The Laboratory in Quantitative Economics and Theory of Choice is an Associated European Laboratory of the French CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and the Belgian FNRS (Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique) which proposes for the years 1998 - 2001, a research programme based on a collaboration between the GREQAM (Groupement de Recherche en Economie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille, UMR 6579 CNRS, EHESS and the Universités d'Aix-Marseille II and III) and the CORE (Center for Operations Research and Econometrics, Université catholique de Louvain). The participation of 3 centers in Barcelona has been initiated (Institut d'Analisi Economica, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and CODE at Universitat Pompeu Fabra). An extension of the convention has been signed.

Director : C. d'Aspremont (CORE)

Co-Directors : L. Bauwens (CORE) and A. Soubeyran (GREQAM)

Administrators : I. Mauduech (GREQAM) and S. Weyers (CORE)

STEERING COMMITTEE:

P. Neary (University College Dublin), C. Henry (Laboratoire d'Econométrie de l'Ecole Polytechnique), F. Palm (Maastricht Universiteit) have been invited to sit on the steering committee as external members. Other members of the committee are: P. Djondang (Université d'Aix-Marseille III), A. Masson (Delta, EHESS-CNRS), J.P. Moatti (Université de la Méditrranée Aix Marseille II, INSERM) and R. Topol (CNRS).

FIELDS OF RESEARCH

1. The strategic foundations of industrial organization

Market power and informational constraints are taken into consideration in game theoretic models to provide an analysis of multiple markets, from internal markets in large organisations to markets that regulate resource allocation among agents and organisations. A general theory of imperfect competition is now on the agenda, with applications to competition policy in various fields such as international economic relations or R&D.

2. Choices under uncertainty, game theory and their applications

Choice and uncertainty, the role of beliefs and expectations have played a key role in the development of various approaches of the principle of rationality in individual and collective decision making. One encounters those more immediately in the analysis of insurance contracts or the role of imperfections in financial markets, but also in public economics. It is suggested to give priority to the analysis of new models, the so-called "non linear" models, in decision making under uncertainty and to pursue an exploration of the epistemic dimension of the analysis of games under incomplete information.

3. Normative economics and the foundations of public policy

The foundations of normative economics, including its philosophical dimension, as well as the development of new instruments in economic policy, have been for a long time a common concern among researchers at CORE and at GREQAM. Collaboration about questions of the economic analysis of environmental problems is also a major concern.

For the production of public goods or the organisation of public services, various people see private information necessary to define and implement collective decision making. The idea of collective efficiency - traditionally associated with Pareto optimality - must be reviewed in that light. Also one cannot avoid considering the distributional consequences of public actions. Links have to be constructed between normative principles and the conditions to implement them : what is a just decision? how will the agents concerned react?

Theoretical or applied econometrics, in a classical or bayesian context have already resulted in several collaborations between CORE and GREQAM. The work entailed is often composed of statistical elements, completed recently by data simulation. The Laboratoire Européen Associé will help to promote new projects, in relation with market analysis or public economics. Issues on the evaluation of public policy are also part of this field.

ACTIVITIES

Among the different activities, long and short-term visits (up to three months) of researchers are programmed.

PERMANENT ACTIVITIES

A Spring School in Industrial Economics takes place every year at the end of May in Aix-en-Provence, combining presentations by senior researchers as well as by young researchers.

Another activity consists in bringing together, during one day and a half, directors of firms, researchers, and students focusing on a specific topic. The objective of these activities is to further enhance the development and diffusion of scientific work and human capital and help in promoting the recruitment of PhD's by industry. Already accomplished in other disciplines, this task has yet to be completed in the social sciences. It must come together with better interfaces within the industrial field.

WORKING PAPERS

Works conducted in the Laboratory will be distributed as working papers in the CORE and GREQAM series under the label "LEA Economie quantitative et théorie des choix - CNRS/FNRS - GREQAM/CORE"

PROGRAMMES

Different programmes are promoted for the coming years, mostly inspired by questions on the consequences of economic integration in the European Union and the redefinition of public policy which goes with it. A few other programmes are purely theoretical :

The future of the welfare state in Europe
The development of an economic landscape in Europe
Issues on transnational pollution
Political economy and market structures
Economics of research
Mechanism design
Networks
Coalition formation
Measurement of inequality - foundation and estimation
Bootstrap methods in econometrics
Auctions

CONTACT

GREQAM
Isabelle Mauduec
Tel. (33 4) 91 14 07 32
E-mail: mauduech@ehess.cnrs-mrs.fr

CORE
Sheila Weyers
Tel. (32 10) 47 43 38
E-mail: weyers@core.ucl.ac.be