Portail HAL Paris School of Economics (PSE)
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Take the Highway? Paved Roads and Well-Being in Africa
No full textPublic Goods aim to improve individual welfare. We investigate the causal consequences of roads on well-being in 24 African countries, instrumenting paved roads by 19th Century hypothetical lines between major ports and cities. We have data on over 32000 individuals, and consider both their objective and subjective well-being, via access to four basic needs and the subjective evaluation of living conditions respectively. Our instrumental-variable analysis suggests that roads reduce material deprivation, by improving access to basic needs, but that there is no causal relation between the distance to a road and subjective living conditions. The benefit of roads in providing basic needs then seems to be offset by worse outcomes in other domains
Taking Back Control? Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Retirement on Locus of Control
No full textWe use nationally representative panel data from Australia to consider the impact of retirement on individual locus of control, a socio-emotional skill that has substantial explanatory power for a broad range of life outcomes. We establish causality via cohort-specific eligibility age for the Australian Age Pension. We show that retirement leads to increased internal locus of control. This greater sense of internal control can explain around one-third and one-fifth of the positive effects of retirement on health and subjective well-being, respectively. The impact of retirement on control beliefs varies along the distribution of locus of control, with the positive influence being most pronounced for men with a relatively high sense of internal control and for women with a relatively high sense of external control. Last, we provide evidence that locus of control is much more malleable at retirement than the other socio-emotional skills of the Big-Five personality traits, risk and time preferences, and trust
On the social welfare interpretation of growth incidence curves
No full textInternational audienceThe Growth Incidence Curve (GIC), introduced in the poverty measurement literature by Ravallion and Chen (Econ. Lett. 78 (1), 93–99, 2003), proved to be a valuable and widely used tool to analyze the impact of growth on poverty and its ‘pro-poorness’. Beyond pro-poorness, however, the relationship between the shape of GICs and social welfare is ambiguous. If a declining GIC, together with a positive overall rate of growth, is unambiguously associated with a social welfare gain, such a shape is not the most common and the reciprocal is not necessarily true. This paper analyzes the social welfare properties of GICs, as well as their non-anonymous counterpart (NAGICs), which describe how income growth depends on the initial rank of individuals in the initial income distribution. NAGICs thus account not only for the change in the distribution of income but also for income mobility, and differ conceptually from their anonymous counterpart. However, their social welfare interpretation proves to be very similar
Effects of absolute levels of neighbourhood ethnic diversity vs. changes in neighbourhood diversity on prejudice: Moderation by individual differences in personality
No full textInternational audienceThis paper examines drivers of prejudicial attitudes among adults in the UK, focusing on the interaction between ethnic out-group size and personality traits. Leveraging data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS), we use two survey waves carried out in 2000 and 2008, just before and after the EU enlargement policy that drove a wave of immigration in the UK. We test the extent to which personality traits moderate the relationship between both absolute levels and changes in ethnic diversity at the local level, respectively, and prejudice. Key findings suggest that personality traits, in particular one's agreeableness, are important for conditioning how the proportion of non-white British in one's neighbourhood affects out-group attitudes. We observe a tendency towards polarisation in prejudicial attitudes between low-/high-agreeableness residents as their neighbourhoods become more diverse. These findings have important implications for theorising how contextual and individual characteristics jointly affect intergroup relations
Les Tarifications à l'Activité _ T2A
No full textInternational audienceLa tarification à l’activité – T2A – est un nom générique qui couvre une multitude de paiements. Par ailleurs, la T2A s’est transformée d’un instrument à un objectif de tarification à trois missions – de tarification, de régulation, et de santé publique –. Il conviendrait plutôt de parler des T2A que de la T2A. De plus, ces différentes missions s’opposent et entraînent des contradictions dans les incitations envoyées par la tutelle aux établissements hospitaliers. Évoquer le retour à un budget global comme solution miracle serait une erreur car cela reviendrait à entériner les effets néfastes des T2A actuelles
Learning rules of engagement for social exchange within and between groups
No full textInternational audienceGlobalizing economies and long-distance trade rely on individuals from different cultural groups to negotiate agreement on what to give and take. In such settings, individuals often lack insight into what interaction partners deem fair and appropriate, potentially seeding misunderstandings, frustration, and conflict. Here, we examine how individuals decipher distinct rules of engagement and adapt their behavior to reach agreements with partners from other cultural groups. Modeling individuals as Bayesian learners with inequality aversion reveals that individuals, in repeated ultimatum bargaining with responders sampled from different groups, can be more generous than needed. While this allows them to reach agreements, it also gives rise to biased beliefs about what is required to reach agreement with members from distinct groups. Preregistered behavioral ( N = 420) and neuroimaging experiments ( N = 49) support model predictions: Seeking equitable agreements can lead to overly generous behavior toward partners from different groups alongside incorrect beliefs about prevailing norms of what is appropriate in groups and cultures other than one’s own
EU in search of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
