KRAMARZ Francis

This thesis is in the fields of international economics and labor economics, and focuses on firm growth. Firm dynamics play a key role in determining aggregate outcomes. Understanding how firms grow is therefore critical to understanding economic growth, innovation, and the functioning of the labor market. Frictions, both in the goods market and in the labor market, are one of the factors slowing down the growth of firms. On the one hand, informational and contractual frictions between sellers and buyers prevent firms from acquiring new buyers. On the other hand, labor market frictions, by increasing the costs of hiring and firing workers, limit the efficient reallocation of workers across firms, which slows the growth of firms in domestic and foreign markets. This thesis analyzes the impact of these two types of frictions on firm growth and survival.The first chapter identifies the causal impact of poaching salespeople from rival firms on a firm's ability to grow its international customer portfolio. The final two chapters focus on the effect of labor market frictions, and specifically the effect of labor market policies, on firm growth and survival. The second chapter describes judicial bias in labor courts and how it can affect the growth prospects of sued firms. The third chapter deals with industry agreements and highlights a mechanism by which large firms can use industry bargaining as an anticompetitive device.

"Even if they are sometimes very close to dynamic regions, some territories suffer from high unemployment rates and are unable to modernize their productive system. How can such spatial fragmentation be explained? Economic analysis shows, on the one hand, that households are strongly attached to their place of residence and not very aware of economic opportunities elsewhere. On the other hand, companies have difficulty recruiting when they invest in neglected areas. Many initiatives are taken by local and national public actors to try to bring workers and jobs together. However, whether it is a matter of making territories more attractive or of helping households to move home, it is clear that these policies are often not very effective. And if, in the face of this overall negative assessment, the solution consisted in acting on the real estate supply".

No summary available.

This thesis studies the meeting and matching between French firms and their buyers on international markets. Building a portfolio of foreign buyers is a crucial component of exporters' growth: sales to new buyers explain nearly 50% of the differences in export growth rates between French firms in the medium term. However, in international markets, geographical distance, cultural and institutional differences exacerbate the difficulties that firms have in finding potential buyers, Rauch (2001), Allen (2014) and Arkolakis (2010). This thesis studies and quantifies the effect of informational barriers and financial constraints that firms face when canvassing foreign buyers.This thesis relies on exhaustive data detailing all French intra-community exports over the last twenty years. In particular, for each transaction, the exporting French firm, the product and the amount of the transaction as well as the buyer by its intra-Community VAT number are identified.The first chapter examines how search frictions in international goods markets can distort competition between firms with heterogeneous productivity. The second chapter examines the role of liquidity constraints in building a customer base abroad. The final chapter examines the importance of managers' networks and contacts in the expansion of firms' exports.

