Portail HAL Paris School of Economics (PSE)
Not a member yet
5677 research outputs found
Sort by
Is It Possible to Raise National Happiness?
No full textWe revisit the Easterlin paradox about the flatness of the happiness trend over the long run, in spite of sustained economic development. With a bounded scale that explicitly refers to "the best possible life for you" and "the worst possible life for you", is it even possible to observe a rising trend in self-declared life satisfaction? We consider the possibility of rescaling, i.e. that the interpretation of the scale changes with the context in which respondents are placed. We propose a simple model of rescaling and reconstruct an index of latent happiness on the basis of retrospective reports included in unexploited archival data from the USA. We show that national well-being has substantially increased from the 1950s to the early 2000s, on par with GDP, health, education, and liberal democracy. We validate our new index on several datasets, and find that it captures important changes in personal life circumstances over and above nominal life satisfaction. Our model sheds light on several well-documented happiness puzzles, including why life satisfaction did not drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, why Ukrainians report similar levels of life satisfaction today as before the war, and why people take life-changing decisions -like having kids -that seem to make them less happy
Everyday Econometricians: Selection Neglect and Overoptimism When Learning from Others
No full textInternational audienceThis study explores selection neglect in an experimental investment game where individuals can learn from others’ outcomes. Experiment 1 examines aggregate-level equilibrium behavior. We find strong evidence of selection neglect and corroborate several comparative static predictions of Jehiel’s (2018) model, showing that the severity of the bias is aggravated by the sophistication of other individuals and moderated when information is more correlated across individuals. Experiment 2 focuses on individual decision-making, isolating the influence of beliefs from possible confounding factors. This allows us to classify individuals according to their degree of naïvety and explore the limits of, and potential remedies for, selection neglect
Should They Compete or Should They Cooperate? The View of Agency Theory
No full textInternational audienceWhat is the most efficient way of designing incentives in an organization? Over the past five decades, agency theory has provided various answers to this crucial question. This line of research suggests that, depending on the organizational context, the optimal approach to providing incentives may involve either relying on collective compensations or, conversely, employing relative performance evaluations. In the first scenario, cooperation among agents is the key aspect of the organization. In the second, competition prevails. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of this extensive literature, with the aim of understanding the conditions under which one or the other type of incentive schemes is more desirable for the principal of the organization. To this end, we use a flexible and versatile model capable of addressing a wide range of scenarios characterized by different technologies, information constraints, and behavioral norms
Changing labour market and income inequalities in Europe and North America: a parallel project to the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities in the 21 st century
No full textInternational audienceThe evolution of labour market and disposable income inequalities over recent decades in high‐income countries has generated intense interest in academia and the wider public. The extent to which there have been common trends, or diverging experiences, across a broad range of different countries, remains relatively understudied. The papers in this two‐part special issue seek to provide the bases for consistent comparisons across 17 North American and European countries. In this Introduction we provide background for the cross‐country project, which has been conducted in parallel to the wider IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities. In addition, we provide brief summaries of key trends and findings in the four English‐speaking countries and four Nordic countries, as well as a companion paper on gender pay gaps across all 17 countries
Mental health and the overall tendency to follow official recommendations against COVID-19: A U-shaped relationship?
No full textInternational audienceThis paper investigates the association between several mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness) and the overall tendency to follow official recommendations regarding self-protection against COVID-19 (i.e., overall compliance). We employ panel data from the COME-HERE survey, collected over four waves, on 7,766 individuals (22,878 observations) from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. Employing a flexible specification that allows the association to be non-monotonic, we find a U-shaped relationship, in which transitions to low and high levels of mental health are associated with higher overall compliance, while transitions to medium levels of mental health are associated with less overall compliance. Moreover, anxiety, stress, and loneliness levels at baseline (i.e., at wave 1) also have a U-shaped effect on overall compliance later (i.e., recommendations are followed best by those with lowest and highest levels of anxiety, stress, and loneliness at baseline, while following the recommendations is lowest for those with moderate levels of these variables). These U shapes, which are robust to several specifications, may explain some of the ambiguous results reported in the previous literature. Additionally, we observe a U-shaped association between the mental health indicators and a number of specific health behaviours (including washing hands and mask wearing). Importantly, most of these specific behaviours play a role in overall compliance. Finally, we uncover the role of gender composition effects in some of the results. While variations in depression and stress are negatively associated with variations in overall compliance for men, the association is positive for women. The U-shaped relation in the full sample (composed of males and females) will reflect first the negative slope for males and then the positive slope for females
La datation des cycles par le CDCEF : résultats des approches économétriques
No full textInternational audienceAprès avoir tiré les leçons de l'histoire des cycles économiques avant et après Keynes, les aspects méthodologiques relatifs à la mesure et à la modélisation des cycles font l'objet d'une description approfondie. Se centrant ensuite sur la France, l'ouvrage propose une détermination des dates des phases de récession et d'expansion de l'économie française depuis 1970. La méthodologie retenue est originale, mêlant approches économétriques et narrative, et permet d'obtenir une datation précise des points de retournement du cycle économique français
