Managing environmental risks

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One major consequence of ecological disruptions and climate change is to make our future more and more uncertain, and societies face the challenge of moving toward a greener and sustainable economy. This raises a number of scientific challenges: among others, it is important to appropriately define and assess environmental risks, to understand how individuals behave in such situations, and to analyze how innovative financing and investment strategies might help societies address environmental changes.

This research group tackles these challenges by relying on research expertise in environmental economics, experimental economics, econometrics and finance. In particular, our research combines theoretical and experimental methods, option value theory, optimization under uncertainty and laboratory experiments.

Research works are focused on two main priorities. The first one is related to the problem of risk modeling. The aim is to analyze mitigation, prevention and adaptation behaviors in risky environments in order to understand how to deal with major environmental risks. The second priority focuses on the potential of investment and financing strategies to address environmental challenges. Different issues are analyzed, such as the impact of firms’ corporate social and environmental responsibility strategies, or the price dynamics in environmental markets.

Recherche

BAZART Cécile

Assistant Professor

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BEAUD Mickael

Assistant Professor

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BLAYAC Thierry

Professor

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BRIOLE Simon

Tenured Researcher

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DOYEN Luc

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ERDLENBRUCH Katrin

Research Professor

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LAVAINE Emmanuelle

Assistant Professor

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LEBLOIS Antoine

Tenured Researcher

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MAHENC Philippe

Professor

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NGUYEN-HUU Adrien

Assistant Professor

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PRIEUR Fabien

Professor

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QUEROU Nicolas

Research Professor

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REY-VALETTE Hélène

Assistant Professor

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RICCI Francesco

Professor

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TOGNETTI Arnaud

Tenured Researcher

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WILLINGER Marc

Professor

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Doctorant & post-doctorants

FERHATI Amazigh

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KELSALL Claudia

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MBARGA Boniface-Derrick

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PINÇON Violette

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SUN Yujiang

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Appui

COHEN Caroline

Research Associate

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DUBOIS Dimitri

Research Engineer

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Contribution of perceptions to the acceptability of adaptation tools to sea level rise

Bazart Cécile,  Blayac Thierry,  Rey-Valette Helene
à paraître
Climate Policy
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Does age affect the relation between risk and time preferences? Evidence from a representative sample

Wang Zexuan, Rafaï Ismaël, Willinger Marc
à paraître
Southern Economic Journal
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Uncertainty-driven symmetry-breaking and stochastic stability in a generic differential game of lobbying

Boucekkine Raouf, Prieur Fabien, Ruan W., Zou B
à paraître
Economic Theory
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Does pollution perception lead to risk avoidance behaviour? A mixed methods analysis

Levasseur Pierre, Erdlenbruch Katrin, Gramaglia Christelle, Bento Sofia, Fernandes Lúcia, Páez Pedro Baños
à paraître
Review of Social Economy
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The effect of the 7R allele on the DRD4 risk tolerance locus is independent of background risk in Senegalese fishermen

Gwen-Jiro Clochard, Aby Mbengue, Clément Mettling, Birane Diouf, Charlotte Faurie, Omar Sene, Emilie Chancerel, Erwan Guichoux, Guillaume Hollard, Michel Raymond, Marc Willinger
2023
Scientific Reports
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Participation in sports competition closes the gender gaps in competition and in risk taking

Willinger MarcDubois Dimitri, Bravaccini Sabrina
2023
Journal of Sports Economics
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Other-Regarding Preferences and Giving Decision in a Risky Environment: Experimental Evidence

Beaud Mickael, Lefebvre Mathieu, Rosaz Julie
2023
Review of Economic Design
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Viability, efficiency, resilience and equity: using very diverse indicators to deal with uncertainties of future events

Martin Sophie, Erdlenbruch Katrin, Alvarez Isabelle, Huet Sylvie, Smadi Charline
2022
Environmental Science and Policy
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Travel information provision and commuter behavior changes: Evidence from a french metropolis

Blayac Thierry, Stéphan Maïté
2022
Case Studies on Transport Policy
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The impact of conflicts on climate and migration policy

Prieur Fabien, Schumacher Ingmar
2022
Journal of Public Economic Theory
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Nudging for lockdown: behavioural insights from an online experiment