My thesis studies how the design of unemployment insurance can affect the behavior of job seekers and employers. In my first thesis chapter, we evaluate the impact of taxing very short-term contracts. Unédic introduced an increase in employer contributions to unemployment insurance in 2013. In order to limit insecurity and segmentation in the labor market, several European countries have also decided to tax fixed-term contracts. In order to analyze this problem, we have developed a model explaining the employer's choice between fixed-term and open-ended contracts, as well as the duration of fixed-term contracts. The structural estimation of the model then allows us to study the effects of taxing contracts shorter than 30 days. We find two opposing effects. On the one hand, employers prefer to create 30-day contracts rather than contracts just under 30 days. On the other hand, the tax reduces the duration of all contracts further away from the 30-day threshold. This latter phenomenon has a significant impact on the average duration of contracts, as very short contracts are created in large numbers. In particular, our results show that taxing short contracts increases unemployment and reduces the welfare of the unemployed. In the second chapter, I study the design of the regime for intermittent workers in the entertainment industry. In particular, I measure the effect of the eligibility threshold on the labor supply of intermittents. Between 2003 and 2016, intermittents had to work 507 hours over the last 10 months to be eligible for unemployment benefits. This 507-hour threshold induces strategic behavior that can be costly for unemployment insurance. For intermittent workers just below 507 hours, a slight increase in the number of hours worked implies a 60% increase in their income from unemployment benefits. I show that individuals optimize by positioning themselves just above the threshold creating an observable jump in the distribution studied and a hole below the threshold. I develop a frictionless model a la Kleven and Waseem (2013). I find a structural elasticity between 0.26 and 0.28. Finally, I determine the impact of this strategic behavior on the unemployment insurance deficit. The induced cost is non-negligible since it represents 27% of the annual deficit. In the third chapter, I examine whether individuals understand the link between the social contributions they pay and their future benefits. If individuals understand this link, social contributions will be less of a tax, thus limiting their disincentive effects on labor supply. To analyze this problem, I explore the discontinuity created by the reference period in the eligibility rules for unemployment insurance. Intuitively, when an individual registers for unemployment insurance, only the hours included in the reference period will be used to determine his or her right to compensation. If individuals are aware of the contribution-allowance link, they have a strong incentive to work more hours during the reference period. To illustrate this point, I study the behavior of intermittent workers in the entertainment industry. Since 2016, intermittents have had to work 507 hours over a reference period of the last 12 months to be eligible for unemployment benefits. This rule implies that one year after they enter the labor market, the reference period will shift excluding some hours of work in the calculation of eligibility. I show that in order to avoid this, a large number of intermittent workers reach the 507 hours required for eligibility one year after entering the labor market, creating an observable jump in the distribution studied. I develop a dynamic frictionless model explaining the choice of the date of eligibility for unemployment insurance and find a structural elasticity of 0.52.

Short-time work programs were revived by the Great Recession. To understand their operating mechanisms, we first provide a model showing that short-time work may save jobs in firms hit by strong negative revenue shocks, but not in less severely-hit firms, where hours worked are reduced, without saving jobs. The cost of saving jobs is low because short-time work targets those at risk of being destroyed. Using extremely detailed data on the administration of the program covering the universe of French establishments, we devise a causal identification strategy based on the geography of the program that demonstrates that short-time work saved jobs in firms faced with large drops in their revenues during the Great Recession, in particular when highly levered, but only in these firms. The measured cost per saved job is shown to be very low relative to that of other employment policies.

No summary available.

No summary available.

The first chapter reviews the literature on partial activity and introduces the three research questions developed in this thesis, namely the local diffusion of the use of partial activity in France over the period 2003-2014, the effect of partial activity on employment in France during the Great Recession of 2008-2009, and the effect of the 2012-2013 reforms of partial activity and the recurrent use of this device on aggregate output in France. In the second chapter, we highlight the local diffusion of the use of partial activity in France over the period 2003-2014. To do so, we evaluate the effect of the geographical proximity of establishments that have already resorted to partial activity in the past on the use of partial activity by an establishment for the first time over the period 2003-2014. Indeed, we argue that the information available to establishments about the scheme and its procedure, particularly through neighboring establishments, is a key determinant of partial activity use. Our stylized facts reveal that the use of partial activity is geographically concentrated and that this concentration has a dynamic character. We use a spatial concentration index (based on inter-establishment distances) as a measure of the local diffusion of partial activity information and take into account the other characteristics of establishments in order to distinguish the effect of this transmission of information from other determinants of the use of the system and thus highlight its impact on the use of partial activity by an establishment for the first time. Our results show the importance of the local diffusion of information on partial activity, that this diffusion decreases in the first few kilometers and that this information is transmitted both within a given sector and between sectors.In the third chapter, we evaluate the effect of partial activity on employment in France during the Great Recession of 2008-2009. We develop a theoretical model according to which the effect of partial activity varies according to the financial situation of firms. For firms facing a strong decrease in turnover, partial activity allows to safeguard employment, while for firms with a moderate decrease in turnover, partial activity leads to a decrease in hours worked without preserving employment. These contrasting theoretical effects are confirmed by our empirical results, which show that partial activity reduced the number of jobs destroyed only in the case of a significant reduction in turnover, but had no significant effect on employment for the other firms, which account for around 40% of partial activity users. These windfall effects, although considerable in relation to the partial activity scheme, remain negligible compared to other measures such as wage and hiring subsidies. Moreover, partial activity has not contributed to keeping alive companies in structural difficulties. Partial activity was therefore an effective means of safeguarding employment in France during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

No summary available.