No full textInternational audienceTo meet the targets of the EU’s Fit for 55 package, the European Commission proposed in July 2021 to implement a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to replace free allocation of Emission Trading System (ETS) allowances for the most trade-exposed emitting industries. CBAM aims to prevent carbon leakage and restore a level playing field in high-emitting industries. Its design, as voted by the European Council in March 2022, by the Parliament in June, and ultimately amended by a provisional agreement between the Council and the European Parliament in December 2022, raises several issues. This paper aims to quantify the economic and environmental impacts of different choices regarding this design. Simulations are based on a dynamic general equilibrium model representing imperfect competition, input–output relations, greenhouse gas emissions, the endogenous price of emission quotas and the presence of free allocation of allowances. We show that CBAM is effective in reducing carbon leakage. But its design increases the price of carbon in the European Emissions Trading Scheme. Competitiveness losses in export markets are expected for downstream sectors that are not covered by the CBAM, as well as for European exporters of high-emitting industries, even in the presence of rebates
Piloting, testing and scaling parental training: a multi-partnership approach in Côte d’Ivoire
No full textInternational audienceBackground and objectivesEarly Childhood Development is high on the policy agenda in Côte d’Ivoire, where the government has identified it as part of its overall approach to improve human capital outcomes. This paper describes a multi-partner approach to piloting, monitoring, adaption, testing and scaling of parental training for ECD. It discusses the learnings from the pilots, and present early evaluation results from two RCTs, focusing on parental participation in trainings and acceptability of messages, with the objective to inform national scaling strategies. As such, this paper illustrates how “MEL systems contributed to ensuring that positive early childhood development (ECD) outcomes were improved as interventions were seeking to achieve scale,” one of the research questions outlined in the call description for the special issue. The paper further provides a real-world example of “How MEL systems can support contributions and buy-in from a variety of stakeholders as ECD interventions (seek to) achieve impacts at scale (e.g., through the public system)?MethodsFive training approaches to improve caregivers’ knowledge and practices around nutrition, preventive health, stimulation, and disciplining were piloted at small scale between 2018 and 2020. An intensive process evaluation was embedded to identify strengths and weaknesses, adapt through an iterative phase, and ultimately make recommendations for their scale up against 11 defined criteria. In early 2021, the two most promising approaches were scaled through two clustered randomized control trials to more than 150 villages each. A cost-effectiveness study was designed in consultation with government stakeholders, centered around targeting different caregivers and decision makers in the household and the extended family and on enhancing community interactions around ECD.ResultsThe evaluation of the five pilots identified one model recommended to be scaled, and one other model to scale after further adaptations. Monitoring and evaluation data from the two models at scale show high levels of participation and acceptability of core messages. Experimental variations involving community champions and fathers increase participation.ConclusionThe iterative and multi-partner process led to two models of parenting training that have wide acceptability. Future work will analyze impacts on cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes, together with cost analysis
Well-being and working from home during COVID-19
No full textInternational audiencePurposeThe authors track the well-being of individuals across five European countries during the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and relate their well-being to working from home. The authors also consider the role of pandemic-policy stringency in affecting well-being in Europe.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have four waves of novel harmonised longitudinal data in France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Sweden, covering the period May–November 2020. Well-being is measured in five dimensions: life satisfaction, a worthwhile life, loneliness, depression and anxiety. A retrospective diary indicates whether the individual was working in each month since February 2020 and if so whether at home or not at home. Policy stringency is matched in per country at the daily level. The authors consider both cross-section and panel regressions and the mediating and moderating effects of control variables, including household variables and income.FindingsWell-being among workers is lower for those who work from home, and those who are not working have the lowest well-being of all. The panel results are more mitigated, with switching into working at home yielding a small drop in anxiety. The panel and cross-section difference could reflect adaptation or the selection of certain types of individuals into working at home. Policy stringency is always negatively correlated with well-being. The authors find no mediation effects. The well-being penalty from working at home is larger for the older, the better-educated, those with young children and those with more crowded housing.Originality/valueThe harmonised cross-country panel data on individuals' experiences during COVID-19 are novel. The authors relate working from home and policy stringency to multiple well-being measures. The authors emphasise the effect of working from home on not only the level of well-being but also its distribution
L’impact économique des migrations en Tunisie
No full textInternational audienceIn this article, we study the economic impact of international migration in Tunisia over the period 1970–2017. In line with data statistical properties, the estimation of vector autoregression (VAR) models shows that an exogenous change in the net migration rate has a positive and significant effect on national production per capita, whereas its effect on employment rate is not significant. The migration shock has a positive and significant effect on productivity and does not reduce the average employee compensation.Dans cet article, nous analysons l’impact économique des migrations internationales en Tunisie sur la période 1970–2017. L’estimation de modèles vectoriels autorégressifs (VAR), en accord avec les propriétés statistiques des séries, montre qu’un choc exogène qui augmente le taux de solde migratoire a un effet positif et significatif sur la production nationale par habitant, tandis que les effets sur le taux d’emploi ne sont pas significatifs. Le choc migratoire a un effet positif et significatif sur la productivité, et ne réduit pas la rémunération moyenne des salariés