternative explanations. The article contributes to the debate about constitution-making processes by unpacking the understudied concept of partisan inclusion and applying it empirically to trace its effects on constitutional agreement, bringing precision and nuance to current assumptions about its benefits.

Breast cancer T1 in an emerging country: 325 Tunisian cases.

Breast cancer T1 in an emerging country: 325 Tunisian cases.

Closing the Arab Democratic Gap: A Re-Assessment of the Tunisian Democratic Transition

Tunisia is often described as the outlier of the Arab Spring, the one case in which a form of political transition decidedly happened. The fact that this transition first led to the rule of the Islamist party Ennahda has reignited long-standing debates on the role of Islam in politics, the relationship between religion and democracy, and the consequences of their potential incompatibility for the future of Tunisian democracy. A sizeable literature has attempted to address these topics over the years, but it is of little help when trying to understand the events of the Arab Spring and the Tunisian transition, especially when it comes to their impact on the Islamist parties themselves. Borrowing from Villalón’s study of Islam and politics in sub-Saharan Africa, this paper argues that, instead of considering whether Tunisian actors fit within a preconceived notion of democracy, we should consider the process of political bargaining itself as democratic; focusing on the substance of democracy rather than its form sheds new light on the Tunisian case and helps explain various outcomes including the progressive liberalization of Islamist parties and the gradual but distinctive flourishing of democracy in the Tunisian context.

Decision Support Tool for Water Reclamation Beyond Technical Considerations-Egyptian, Moroccan, and Tunisian Case Studies.

While the Middle East and North African (MENA) region is facing challenges to sustain water security, water reclamation has received increasing consideration as a favorable mitigating solution. Despite the availability of adequate technologies, economic, political, legal, social, and environmental constraints often hamper stakeholders, and especially decision makers, from exploiting the existing potential into solution implementation. In the present paper, a comprehensive assessment for water reclamation and reuse was developed. This assessment consisted of 4 objectives: 1) apply a decision-support tool (DST) for water reclamation potential for municipal wastewater, 2) apply a DST for simulating and estimating the lifecycle costs of project-related technologies for water reclamation (municipal and industrial wastewater, as well as drainage canal water), 3) assess the national-level conditions for water reuse with a multicriteria decision analysis (MCA), and 4) establish exemplary strategies, barriers, and measures for water reuse. The present MCA considered 6 thematic subjects: policy and institution, economy, society, water management, legislation, and environment. The assessment was applied to food and nonfood crop irrigation in Egyptian, Moroccan, and Tunisian case studies. For all defined case studies, adapted treatment trains that could treat wastewater to the desired quality at reasonable costs were identified and are presented in the present paper. Results showed that technological options are available for water reuse, but the concept is not widely implemented in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. The present paper identifies key barriers and drivers for the implementation of water reclamation for irrigation. In particular, the considered countries showed different characteristics regarding efficient water management, water pricing, subsidies and wastewater tariffs, implementation of monitoring and reporting systems, or legal aspects regarding the use of reclaimed water for food crop irrigation. Further exploration of case studies on high potential water reuse and financially affordable wastewater reclamation, particularly case studies that explore the impacts of policies and practices across countries, would be useful for helping the MENA region improve their water security situation. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:885-897. © 2020 SETAC.

Game theory and hybrid genetic algorithm for energy management and real-time pricing in smart grid: the Tunisian case

ABSTRACT Microgrids are the key for integrating renewable energy from different sources into smart grid, that is why power grid evolves into a combination of interconnected microgrids. In fact, future power grids are undergoing this groundbreaking change that will help meet the increasing demand of electric power and reduce carbon emission. In this sense we study in this paper, based on measured data, a real case of energy management in the area of Beja located in Tunisia. Indeed, we propose a model for the power exchange which proves the potential of applying game theory in the development of both real-time pricing and energy management mechanism for an open electricity market. We also introduce a hybrid genetic algorithm to compute the Nash Equilibrium. Results show that the proposed smart energy management can decrease the real cost of power up to 20%, to divide the energy transmission losses by a factor of two and to reduce the carbon emission in the area of Beja.

