GEOFFRON Patrice

The questioning of economic liberalism and multilateralism had begun long before the Covid-19 crisis. A beginning of fragmentation of the world economy, some would say of "deglobalization", appeared with the multi-episode trade war between the United States and China, the rise of protectionist initiatives, the "currency war", the Brexit. All of these trends, which predate 2020, have been and are being accentuated by the health crisis. The purpose of this book, which brings together authors from different backgrounds, is to take the measure of the processes underway in almost all countries: the return of borders, the desire of states to regain a little more sovereignty, the will of public opinion to better control the collective destiny. The return of industrial strategies, the desire to relocate certain industries and to reindustrialize are at the heart of public policies which, faced with the economic and social damage caused by Covid-19, after having sought to limit this damage, are financing massive revivals by striving to combine the economy and ecology. What is the right level of conception and implementation: the national level or the European level? Should we hope for progress in global governance in a world that, despite everything, will remain essentially globalized?

Contrary to the recovery strategy adopted in 2008, which focused exclusively on directly observable economic benefits, each public euro invested to emerge from the crisis must value the environmental and health co-benefits. This is the premise of this note by I4CE and Terra Nova. With the increase of the French public debt and the reduction of budgetary leeway in the long term, valuing all the co-benefits of public action is no longer a simple option but an imperative. This would allow, among other collective gains, to reduce the 50 billion euros/year cost of air pollution in France.

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For the past ten years, the public authorities have supported the photovoltaic industry in order to meet the objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The support policies implemented have resulted in an unprecedented development of this sector, leading to a significant drop in production costs. The decrease has been so significant that, in many countries, photovoltaic production costs are lower than the retail price of electricity. Households are now encouraged to invest in a photovoltaic power plant in order to consume part of their own electricity. This so-called self-consumption phenomenon depends largely on the structure of the grid tariff. Currently, this tariff is mainly based on the energy drawn without time differentiation. This type of tariff does not reflect the costs of the electricity network operators, which are essentially fixed in the short and medium term. The decrease in revenue induced by self-consumption creates a deficit for the grid operators which must be covered by an increase in the grid tariff. This effect leads to cross-subsidies from standard consumers to self-consumers. The objective of this thesis is to address this issue and it consists of 4 chapters. In the first chapter, an analysis of support policies for self-consumption has been carried out for the following countries: Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain and France. This study is based on bibliographic and documentary research in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these policies. In the second chapter, we study the indirect costs of the development of self-consumption for consumers. For this purpose, an estimate of cross-subsidies in France between 2017 and 2021 is proposed. This estimate is based on the calculation of aggregated self-consumption volumes at the national level, based on the reconstitution of load curves for different consumer and company profiles. In chapter 3, the current support mechanism is evaluated according to two criteria: the revenues generated by self-consumption and the support costs for the community. A simulation model has been developed to determine the profitability of a PV installation coupled with a battery under different network tariffs. In chapter 4, an estimation of the gains related to load shedding is performed. A battery charging optimization model has been developed to maximize the revenue from load shedding for the self-consumer.The thesis shows that policies to support self-consumption have neglected the indirect costs associated with network tariffs. Changes in the structure of the grid tariff are needed to limit cross-subsidies on the one hand, and to take advantage of the benefits that self-consumption can bring to the grid or to the power system in general on the other. Tariff signals are needed to increase the value of self-consumption, but this can only be achieved by changing the current subsidy scheme that does not encourage the adoption of batteries. The results show that a premium for battery investment would be less costly for the community but would limit the development of self-consumption.

The initial cycle of investment in civil nuclear power began in the 1970s, ahead of the movement to liberalize electricity markets that spread throughout the OECD. Today, nuclear power competes - depending on the environment - with "fatal" renewable energies that drive down prices (in Europe) and/or thermal power (in the United States). This configuration could shorten the lifespan of power plants deployed in the 20th century and creates uncertainty about the financing model for future power plant projects (assuming the granting of "off-market" guarantees, as was the case for the British Hinkley Point project). These observations are certainly the result of the market's interplay between the different production methods according to their "merits" (i.e. their marginal cost), but also of an imperfect valuation of the contribution of each of them to the electricity system: provision of capacity and system services and, above all, their carbon footprint.

