Procedural Formalism and Social Networks in the Housing Market

Ce Working Paper fait l'objet d'une publication in Annals of Economics and Statistics, CNGP-INSEE, 2019, pp.25. 〈10.15609/annaeconstat2009.133.0025〉. 〈hal-02080574〉Why do some OECD countries have high levels of procedural formalism (PF) in the housing market? We provide an explanation based upon complementarities between the strength of social networks and the stringency of procedural formalism. The interest of social networks is that conflict resolution is independent of the law. When local people belong to social networks whereas foreigners do not, PF may facilitate housing search for locals at the expense of foreigners. To illustrate this mechanism we build a search-theoretic model of the housing market. The model emphasizes that the support for PF increases with the size of social networks, the default probability on the rent, the proportion of foreigners, and market tightness

Capital Utilisation and Retirement

This empirical analysis aims at assessing the effect of the economic climate and the intensity of capital utilisation on companies' capital retirement behaviour. It is conducted using individual company data, as well as original data on the degree of utilisation of production factors. The sample includes 6,998 observations over the period 1996-2008. This database is, to our knowledge, unique for the empirical analysis of the intensity of capital utilisation on firms' capital retirement behaviour. We adjust for endogeneity biases by means of instrumental variables. The main results obtained from the estimation of capital retirement models may be summarised as follows: i) The retirement rate decreases with the variations in cyclical pressures measured by the changes in output and the workweek of capital; this relation corresponds to a countercyclical decelerator effect on capital retirement; ii) The capital retirement rate increases with the structural intensity of capital utilisation; this effect, which corresponds to a wear and tear one, is nevertheless small compared to the decelerator one; iii) The profit rate does not have a significant impact on the retirement rate. Compared with the existing literature, here mainly Mairesse and Dormont (1985), the contribution of these results is to show, through the use of unique survey data, that the effect of the intensity of capital utilisation on capital retirement is structurally positive, via a wear and tear effect, and cyclically negative, via a decelerator effect which completes that already taken into account via the effect of changes in value added.Capital; Capital measure; Capital retirement; Capital utilisation

Capital Utilisation and Retirement

This empirical analysis aims at assessing the effect of the economic climate and the intensity of capital utilisation on companies' capital retirement behaviour. It is conducted using individual company data, as well as original data on the degree of utilisation of production factors. The sample includes 6,998 observations over the period 1996-2008. This database is, to our knowledge, unique for the empirical analysis of the intensity of capital utilisation on firms' capital retirement behaviour. We adjust for endogeneity biases by means of instrumental variables. The main results obtained from the estimation of capital retirement models may be summarised as follows: i) The retirement rate decreases with the variations in cyclical pressures measured by the changes in output and the workweek of capital; this relation corresponds to a countercyclical decelerator effect on capital retirement; ii) The capital retirement rate increases with the structural intensity of capital utilisation; this effect, which corresponds to a wear and tear one, is nevertheless small compared to the decelerator one; iii) The profit rate does not have a significant impact on the retirement rate. Compared with the existing literature, here mainly Mairesse and Dormont (1985), the contribution of these results is to show, through the use of unique survey data, that the effect of the intensity of capital utilisation on capital retirement is structurally positive, via a wear and tear effect, and cyclically negative, via a decelerator effect which completes that already taken into account via the effect of changes in value added

Job Protection, Housing Market Regulation and the Youth

Young Europeans experience high unemployment rates, job instability and late emancipation. Meanwhile they do not support reforms weakening protection on long-term contracts. In this paper, we suggest a possible rationale for such reform distaste. When the rental market is very regulated, landlords screen applicants with regard to their ability to pay the rent. Protecting regular jobs offers a second-best technology to sort workers, thereby increasing the rental market size. We provide a model where non-employed workers demand protected jobs despite unemployment and the share of short-term jobs increase, whereas rents, wages and the individual risk of dismissal are unaffected

Procedural Formalism and Social Networks in the Housing Market

Corresponding publications Working Paper International audienceWhy do some OECD countries have high levels of procedural formalism (PF) in the housing market? We provide an explanation based upon complementarities between the strength of social networks and the stringency of procedural formalism. The interest of social networks is that conflict resolution is independent from the law. When local agents belong to social networks whereas non-local agents do not, PF may facilitate housing search for locals at the expense of non-locals. To illustrate this mechanism we build a search-theoretic model of the housing market. The model emphasizes that the demand for PF occurs when the size of social networks is large. By simulations, we show that the support for PF increases with the size of social networks, the default probability on the rent and the proportion of non-local agents

