Liliane Bonnal

School-to-work transition: apprenticeship versus vocational school in France

There has recently been a strong drive to develop apprenticeship in France, as one means of decreasing youth unemployment. Our aim in this paper is to try to measure the “pure” within‐firm training effect on school‐to‐work transition. We address the problem of the transition to the first job, using a model of simultaneous maximum likelihood estimation of several probabilities and of the parameters of the probability density function linked to the exit from unemployment. We conclude that apprentices have a distinct advantage over those who attended vocational school. This effect is stronger when we correct for the negative selection bias associated with the choice of apprenticeship.

Competitive balance versus competitive intensity before a match: is one of these two concepts more relevant in explaining attendance? The case of the French football Ligue 1 over the period 2008--2011

The aim of this article is to investigate the determinants of attendance at French football Ligue 1 matches over the period 2008–2011 with an emphasis on examining the effects of both competitive balance and intensity before a match. Competitive balance is measured by the point difference between the two teams concerned by a match in the championship. Competitive intensity is measured by the point difference for the home team in relation to ranks with sporting stakes. Results show that competitive balance has an insignificant impact whereas competitive intensity has a significantly positive impact. Implications are drawn.

Does student employment really impact academic achievement? The case of France

Student employment is usually thought to curb academic achievement. Our research relating to a survey at a French university in 2012 emphasizes the significance of the intensity of student working hours. Allowance for the endogeneity of student employment reinforces the negative effects, particularly for young people working more than 16 hours a week. However, the academic achievement of those working fewer than 8 hours per week seems unaffected. The type of employment also affects the chances of success: students with public sector jobs appear to be less prone to failure, possibly because of more flexible working hours.

Determinants of Access to Academic Careers in France

The recruitment of young PhD graduates in the academic sector is associated with great uncertainty regarding their potential teaching and research productivity. Thus, in order to recruit the best PhD graduates for permanent positions, employers (universities or research institutions in France) select according to signals sent by the applicants in their curriculum vitae: publications, post-doc position, host research institution, etc. In our paper, we analyse the factors affecting the access duration to a permanent job in three academic fields in France, using a sample of PhDs graduated in 2001. A discrete-time model, controlling for post-doc participation, is used to analyse the main factors influencing access duration. Our main results indicate that post-doc appointments have a positive influence on the access duration to a permanent job in chemistry and life sciences and, to a lesser extent, in mathematics, physics and in the applied sciences, which is coherent with the idea that potential employers use this information as a proxy for research and teaching abilities.

Professional Sports Firm Values: Bringing New Determinants to the Foreground? A Study of European Soccer, 2005-2013

Since 2004, Forbes has proposed a list of the most valuable soccer clubs. One year later, Transfermarkt began to estimate European soccer players’ value. This article estimate the determinants of firm values in European soccer over the period 2005-2013 incorporating player valuations, clubs’ operating income, and new ownership, three variables not included previously. The results of this study demonstrate that these variables are significant factors in club valuations. More generally, club assets including stadium age, club ownership type, supporter numbers and income, and past sports performances all have a significant impact.

Repetition: Medicine for a Short-run Remission

This paper estimates the treatment effect of grade repetition on subsequent schooling performances in France. We correct for potential selection issues associated with grade retention, using a multi-stage econometric model. We find that early grade repetition (Grade 1 or 2) leads to an increase in test scores in the very short-run (in grade 3) but this positive effect is only transitory, as it becomes negative 3 or 4 years after the retention (in grade 6).

Nonexpected discrimination: the case of social housing in France

This research is a study of the differences in duration of waiting time between European and non-European households to obtain social housing, drawing on the housing survey carried out by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE, Paris, 2006). The idea here is to bring to light eventual discrimination against non-European households. We show that these households, all else held constant, spend more time on the waiting lists. Appropriate decomposition techniques enable us to demonstrate that a nonnegligible portion of this gap could well be due to discrimination.

Do all sporting prizes have a significant positive impact on attendance in a European national football league? Competitive intensity in the French Ligue 1

Research question: This article investigates the determinants of attendance at French football Ligue 1 matches over the 2008-2011 period, with a focus on the effect of competitive intensity. This is measured by dummies that are functions of the point difference for the home team in relation to the different sporting prizes: title, qualification in UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) club competitions, relegation. The objective is to answer the following question: do all sporting prizes have a significant positive impact on attendance? Research methods: We specified and estimated a standard attendance equation including 35 explanatory variables of which 9 are related to sporting prizes. The estimations are based on a Tobit model with individual cut-off points to allow for truncation of attendance at the upper bound given by stadia capacity (i.e. sold-out games). 1135 observations are included. Results and findings: Our results show that all sporting prizes have a significant positive impact on attendance. In particular, there is a significant impact of prizes for potential qualification in the UEFA Europa League which are dependent on the outcome of domestic cups (known only in the last part of season). Implications: This research contributes to the optimisation of competition format and knowledge on competitive intensity and determinants of attendance. It provides an argument in favour of current sporting prizes for managers in the main European national football leagues.

The easiest way to estimate the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition

This article studies the relation between the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition and the estimated coefficient of a dummy variable for a linear regression. We calculate the unexplained part of the decomposition from the estimated coefficient of the dummy variable. More precisely, if the exogenous variables are uncorrelated to the dummy variable, the estimated coefficient and its variance give directly the value and the variance of the unexplained part of the decomposition. If the independent variables are correlated a simple relation is obtained. Moreover, we show that the significance of the unexplained part can be deduced from the significance of the estimated coefficient of the dummy variable.

Les déterminants de la durée d'accès à un logement social

The aim of this paper is to highlight the individual characteristics that affect the duration of obtaining housing. The data used are from the housing survey carried out by Insee (Paris, 2006). The results show that family and social criteria are not the only criteria used by social landlords in the allocation of housing. In particular, rent to the households with low incomes and/or non-European households do not seem to be a priority. Codes JEL : H31, D12, R20.