Maya Bacache-Beauvallet

Outsourcing of public services in Europe and segmentation effects: The influence of labour market factors

This article examines the influence of labour market factors on public authorities’ decisions to outsource public services in five countries. The dominant focus in the outsourcing literature is on a narrow range of factors: public–private gaps in pay, union membership and collective bargaining coverage. We find such differences to be variable, and develop a more encompassing perspective. This includes consideration of labour market rules that establish wage floors and employment protection (especially for outsourced workers) and the possible differentiation of legal status between public and private employees. Our case studies from local government in five countries highlight a set of country-specific interconnections between labour market factors and outsourcing. These lead to variations in both managers’ and unions’ approaches towards outsourcing and in outcomes for pay and working conditions. We call for a strengthening of the inclusiveness of industrial relations structures to combat problems of workforce fragmentation caused by outsourcing.

How Incentives Increase Inequality

We determine the optimal level of bonuses in the case of Co-production between an agent and multiusers. There is Co-production when the outcome is the result of both the agents effort and the users effort and type. Paying bonuses to the agent encourages him to vary his effort according to the user he meets. This variety in the agents effort results in an increase in inequality. Hence, the optimal level of bonuses is muted when the principal cares about equality among users. This is typically the case in education or health. Copyright 2006 The Author; Journal compilation 2006 CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

Cheating and 360-Degree Contracts in the Recorded Music Industry

A new type of contractual arrangement in the music industry – the so-called “360-degree” or “equity” deal – allows a firm (e.g., a record label) to manage all of an artist’s activities, such as sales of recorded music, touring, merchandising, etc. Since these contracts internalize the positive externalities that exist between the recorded music market and the ancillary markets, it should be profit-enhancing for both record labels and artists to strike such deals. However, very few equity deals have been signed in the music market so far. In this paper we argue that artists who currently have a recording contract, or who have had one in the past, are reluctant to sign a 360-degree deal because they fear unfair behavior in income-sharing on the part of their record label. Using a representative survey of 710 professional musicians in France, we provide empirical evidence that past contractual experience with a record label does indeed reduce the incentives to sign a 360-degree deal. Moreover, the more artists perform on stage, the more reluctant they are towards 360-degree deals.

Économie politique des déficits publics

Comment interpreter la recente derive des depenses publiques et les divergences en matiere d’ajustement au sein des pays qui connaissent pourtant des conditions economiques similaires ? Une endogeneisation des comportements politiques est necessaire. Il s’agit non seulement d’expliquer pourquoi les democraties menent des politiques fiscales expansives et ont recours au deficit pour les financer, mais aussi de rendre compte des differences entre les pays, entre les periodes, et des ajustements budgetaires finalement decides apres un certain retard suivant les pays. L’un des interets majeurs de l’economie politique est d’introduire le raisonnement economique au sein meme des decisions politiques et de lever le voile sur les pretendues irrationalites du monde politique. Plusieurs explications ont ainsi ete avancees en economie politique pour rendre compte des deficits publics, de leur persistance et de leur heterogeneite.