In the first chapter, co-authored with Bruno Crépon, we study the impact of an experiment aimed at increasing the use of health care by unemployed youth in France. Young people in precarious situations are more likely to underinvest in their health, which can have short and long-term economic and social consequences. In this study, we examine two possible barriers: the cost of care, and misperception of need. Using a randomized experiment, we find that informing these youth individually about their needs as well as the health insurance system increases their investments, including doubling the likelihood of seeing a psychologist. Our results also suggest that such an intervention can promote entry into training. In order to distinguish between barriers related to the cost of care and barriers related to a misperception of needs, we also test an intervention in which young people receive only information on the health insurance system. Unlike the combined intervention, this intervention does not increase the use of health care, highlighting the crucial role of subjective perceptions in health care decisions.In the second chapter, based on work with Marc Gurgand, Nina Guyon, and Marion Monnet, we evaluate a policy of referring children living in sensitive urban areas (ZUS) in France to facilities that address their difficulties. In the ZUS, some children tend to accumulate academic difficulties, health problems, socialization problems, and sometimes family problems. The policy studied consists of setting up individualized and multidimensional interventions for the children, involving their parents and their teacher. These interventions consist, for example, of enrolling the child in a sports club, carrying out a health check-up, and offering administrative assistance to parents, and rely on the resources available at the commune level. In order to identify a causal effect, we implement matching methods that we combine with a difference-in-differences estimator. We find that the program has no effect on children's behavior or cognitive skills, and a negative effect on socialization and school motivation. It does, however, reduce absenteeism. A comparison with other schemes suggests that early and more intensive interventions are needed to improve the situation of these disadvantaged children.In the third chapter, I examine the extent to which information policies designed to guide high school students in the transition to higher education increase the use of scholarships among disadvantaged students in Canada. The growing doubts about the ability of financial aid policies to reduce inequalities in access to higher education lead to questions about the conditions for their effectiveness. This study aims to better understand the informational barriers that students face. Based on a controlled experiment, I model the demand for scholarships as a function of the perceived utility of the university, which itself depends on the level of information of young people. I then use the model to simulate different information policies that are often implemented but rarely evaluated. Informing young people about the financial aid system is particularly effective. Meeting with a school counselor or taking a skills and guidance test also increases the use of aid. Simulations suggest that such schemes could equalize demand between advantaged and disadvantaged students.

No summary available.

The back cover states: "The essential function of the market is to 'tell the price' by matching supply and demand. In a market economy, price signals guide the allocation of resources. In Colbert's homeland, this conception clashes with the dominant ideology. In theory, prices were liberalized in 1987. In reality, "false prices" abound: the minimum wage, real estate boosted by housing allowances and tax breaks, while guaranteed savings rates maintain the illusion of risk-free returns. As for regulated energy prices. State interventionism has very negative consequences: massive unemployment among the unskilled, a housing crisis in the metropolises, the drying up of financing channels for innovation and the crushing cost of palliative policies. The French people judge its inability to find solutions severely. The State is in fact faced with a triple impasse. Strategic: it no longer controls the destiny of national champions. Financial: its dilapidated accounts prevent it from preparing the future. Intellectual: it does not perceive its powerlessness and its loss of sovereignty. Paradoxically, it is the use of market solutions that can cut this Gordian knot. The enlargement of the market place will improve collective well-being and reinforce the authority of the State. It will strengthen the state's role as guarantor of social cohesion and master of the national narrative, while giving it back some financial room for manoeuvre. The market is an efficient technique, but it has no vocation to constitute a project for society. This essay opens the debate by proposing an original reflection on the state/market couple, based on international academic work. The authors use the examples of work, housing and innovation to present economic solutions and a new vision of governance.