Targeting Disaster Aid: A Structural Evaluation of Large Earthquake Reconstruction Program
No full textThis paper studies the question of how to target aid after a natural disaster.Disaster aid programs often use property damage as a criterion for eligibility. A household's ability to insure against shocks may be harder to observe but more important in determining how the disaster affects welfare. We develop a model of household demand for reconstruction aid and estimate the model parameters using a household survey following the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Key model predictions are validated using a spatial regression discontinuity design. We use the model to estimate welfare from counterfactual targeting strategies. Conditioning aid on property damages does not significantly improve welfare relative to allocating aid randomly. An untargeted approach that divides the aid budget equally among all households in the affected areas yields larger welfare gains. Using resources to assess property damages for targeting purposes may not be cost effective
Take-up of Social Benefits: Experimental Evidence from France
No full textWe report on two nationwide experiments with job seekers in France. We first show that a meeting with social services to assess eligibility and help with application to social benefits increased new benefit take-up by 31 %. By contrast, an online simulator that gave personalized information on benefit eligibility did not increase take-up. Marginal treatment effects show that individuals who benefit the most from the meetings are the least likely to attend. Overall, without ruling out information frictions, our results suggest that transaction costs represent the main obstacle to applying for benefits or accessing government's assistance to help apply
Introducción: la desigualdad en España
No full textNational audienceThe introduction of La Desigualdad en España lays out the importance of understanding economic inequality not only in terms of its impact on individual freedoms but also on social and economic growth. The text challenges common myths in Spanish public discourse, such as the notions that inequality is necessary for freedom or that it fosters economic development. It argues that inequality limits freedom by disproportionately affecting the opportunities and agency of individuals, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Furthermore, the introduction emphasizes that inequality undermines meritocracy by disproportionately rewarding privileged individuals while ignoring the efforts of those less fortunate. Lastly, it debunks the myth that economic growth requires inequality, instead positing that it leads to inefficiencies and hinders sustainable and inclusive development. Through a transdisciplinary approach with contributions from more than thirty experts, the book aims to provide comprehensive insights into the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to inequality in Spain, drawing on research across multiple social science disciplines.La introducción de La Desigualdad en España ofrece un análisis crítico de los mitos que rodean la desigualdad económica en España y sus implicaciones para la libertad, la meritocracia y el crecimiento. Los autores argumentan que la desigualdad suele presentarse falsamente como necesaria para la libertad individual, el incentivo económico y el reconocimiento del esfuerzo personal. Sin embargo, el libro sostiene que la desigualdad limita la libertad al restringir las oportunidades para muchos, recompensa desproporcionadamente a los privilegiados y genera ineficiencias en los sistemas económicos. Cuando se estudia la desigualdad, suele darse respuesta a estas preguntas exclusivamente desde la economía, la ciencia política o la sociología, pero no, como se propone aquí, desde una perspectiva cruzada. Por ello, los temas tratados abarcan desde las raíces históricas de la acumulación de riqueza hasta la brecha generacional, pasando por la influencia del sistema fiscal, la disparidad ocupacional de género o la relación entre genética y desigualdad. Más de una treintena de firmas expertas —nacionales e internacionales— se dan cita en estas páginas para desentrañar los mitos que sostienen y perpetúan la desigualdad en España. Este libro no solo ofrece una exhaustiva radiografía del tema, sino que también realiza una llamada a la acción para lograr una sociedad más justa e igualitaria.L'introduction de La Desigualdad en España propose une analyse critique des mythes entourant les inégalités économiques en Espagne et leurs implications pour la liberté, la méritocratie et la croissance. Les auteurs soutiennent que les inégalités sont souvent présentées à tort comme nécessaires à la liberté individuelle, à l'incitation économique et à la reconnaissance de l'effort personnel. Cependant, le livre affirme que les inégalités limitent la liberté en restreignant les opportunités pour beaucoup, en récompensant de manière disproportionnée les privilégiés, et en créant des inefficacités dans les systèmes économiques. S'appuyant sur des recherches interdisciplinaires, l'introduction prépare le terrain pour l'exploration approfondie des causes, des impacts et des solutions potentielles aux inégalités. Elle souligne que lutter contre les inégalités est non seulement compatible avec la promotion de la liberté et de la croissance, mais essentiel pour y parvenir. Le livre remet en question les hypothèses et les mythes dominants, avec l'objectif de fournir aux lecteurs une compréhension plus approfondie des inégalités en Espagne et un plan d'action pour une société plus équitable
The Effect of Public Transport Pricing Policy: Experimental Evidence
No full textWe investigate the impact of different public transport pricing schemes on daily commuting habits. Psychological inertia, car stickiness, complexity aversion, or skewed perception of prices are expected to influence decisions. We build a controlled experiment, where participants make transport decisions and face various public transport tariffs. Our findings indicate that players are rational as they reach the Nash predictions of our model, but cognitive biases inherent to users are also present. Peak/offpeak and two-part tariffs prove to be more successful in encouraging public transit use than flat fare subscriptions, possibly due to a preference for flexibility and the ability to take past experiences into account (congestion and incident) in future travel choices. Thus, this paper suggests that well designed pricing strategies are useful tools to promote public transit use and reduce road congestion