Authority inside the firm: multiple mechanisms of coordination

In the last twenty years, through a growing awareness of contractual incompleteness, the concept of authority has regained primacy in the analysis of the employment relationship. This article pursues two goals. First, we assess the famous controversy between Coase and Alchian and Demsetz via an analysis of the foundations of intra-firm authority. Second, we argue that intra-firm authority cannot hinge on a single variable and, to the contrary, rests on multiple mechanisms. The employer's authority over the employee is therefore not binary –infinite or null – and should be understood in terms of degree.authority; firm; incomplete contracts; law and economics

Quasi-intégration et relation de sous-traitance industrielle : une évaluation des travaux de Jacques Houssiaux

"L'œuvre de Jacques Houssiaux, un des premiers économistes industriels français, est largement méconnue. Dans cet article, nous avons choisi, parmi l'ensemble de ses travaux, de mettre l'accent sur ce qui constitue selon nous une originalité et une avancée majeure en matière d'analyse des formes d'organisation de la production et des échanges, il s'agit du concept de quasi-intégration, qui qualifie pour lui la spécificité de la relation de sous-traitance industrielle (1957). (...)" http://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=REI_142_001

Responsabilité sociale inter-firmes, coordination et régulation de la firme-réseau multinationale : une analyse économique

This paper deals with the issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the lens of inter-firm relationships. This form of "inter-firm social responsibility" (IFSR) is based on the implementation of different institutional mechanisms of coordination such as labels, codes, agreements and certificates. The aim of this paper is to study the normative scope of the regulatory principle of socioeconomic relationships from two of these mechanisms, namely, conduct codes and ISO norms, from an economic perspective, of which both the logic and the efficacy of these devices were analyzed. (...)Nous analysons dans ce texte la question de la responsabilité sociale de l'entreprise (RSE), en nous limitant au seul point de vue des relations inter-firmes. Ce type de " responsabilités sociales inter-firmes " (RSIF) se traduit par la mise en place de nombreux dispositifs institutionnels de coordination (labels, codes, accords, certificats, etc.). L'objet de cet article est de s'intéresser à la question de la portée normative de ce principe de régulation à partir de deux mécanismes, les codes de conduite et les normes ISO, sous le prisme de l'analyse économique, en s'interrogeant sur leur logique et leur efficacité. (...) Le texte intégral en libre accès sera disponible à cette adresse en janvier 2016 : [ http://rei.revues.org/5286

The regulation of collective labour relationships : an assessment of the Oliver Williamson's private ordering-public ordering divide

This research article proposes to undertake a critical review of Oliver Williamson's law and economic theory from the analysis of collective labour relationships in the United States. From a positive point of view, the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate explains that law determines the rules of play (public ordering), and then individuals freely negotiate the rules that constitute the institutions of governance (private ordering). From a normative perspective, Williamson argues that this partition is efficient with respect to the economizing logic of individuals. However, we show that, actually, the American law of labour relationships is based on legal pluralism and that the model of private ordering, which has been less and less used since the 1980s, has strong limitations. In this context, the analysis of the public ordering/private ordering framework that Williamson proposes is of little interest

Authority inside the firm: multiple mechanisms of coordination

In the last twenty years, through a growing awareness of contractual incompleteness, the concept of authority has regained primacy in the analysis of the employment relationship. This article pursues two goals. First, we assess the famous controversy between Coase and Alchian and Demsetz via an analysis of the foundations of intra-firm authority. Second, we argue that intra-firm authority cannot hinge on a single variable and, to the contrary, rests on multiple mechanisms. The employer's authority over the employee is therefore not binary –infinite or null – and should be understood in terms of degree

"Une analyse théorique des fondements et du fonctionnement de la relation d'autorité intrafirme"

Depuis une vingtaine d'années, le thème de l'autorité dans la relation d'emploi a fait l'objet d'un regain d'intérêt parmi les économistes, en raison notamment dela prise en compte de l'incomplétude des contrats. Dans cet article, notre objectif est double. Il s'agit tout d'abord de porter un jugement sur la fameuse controverse Coase/Alchian-Demsetz, en étudiant les fondements de l'autorité intrafirme. Il s'agit également de montrer que la relation d'autorité intrafirme ne peut se résumer à une variable unique, mais au contraire repose sur une pluralité de mécanismes. Dès lors, compte tenu de cette pluralité, la relation d'autorité entre un employeur et un employé doit s'appréhender en termes de degré, et non en termes d'autorité infinie – ou nulle – de l'employeur sur l'employé.autorité, firme, contrat incomplet, économie du droit

