Wage rigidity, collective bargaining and the minimum wage: evidence from French agreement data.

We highlight different stylized facts concerning wage stickiness. First, in France, the typical duration of a wage agreement is one year. Consequently, a Taylor (1980) -type model appears to reproduce appropriately the distribution of agreement durations. Some 30 percent of settlements stipulate several predetermined wage changes during the year following the date of signature of the agreement. The frequency of wage agreements is highly seasonal, but the dates at which agreements take effect are more staggered. The date at which the national minimum wage level is revised each year has a significant impact on the timetable of wage agreements, both at the firm- and at the industry-levels. Wage increases negotiated at these two levels mainly depend on the inflation regime, the firm profitability and the proportion of minimum-wage workers in the same industry.Wage Stickiness, Wage Bargaining, Minimum Wage, Downward nominal Wage Rigidity.

Réformes structurelles sur le marché du travail : que nous enseignent les études microéconomiques ?

Les réformes structurelles sur le marché du travail ne peuvent réussir que si leurs effets attendus ne sont pas neutralisés par des variations inappropriées des salaires. Cela invite à s’interroger sur le niveau de négociation salariale le mieux à même d’assurer leur réussite tout en renforçant l’efficacité de la politique monétaire.marché du travail, réformes structurelles, négociations salariales, coordination, décentralisation, politique monétaire.

An evaluation of the effect of the 2003 reform on the retirement behaviour - The case of public secondary-school teachers

While a new retirement pension reform is currently discussed in France, it is crucial to evaluate previous reforms. Up to now, no evaluation of the 2003 reform is available, particularly for civil servants. This article deals with the impact of this reform on the retirement behaviour of public secondary-school teachers. On the one hand, the reform has had an impact on the retirement behaviour of secondary-school teachers who still work at 60. The probability to retire between 60 and 61 years old for those who have paid their social contributions for 37.5 years at 60 years old drops by 9 points. On the other hand, the reform seems to have changed teachers willingness to get the so-called full-pension rate. When the number of missing quarters of social contributions required to benefit from the full pension rate at 60 years old is low, the reform is not found to induce teachers born after 1944 to postpone their retirement after 61 years old. But a large number of missing quarters has still the same effect before and after the reform.retirement pension reform, public secondary-school teachers, propensity score matching, regression-discontinuity

Heterogeneity in Consumer Price Stickiness: A Microeconometric Investigation.

This paper examines heterogeneity in price stickiness using a large, original, set of individual price data collected at the retail level for the computation of the French CPI. To that end, we estimate, at a very high level of disaggregation, competing-risks duration models that distinguish between price increases, price decreases and product replacements. The main .ndings are the following: i) cross-product and cross-outlet-type heterogeneity in both the shape of the hazard function and the impact of covariates is pervasive ii) at the product-outlet type level, the baseline hazard function of a price spell is non-decreasing iii) there is strong evidence of state-dependence, especially for price increases.Sticky prices ; Heterogeneity ; Hazard function ; Duration models.

Numerical studies of planar closed random walks

Lattice numerical simulations for planar closed random walks and their winding sectors are presented. The frontiers of the random walks and of their winding sectors have a Hausdorff dimension $d_H=4/3$. However, when properly defined by taking into account the inner 0-winding sectors, the frontiers of the random walks have a Hausdorff dimension $d_H\approx 1.77$.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figure

Towards a Numerical Benchmark for 3D Low Mach Number Mixed Flows in a Rectangular Channel Heated from Below

In the literature, only few references have dealt with mixed-convection flows in the low Mach number approximation. For this reason, in the present study we propose to extend the standard 3D benchmark for mixed convection in a rectangular channel heated from below (Medale and Nicolas, 2005) to the case of large temperature variations (for which the Boussinesq approximation is no longer valid). The Navier-Stokes equations, obtained under the assumption of a low Mach number flow, are solved using a finite volume method. The results, corresponding to the steady-state case of the benchmark, lead to the idea of launching a call for contribution (whose outlines still need to be defined) in order to set up a reference solution essential for the validation of future numerical codes

Réformes structurelles sur le marché du travail : quels enseignements peut-on tirer des études existantes ?