Régulation du marché du logement et du marché du travail

Le premier chapitre montre l'interdépendance sur le marché locatif entre le formalisme procédural (FP) et les réseaux sociaux locaux. Tandis que le FP augmente le coût de résolution des conflits juridiques entre propriétaires et locataires, les réseaux sociaux présentent l'avantage de pouvoir régler un conflit sans la justice. Le FP permet de rendre plus intéressant aux yeux du propriétaire les individus appartenant à un réseau social. Le deuxième chapitre explique l'importance du soleil sur la demande de régulation du marché locatif. Les pays d'Europe du sud très ensoleillés sont attractifs de par leur douceur de vie. Cette immigration potentielle augmente la tension sur le marché locatif. Pour la réduire, les individus d'Europe du sud développent une complémentarité entre capital social local et régulation. Cette stratégie explique un équilibre méditerranéen où le capital social local et le FP sont élevés. A contrario, l'absence d'attractivité des pays faiblement ensoleillés explique un équilibre anglo-saxon et scandinave aux caractéristiques opposées. Le troisième chapitre explique le soutien pour la régulation du marché du travail par la présence de régulations sur le marché locatif. Lorsque ce dernier est très régulé, les propriétaires sélectionnent les locataires selon leur capacité à payer le loyer. Protéger les contrats à durée indéterminée oblige les entreprises à sélectionner les travailleurs et permet alors aux propriétaires de mieux estimer le risque individuel de licenciement. Nous construisons un modèle où les individus sans emploi demandent plus de régulations et de protections en dépit de l’augmentation du chômage et de la part des contrats temporaires.The first contribution studies the complementarities between the strength of social networks and the stringency of procedural formalism. While procedural formalism increases the cost of legal dispute resolution between landlords and tenants, social networks allow conflicts to be solved without recourse to justice. Procedural formalism is thus a way to provide a market advantage to local individuals embedded in dense local social networks at the expense of nonlocal agents without access to such networks.The second contribution deals with the importance of the sun on the demand for regulation in the rental market. Southern European countries with good climate amenities are attractive by their mildness of life. This potential immigration increases the pressure on the rental market. To reduce it, individuals in Southern Europe develop complementarities between social capital and local regulations. This strategy explains a Mediterranean equilibrium characterized by high levels of local social capital and procedural formalism. Conversely, the lack of attractiveness of countries with low climate amenities leads to an Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian equilibrium with opposite features.The third contribution explains the support for labor market regulation by the presence of regulations on the rental market. When the rental market is very regulated, landlords screen applicants with regard to their ability to pay the rent. Protecting regular jobs offers a second-best technology to sort workers, thereby increasing the rental market size. We provide a model where non-employed workers demand protected jobs despite unemployment and the share of short-term jobs increase

Sun, Regulation and Local Social Networks

The aim of this paper is to explain over-regulation and local social capital as barriers to immigration. The interest of social networks is that conflict resolution is independent of the law. Hence, if local individuals develop local social capital and regulation, foreigners without social networks are disadvantaged and can less easily migrate. We develop a two-country search-theoretic model where we endogenize the choice of procedural formalism (PF) and the network size. This model features two different equilibria: a Mediterranean equilibrium with PF and dense local social network and a Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon equilibrium without PF and local social networks

Capital utilization and retirement

ACL-2International audienceThis empirical analysis assesses the determinants of firms’ capital retirement. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the business cycle and the capital usage intensity. Compared to previous studies, we directly control for the capital utilization and disentangle the short-run mechanisms from the long-run ones. The analysis is carried out with an original and large firm-level dataset. The main results of the analysis may be summarized as follows: (i) the retirement rate increases during slowdowns and decreases during booms. This corresponds to a countercyclical capital retirement; (ii) the capital retirement rate increases with the capital usage intensity in the long run. This corresponds to a wear and tear effect, which is small compared to the countercyclical one; (iii) the capital retirement rate increases with the average age of capital; (iv) the profit rate and the wage cost per capita do not have a significant impact on the retirement rate

Job Protection, Housing Market Regulation and the Youth

International audienceYoung Europeans experience high unemployment rates, job instability, and late emancipation. Meanwhile, they do not support reforms weakening protection on long-term contracts. In this paper, we suggest a possible rationale for such reform distaste. When the rental market is strongly regulated, landlords screen applicants with regard to their ability to pay the rent. Protecting regular jobs offers a second-best technology to sort workers, thereby increasing the rental market size. We provide a model where nonemployed workers demand protected jobs despite unemployment and the share of short-term jobs increases, whereas the individual risk of dismissal is unaffected. Our theory can be extended to alternative risks and markets involving correlated risks and commitment under imperfect information