SCHMUTZ Benoit

In this note we study the adaptation of French plastic waste exporters to a sudden drop in global demand for these products. For this we use the experience provided by China's decision to ban plastic waste imports in 2017. After the ban, there is a sharp increase in exports to other Asian countries, but this shift appears to be short-lived, unlike the shift to the EU. Furthermore, the changing structure of French exports suggests a form of polarization of plastic waste flows between destinations. In view of these results, we examine the possible impact of new regulations put in place by the EU, which aim to considerably reduce European exports of plastic waste.

In this note, we use China’s ban of plastic waste imports in 2017 as a natural experiment of a sudden drop in the world demand for plastic waste. We study how French exporters have adjusted, both in terms of quantities exported, destinations, and prices. After the ban, exports to other Asian countries increased sharply, but this redirection appears to be short-lived, unlike redirection towards other EU countries. In addition, there is suggestive evidence of a polarization of the quality of plastic waste exports between destinations. In light of our findings, we discuss the possible impact of new European regulations that will drastically reduce European exports of plastic waste.

Workers' propensity to migrate to another local labor market varies a lot by occupation. We use the model developed by Schmutz and Sidibé (2019) to quantify the impact of mobility costs and search frictions on this mobility gap. We estimate the model on a matched employer-employee panel dataset describing labor market transitions within and between the 30 largest French cities for two groups at both ends of the occupational spectrum and find that: (i) mobility costs are very comparable in the two groups, so they are three times higher for blue-collar workers relative to their respective expected income. (ii) Depending on employment status, spatial frictions are between 2 and 3 times higher for blue-collar workers. (iii) Moving subsidies have little (and possibly negative) impact on the mobility gap, contrary to policies targeting spatial frictions. (iv) Mobility-enhancing policies have almost no impact on the unemployment gap.

"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".

In 2016, the city of Paris decided to close a section of the "Georges-Pompidou" embankment road completely to car traffic. This note describes the effects of this decision on traffic conditions on the boulevard périphérique. The closure of the "voie sur berges" has increased the occupancy rate, the likelihood of congestion and travel times on the eastbound lanes, particularly for the southern ring road. Since the ring road approaches are more densely populated than the Seine approaches, it is possible that the net effect of this closure on the number of residents exposed to more polluted air was negative.

Workers' propensity to migrate to another local labor market varies a lot by occupation. We use the model developed by ? to quantify the impact of mobility costs and search frictions on this mobility gap. We estimate the model on a matched employer-employee panel dataset describing labor market transitions within and between the 30 largest French cities for two groups at both ends of the occupational spectrum and find that: (i) mobility costs are very comparable in the two groups, so they are three times higher for blue-collar workers relative to their respective expected income. (ii) Depending on employment status, spatial frictions are between 1.5 and 3.5 times higher for blue-collar workers. (iii) Moving subsidies have little (and possibly negative) impact on the mobility gap, contrary to policies targeting spatial frictions.

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This paper shows that urban geography matters to the effectiveness of place-based policies, using the French enterprise zone program as a case study. Whereas this program created more jobs in spatially integrated neighborhoods, its impact on local wages was only visible in the more isolated ones. In addition, a focus on the average impact of the program would lead to the conclusion that it mostly succeeded in displacing preexisting firms, but a lower level of spatial isolation was a clear determinant of the decision to create new firms from scratch.

Despite their great diversity, immigrants of African origin in France experience specific difficulties in accessing the labor and housing markets that make their study as a group relevant: a group with its own geography - a strong urban bias and over-representation in poor neighborhoods dominated by social housing . a group whose relative integration into the French labor market has deteriorated over the last few decades . a segregated group for which it is crucial to understand the interactions between the labor and housing markets. In this thesis, I develop several microeconomic models that shed light on some of the dysfunctions of the housing market in the face of a population of economically precarious consumers, subject to the possible prejudices of other market actors and of which nearly half are in fact taken care of by a public policy of social housing. The predictions resulting from these different models are then confronted with the situation of immigrants of African origin in France, observed over the period 1996-2006 through the National Housing Survey. The following results are established: the existence of discrimination against immigrants of African origin in the private rental market, which may explain part of their over-representation in the HLM stock; the existence of a spatial sorting of HLM tenants of African origin towards housing located in the poorest neighborhoods; and finally, the role of the housing market in explaining the increased unemployment affecting this population.

Despite their great diversity, immigrants of African origin in France experience specific difficulties in accessing the labor and housing markets that make their study as a group relevant: a group with its own geography - a strong urban bias and an overrepresentation in poor neighborhoods dominated by social housing . a group whose relative integration into the French labor market has rather deteriorated over the last decades . a segregated group for which it is crucial to understand the interactions between the labor and housing markets. In this thesis, I develop several microeconomic models that shed light on some of the dysfunctions of the housing market in the face of a population of economically precarious consumers, subject to the possible prejudices of other market actors and of which nearly half are in fact taken care of by a public policy of social housing. The predictions resulting from these different models are then confronted with the situation of immigrants of African origin in France, observed over the period 1996-2006 through the National Housing Survey. The following results are established: the existence of discrimination against immigrants of African origin in the private rental market, which may explain part of their overrepresentation in the HLM stock; the existence of a spatial sorting of HLM tenants of African origin towards housing located in the poorest neighborhoods; and finally, the role of the housing market in explaining the increased unemployment affecting this population.