In general, empirical studies having evaluated with firm individual data the effects of structural labour market reforms in European countries do not reach unambiguous conclusions. In particular, they find that reforms increasing incentives to lower the number of temporary labour contracts do not induce firms to change their long-term labour demand level. Thus, such reforms are not sufficient by themselves to reduce the unemployment rate and to stimulate production and productivity. Fiscal incentives offering income tax credits to households in which a person who was previously not employed find a job, tend to increase labour supply. However, their effectiveness is often limited by the disincentive effects of other transfer policies. In general, structural labour markets reforms cannot succeed when their potential effects are neutralized by inappropriate wage increases. It is thus important to examine the institutional context which determines the wage bargaining process. Several contributions show that, on one side, a higher coordination in the bargaining process could increase labour market flexibility and reduce labour cost, while, on the other side, an excessive decentralisation of the bargaining process could increase the variance of labour contracts. Thus determining the bargaining level which maximizes the efficiency of monetary policy is a crucial issue for any central bank.Labour market ; Structural reforms ; Wage bargaining ; Coordination ; Decentralisation ; Monetary policy.

Les méthodes micro-économétriques d’évaluation.

Our survey covers the recent developments of the microeconometric literature on evaluation methods. In this field, the canonical model is Rubin's causal model, which is close to Roy's selectivity model. This model is the relevant framework for defining and for examining the identifiability conditions of the parameters of interest in any evaluation study. We insist on the definition of these parameters, which include the average effect of the treatment on the treated and on the non-treated individuals. For each set of assumptions (selectivity on observable or unobservable characteristics, conditional independence between outcomes and treatment indicators, etc.), we present the most adapted estimation method. We put a special emphasis on matching estimators in the situation where the selectivity depends only on observables, and on differences-in-differences methods and on regression-discontinuity techniques when the selectivity depends both on observable and unobservable characteristics.Evaluation ; Selectivity bias ; Matching estimators ; Differences-in-differences ; Regression-discontinuity.

Clinical and financial impacts of flexible intramedullary nailing in pediatric diaphyseal forearm fractures: A case-control study.

Flexible intramedullary nailing is regularly applied for pediatric displaced unstable forearm fractures. When compared to closed reduction and casting (orthopedic treatment), flexible intramedullary nailing decreases malalignment, shortens immobilization time, and should decrease follow-up controls. Comparing flexible intramedullary nailing and orthopedic treatment in the clinical, radiological, and financial managements of these fractures was performed. Retrospective 5 years study of pediatric cases in two pediatric orthopedic university departments. Treatment method, post-operative course, and radiological follow-up were reviewed. Number of radiographs, follow-up controls, type and duration of immobilization, final bone angulation, and reported complications were compared. Extensive financial analysis was completed. Of 73 girls and 168 boys included in the study, 150 were treated by flexible intramedullary nailing and 91 by orthopedic treatment. No difference was noted with regard to total number of radiographs (7.3 vs 7.2, respectively). Total number of follow-ups was 6.4 and 5.5, respectively. Malalignment occurred in two flexible intramedullary nailing and sixteen orthopedic treatments. The least expensive cost was ambulatory orthopedic treatment. Flexible intramedullary nailing treated children had similar numbers of radiographs or follow-up consultation, but less malunion when compared to orthopedic treatment. Orthopedic management was systematically cheaper than flexible intramedullary nailing. Unless post-operative management guidelines decreasing the number of radiographs and follow-ups are implemented, flexible intramedullary nailing will remain a costly procedure when compared to conventional orthopedic treatment. level III case-control retrospective study

Synthesising Corporate Responsibility on Organisational and Societal Levels of Analysis: An Integrative Perspective

This article develops an integrative perspective on corporate responsibility by synthesising competing perspectives on the responsibility of the corporation at the organisational and societal levels of analysis. We review three major corporate responsibility perspectives, which we refer to as economic, critical, and politico-ethical. We analyse the major potential uses and pitfalls of the perspectives, and integrate the debate on these two levels. Our synthesis concludes that when a society has a robust division of moral labour in place, the responsibility of a corporation may be economic (as suggested under the economic perspective) without jeopardising democracy and sustainability (as reported under the critical perspective). Moreover, the economic role of corporations neither signifies the absence of deliberative democratic mechanisms nor business practices extending beyond compliance (as called for under the politico-ethical perspective). The study underscores the value of integrating different perspectives and multiple levels of analysis to present comprehensive descriptions and prescriptions of the responsibility phenomenon