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The problems linked to global warming imply the need to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. There are three pillars of decarbonization of energy systems, including the use of renewable energies. Renewable energies are often assimilated to electrical energy produced by the sun, the wind, hydraulic energy or biomass. Nevertheless, this electrical energy does not allow for a deep decarbonization of all consumption sectors, whose electrification is difficult. The use of gas produced from these decarbonized energies and called "green gas" can compensate for this by reducing the use of fossil gas. The study of the penetration of these "renewable gases" is the subject of this thesis. To analyze the contribution of green gas to the decarbonization of the energy sectors, the work carried out uses the long-term prospective model POLES (Prospective Outlook on Long-term Energy Systems). In order to represent the green gas production system in detail, we have created a module in this model, linking resources to uses. Thus, the technologies of anaerobic digestion, biomass gasification and the transformation of electricity into gas, called power-to-gas, were modeled and their contributions to the energy consumption of the consumer sectors were estimated. The results show that renewable gas technologies play a role in the energy transition by making it possible to double fossil gas production in the second half of the 21st century. This gas allows the decarbonization of the transport, industry and power generation sectors. Nevertheless, the deployment of these technologies is directly linked to the technical progress expected in the future, as these technologies are for the most part too expensive to be competitive with the use of natural gas at the present time. Moreover, this development is based on the availability of local potential in terms of mobilized biomass resources. Thus, the development trajectories are different, region by region, depending on the local context, both in terms of the available resource and the incentives and political programs put in place to promote the deployment of green gas.

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Because of the global concern about CO2 emissions, climate change and energy transition, we are paying more attention to electricity demand management. In particular, with electricity load shedding, we can enjoy several benefits, such as increasing the efficiency of the whole electricity market, enhancing the security of electricity supply, and making investment more efficient and desirable as well as benefiting the environment and supporting renewable energy. In Europe, France started the NEBEF mechanism at the end of 2013, and South Korea launched the market-based load shedding program in late 2014. Among a number of issues and assumptions we need to consider in terms of load shedding, estimating the reference curve is one of the most important and fundamental elements. In this research, based on the rescaled consumption profile for an average household, several methods of estimating the reference curve are established and examined for both French and Korean load shedding mechanisms. This investigation on the estimation methods could contribute to the search for a better and more accurate estimation method that will increase the incentives for participants. With the estimated reference curves, cost-benefit analyses were performed, which were used in the decision analysis for the participants. To perform the cost-benefit analyses, a simple mathematical model using linear algebra is created and modified to properly represent the parameters of each of the load shedding mechanisms. This model allows us an intuitive and clear understanding of the mechanisms. This generic model can be used for different countries and sectors, residential, commercial and industrial, with some model modifications. Monte Carlo simulation is used to reflect the stochastic nature of reality, and optimization is also used to represent and understand the rationality of the participants, and to provide microeconomic explanations of the participants' behaviors. In order to derive meaningful implications for a better architecture of the clearing market, several sensitivity analyses are performed on key elements of the model for the mechanisms.

Since the French NECP is "embedded" in a now long period of energy transformations, the credibility of this plan must be confronted with the recurring difficulties observed in the implementation of the French energy transition strategy. On one side, this whole process is very ambitious, in line with the French commitment during the COP 21, and accelerates the implementation of the commitment under the Paris Agreement (OECD, 2016). But on the other side, much uncertainty persists. Those uncertainties include: the way and time horizon for reduction of nuclear power. the development of potential substitutes for fossil fuels. the effectiveness of demand side measures. All things considered, while the French commitment to an energy transition is credible, the implementation of a coherent governance system remains challenging in France.

