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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.

Only in French | When a society, composed of individuals, is confronted with different options, finding a collective preference is necessary. But to move from particular interests to the general interest, the method matters and can change the result! That's the subject of the last Sciences Echos video by Charles Figuières (AMU/FEG/AMSE).

Only in French | In "Le Monde", Gilles Dufrénot (AMSE/AMU/FEG/Cepii) proposes not to engage in an anti-inflation policy but rather to avoid overindebtedness.

Only in French | In "La Libre", Phoebe W. Ishak (CNRS/AMSE) and Pierre-Guillaume Méon (ULB) show, through the example of Brazil, that an increase in the price of natural resources is not necessarily to the benefit of producing countries.

Only in French | In the newspaper Le Monde, Cecilia García-Peñalosa (AMSE/CNRS/EHESS) and Fabien Petit (AMSE/AMU) ask why high school mathematics courses are so unpopular among girls.

Only in French | In the Belgian newspaper "La Libre", economists show that in Belgium and France, the mortality rate in nursing homes is higher than in other countries where more resources are devoted to long-term care.