Papers and Academic Publications
Working papers
"Certification, manipulation and competition: evidence from Energy Performance Certificates", January 2025 (with Edouard Civel, Anna Creti and Daniel Herrera-Araujo). Draft
In this paper, we investigate the relationship between competition and certification quality in the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) market, which provides mandatory information on the energy performance of dwellings in European countries. Using French administrative data, we present evidence that the distribution of EPCs exhibits bunching at the cut-off points between energy performance classes, suggesting that some certificates are manipulated to secure a more favorable label. Our empirical analysis shows that the likelihood of manipulation increases when certifiers face heightened competition. This effect can be explained by the fact that certifiers, who are paid by potential sellers, are incentivized to issue more lenient certifications to attract clients. Additionally, we demonstrate that labels indicating higher energy efficiency are associated with significant house price premiums. As a result, manipulation has distributional effects, increasing sellers’ gains at buyers’ expense.
"Misplaced trust? Preferences for similarity in an online market", with Julius Goedde and Liam Wren-Lewis. Draft
This paper analyzes the extent to which individuals prefer to exchange with similar people in a market where trust is important. Using unique data from a digital platform for holiday accommodation, we find that suppliers prefer to trade with guests who share similar characteristics. Indeed, when deciding whom to trade with, on average, they place more weight on similarity than on guests' prior ratings. However, analyzing measures of suppliers' post-exchange satisfaction, we find that similarity matters much less than these prior ratings. Suppliers therefore appear to make more systematic mistakes by prioritizing similarity over measures of past guest behavior.
“How do Students Respond to Partial Information on Graduation Chances? Evidence from University Admissions in France”, with Julien Grenet, Yinghua He and Marion Monnet (Draft available upon request)
This paper tests if and how students react to partial information provision in France’s centralized university admissions. We exploit the Orientation Active policy, which provides applicants to some non-selective programs with a negative, positive, or mixed assessment of their program-specific graduation chance, based on the students’ past academic performance and the programs’ cutoffs. We use these cutoffs to develop a regression discontinuity design to examine testable predictions derived from a theoretical model. Our results reject the hypothesis that students have full information about their graduation chances at all programs, as they change their application behavior and/or enrollment decision upon receiving a positive or negative assessment. These behavioral responses, however, do not lead to improved student outcomes in the first two years of higher education. In explaining these results, we present evidence consistent with the hypothesis that upon receiving information from a specific program, students fail to fully consider the correlation between graduation chances across all programs. Taken together, our findings uncover the potential pitfalls of partial information provision. We discuss implications for the design of information interventions in education settings.
“The Effect of Affirmative Action on Targeted and Non-Targeted Students: Evidence from Low-income priorites in Paris High Schools", with Julien Grenet and Yinghua He (Draft available upon request)
Since 2008, school choice in Paris has an income-based affirmative action component giving low-income students preferential treatment in high school admissions. This policy is implemented through a centralized schoolchoice process that assigns students to public schools. Students' priorities are determined by a point system that takes into account students' academic performance and their district of residence. Low-income students, who make up about 20 percent of high school freshmen, receive in addition a large bonus that gives them full priority at all public high schools in their district. Using comprehensive administrative data, we use the implementation of this bonus in 2008 as a natural experiment to examine the effects of income-based affirmative action on high school outcomes and college access for both targeted and non-targeted students
Articles in Refereed Journals
"Beyond Truth Telling: Preference Estimation with Centralized School Choice and College Admissions", with Julien Grenet and Yinghua He, American Economic Review, 109(4), 2019 (WP version)
"The effect of Tax Enforcement on Tax elasticities: Evidence from Charitable Contributions in France", with Camille Landais, Journal of Public Economics, 133: 23-40, 2016.
"Improving College Access and Success for Low-Income Students: Evidence from a Large French Need-based Grant Program", with Julien Grenet, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(2):1-34, 2015.