Blayac ThierryDubois DimitriDuchêne Sébastien, Nguyen-Van Phu, Ventelou Brunou, Willinger Marc
2022
Social Psychology
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Améliorer l’impartialité de l’expertise scientifique : l’incertitude, l’expertise scientifique et le politique

Boyer-Kassem Thomas, Duchêne Sébastien, Jebeile Julie
2022
Gestions hospitalières : la revue du management hospitalier
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Inequalities and solidarities: interactions and impacts of sea-level-rise adaptation policies

Long Nathalie, Bazart CécileRey-Valette Hélène
2022
Ecology and Society
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The triple-store experiment

Rafaï Ismaël, Duchêne Sébastien, Guerci Eric, Basieva Irina, Khrennikov Andrei
2022
Theory and Decision
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The health and socioeconomic costs of exposure to soil pollution: evidence from three polluted mining and industrial sites in Europe

Levasseur Pierre, Erdlenbruch Katrin, Gramaglia Christelle
2022
Journal of Public Health
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The effect of price magnitude on analysts' forecasts: evidence from the lab

Roger Tristan, Bousselmi Wael, Roger Patrick, Willinger Marc
2022
Revue Economique
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Contaminação de solos e água em Estarreja: que efeitos na vida dos habitantes? que efeitos na vida dos habitantes?

Bento Sofia, Gramaglia Christelle, Katrin Erdlenbruch, Levasseur Pierre, Condesso de Melo M. Teresa
2021
Captar
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Designing Coastal Adaptation Strategies to Tackle Sea Level Rise

Bongarts Lebbe Théophile, Rey-Valette Hélène, Chaumillon Éric, Camus Guigone, Almar Rafael, Cazenave Anny, Claudet Joachim, Rocle Nicolas, Meur-Férec Catherine, Viard Frédérique, Mercier Denis, Dupuy Christine, Ménard Frédéric, Rossel Bernardo Aliaga, Mullineaux Lauren, Sicre Marie-Alexandrine, Zivian Anna, Gaill Françoise, Euzen Agathe
2021
Frontiers in Marine Science
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Nominal and real interest rates in OECD countries, changes in sight after covid-19?

Bismut Claude, Ramajo Ismaël
2021
International Economics and Economic Policy
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Why Do People Continue to Live Near Polluted Sites? Empirical Evidence from Southwestern Europe

Levasseur Pierre, Erdlenbruch Katrin, Gramaglia Christelle
2021
Environmental Modeling & Assessment
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Are retrospective rail punctuality indicators useful? Evidence from users perceptions

Blayac Thierry, Stéphan Maïté
2021
Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
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Willingness of households to reduce flood risk in southern France

Champonnois Victor, Erdlenbruch Katrin
2021
Journal of Flood Risk Management
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Agricultural households’ adaptation to weather shocks in SubSaharan Africa: What implications for land-use change and deforestation?

Delacote Philippe, Leblois AntoineGirard Julia
2021
Environment and Development Economics
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Une exploration interdisciplinaire des liens entre relation au lieu et concernement. À propos des risques fluviaux et côtiers en France métropolitaine

Bousquet Francois, Rocle Nicolas, Rey-Valette Hélène, Meur-Ferec Catherine, Vye Didier, Lautrédou-Audouy Nicole, Almaric Marion, Blanchet Laurent, Lyser Sandrine, Caroline Blondy, Becu Nicolas
2021
Natures Sciences Sociétés
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Population preferences for inclusive COVID-19 policy responses

Blayac ThierryDubois DimitriDuchêne Sébastien, Nguyen-Van Phu, Ventelou Bruno, Willinger Marc
2021
The Lancet Public-Health
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Air-COV : Economic evaluation of the impact of fines particles on COVID19

Fine particles (PM) in air pollution, which penetrate deep into the bronchi and, in the case of the finest particles, can pass into the bloodstream and reach other organs, could play an important role in the severity of symptoms of COVID-19.

