2023-2024

11/07/2023 

Fahariat BOUKARI - Financial incentives to induce effort: comparison of proportional and target payments

PhD Supervision: David CRAINICH and Yves ARRIGHI  | Research  axis: Decision-making | Discussant: Elina ISHMUKHAMETOVA

Due to scheduling issues the seminar will exceptionally take place on a Tuesday from 12pm to 1pm in the room 213 in SH2.  

Abstract:
Financial incentive programs providing monetary rewards conditional on  exerting efforts are more and more widely used to change health behaviour and education. In this paper we design and evaluate a real effort experiment that compares the effectiveness of  two financial incentive schemes: a payment proportional on effort and a payment upon reaching a target. We find that the effect of payment schemes on performance is similar. Furthermore, our results show that at equal performance, the target incentive scheme is twice cheaper.

20/09/2023 

Rawaa LAAJIMI -  What Demand and Supply Forces Shape the Spatial Distribution of  Short Food Supply Chains: Evidence from Nord and Pas de Calais, France

Research axis: Decision-making | Discussant: Audrey GLASS 

Abstract: 

Both supply and demand forces exert influence on the spatial distribution of Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC). In this paper, we simultaneously consider these forces to ascertain the socioeconomic factors that impact the geographical location of short food supply points at both municipal and regional levels. Our findings confirm that both demand and supply characteristics significantly affect the number of short food supply points. On the one hand, factors such as market potential, environmental sensitivity, and tourism density contribute to an increase in the number of sales points per municipality. On the other hand, in terms of supply forces, the results are counter-intuitive. We explain this by the fact that the results found are linked to the characteristics of Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments.

8/11/2023 

Fatima-Ez-Zahra NASSER - The development of entrepreneurial competencies of GenZ with digital tools : Comparative approach  

PhD Supervision: Eric VERNIER and Amen ABIASSI | Research axis:  Economic and Financial Flows | Discussant: Martin HULÉNYI

Abstract:
The dynamic landscape of the digital era has significantly shaped the entrepreneurial terrain, especially for Generation Z (Gen Z). In this paper we explore the multifaceted evolution of entrepreneurial competencies within Gen Z, with a focus on the crucial role played by digital tools. The study adopts a comparative approach, drawing insights from both French and Moroccan contexts. Employing a comprehensive research design that integrates qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the study investigates the development of entrepreneurial competencies using diverse digital tools . Preliminary findings highlight strategic competences, innovation and organization as the most important entrepreneurial competencies, while being responsible and fair is identified as the least prioritized entrepreneurial competency among the nine evaluated. 

13/12/2023 

Mikaël PASTERNAK - Intergenerational social mobility of immigrants in France: National and local determinants 

PhD Supervision: Simone MORICONI  and Nadiya UKRAYINCHUK   | Research axis:  Economic and Financial Flows | Discussant: Muriel BOUR

Abstract: 

In the context of ongoing debates in France surrounding social mobility and immigration, this study addresses the limitations of existing measures of social mobility, relying on correlations and demanding data requirements. I construct a novel indicator, at the individual level, enabling a comparison of educational and professional mobility of the children of immigrants, both at the national and the local levels in France. Using panel data from 1990 to 2020, I find that 2nd generation migrants exhibit on average a higher social mobility, especially in terms of education. This is explained mostly by the higher motivation of immigrants to invest in their children's educations, and varies in relation to the departmental contexts as well as the evolution of the labor market indicators, such as the polarization of work and female labor participation.

24/01/2024 

Elie ISRAËL- Skyfull : A Survival Analysis of the IMF Executive Board Members

PhD Supervision:  Etienne FARVAQUE  | Research axis:  Economic and Financial Flows | Discussant: Yoan WALLOIS

Abstract: 

In the absence of a retirement age constraint at the IMF, this study explores the tenure persistence within the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2009 to 2021, through a survival analysis. The findings highlight that extrinsic factors, namely sovereign crises, banking crises, and political transformations, play a predominant role in tenure longevity, while socio-demographic characteristics such as age and gender have a reduced influence. In summary, survival within this board is primarily governed by geopolitical and economic variables rather than by individual attributes.

