Dialogues économiques | AMSE | Aix-Marseille School of Economics

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.

Dialogues économiques

A new wind blows through China: addressing pollution’s economic effects

When an economy breathes polluted air, its lungs get damaged. China has become asthmatic by running too fast. The population has gone into atrophy, intoxicated by economic growth: producing often pollutes. Natacha Raffin and Thomas Seegmuller explain what China is going through: the contamination is affecting longevity, economic stability, and welfare, all at the same time. They provide answers that could help avoid asphyxiation.

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

05 June 2014 Kanyabayonga, Democratic Republic of the Congo Photo # 590745 UN Photo/Sylvain Liechti

Dialogues économiques

How the commodity boom encourages violence in Africa

The rise in mineral prices often has bloody consequences for Africa. This was the conclusion of Nicolas Berman, Mathieu Couttenier, Dominic Rohner, and Mathias Thoenig in a recent pan-African survey. The 2000s commodity boom accounted for up to one-fourth of the conflicts across African countries over the 2000-2009 period. Worse still, local battles escalate into regional ones because mines make rebellions financially feasible, spreading conflicts across space and time.

APRIL 23, 2019

Dialogues économiques

Is power of veto vital to international cooperation?

The UN Security Council has been the subject of wide-ranging debate about whether it should open its doors to other permanent members. Many countries wish to join this select group to gain the power of veto that goes along with membership. Because of the inequalities it introduces and its ability to obstruct negotiations, veto power has been a tricky issue so far. Yet it may also be vital to international cooperation, to counteract the existing balance of power between nations.

JANUARY 14, 2019

Dialogues économiques

The boycott of Israel: the poor man's weapon, or a weapon of massive exclusion?

Between 1962 and 2012, 36 States banned trade with Israel. No products, no services, no exchange… radio silence! Well, not exactly. Economists Lorenzo Rotunno and Pierre Louis Vézina found that during this period, Israel exported up to $6.4 billion-worth to those countries. From official to informal flows, the commercial boycott of Israel is clearly less than complete. The authors take a look at the mechanisms behind these secret exchanges and check what remains of the boycott’s intentions.

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Dialogues économiques

Once upon a time in the Wild West : The Good, the Bad and the State

Talking about the Gold Rush and the Wild West immediately conjures up fortune seekers and anarchy, but certainly not economic analysis. Yet economists have demonstrated how the presence of state institutions significantly reduced criminality in these areas, both back then and ever since, using data on mining in the Great American West. But what about the violence prevalent in states (or regions) before state institutions were established to ensure some form of property rights regulation?

JANUARY 14, 2019

Dialogues économiques

Influence network between ministers and municipalities

Appointing a minister increases by 45% the investment grants allocated to the municipality in which he or she has held a local mandate. This gift – valued at 30 million euros per year !- illustrates the importance of the relationships ministers build over the course of their political careers. Brice Fabre and Marc Sangnier shed light on the reasons for such generosity.

JANUARY 29, 2019

Dialogues économiques

Protests and trust in the state: Evidence from African countries

Protesting is one type of social movement that can be used as a democratic way of expressing grievances. However, a demonstration also draws other citizens’ attention to government policy. Thus, protests can make people distrustful of the head of state and the monitoring institutions that are supposed to exercise control. Marc Sangnier and Yanos Zylberberg take us to Africa, where they study the influence demonstrators can have on the population as a whole.

JANUARY 16, 2019

Dialogues économiques

Whistle-blowing is not just necessary, it’s also measurable

Whistle-blowing has been the subject of far-reaching discussions regarding its justification and its legal support. Although there is a range of laws protecting those who blow the whistle, especially in the G20 countries, whistle-blowers are still at risk. Enhancing their protection seems to be a challenge. Examining the issue, political philosophers Manohar Kumar and Daniele Santoro call for better protection backed up by a set of assessments. They reopen the debate through a three-part series of articles.

JULY 14, 2019

Dialogues économiques

Ambivalent relationship between HIV and education

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest HIV rate in the world, but there is a lack of public healthcare systems and huge inequalities regarding healthcare. Besides direct impacts on health, the HIV epidemic has side effects on children’s education, affecting parental behaviour around the risk of getting ill, find the economists Renaud Bourlès, Bruno Ventelou, and Maame Esi Wood.

JANUARY 5, 2020

Dialogues économiques

Of rice and folly in Cambodia: from Angkor to Democratic Kampuchea

From the Angkor Empire to Democratic Kampuchea, Cambodia has been in turn a land of plenty and of poverty, a prosperous and then battered country. Connecting these two stories, historian Ben Kiernan draws a line: Cambodia has always been a master in the art of rice-growing. Since the glacial era, climatic conditions have shaped a fertile land, home to both the Khmer civilisation and modern Democratic Kampuchea.

JULY 2, 2019