The essential function of the market is to "tell the price" by matching supply and demand. In a market economy, price signals guide the allocation of resources. In Colbert's homeland, this conception clashes with the dominant ideology. In theory, prices were liberalized in 1987. In reality, "false prices" abound: the minimum wage, real estate boosted by housing allowances and tax breaks, while guaranteed savings rates maintain the illusion of risk-free returns. As for regulated energy prices... State interventionism has very negative consequences: massive unemployment among the unskilled, a housing crisis in the metropolises, the drying up of financing channels for innovation and the crushing cost of palliative policies. The French people judge its inability to find solutions severely. The State is in fact faced with a triple impasse. Strategic: it no longer controls the destiny of national champions. Financial: its dilapidated accounts prevent it from preparing the future. Intellectual: it does not perceive its powerlessness and its loss of sovereignty. Paradoxically, it is the use of market solutions that can cut this Gordian knot. The enlargement of the market place will improve collective well-being and reinforce the authority of the State. It will strengthen the state's role as guarantor of social cohesion and master of the national narrative, while giving it back some financial room for manoeuvre. The market is an efficient technique, but it has no vocation to constitute a project for society. This essay opens the debate by proposing an original reflection on the state/market couple, based on international academic work. The authors use the examples of work, housing and innovation to present economic solutions and a new vision of governance... to resolutely break the deadlock.

Young people disengaged from both the world of work and the education system, now known as NEET (Not in employment, in education or training), represent more than 16.3 percent of 15-29 year-olds in France, and the average rate for Europe is 15.7 percent. Even if the structure of unemployment differs from one country to another, these figures are not only symptoms of deep economic difficulties, they also reveal the growing inoperability of education systems in the face of these difficulties . . Because unemployment affects young people with low levels of education and skills more than others, improving educational provision is the key to overcoming it. This book compares the performance of various education, training, and prevention programs for children, adolescents, and young adults in several European countries and the United States. In particular, it shows that measures to broaden and extend access to general education, as well as early childhood learning and prevention programs for disadvantaged families, are among the most effective in improving the entry and retention of young people in the labor market.

The objective of this thesis is to study the interdependence of school resources and individual resources in the production of human capital. Through three case studies on French data, different methods are proposed to analyze the effect of educational policies while taking into account the behavior of individuals. The first chapter shows that priority education policies are likely to lead families, especially the most socially advantaged, to bypass the schools treated. These avoidance strategies are likely to counterbalance the effects of the additional resources on student results. The second chapter seeks to determine whether students' choices of direction are constrained by the local school offer. We show that the opening of a new lycée increases the proportion of students who continue their studies in the second cycle, particularly in the vocational stream. Finally, the third chapter shows that students take into account the contemporary information they have about their grades when evaluating the pedagogical qualities of their teachers.

No summary available.

An overview of education and training strategies in OECD countries. The authors present a concrete assessment of the various policies applied from childhood to adulthood, aimed at curbing the phenomenon of long-term youth unemployment.

No summary available.

We test Shimer's (2005) theory of the sorting of workers between and within industrial sectors based on directed search with coordination frictions, deliberately maintaining its static general equilibrium framework. We fit the model to sector-specific wage, vacancy and output data, including publicly-available statistics that characterize the distribution of worker and employer wage heterogeneity across sectors. Our empirical method is general and can be applied to a broad class of assignment models. The results indicate that industries are the loci of sorting--more productive workers are employed in more productive industries. The evidence confirms that strong assortative matching can be present even when worker and employer components of wage heterogeneity are weakly correlated.This work received support from National Science Foundation Grants SES-9978093, SES-0339191 and ITR-0427889. National Institute on Aging Grant AG018854. and grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Abowd also acknowledges direct support from NSF Grants SES-0339191, CNS-0627680, SES-0922005, TC-1012593, SES-1131848, and NSF Grants SES-0339191, CNS-0627680, SES-0922005, TC-1012593, and SES-1131848.

I present a summary of virtually ten years of research using a simple point of view in which firms among other assets, use networks to perform a wealth of tasks: hiring, firing, buying from suppliers, governing the firm … Access to such networks is rarely included when financiers assess the value of a firm. This line of research suggests that they should.