Statistical method for the determination of the ignition energy of dust cloud-experimental validation

International audiencePowdery materials such as metallic or polymer powders play a considerable role in many industrial processes. Their use requires the introduction of preventive safeguard to control the plants safety. The mitigation of an explosion hazard, according to the ATEX 137 Directive (1999/92/EU), requires, among other things, the assessment of the dust ignition sensitivity. PRISME laboratory (University of Orléans) has developed an experimental set-up and methodology, using the Langlie test, for the quick determination of the explosion sensitivity of dusts. This method requires only 20 shots and ignition sensitivity is evaluated through the E50 (energy with an ignition probability of 0.5). A Hartmann tube, with a volume of 1.3 l, was designed and built. Many results on the energy ignition thresholds of partially oxidised previous termaluminiumnext term were obtained using this experimental device (Baudry, 2007) and compared to literature. E50 evolution is the same as previous MIE but their respective values are different and previous MIE is lower than E50 however the link between E50 and previous MIE has not been elucidated. In this paper, the Langlie method is explained in detail for the determination of the parameters (mean value E50 and standard deviation σ) of the associated statistic law. The ignition probability versus applied energy is firstly measured for Lycopodium in order to validate the method. A comparison between the normal and the lognormal law was achieved and the best fit was obtained with the lognormal law. In a second part, the Langlie test was performed on different dusts such as previous aluminium, cornstarch, lycopodium, coal, and PA12 in order to determine E50 and σ for each dust. The energies E05 and E10 corresponding respectively to an ignition probability of 0.05 and 0.1 are determined with the lognormal law and compared to previous MIE find in literature. E05 and E10 values of ignition energy were found to be very close and were in good agreement with previous MIE in the literature

Can Energy Savings from Operations Promoting Energy Efficient Behaviors in Office Buildings be Accounted for?

International audienceWhen looking for solutions to mitigate the growth of energy consumption in the commercial buildings sector, research works often focus on the energy performance of buildings. Indeed, many studies established how large the technical improvement potential was in this sector. But cost-effective energy savings can also be achieved in a complementary way by an improved energy management promoting energy efficient behaviors, because energy consumptions depend on both energy performance of buildings and equipments, and end-users behaviors. Past experiences tend to show that if awareness operations were widely disseminated, a significant amount of energy savings could be realized. It is likely that more and more organizations engage such operations. Unfortunately, their real impacts remain rather unknown and uncertain, mainly because they are not perceived as a serious option. Consequently they are implemented in very heterogeneous ways. Thus, their results may vary a lot too. This paper first reminds success factors analyzed in previous works, before presenting monitoring guidelines to ensure that energy savings can be accounted for. This methodological approach could be an entry to consider the inclusion of behavioral actions in schemes accounting for energy savings, such as white certificates. The option to include awareness operations in an energy management service appears to create good conditions ensuring the quality of the operations and therefore an accounting system reliable enough for certified energy savings. Admitting this new kind of energy service in white certificates schemes would on the one side provide a clear recognition of behavioral actions, and on the other side promote quality standards ensuring more homogeneity and effectiveness among this kind of operation

Levés SEABEAM dans l'archipel des Iles Australes : confirmation d'une nouvelle méthode de localisation de monts sous-marins basée sur l'analyse des données SEASAT

Cette campagne de levés constitue la première vérification sur le terrain d'une nouvelle méthode de détection et de localisation de guyots fondée sur l'analyse de données altimétriques SEASAT. Trois structures préalablement détectées ont été trouvées à l'emplacement prevu par le calcul. Les premières interprétations des levés bathymétriques SEABEAM permettent de discuter les diverses indications obtenues par l'analyse des profils altimétriques, telles que la taille et la forme des monts sous-marins

Machine learning for crystal identification and discovery

As computers get faster, researchers -- not hardware or algorithms -- become the bottleneck in scientific discovery. Computational study of colloidal self-assembly is one area that is keenly affected: even after computers generate massive amounts of raw data, performing an exhaustive search to determine what (if any) ordered structures occur in a large parameter space of many simulations can be excruciating. We demonstrate how machine learning can be applied to discover interesting areas of parameter space in colloidal self assembly. We create numerical fingerprints -- inspired by bond orientational order diagrams -- of structures found in self-assembly studies and use these descriptors to both find interesting regions in a phase diagram and identify characteristic local environments in simulations in an automated manner for simple and complex crystal structures. Utilizing these methods allows analysis methods to keep up with the data generation ability of modern high-throughput computing environments.Comment: Fixed typo, added missing acknowledgment, added supplementary informatio