Publications

2013

• On the Pigouvian Tax Rule in an Open Economy: Opening the Gate to the Eco-industry
  
  • Sibailly Idrissa
  , 2013. This note investigates the impact of (international) technology transfer on optimal pollution taxation. To use a patented pollution abatement technology, the polluters subject to the emissions tax only pay fixed license fees to an (international) eco-industry (whose profits are shared among national and foreign suppliers). The second-best emissions tax is shown to decrease as the exogenous share of imported technology increases. When the domestic polluting industry is imperfectly competitive, this tax is always lower than the marginal damage. In contrast, when the polluting industry is perfectly competitive, the second-best emissions tax is lower than the marginal damage only in the case of incoming technology transfer. If the technology is transferred domestically, the second-best emissions tax is equal to the marginal damage. These results contrast with the literature on the impact of market power in the eco-industry on optimal policy design, initiated by David and Sinclair-Desgagné (2005).
• On licensing and diffusion of clean technologies in oligopoly
  
  • Sibailly Idrissa
  , 2013. Clean technologies implemented by polluters subject to environmental regulation are often developed and patented by specialized technology suppliers. This paper investigates the impact of the environmental regulation stringency on the diffusion of patented clean technologies when the polluters (i.e. the potential licensees) compete in imperfectly competitive markets. We show that the polluters' willingness to pay for clean technology and the diffusion of such technology (i.e. the extent to which it is privately disseminated through licensing) depend not only on the regulatory stringency and the technological efficiency, but also on the polluters' competitive environments. More stringent regulations (e.g., higher carbon taxes) or increased technological efficiency (e.g., supported by more R&D subsidies) do not necessarily induce more diffusion of efficient clean technologies. Indeed, as the returns to implementing a clean technology increase, so do the technology supplier's incentives to sell fewer licenses so as to extract more rent from each of its licensees.
• The frontier of indeterminacy in a neo-Keynesian model with staggered prices and wages
  
  • Blasselle Alexis
  • Poissonnier Aurélien
  , 2013. We consider a neo-Keynesian model with staggered prices and wages. When both contracts exhibit sluggish adjustment to market conditions, the policy maker faces a trade-off between stabilizing three welfare relevant variables: output, price inflation and wage inflation. We consider a monetary policy rule designed accordingly: the Central Banker can react to both inflations and the output gap. We generalize the Taylor principle in this case: it embeds the frontier of determinacy derived with staggered prices only, it is also symmetric in price and wage inflations. It follows that when staggered labour contracts are considered, wage inflation is also an illegible and efficient target for the Central Banker.
• Demand for Luxury Goods in a World of Income Disparities
  
  • Ray Anna
  • Vatan Antoine
  , 2013. This paper approaches international trade in luxury goods from demand side. It associates demand for luxury goods with within-country income disparities, via a social interactions component, the so-called Veblen effect (Veblen 1899). In the theoretical part, we propose a simple model of vertical differentiation with preferences displaying a Veblen effect. The model predicts that demand for luxury goods increases with the income gap between the two socio-economic groups (wealthy and non-wealthy agents). Furthermore, wealthy individuals in societies with higher income disparities have higher incentives to purchase luxury goods and hence they are willing to pay more for these. Next, we provide an empirical validation of these predictions on a sample of French high-end exporters (as defined by Martin and Mayneris, 2013) from French 8-digit CN custom data for 2006 at firm-product-destination level. Both demand for and average firm-product unit values of luxury goods are increasing with the income gap in importer country. The relationship is robust to inclusion of control variables as well as to use of alternative measures of income dispersion.
• Socioeconomic Integration of the pieds-noirs in Metropolitan France: Testing the Bond of Citizenship
  
  • Couto Marie-Paule
  Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, Université de Poitiers, 2013, 29 (3), pp.93-119. (10.4000/remi.6548)
  DOI : 10.4000/remi.6548
• Logement, la spirale des inégalités
  
  • Bugeja-Bloch Fanny
  , 2013. Panne de l’ascenseur social, fragilisation des pauvres, générations sacrifiées, dérive des classes moyennes : autant de ruptures qui se cristallisent dans la question du logement. Avec l’envolée des prix immobiliers et des loyers, et l’incapacité des politiques publiques à fournir des réponses efficaces à ces problèmes, le logement devient pour beaucoup une charge financière telle qu’elle contraint les modes de vie et transforme la vie sociale. Le logement entretient la ségrégation à l’œuvre. Dans la spirale des inégalités de logement, certains suffoquent, les nouveaux précaires – bas-revenus, statuts instables et une grande majorité de la jeunesse ; d’autres respirent, les détenteurs de patrimoine – les premiers nés du baby-boom, ainsi que toutes les familles, et leurs héritiers, qui ont investi au moment opportun. Première analyse des systèmes de stratification sociale et générationnelle sous le prisme du logement, ce livre se fonde sur une comparaison entre la France et le Royaume-Uni et offre des clés pour comprendre un des processus essentiels de la constitution des inégalités sociales contemporaines. Sans prétendre à une visée politique, cet ouvrage propose néanmoins certains outils et certaines réflexions pour répondre aux besoins de loger le plus grand nombre dans des conditions décentes et à des prix abordables. (10.3917/puf.bugej.2013.01)
  DOI : 10.3917/puf.bugej.2013.01