Universal service obligations are usually not competitively neutral as they modify the wayfirms compete in the market. In this paper, we consider a continuum of local markets in a dynamic setting with a stochastically growing demand. The incumbent must serve all markets (ubiquity) possibly at a...

This paper endogenizes the extent of intra-sectoral competition in a multi-sectoral general-equilibrium model of oligopoly and trade. Firms choose capacity followed by prices. If the benefits of capacity investment in a given sector are below a threshold level, the sector exhibits Bertrand...

In this paper we study estimation of DSGE models. More specifically, in the indirect inference framework, we analyze how critical is the choice of the reduced form model for estimation purposes. As it turns out, simple VAR parameters performs better than commonly used impulse response functions....

This paper analyzes the impact of informal care by adult children on the use of long-term care among the elderly in Europe and the effect of the level of the parent’s disability on this relationship. We focus on two types of formal home care that are the most likely to interact with informal...

In the French urban public transport industry, services are often delegated to a private firm by the mean of a fixed-term regulatory contract. This contract specifies the duties of the firm and a financial compensation. When it expires, a new contract is awarded, possibly to a different...

This paper investigates the role of basic pensions in alleviating poverty in sub- Saharan Africa. Using the most recent Senegalese household income-expenditure data survey, we construct scenarios of universal and means-tested basic pension schemes with different generosity levels. Simulations...

The imposition of universal coverage and uniform pricing constraints, as part of the universal service obligations, makes the universal service provider less aggressive in the price game when it competes with a rm that does not cover the whole set of markets (Valletti et al., 2002). In this...

In this paper we are interested in the organization of long-term care within a given population. Three care financers are identified: the family, the government and the care receiver who can buy a dependency insurance. Our interest lies in the effect of governmental intervention on the...

Les différentes vagues de l’enquête internationale PISA de l’OCDE sur les connaissances et les compétences des jeunes de 15 ans montrent de nettes différences de performance entre la Flandre et la Belgique francophone. La Flandre et la Communauté française ont en commun une forte...

In this paper we use data on five social inclusion indicators (poverty, inequality, unemployment, education and health) to assess and compare the performance of 15 European welfare states (EU15) over a twelve-year period from 1995 to 2006. Aggregate measures of performance are obtained using...