European integration assessed in the light of the 'rules vs. standards debate'

The interplay of various legal systems in the European Union (EU) has long triggered a debate on the tension between uniformity and diversity of Member States' (MS) laws. This debate takes place among European legal scholars and is also paralleled by economic scholars, e.g. in the ambit of the 'theory of federalism'. This paper takes an innovative perspective on the discrepancy between 'centralized' and 'decentralized' law-making in the EU by assessing it with the help of the rules versus standards debate. When should the EU legislator grant the national legislator leeway in the formulation of new laws and when should all be fixed ex ante at European level? The literature on the 'optimal shape of legal norms' shall be revisited in the light of law-making in the EU, centrally dealing with the question how much discretion shall be given to the national legislator; and under which circumstances. This paper enhances the established decisive factors for the choice of a rule or a standard in a national setting (complexity, volatility, judges' specialization and frequency of application) by two new crucial factors (switching costs and the benefit of uniformity in terms of information costs) in order to assess law-making policies at EU level

Bayesian Action–Perception Computational Model: Interaction of Production and Recognition of Cursive Letters

In this paper, we study the collaboration of perception and action representations involved in cursive letter recognition and production. We propose a mathematical formulation for the whole perception–action loop, based on probabilistic modeling and Bayesian inference, which we call the Bayesian Action–Perception (BAP) model. Being a model of both perception and action processes, the purpose of this model is to study the interaction of these processes. More precisely, the model includes a feedback loop from motor production, which implements an internal simulation of movement. Motor knowledge can therefore be involved during perception tasks. In this paper, we formally define the BAP model and show how it solves the following six varied cognitive tasks using Bayesian inference: i) letter recognition (purely sensory), ii) writer recognition, iii) letter production (with different effectors), iv) copying of trajectories, v) copying of letters, and vi) letter recognition (with internal simulation of movements). We present computer simulations of each of these cognitive tasks, and discuss experimental predictions and theoretical developments

Modes d'indemnisation du chomage, niveau du chomage et croissance.

CHOMAGE;ASSURANCE CHOMAGE

Cash-in-Advance Constraints in the Diamond Overlapping Generations Model: Neutrality and Optimality of Monetary Policies

This paper is a study of money in overlapping generations models with cash-in-advance constraints a la Champ and Freeman and Hahn and Solow. We first offer a brief review of different features of the cash-in-advance constraint. Then we propose a general formulation. We show that neutrality of money prevails when the ratios of lum-sum monetary transfers and public expenditures to the money supply do not depend on the money growth rate.MONEY ; MONETARY POLICY ; GENERATIONS

Seigneuriage et financement d'un bien public.

Dans ce document, on itudie le seigneuriage dans un modhle ` ginirations imbriquies avec contrainte de liquiditi. La monnaie criie par le gouvernement sert ` financer un bien public. On considhre d'abord le cas oy c'est le seul instrument de financement, le bien public correspondant ` un seigneuriage pur. Le montant de bien public est alors igal ` la valeur rielle prilevie par le gouvernement ` l'aide de la criation monitaire. Nous mettons en ividence une "courbe de Laffer" du seigneuriage, ou, a partir d'un certain niveau de creation monetaire, la valeur de la monnaie creee diminue et tend vers zero. L'optimum social dynamique depend fondamentalement du choix du facteur d'actualisation social. C'est un optimum de second rang, obtenu sous forme explicite. L'introduction d'instruments de politique economique supplementaires, les transferts forfaitaires, permet de realiser l'optimum social de premier rang, ou les distorsions monetaires sont totalement neutralisees. Pour cela, il faut que le rendement reel de la monnaie soit egal au rendement des investissements dans les firmes. C'est la regle de Friedman dont la realisation impose que le gouvernement detruise de la monnaie en sorte que le taux de deflation soit egal au taux d'interet.FINANCEMENT ; BIENS PUBLICS ; SEIGNEURAGE

Jusqu'ou l'Etat peut-il s'endetter ? Une approche par des modeles à generations imbriquees d'agents.

L'objet de cet article est d'approfondir la question de la definition de la solvabilite de l'Etat. A la question, jusqu'ou l'Etat peut-il s'endetter ? Nous répondons que l'endettement public acceptable, ne conduisant pas à la faillite, est celui qui reste compatible avec un fonctionnement effectif de l'economie. Nous considerons d'abord la situation ou l'Etat choisit librement le montant des impots (forfaitaires). Il n'y a alors aucune restriction sur la dette. En particulier, aucune contrainte budgetaire intertemporelle ne pese sur la politique de l'Etat.DETTE PUBLIQUE ; BUDGET ; IMPOTS

Equilibrium Dynamics in a Two-Sector OLG Model with Liquidity Constraint

We study a two-sector OLG economy in which a share of old age consumption expenditures must be paid out of money balances and we appraise its dynamic features. We first show that competitive equilibrium is dynamically efficient if and only if the share of capital on total income is large enough while a steady state capital per capita above its Golden Rule level is not consistent with a binding liquidity constraint. We thus focus on the gross substitutability in consumption and on dynamic efficiency assumptions and show that, gathered together, they ensure the local determinacy of equilibrium and, as a consequence, rule out sunspot fluctuations. In addition, we prove that the unique steady state may change its stability from a saddle configuration to a source one (undergoing a flip bifurcation) for a capital intensive investment good as well as for a capital intensive consumption good, when the elasticity of the interest rate is set low enough. However, when the investment good is not too capital intensive, the flip bifurcation turns out to be compatible with high elasticities of the interest rate too. Analogous results within dynamic efficiency are found in the non-monetary model, the existence of a flip bifurcation requiring now a capital intensive investment good. Eventually, under dynamic inefficiency, in the non-monetary economy local indeterminacy may instead appear, either through a Hopf bifurcation or through a flip one, and its scope improves as soon as the consumption good becomes more and more capital intensive