14/02/2024 

Tabitha Kisakye NAFULA - Risk and Rainfall - Subjective Beliefs and Uncertainty Preferences of Subsistence Farmers

PhD Supervision:  Thomas EPPER | Research axis:  Decision-making | Discussant: Elina ISHMUKHAMETOVA

Abstract: 

We elicit subjective probabilities and uncertainty preferences of small-scale maize farmers living and cultivating in rainfall-diverse districts of Uganda. Using a unique combination of simple allocation tasks and household survey data, we characterize individual- and district-level heterogeneity of beliefs and preferences for two agricultural seasons. While farmers are not aware of the exact number of rain days during a past season, their estimation of the number of days lies close to the historical rain days distribution. Moreover, and as expected, farmers attach more uncertainty to future seasons than past seasons. Uncertainty preferences are best described by substantial pessimism and pronounced likelihood insensitivity. While beliefs respond to experienced rainfall histories, preferences can predict real-world agricultural decisions, such as diversification and the investment in maize cultivation. 

13/03/2024 

Nur BILGE - Elections and public services: Evidence from France 

Co-authors: Etienne FARVAQUE  and Jan FIDRMUC | PhD Supervision:  Jan FIDRMUC, Simone MORICONI and Claire NAIDITCH  | Research axis:  Economic and Financial Flows | Discussant: Mikaël PASTERNAK

Abstract:

We analyse the impact of the availability of public services, such as schools, post offices and police departments, on voting behaviour in a broad sample of French municipalities covering the presidential elections in 2002, 2012 and 2022. The previous literature argues that such left-behind places with poor provision of public services tend to display higher support for far-right and populist parties (Rodríguez-Pose, 2018; Rodríguez-Pose et al., 2023). Using an extensive database cataloguing the availability of public services at the local level, we show that the availability of such services is indeed inversely correlated with the support for far-right and populist parties in the French presidential elections. This research suggests that scaling down the provision of public services can have significant political consequences.

17/04/2024

Yoan WALLOIS - Does public opinion drive environmental policy stringency?

Co-authors: Florence HUART | PhD Supervision: Florence HUART  | Research axis:  Economic and Financial Flows | Discussant: Audrey GLASS

Abstract:

Although, it is widely assumed that public opinion influences environmental regulations, empirical evidence that support this assertion remains relatively unexplored. In this research, we investigate the main determinants in environmental legislation stringency, among which public opinion may be central. In particular, we examine whether economic, climate, cultural and political factors influence public awareness, concern, and support, which in turn may drive environmental policy adoption and design. We use a new indicator of environmental legislation stringency to study the evolution in terms of absolute numbers and in intensity of environmental legislations in developed and developing economies since the first world climate conference in 1979. We find evidence that public opinion do influence environmental regulation, but this effect is strongly conditioned to institutional factors.

22/05/2024 

Alix DEBRAY - Irrigation as mitigator for migratory aspirations following drought 

Co-authors: Lucile DEHOUCK, Katrin MILLOCK and Ilse RUYSSEN | PhD Supervision: Ilse RUYSSEN | Research axis:  Economic and Financial Flows

Abstract:

This article aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the causal relationship between climate and migration, which has remained inconclusive and often fails to consider alternative adaptive mechanisms. Specifically, we investigate the effect of drought on aspirations to migrate in and out of 11 West African countries, controlling for irrigation. Our analysis uses cross-country comparable Gallup World Poll surveys combined with fine-grained geo-local information on irrigation coverage as well as drought occurrence and intensity. Our preliminary findings confirm the potential of irrigation to diminish the negative effect of drought on migration aspirations. However, further robustness checks and estimations on different samples will allow determining whether this correlation would encourage individuals to continue investing in their local communities or rather enable them to fulfill their migration aspirations. Overall, the article highlights the potential of alternative adaptation mechanisms in shaping migration patterns and emphasizes the need for a more nuanced understanding of the climate-migration nexus. 

19/06/2024 

Muriel BOUR - Violence in Homeland, Trust in the Newland: Understanding the Immigrants' Perception of the Police  

PhD Supervision: Xavier CHOJNICKI and Nadiya UKRAYINCHUK| Discusant: Nur BILGE | Research axis:  Economic and Financial Flows

Abstract:
This article aims at investigating how past exposure to violence in the origin country of migrants affect their trust behavior towards the police in the destination. Relying on the European Social Survey (ESS), the analysis focuses on European countries as destination (39 countries), for migrants coming from all over the world (137 countries). For each origin country, I measure a yearly index of violence, using data from the Uppsala Conflict Database Programme (UCDP). Comparing individuals with a same origin-destination pattern and surveyed the same year, I analyze whether cohorts who underwent violence before migrating --especially during their impressionable years--, show different levels of trust towards police in the destination country.