The optimal choice of central bank independence and conservatism under uncertainty

This paper examines the optimal monetary delegation arrangement of central bank independence and conservatism in the presence of uncertainty about the central bank’s output objective. We show that full independence is no longer optimal with uncertain central bank preferences, and that optimal delegation involves the choice of both independence and conservatism. Further, we find that the usual trade-off between independence and conservatism no longer necessarily holds. Consequently, high central bank independence may also require a high level of conservatism.     

Monetary Union Enlargement,Fiscal Policy,and Strategic Wage Setting*

This contribution develops a framework for studying the effects of the enlargement of a monetary union on macroeconomic performances in the presence of strategic interactions between non‐atomistic labor unions, monetary, and fiscal authorities. We show that the integration of new identical member countries may have beneficial effects, depending on the fiscal policymaking structure. Qualifications to this result are provided under cross‐country asymmetries in the size of the economies, the structure of the labor markets, and the fiscal authorities' preferences.     

Uncertainty and Fiscal Policy in an Asymmetric Monetary Union

We examine monetary and fiscal interactions in a monetary union model with uncertainty due to imperfect central bank transparency. It is first shown that monetary uncertainty discourages excessive taxation and may thus reduce average inflation and output distortions. However, as countries enter the monetary union, this tax-restraining effect of uncertainty is mitigated. The monetary union may hence lead to higher fiscal distortions in some member countries, depending on governments’ spending targets and on the change in the degree of uncertainty implied by common monetary policy.     

Innovating for elderly people: the development of geront’innovations in the French silver economy

The objective of this paper is to study the supply side of the silver market, which is usually neglected by research on this topic. Adopting a systemic approach to innovation, our main goals are to identify the nature of the innovations developed, the way innovations are created, and the issues related to their emergence and diffusion. Our research is based on an empirical study of the French silver economy, which consists in an enquiry carried out in Silver Valley. The results of our study lead us to suggest a new term ‘geront’innovation’ to qualify the various forms of innovations developed to cater for the needs of elderly people. We also put forward the importance of networking and open innovation strategies. Finally, the identified barriers to emergence and diffusion as perceived by the supply side of the market lead us to suggest recommendations to support the diffusion of geront’innovations.     

Innovation strategies of industrial groups in the global crisis: Rationalization and new paths

In the on-going context of globalization, the strategy of multinational enterprises combines the aims of constant supply renewal (through technological, but also organizational and commercial innovation) and of production rationalization (reduction of production costs). The financial dimension is narrowly linked to these strategies, as the financial deregulation has generated a strong pressure on enterprises, aimed at increasing the shareholder value. In this paper, we study the impacts of the current financial and economic crisis on the strategy and the management of innovation in big industrial firms. We present the result of an enquiry that has been achieved in France in 2009 and 2010 in companies such as Renault, Thales, General Electric, Lesieur, PSA, Saint-Gobain, Valeo, and ArcelorMittal. We show that firms rationalize their R&D expenses, accentuate their open innovation strategies, develop a strategic use of IPRs and try to implement new innovation paths, oriented toward the exploitation (low cost strategies) and the accumulation (clean technologies) of their knowledge-capital.