Long term outcome of neonatal West Nile Virus neuroinvasive infection

West Nile virus is currently one of the most widely distributed zoonotic arbovirus in the world, progressing into epidemics in many countries. While most infected patients experience mild to no symptoms, thousands of West Nile virus-associated neuroinvasive cases, presenting as meningitis, encephalitis, or acute flaccid paralysis, have been reported, even in children. However, few neonatal cases have been described in literature. West Nile Virus neuroinvasive disease can lead to severe neurological disability or death, especially in infant. We report the first tunisian case of West Nile Virus meningoencephalitis in a newborn and its outcome.

IS THE TUNISIAN CENTRAL BANK FOLLOWING A LINEAR OR A NONLINEAR AUGMENTED TAYLOR RULE?

The political transition in the Arab Spring countries has been accompanied by a deterioration of economic and financial indicators like in the Tunisian case. This paper aims to get a deeper understanding of the nature of the rule that reflects the behavior of the Tunisian monetary authority in the current dominance of economic and financial instability. In particular, this paper assesses whether the Tunisian Central Bank is indeed following a linear or a non linear augmented Taylor rule. For our purpose, we use a forward looking version of Taylor rule augmented by including the effect of exchange rate to estimate the linear and the nonlinear models. A smooth transition regression model is used to estimate the nonlinear rule. The results obtained imply that the Tunisian Central Bank follows a nonlinear Taylor rule in the conduct of monetary policy. In addition, our evidence suggests that the reaction of monetary authority in Tunisia to the deviation of forecasts of inflation rate, output gap and exchange rate changes in terms of magnitude and statistical significance across the high and low interest rate regimes. In particular, when the lagged interest rate is above the threshold level of 4.76%, the main objective of the policy makers is to fight the inflation rate and to limit the depreciation of exchange rate rather than to boost the economic activity.Keywords: Taylor rule, smooth transition regression model, interest rate reaction function, nonlinearityJEL Classifications: C22, E17, E43, E52, E58DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.8975

Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: The Case of Tunisian

In this article the effect of the corporate governance mechanism on corporate financial performance is studied. For this study, a sample of 22 companies is used. Data is used for the period between 2006 and 2015. The variables, employed in this study to measure firm performance, include return on assets, return on equity and price earnings ratio. In this study we used ownership concentration, ownership foreign, duality_CEO, leverage, firm size and price earnings ratio are the independent variables and their effects were measured on financial variables that are ROA, ROE and EPS. The principle findings describe above: we found no significant relationship between ownership concentration and ROE and the no significant liking between ownership concentration and EPS. Also, we found no significant relationship between ownership foreign and ROE. However, the association between ownership foreign and ROE and EPS are significant. Also, CEO_Duality and ROE have a significant and positive relationship.

Profiling the Fuzzy Latent Structure of Multidimensional Poverty: Toward Valuable Insights for Poverty Policymakers

Several multidimensional poverty indices have been proposed, and have been extensively studied in the literature. On the other hand, the need for aggregation of poverty indicators into one multidimensional index has been questioned. It has been argued even so that this aggregation can be misleading for political targeting strategies. Subsequently, some researchers have advocated that the use of the latent class analysis would address these issues. However, this setting does not allow to take into account the fuzzy nature of the latent poverty concept. The contribution here is to use the Grade-of-Membership (GoM) model to profile the fuzzy latent structure of multidimensional poverty, for a more realistic handling of this phenomenon. The application of the GoM methodology to multivariate poverty data for the Tunisian case reveals four most prevalent multidimensional poverty profiles. The results emphasize the role played by contextual effects. Indeed, the rural cluster is suffering more intense deprivation and groups in the central and coastal regions have a more comfortable status in comparison with the group of households residing in inland regions. A thorough analysis of these patterns is put forward in this research, giving valuable insights to policy makers.