Public outreach

In the fight against crime, private and public actors in security and protection work hand in hand. What good would a security camera do if it were not connected to a local police station? Are the police more useful to people who have cameras? The researchers Tanguy van Ypersele, Steeve Mongrain, Joanne Roberts, and Ross Hickey came up with a model that analyzes the link between public and private security.

Why did medieval inheritance rules prioritize men over women? Èric Roca Fernández uses a mathematical simulation to demonstrate how the systematic preference for men in inheritance rules helped European feudal fiefdoms transform into modern states.

Is the French education system a rather average performer? According to the PISA ranking, this seems to be the case. But this ranking, which ranks education systems based on the average scores of their 15-year-old pupils, has its limitations. The economists Nicolas Gravel, Edward Levavasseur, and Patrick Moyes have therefore taken a new look at the PISA ranking by accounting for inequalities in family background.

Is the world experiencing a caesarean section epidemic? The use of this practice is increasing in parallel to the establishment of private actors in the health sector. Using the example of Algeria, economists Ahcène Zehnati, Marwân-al-Qays Bousmah and Mohammad Abu-Zaineh reveal the differences in practice between the private and public health sectors.

Oil, coal, gas, gold, diamonds, and other minerals are a great source of wealth for the countries that have these natural resources beneath the surface of their land. However, resources and development do not always go hand-in-hand. For a long time, economics literature has talked about the “curse of natural resources.” In the 2000’s, this theory is questioned: this “curse” may in fact just be a statistical artifact. The economists Nicolas Clootens and Djamel Kirat provide another perspective to the argument.

A column by Nicolas Berman, Mathieu Couttenier and Victoire Girard published on VoxEU/CEPR.

Only in French | In The Conversation, Pierre-Guillaume Méon (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and Phoebe W. Ishak (AMU / CNRS / AMSE) study the impact of hydrocarbon prices on Brazilian municipalities.

New Delhi, Jakarta, Mexico City, and Tokyo are all globally celebrated cities, but their population density is most often associated with polluted, unbreathable air and a heavy atmosphere. However, according to the economists David Castells-Quintana, Elisa Dienesch, and Mélanie Krause, promoting denser urban areas could actually lower emissions per capita—especially if the city is organized into multiple business districts.

In an article published in Vox EU, a team of researchers looks at the results of an online platform that provide tailored advice to jobseekers.

Miriam Teschl

With little diversification, a great amount of debt, and a high level of dependence, the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa are confronted with many challenges and left vulnerable against external shocks. What exchange rate regimes do central banks choose to protect these countries and help them reach seemingly incompatible macroeconomic aims?

According to the World Bank, cities account for only 55% of Earth’s population, and generate more than 80% of the global GDP. They also often have a high economic growth. An Oxford study estimated Paris’ growth rate between 2019 and 2035 to be approximately 1.7%. But how can we explain this urban economic growth? The economists Christian Ghiglino, Kazuo Nishimura, and Alain Venditti aim to respond to this question by using a model that combines two major economic theories.

How are wages decided upon? One major determining factor is how value added is shared between a company’s profits and employee compensation. It has been collectively admitted that over the past forty years, profits have increased in many developed countries at the expense of wages. Economists Gilbert Cette, Lorraine Koehl, and Thomas Philippon look at this in a new light and demonstrate that the percentage for wages has actually increased in France.

How can you set yourself apart within a world of excellence? In order to be noticed and attract the very best students, elite French business schools, much like peacocks, show off their finest attire. However, when it comes to the strategy institutions use to win over students, a new element is quickly gaining traction: accreditations! The economists Mathieu Lefebvre and Julien Jacqmin explore this new tactic.

Not all is equal between natives and immigrants in the labor market. Beyond wage differences, immigrants also tend to work in more dangerous jobs and face difficult working conditions. According to the economist Eva Moreno Galbis, this difference can be partially explained by outside employment opportunities and preferences driven by socio-demographic characteristics.

What could be more natural than reaching agreement by following the preference of the majority? Mihir Bhattacharya and Nicolas Gravel study the issue through a mathematical lens. They show that, in addition to its philosophical legitimacy, the majority is a collective preference representative of the preferences of the members of a society. Like the average, the median, or other statistical measures, the preference of the majority bears the closest resemblance to the individual preferences from which it emanates.

For both insurance and divine protection, giving to the church can pay off. This is what economists Emmanuelle Auriol, Julie Lassébie, Amma Panin, Eva Raiber, and Paul Seabright demonstrate after studying the reasons why Ghanaian parishioners often give such large donations (sometimes over 10% of their income!) to their churches.

France is suffering from a shortage of general practitioners. One of the symptoms of this sickness has been termed 'medical desertification'. But what lies behind this expression? The economists Julien Silhol, Bruno Ventelou and Anna Zaytseva overthrow the assumptions in their latest publication. They reveal a little-known truth: inequalities exist in access to care from one end of France to the other, and not only in rural areas. An in-depth study is conducted into the practices of general practitioners in these areas defined by the ARS as 'under-provisioned': do these medical practices differ according to location?

Only in English | In a column in Vox EU, Alberto Prati (University of Oxford), Olivier Chanel (CNRS/AMSE) and Morgan Raux (University of Luxembourg) argue that it is time to reassess the environmentally unsustainable recruitment system of the international job market for economist.

Only in French | In this book, Alain Trannoy (EHESS / AMSE) and Étienne Wasmer (Sciences Po Paris / NYUAD) explain why urban land has become considerably more valuable over the last thirty years, and propose a fiscal revolution to concile social justice and economic efficiency. Available from Odile Jacob on 19 January 2022.