The main contribution of this project is to identify the impact of a high concentration of PM pollution on mortality from COVID-19 and hospitalisations for COVID-19 with comorbidities. To do this, the project proposes a spatial and temporal analysis using innovative econometric techniques. In order to isolate the causal effect of a potential increase in PM concentration in certain areas on mortality due to COVID-19, the most relevant method is to examine the differences in impact of variations in PM concentrations on mortality and morbidity due to COVID-19, in different communes, before, during and after the confinement period. This objective will be achieved in particular by comparing groups that have been affected differently by this exogenous variation in PM pollution in France. The Air-COV project is based on the use of panel mortality data (weekly and communal) available for France in 2020 and spatialised daily PM concentration data.

Collaboration between economists, epidemiologists and atmospheric modelling engineers is being strengthened in this project in order to provide precise estimates of the benefits of reducing health symptoms associated with reducing environmental risks.

Beam – Behavioral and Experimental Analyses in Macro-finance

The project aims to analyze the effects of macroeconomic policies, both monetary and fiscal, regulations related to information disclosure, and introduction of financial instruments within analytical frameworks that are based on more realistic behavioral foundations.

We will conduct research both at the individual and collective levels by combining laboratory experiments, computational experiments, and mathematical modeling, while paying a close attention to how individual decisions are aggregated into collective outcomes how collective outcomes feedback into individual decisions.

COCKTAIL : Assessing the exposure to a mixture of pollutant on health

The main contribution of this project is to identify the causal impact of exposure to concentrations of a mixture of several air pollutants on health (via hospital admissions and mortality).

This project proposes a spatial and temporal economic analysis using innovative econometric techniques. Most studies assess the effect of air pollutants without considering interactions with other pollutants. As the composition of the mixtures to which populations are exposed depends on the sources of pollutant emissions and the interactions between pollutants, we propose to identify a measure of population exposure to cocktail pollution discriminated by type of source (agriculture, traffic, etc.), taking account of urban spatial heterogeneities. The pollutant concentrations will then be matched with health data in order to assess the health impact of simultaneous exposure to multiple air pollutants. We will therefore assess the effects of pollutants on health as a function of the source of emissions and the mix of pollutants present in the atmosphere.

Confinobs project – Barrier and containment compliance and observation: a behavioural economics approach

The CONFINOBS project seeks at identifying the determinants of the propensity to adopt and follow the recommendations of prevention and containment with respect to the spread of Covid-19 virus. The basic premise is that this propensity is determined by individuals’ personal characteristics of the individual: their risk-preferences, impatience, self-control and social preferences (e.g., altruism, generosity, trust and cooperativeness). The main objective is to identify the effect of these behavioral dimensions on compliance with containment measures and adoption of barrier gestures. Their knowledge is an essential prerequisite for designing more effective non-coercive instruments, such as monetary and non-monetary incentives (nudges), to better target communication during and after the crisis, and to increase its impact on behavior.

The project combines several experimental tools which allow to precisely measure the different behavioral dimensions (e.g., risk aversion, impatience, altruism or trust) based on incentivized tasks. Some measures, including risk preferences, will be doubled by declarative measures and genotyping, in order to provide converging evidence of the robustness of the main determinants. We further implement a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to document individuals’ willingness to comply with the binding measures. We also test the effectiveness of a “nudge” that was designed to encourage individuals to comply. Our results will be used to determine the right levers of actions for effective communication towards target audiences, with a view to, for example, adopt the observance of barrier gestures.

 

CRaMoRes : Changing risks and mobile common pool resources: Economic analysis of resource-user behavior and policy instruments for sustainability.

Renewable natural resources are under constant threat of overuse, especially if (i) of common pool nature, and (ii) mobile, as resource users have strategic incentives to extract more than the socially efficient amount. Two prominent and still unresolved cases in Europe are overfishing and overuse of groundwater resources. New, scientifically sound policy approaches are needed, as these resources face changing and increasing risks: On the one hand, climate change will alter volatility in the regeneration of the resource as well as potential tipping points in its dynamics of movement. On the other hand, patterns of resource use shape risks and thus lead to ‘endogenous risks’. Research on these issues so far focused on rational, risk-neutral actors – an assumption in sharp contrast to evidence from behavioral economics. CRaMoRes sets up a new theory and model, considering different types of individual behavior under risk, including risk aversion and state-dependent risk preferences. We study how changes in climate forcing and endogeneous risks affect the strategic incentives for resource (over-) use of mobile common pool resources. CRaMoRes analyzes and proposes new, adaptive policy approaches, including rights-based, market-based, and information-based management. To assess the distributional consequences of changing risks, we use recently developed criteria of social evaluation in risky situations. CRaMoRes will experimentally test the implications of different policy approaches in the lab. We quantify and test the newly conceived policy approaches for two case studies: the Baltic fishery and the Upper Rhine aquifer.

