This article aims at analysing simultaneously three potential determinants of local tax setting by the French departments: the tax rate choices by the neighbouring departments, demographic and economic local features, and some political determinants, especially the degree of political...

New economic geography maintains the relevance of core ?' periphery models and considers regional inequalities as necessary for sustaining growth and, in given circumstances, welfare. However, this basic proposal can be reversed. Local development is always possible, whatever the initial...

International relocation has become a topical issue in recent months, in France as in Europe. The debate is not new, but while it was focusing 12 years ago on traditional industries and trade with emerging Asia, it includes now higher value-added goods and trade with CEEC?'s. The article deals...

The objective of this article is to collect the conclusions of the studies concerning the optimal behavior of central banks towards asset prices. At first, the analysis leads to discuss the numerous uncertainties that monetary authorities should face in case of an integration of an asset price...

According to the standard perspective, relocation does not create any problem when full competition prevails in product, labour, and capital markets. Changes costs generate changes in location by firms in manufacturing industry at the benefit of less developed countries. In more developed...

Predicting exchange rates remains a tricky issue for economists. In spite of a theoretical consistent framework, macroeconomic models fail to beat random walk models and market expectations have not predictive power. The article addresses some problems of exchange rate macroeconomic modelling....

This contribution intends to discuss the economic importance of science parks and their influence on spatial attractiveness. It provides a discussion about the structuring of science parks in France, insists on the underlying structural diversity of French ??technopoles?', and argues for a...

This article presents recent results regarding the econometric approach to economic forecasting. We aim to establish here what constitutes a "good" forecast. A forecast taxonomy helps understand how to obtain forecasts that prove robust to the most detrimental source of error: structural breaks...

This article studies if the recent de jure conversion of most emergent countries to exchange rate floating is verified de facto. The analysis of exchange rate evolutions of a group of emergent countries reveals that, in spite of official declarations, exchange rate management remains the norm....

This study deals with the four questions on economical opinions asked in the last European Values Survey (1999). Economical liberalism appears to be a little bit more widespread than interventionism in the EU. With some exceptions, it is more frequent in Northern than Southern Europe or in...