"Are Tax Incentives for Charitable Giving Efficient? Evidence from France", with Camille Landais, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2(2): 117-41, 2010
"When do Better Schools Raise Housing Prices? Evidence from Paris Public and Private Middle Schools", with Julien Grenet, Journal of Public Economics, 94(1-2): 59-77, 2010
"Are Housing Benefits an Effective Way to Redistribute Income? Evidence From a Natural Experiment in France", Labour Economics, 13(6), 2006
Academic Publications in French (in refereed journals)
"Que peut-on attendre de la réforme de la sectorisation en France ? Quelques enseignements des politiques de choix scolaire", with Julien Grenet, Revue d'Économie Politique, 120 (5), 2010
"Les incitations fiscales au don sont-elles efficaces?", with Camille Landais, Economie et Statistique, 427-428, 2010
"Sectorisation des colleges et prix des logements à Paris", with Julien Grenet, Actes de la Recherches en Sciences Sociales, 180: 44-63, 2009
"Pourquoi les ménages à bas revenus paient-ils des loyers de plus en plus élevés ? L'incidence des aides au logement en France (1973-2002)", Economie et Statistique, 381-382, 2005
Books and Book Chapters
Co-Editor, Charitable Giving and Tax Policy, Oxford University Press, 2016
"Philanthropy, Tax Policy and Tax Cheating: A Long Run Perspective on US Data", with Camille Landais, chapter in Charitable Giving and Tax Policy, Ed. G. Fack and C. Landais, Oxford University Press, 2016
Policy reports
Efficacité énergétique des logements : rénover l'action publique, with Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet, Note du Conseil d'analyse économique, n°81, 2024
"Performance énergétique du logement et consommation d’énergie : les enseignements des données bancaires", with Ariane Salem, Jeanne Astier, Julien Fournel & Flavie Maisonneuve Focus CAE n° 103, january 2024
Efficacité énergétique des logements : rénover l'action publique, with Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet, Note du Conseil d'analyse économique, n°81, 2024
Repenser l’héritage, with Clément Dherbecourt, Camille Landais and Stefanie Stantcheva, Note du Conseil d'analyse économique, n°69, 2021
Enseignement supérieur : Pour un investissement plus juste et plus efficace, with Elise Huillery, Note du Conseil d'analyse économique, n°68, 2021
Réformer les aides personnelles au logement, with Antoine Bozio, Julien Grenet, Malka Guillot, Marion Monnet and Lucile Romanello, Rapport IPP 10, 2015
L'impact des procédures de sectorisation et d'affectation sur la mixité sociale et scolaire dans les lycées d'Ile-de-France, with Julien Grenet and Asma Benhenda, Rapport IPP 3, 2014 [Summary]
Rapport d’évaluation de l’assouplissement de la carte scolaire, with Julien Grenet, 2012
Politiques Familiales et droits familiaux de retraite, Rapport de l'IRES, with Antoine Bozio and Camille Landais, 2008
Working Projects
“Welfare Effects of the No-interest loans in France”, with Laurent Gobillon and Aurélie Sotura
“The impact of place-based policies and resident: Evidence from French Individual Panel Data”, with Miren Lafourcade and Paul Brandily-Snyers
“The effect of phasing-out energy inefficient dwellings from the rental market in France,” with Anna Creti, Gabrielle Fack and Edouard Civel
“How Do Elite Post-Secondary Programs Select their Students?”, with Pauline Charousset, Julien Grenet and Yinghua He
“Charitable Givings & Tax Incentives”, with Bertand Garbinti, Jonathan Goupille-Lebret and Théo Roudil-Valentin
Other Selected Publications
Biens publics, charité privée : Comment l'Etat peut-il réguler le charity business ?, avec Camille Landais et Alix Myczkowski, Collection du CEPREMAP, 48, Editions rue d'Ulm, Paris, 2018
Les aides au logement : comment les réformer ?, with Antoine Bozio and Julien Grenet (dir.), Collection du CEPREMAP, 38, Editions rue d'Ulm, Paris, 2015
"Réformer les aides au logement : vers une fusion des prestations sociales ?", with Antoine Bozio, Julien Grenet, Malka Guillot, Marion Monnet and Lucile Romanello, Note IPP, 18, June 2015
"Peut-on accroître la mixité sociale et scolaire dans le système éducatif ? L'impact des procédures d'affectation des élèves dans les lycées d'Île-de-France", with Julien Grenet, Note IPP, 11, july 2014
"Les effets de l’assouplissement de la carte scolaire dans l’éducation prioritaire", with Julien Grenet, Education et Formations, 83, 2013
Economie des politiques publiques (collective work), La Découverte, collection Repères, Paris, 2010
"L'évolution des inégalités entre ménages face aux dépenses de logement (1988 - 2006)", Informations Sociales, 155, 2009
"Les évolutions du coût du logement depuis les années 1970", contribution to Mesurer le pouvoir d’achat, Rapport du Conseil d´Analyse Economique, 73, La documentation Française, 2008
"A Theoretical Analysis of Alternative School Enrolment Schemes", with Julien Grenet, 2007
Last Update: January 2025