Education production functions that feature school and student fixed effects are identified using students' school mobility. However, student mobility is driven by factors like parents' labour market shocks and divorce. Movers experience large achievement drops, are more often minority and free meal students, and sort endogenously into peer groups and school types. We exploit an English institutional feature whereby some students must change schools between grades 2 and 3. We find no evidence of endogenous sorting of such compulsory movers across peer groups or school types. Non-compulsory movers bias school quality estimates downward by as much as 20% of a SD.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the empirical links between social housing policy and location choices of immigrants in France. Design/methodology/approach – The study characterizes the main individual and contextual determinants of the probability of immigrants to live in a HLM (habitations à loyer modéré), which is the main public housing policy in France. The authors use individual information coming from large (one-fourth) extracts of the French population censuses conducted by INSEE (Paris) in 1982, 1990, and 1999. Findings – In general, migrants live more frequently in social housing than French natives, other observables being equal. In particular, this frequency is higher for migrants from Turkey, Morocco, Southeast Asia, Algeria, Tunisia and Sub-Saharan Africa (in decreasing order). Moreover, migrants of all origins live less often in a HLM when the city has plenty of social housing and when the fraction of natives is high. Research limitations/implications – The dataset can only measure statistical association between location choices of immigrants and the supply of social housing units at the local level, in the absence of panel data and instrumental variables. Interpretation in terms of causality is thus not permitted. Originality/value – The dataset used is especially valuable for studying location choices of immigrants, since it allows significant samples of immigrants, according to their country of origin, these groups being generally too small in (French) surveys.

This paper provides empirical evidence consistent with the facts that (1) social networks may strongly affect board composition and (2) social networks may be detrimental to corporate governance. Our empirical investigation relies on a unique dataset on executives and outside directors of corporations listed on the Paris stock exchange over the 1992-2003 period. This data source is a matched employer employee dataset providing both detailed information on directors/CEOs and information on the firm employing them. We first find a very strong and robust correlation between the CEO's network and that of his directors. Networks of former high ranking civil servants are the most active in shaping board composition. Our identification strategy takes into account (1) differences in unobserved directors' "abilities" and (2) the unobserved propensity of firms to hire directors from particular networks, irrespective of the CEO's identity. We then show that the governance of firms run by former civil servants is relatively worse on many dimensions. Former civil servants are less likely to leave their CEO job when their firm performs badly. Secondly, CEOs who are former bureaucrats are more likely to accumulate directorships, and the more they do, the less profitable is the firm they run. Thirdly, the value created by acquisitions made by former bureaucrats is lower. All in all, these firms are less profitable on average.

No summary available.

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the impact of Unemployment Insurance on individual trajectories using French administrative data. The first chapter studies the consequences of the 2003 reform on senior unemployment. The econometric analysis is based on a combined Discontinuity Regression and Difference-in-Differences approach. The results obtained show a significant reduction in unemployment durations following the adoption of the reform. The second chapter proposes an evaluation of the Reduced Activity scheme. This system allows the unemployed to cumulate part of their benefits with wages from temporary jobs. The estimation of a multivariate duration model makes it possible to isolate the causal effect of the system while taking into account the potential endogeneity of the duration of reduced activity and the attrition phenomenon. The impact on transitions to employment appears relatively modest. Nevertheless, the observed effect is more important for jobseekers experiencing difficulties in re-entering the labor market. Finally, the third chapter considers the link between the generosity of the benefit and the recurrence of unemployment spells. The main results indicate that past benefit generosity does not have a persistent effect on the duration of unemployment spells. This is essentially explained by individual heterogeneity and the conditions of compensation that individuals receive when they register as unemployed.

We examine strategic situations where players are confronted with a multiplicity of equilibria without agreement on which one will be played (strategic uncertainty). Coordination games are analyzed in this perspective. We show that simple rules are sometimes optimal, that the interpretation of the signal given by the past move (reference) is essential, that memory can be harmful.