Public outreach

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.

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.

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.

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.

Researcher Raouf Boucekkine (AMU/AMSE) is coordinating a study for the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (article in French only)

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.’

Aix-Marseille School of Economics contributed to the report published by the OFCE and Collège des Economistes de la Santé. Article only in French

In order to maintain marine biodiversity, it is better to take the plunge and adopt fishing regulations than do nothing at all. However, the biological relationship between species must be considered to prevent things from going down the drain. Economists Nicolas Quérou and Agnes Tomini demonstrate this argument by studying the effects of fishing regulations in suboptimal situations.

In the new CEPR eBook, Berman and co-authors analyse the potential impacts of the spread of COVID-19 and the restriction policies on conflict incidence worldwide.

How will we face the economic crisis that is awaiting us? History can give some insight. Since the financial crisis of 2008, industrialised states have been required to rely on the 'superpowers' of the Central Banks to buy back part of their debt, thereby avoiding the phenomenon of debt strangulation. Such practices have raised fears of a return to inflation, and of a threat to the independence of the monetary authorities. However, in the current context such practices can be beneficial, according to economists Gilles Dufrénot, Fredj Jawadi and Guillaume A. Khayat.

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

Are the containment measures effective? Should the population have been tested? Burning questions like this are igniting current public debate. Researchers Raouf Boucekkine (AMSE), Josselin Thuilliez (CNRS / PSE) and Jérôme Adda (Bocconi, Milan) have developed the “ECOVID-19” project, to respond to and assess the effectiveness of French public policy in the face of the current crisis.

Even if immigrants arriving in Europe are in better health than native-born citizens, residing in their host country affects them much more negatively. According to Marwân-al-Qays Bousmah, Simon Combes, and Mohammad Abu-Zaineh, immigrants’ health deteriorates with the length of residence in the host country. Does discrimination go beyond the realm of social status to even impact health?

One of the things which led to Covid-19 becoming a catastrophic situation has revealed to be the choices that were made before the pandemic. Regardless of whether these choices were good or not, they were nevertheless made. This therefore leads to the question of how catastrophes influence decision-making in uncertain situations. Theories are able to clearly explain our choices when we have all the elements in hand. However, once exceptional situations occur, such as catastrophes that have disastrous yet very unlikely consequences, these theories reveal to be less pertinent.