 INACRE : Floods, amenities and residential choice 

Floods cause major damage and disruption around the world. However, more and more people choose to settle in flood-prone areas in order to benefit from natural or urban amenities and lower property prices.

The main objective of the project is to understand the effect of information about floods on households’ residential choices, taking into account the trade-offs that households make between amenities and flood risk. The project is carried out in seven municipalities along the Mediterranean arc in France, and contains a survey of 700 households.

1) In a first axis, we estimate the price differential in flood-prone and non-flood-prone areas, taking into account the natural and urban amenities of the areas as well as information on floods.

2) In a second axis, we carry out a Choice Experiment, and assess the values ​​of risks and amenities in the choice of residence, considering the individual characteristics of the respondents.

3) In a third axis, we evaluate the effectiveness of different information policies regarding floods. In particular, we study the effect of additional information disclosure (containing the description of concrete consequences of floods), and the effectiveness of two existing policies, flood risk prevention plans (PPRi) and buyer-tenant information (IAL).

The project is carried out in collaboration with UMR BETA (Nancy, France).

MPA-POVERTY – Can marine protected areas alleviate poverty in the context of land desertification?

The impacts of future climatic conditions on agriculture and marine fisheries are expected to be widespread, complex, geographically variable, and mostly unfavorable, particularly in tropical countries where human development and health are of serious concern. Here we hypothesize that coastal towns and villages close to marine protected areas (MPAs) can better alleviate poverty in the context of land desertification than their counterparts without any management action on nearby marine ecosystems. We propose to test the link between biodiversity protection and economic development over a long time period (up to 20 years) by combining the most up-to-date (i) spatially gridded socioeconomic information, (ii) satellite imagery analyses, (iii) artificial intelligence and (iv) in situ observations in developing countries of the Mozambique channel.

Riskadapt – Local adaptation in an environment at risk 

Humans have colonized diverse environments so that specific genes, providing adaptation to each environment, are highly likely to have locally evolved (such as adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia).
These genes provide adaptation to a local, or specific, environment through a permanent physiological change or, alternatively, a behavioural change. Numerous genes are known to influence behaviour in experimental settings, such as alleles at the dopamine receptor locus D4 (DRD4), which is associated with attitudes toward risk.
However, direct evidence of selection acting on such genes is, to date, lacking. Active volcanoes and their exposed populations represent unique assets in the study of the roots of such adaptation responses.
The aims of this project are thus to: 1) study risk-taking people behaviour across contrasting environments, both at-risk and (almost) without risk; 2) examine the possibility of a local adaptation to risky environments; and 3) identify all relevant selected genes involved in this local adaptation.
The at-risk environments considered are flanks and surrounding plains of hazardous, active volcanoes, on which stable rural groups have developed.

TRAJECTOIRES: Long run and progressiveness of public action: acceptability and operationalization of adaptation trajectories for coastal areas

The national strategy for coastline management advocates “spatial recomposition” to adapt to the effects of rising sea levels and sea flooding. Such a policy requires a broader vision of land-use planning, including risks, for which adaptive trajectories and progressive public actions may be useful.

The objective of this project is to study the applicability of a progressive public action for the management of coastal areas. In the first axis, we will co-construct dynamic adaptive policy pathways with coastal managers, taking into account the constraints of their working context. In the second axis, we will analyze how residents perceive the trajectories of progressive public action and how they make individual trade-offs in this context. Overall, the project will study the relevant time horizon to be taken into account and the management sequences to be chosen for an operational and acceptable progressive policy. A third axis is dedicated to several educational activities for students as well as coastal managers.

The project is conducted in three French regions: Nouvelle Aquitaine, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. It is carried out in collaboration with UMR CEPEL (Montpellier, France), UR ETTIS (Bordeaux, France) and UMR ESPACE (Marseille, France).

Group Leader

NGUYEN-HUU Adrien

Faculty

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