Public outreach

Bruno Ventelou (CNRS/AMSE) health economist, co-author of a report for the French Directorate for Research, Studies, Assessment, and Statistics (only in French).

What kinds of taxes on real estate exist in France? There are five main ones—not counting the country’s housing tax, which should disappear by 2023. Between annual taxes and lump-sum taxes, it is hard to keep track of exactly how much we pay over the course of our lives. To alleviate this problem, economists Guillaume Bérard and Alain Trannoy propose a radical tax reform to replace these various taxes with a single property tax.

Let’s say that a woman spends more time at work than her partner. Where’s the problem in that? In any case, it’s a rare occurrence—and for good reason. According to a study by Sarah Flèche, Anthony Lepinteur, and Nattavudh Powdthavee, the unequal distribution of domestic tasks often takes a toll on a woman's professional life. This study demonstrates how this mental load (which the majority of women still bear today) prevents them from being able to equally juggle their professional and family life and also harms their well-being.

The aim of universal health coverage is the provision of healthcare for all. Universal health coverage – in its essence, a deeply humanitarian initiative - is difficult to implement, because of its high cost to the public finance. At present in Palestine, more than half of the population is already covered, but what would it cost to extend coverage to every one of the country's inhabitants? How should such a policy be financed? Economists Mohammad Abu-Zaineh, Sameera Awawda and Bruno Ventelou have conducted a study of the issue.

The 20th Report of the European Economic Advisory Group (EEAG) "Beyond the Coronavirus Crisis: Investing for a Viable Future" recently published, focuses on the economic recovery plan "Next Generation EU" (NGEU) adopted by the European Parliament on February 10th. But will this recovery plan be able to effectively repair the economic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis ? Cecilia García-Peñalosa, Professor at the Aix-Marseille School of Economics is one of the seven international authors.

A team of researchers from Aix-Marseille School of Economics and the Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone is tracking the dynamics of the Covid-19 pandemic in real time, useful for public decision-making.

When real estate prices rise, it influences business investment. For large-scale property owners, this is something to celebrate, and investment increases. For those whose activities are smaller in scale, the outlook dims as investments decline. In their studies, Denis Fougère, Rémy Lecat, and Simon Ray are focusing on financial frictions with relation to property investments.

In the United States, student debt is skyrocketing, and young people are saddled with surging interest rates on their loans. It is not uncommon for Americans to start their career already $100,000 in debt. However, an investment in human capital (education) is, in theory, a productive investment. Economists Xavier Raurich and Thomas Seegmuller demonstrate this by analyzing how the speculative bubbles individuals use to finance their studies or raise children are, in the end, good for growth.

Speculative bubbles are good for growth! This observation led to major debates among economists in the 2000s. Researchers Xavier Raurich and Thomas Seegmuller sought to explain this phenomenon by studying how economic agents make investment decisions during the periods of their life as young adults, middle-aged adults, and retirees. Young people can therefore invest in their education, which is a productive but illiquid capital, through credits from the bubble (liquid assets stemming from speculative capital).

What is the common feature between global imbalances, the Crédit d’Impôt pour la Compétitivité et l’Emploi (CICE), and Donald Trump's tweets against China? Competitiveness! This concept has been at the heart of political discourse since the European debt crisis in 2010, leading to much scrutiny of its performance and praise of its growth. So, when it comes to reforms aimed at increasing competitiveness, economists Lise Patureau and Céline Poilly point out the importance of considering the impact of corporate markup.

A team of researchers in economics elicited population preferences regarding the main anti-Covid 19 strategies in France. The scientific article is published in The Lancet Public Health.

When an individual is afflicted with several chronic conditions at the same time, it is called multimorbidity. This is an increasingly common problem in Europe. How do general practitioners deal with it? How do they manage prescriptions that are not only vastly different but can lead to damaging drug interactions? These questions are explored by researchers Hélène Carrier, Anna Zaytseva, Aurélie Bocquier, Patrick Villani, Hélène Verdoux, Martin Fortin, and Pierre Verger in an article that examines the attitudes and practices of private general practitioners.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In this book, economists Nicolas Jacquemet (Univ. Paris 1 / PSE), Stéphane Luchini (CNRS / AMSE) and Antoine Malézieux (Univ. Exeter / TARC) analyze tax fraud through the prism of behavioral economics. Available in French bookstores.

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.

First complete edition of a major works of contemporary economics. Translated from german (Austria) and edited by Gilles Campagnolo.

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.