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Economical dimensions of the environment
Economic and environmental changes are closely linked. Industrial development, while contributing to improving well-being, has altered ecosystems. Natural resources are being exhausted or damaged, and numerous sources of pollution are limiting access to essential services, especially among the populations of the poorest countries. New modes of economic organization are now needed to better integrate environmental issues and to ensure a more sustainable development. The Institute seeks an improved understanding of the systems of management that take into account environmental parameters in their actions, with a more specific focus on essential services.
Studies launched by the Institute
Economic, social and cultural approach of environmental needs in China.
Partners: Lu Zhongyuan, Director, Macroeconomic Department, Development Research Centre (DRC); Guo Xingwang, Director, Assets Management Office, Deputy Director, General Office, Development Research Centre (DRC), Beijing, China.
Period of study: 2004-2007
Confronted with rapid economic expansion and increasing urbanisation, China must meet the challenge of damage to its environment (water, air, soil pollution...) and a strong growth in demand for essential services (water, waste, energy...). Analysing environmental needs in ten large Chinese cities and their expansion in the medium and long term is essential to the understanding of these fundamental challenges.
An integrated approach to economic and social contestability in business: the problems facing a scrap metal recycling firm
Partners: Olivier Godard, Director of Research, CNRS, and Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique; Ignace Adant, Research Associate, Econometrics laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique
Period of study: 2002-2006
On the basis of benchmark cases, this research work attempts to define:
- conditions under which companies are exposed to the threat of economic and/or social protest
- conditions under which social protest can translate into economic protest or influences models of economic relations
the hedging strategies to implement in the face of emerging protest and the characteristics of the expertise systems required to better manage situations of established social protest
Protection of critical infrastructures and financing of catastrophic risks
Partners: Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Researcher at the Wharton School of Finance (Center for Risk Management) and at the Ecole Polytechnique (Econometrics Laboratory, Paris, France)
This report analyzes the issue of catastrophic risk financial coverage in a situation of uncertainty, and how such risks inhibit the development of insurance and reinsurance markets. The analysis focuses on the risk of terrorism which is now known to be an patent threat, compounded by the difficulty of assessing the probability of occurrence which drastically limits the use of traditional insurance models.
Social and economic benefits of delegated management
Partners: David Martimort, Researcher, Institute for Industrial Economics (IDEI) and Professor of Economics, Toulouse I University, France; Patrick Rey, Researcher, Professor of Economic Sciences, Toulouse I University, France.
Period of study: 2002-2004
Delegated management as practised in France has essentially been studied from the legal perspective, particularly regarding relations between regulators and those exercising delegated powers. Up to now, it has not been approached from the point of view of economic theories. The IDEI team is developing a new model which explains delegated management according to conventional economics so as to show the social usefulness of this form of management.
