Dialogues économiques

An online media outlet dedicated to making economics accessible, bridging the gap between academic knowledge and the general public. Dialogues économiques publishes articles, video interviews, and infographics, twice a month, providing information on a wide range of topics addressed by economic research. Available in both French and English, the content may be reproduced in its entirety, provided the authors and the source Dialogues économiques are credited (CC BY-NC-ND). Readers can subscribe to receive each new publication directly in their inbox.
Photo by Moody Potato on Unsplash and Aurore Basiuk
Dialogues économiques

Invasive Species: join the fight against them!
Invasive species are the second most frequent cause of global biodiversity loss, and financial consequences in Europe are estimated at 12 billion euros per year. Is it possible to eradicate these devilish pests with limited financial resources? To help identify priorities in such battles, a method is offered by authors Pierre Courtois, Charles Figuières, Chloé Mulier et Joakim Weill, which is based on interactions between different species.
NOVEMBER 15, 2020
NOVEMBER 15, 2020
Photo by NASA on Unsplash
Dialogues économiques

When Game Theory Takes Us on a Ride
According to game theory, free competition is not always ideal for society. Economists Gaëtan Fournier and Marco Scarsini use this perspective to study the spatial competition between several retailers. The retailers choose the location of their business to maximize their profits. According to the researchers’ model, pursuing an individual profit leads to stable but undesirable situations for the common good.
OCTOBER 27, 2020
OCTOBER 27, 2020
Photo by Jonathan Kho on Unsplash
Dialogues économiques

World Poverty: The numbers do not add up
How many people are living in poverty in the world? Finding the answer to this simple question poses a wealth of difficulty. Determining who lives in poverty is a difficult task, and the various means used to count these people can give quite different values. Economists Zhou Xun and Michel Lubrano seek to illustrate this issue in their article, in which they propose a new method for assessing poverty in developing countries.
OCTOBER 13, 2020
OCTOBER 13, 2020
Photo Sachira Kawinda on Unsplash
Dialogues économiques

Africa: a fertile ground for conflict?

The analysis of conflict in Africa often foregrounds the existence of ethnic tensions, which are often due to issues with access to fertile land, which gives rise to inequalities. Economists Nicolas Berman, Mathieu Couttenier and Raphaël Soubeyran delve into the impact of soil productivity on conflicts. According to their analysis, the risk of violence increases in proportion to the level of difference in soil fertility.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
Photo by Marc Olivier Jodoin on unsplash
Dialogues économiques

Let’s (De)Centralize Public Goods!
Should we favor large metropolises over small communities? According to standard economic theory, the answer is yes, since centralizing helps reduce expenses. However, when public authorities lack some of the relevant information, opting for a federal structure that allows redistribution between many small towns may be the way to go. Researchers Nicolas Gravel and Michel Poitevin demonstrate this by studying the distribution of public and private goods in both federal and centralized structures.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
Photo by Jan Jakub Nanista on unsplash
Dialogues économiques

Rental and eviction: a question of social connections?
Renting an apartment is not always an easy task. Between providing the numerous necessary documents and navigating a competitive rental market, finding a home sometimes becomes a matter of social connections and knowing the right person. It is possible that this problem is linked to the cumbersome legal proceedings necessary for eviction in the case of non-payment of rent by tenants. Eviction procedures can be long and extremely costly, particularly in countries where people have strong ties with family and friends, such as in southern Europe. This correlation is subject to analysis by Antoine Bonleu.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Photo by Tim McKulka on UN Photo (2011, Soudan)
Dialogues économiques

Uniting Economic Prosperity and Ethnic Inclusion in Africa
With more than 2,000 different ethnic groups in Africa, the cultural diversity of the continent is often faced with political fragmentation and development challenges. Does ethnic inclusion always guarantee economic growth? By studying 41 African states, economists Pierre Pecher and Frédéric Gaspart have demonstrated that ethnic inclusion has a positive effect on the GDP when stable, democratic institutions are in place.
AUGUST 4, 2020
AUGUST 4, 2020
Photo by Adrien Olichon on Unsplash
Dialogues économiques

Canada's Mission: reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions have been a major topic of conversation both nationally and internationally for the past 20 years. Why is it so difficult to find common ground on the subject? One of the reasons is that reducing greenhouse gases by any level could lead to significant damage on both employment and society. Economists Julien Hanoteau and David Talbot demonstrate this by studying Quebec’s carbon market.
AUGUST 18, 2020
AUGUST 18, 2020
Photo by element5 digital on unsplash
Dialogues économiques

The Schoolbag Revolution: Educating for Democracy
Are the foundations of democracy always laid in the midst of civil disobedience? Most democratic transitions in the last century have not, in fact, been the result of a peoples’ revolt. When it is in their own interests, authoritarian elites have been known to cede power without witnessing an insurrection. The economists Raouf Boucekkine, Paolo G. Piacquadio and Fabien Prieur interrogate the conditions necessary for peaceful transfer of power, by highlighting how education can lay fertile ground for the seeds of democracy.
JULY 21, 2020
JULY 21, 2020
Photo by Frédéric ZUBERER
Dialogues économiques

The Value of Coralligenous Habitats
What do we know about nature? Not a whole lot. According to estimates from the French National Museum of Natural History, we have identified between 1% and 10% of the species on Earth. Marine ecosystems have been greatly damaged from being exploited for our wants and needs, though we still know very little about them and the role they play. Whether it is for biology or economics, we should be diving deep into how these habitats are important on both a large and small scale. This is what Laure Thierry de Ville d’Avray, Dominique Ami, Anne Chenuil, Romain David, and Jean-Pierre Féral have demonstrated by studying a little-known Mediterranean habitat known as ‘coralligene.’
JULY 7, 2020
JULY 7, 2020