Public Outreach

Mostly unknown outside academic circles, the social discount rate (SDR) is vital for understanding the value of infrastructure investments far into the future. But if that’s especially relevant in a world threatened by climate change, governments and economists have long argued exactly what discount rate to use, or if a fixed rate is even necessary. Economists Christian Gollier, Frederick van der Ploeg and Jiakun Zheng recently developed a major survey to gauge opinion on the SDR across their profession. Between the theoretical importance of project-specific discount rates, and a reluctance to tweak rates in practice, their findings are worth exploring – especially once you consider the need to expand the debate beyond economics.

Can mining influence the way in which we identify ourselves? According to economists Nicolas Berman, Mathieu Couttenier and Victoire Girard, mining in Africa may intensify feelings of ethnic belonging, by generating feelings of deprivation among the local population. Mining could therefore help explain ethnic fragmentation and certain conflicts observed in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Consensus conferences, citizens' assemblies, neighbourhood councils, etc. Since the 1980s, deliberation has emerged as a response to the crisis of democracy. But how do you measure its value and impact? For the first time, a team of researchers has studied the role of the tools used to gather participants' opinions.

At a time when "carbon neutrality" is the central theme of international climate conferences, a team of economists is studying ways that could make this goal a reality.

In Europe, the pay gap between men and women has halved since the end of the 1990s. However, over the last few years this trend has not continued. A team of researchers in economics has shown that pay differences between companies largely explain these inequalities.

Using a novel approach applied to the populations of France, the United Kingdom and the United States, economists explore inequalities in Body Mass Index and highlight a disparity between men and women.

Large American cities are experiencing labor market polarization, characterized by a simultaneous increase in the employment share of both high-skilled and low-skilled jobs. Economists Fabio Cerina, Elisa Dienesch, Alessio Moro, and Michelle Rendal propose that this phenomenon can be attributed to technology shocks that enhance the productivity of highly skilled workers. As these skilled workers increase their participation in the labor market, they also intensify their consumption of personal services, thus generating greater demand for low-skilled jobs.

In China, parents play a major role in finding a spouse for their children. Economists have studied parental preferences and how they match the wishes of their offspring.

In the 1950s, West Africa was on the eve of decolonisation. In a last gasp of imperialism, the French and British opened up public services and developed mass education. Over the same period, polygamy declined throughout the region. Economic researchers are asking whether there is a link between the level of education and this marital status.

Using data from French health centers from 2015 to 2016, years marked by terrorist attacks, a team of researchers found that depressive symptoms decreased as events unfolded.