December 2020
This edition offers five synthesis of Paris School of Economics APE and PPD masters students’ dissertations (academic year 2019-2020). The PSE thanks the students for their participation, their master’s thesis supervisors for their inputs and the masters’ directors Bernard Caillaud, Jean-Philippe Tropeano, Marc Gurgand and Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann for their collaboration.
What are the patterns of inequality in exposure to air pollution in France?
Pascale Champalaune (APE Master)
Recent Public Health studies concluded that deprived neighbourhoods seem more exposed to air pollution in Marseille or Strasbourg, while the relationship appears to be reversed in Paris. In Lyon, middle-class neighbourhoods seem more polluted than others. Yet, little is known about inequality in exposure to air pollution at the national level, and the economic literature has remained fairly silent regarding the impact that local environmental policies may have on these disparities…
- Short link to this article: https://bit.ly/2WhPPuc
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Effects of the development of the railways: what the Freycinet plan teaches us
Olivier Lenoir (PPD Master)
In a period of debate about the ecological transition, and a growing desire for accessible, mass mobility, trains are the object of serious attention among leaders and citizens. In 2020, the long-abandoned small railway lines of France are generating new interest. The history of the French railways, which began in 1827, is a rich one. It began with the development of a complex, private system with, on the one hand, a large network of “general interest” lines, run by the great railway companies…
- Short link to this article: https://bit.ly/3gM0RS3
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Public consultations: who speaks out, who doesn’t? The role of interpersonal trust
Clément Herman (APE Master)
The great public consultations on pension reform, on road safety, the Etats généraux de l’alimentation (Estates General on Food): mechanisms for consulting citizens have multiplied in recent years, especially online, in France as well as elsewhere in the world. Driven by an ambition to involve citizens more closely in public decision making, they tend nevertheless to have a limited audience. So, which citizens choose, despite everything, to become involved in such moves?...
- Short link to this article: https://bit.ly/3nl9uFn
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(Not So) Affirmative Action: Evidence from Malawi
Ucindami Mafeni (PPD Master)
Due to pre-existing factors, such as racial segregation in the US or the Caste System in India, certain individuals belonging to one group of people may be more likely to qualify for and attain higher education than individual from other groups. This could lead to further perpetuate educational and societal inequalities between these groups in the long-run. Affirmative Action, AA henceforth, in education policy refers to policies which favour minorities or disadvantaged groups in order to address…
- Short link to this article: https://bit.ly/2K8Zfpn
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How do subjective perceptions and accuracy of beliefs shape adaptation to climate change? Evidence from Bangladesh
Guglielmo Zappalà (APE Master)
Climate change represents one of the most important sources of risk for current and future generations at the global level. In particular, the projected changes in climate are a tangible threat to rural households and farmers, whose income considerably depends on agricultural activities and natural resources. These disruptive effects have laid the groundwork for a better understanding of potential adaptation strategies in developing countries, where vulnerability is presumably higher…
- Short link to this article: https://bit.ly/3agziin
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