This thesis examines how consumers respond to mechanisms to reduce their energy consumption. This need for reduction stems from the need to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, to increase energy production from renewable energy sources, and to achieve energy savings. These goals require residential demand to be more flexible in the face of changing supply and for energy savings to be achieved by households. The first chapter explores the barriers to acceptance and adoption of smart meters and the incentives they can provide. Significant barriers exist and consumption reductions are far from being realized. Lack of motivation, lack of understanding of consumption information, and inflexibility of daily life are the main barriers that limit household response to the incentives provided by smart meters. The second chapter analyzes the results of field experiments and pilot studies on the impacts of different incentives on residential consumption. The results show that there is wide variation and that, on average, an incentive will result in a 2% reduction in energy consumption. Real-time feedback incentives as well as monetary information have the greatest effect. Finally, the more robust studies report smaller reduction effects. In the third chapter, an experimental set of common resources is used to explore individual responses to price-based incentives and nudges. Individuals are encouraged to reduce their consumption, either by a price increase or by smiley faces evoking their overconsumption. Price is the most effective in encouraging the target level of consumption, but it takes longer to take effect. Nudge is understood quickly but tends to reinforce overconsumption behaviors. The fourth chapter examines the effect of framing on willingness to exert effort. Individuals are asked to perform a simple, repetitive task for which they receive a piece-rate payment in the form of a gain or loss. Framing in the form of gain and loss is combined with three different payment structures: fixed gain, low gain, or high gain with equal probability revealed before or after the effort is completed. The results show that framing has no effect on effort completion, except for a high payoff context revealed before effort completion.

Blockchain technologies allow the storage and transmission of information in a transparent and secure manner and without the intervention of a central control body. The field of experimentation of these technologies is vast, including their mobilization in the service of the fight against climate change. In this context, we discuss in this paper the potential of these technologies to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, insofar as they can create transparency and increase the verifiability of greenhouse gas emissions data and the interoperability of locally driven initiatives in this area. In this context, we present a Blockchain-based carbon registry "prototype" developed in partnership with Caisse des Dépôts, as well as with the Climate Chain Coalition of Climate Blockchain initiatives, supported by the UN Climate, and which we helped to initiate during the One Planet Summit held in Paris, in December 2017.

To this day, trust has a polysemous character in social sciences. This notion becomes the center of interest of a number of sociologists, philosophers, psychologists and economists. The "six chapters" of this thesis address the issue of establishing trust between buyers and sellers during an online purchase. The reputation of a seller is presented as the main determinant of trust. The rating system adopted by the online sales site eBay is the focus of our empirical and theoretical analyses. These six chapters are preceded by a general introduction and a review of the literature (first chapter). A second chapter is dedicated to present the impact of ratings - especially negative ratings - left by buyers to sellers, on the latter's presence on the platform, using Markov Chain. A third chapter focuses on optimizing the sales of a specific seller during a given period, while taking into account the ratings left by buyers. The fourth is an empirical study that focuses on the impact of a seller's reputation on the probability of sale and on trust. Chapter five presents the limitations faced by the rating system and proposed solutions. The final chapter, measures and empirically tests the impact of seller reputation manipulation on sale probability and trust.

Smart grids deployment is ongoing, providing data electricity system needs to achieve efficiency and environmental goals. This process also relies on specific regulation schemes and depends on technology adoption by consumers and on incentives for the flexibility efforts. Currently, regulation internalizes part or the overall risk of smart grids investments, future returns on investment being highly uncertain. Energy suppliers must create trust relationships with customer as to strengthen their technology acceptance and, thus, their involvement in demand response. Finally, market designs have to reward demand response and energy conservation behaviors, preserving incentives for consumers to adopt them.

Capacity mechanisms (CRMs) are set up to align the market equilibrium with the social optimum, i.e. to ensure security of supply at the lowest cost. In theory, energy-only markets are supposed to achieve this objective, but their effectiveness is questioned. While the merits of characterizing CRMs as a second-best mechanism have occupied researchers for several decades, the empirical evaluation of CRMs has received much more limited attention. This gap provides a fertile area for academic research, but limits one's ability to translate theoretical findings into policymaking. Empirical evaluation of MRCs is all the more necessary because their performance depends not only on country-specific structural, technical, and cultural parameters, but also on the details of their implementation. As such, this thesis presents the first work dealing with the empirical performance of CRMs as well as with regulatory implementation choices. The study of the relative convergence of MRC designs since the 1990s allows for the identification of the characteristics essential to their success, while the divergence of results in the existing quantitative literature helps to assess the remaining future challenges. The net cost of such a market intervention is also discussed using a cross-national econometric approach. Finally, agents' preferences for the accuracy of information on capacity obligations are addressed in an analytical model.

This paper is an introduction to the EPEE’s special issue, which examines nine draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). Firstly, we will briefly review the EU’s energy-climate goals for 2020 and 2030 and we will look at its long-term "climate neutral" vision for 2050. We will then assess how successful or not individual member states were in achieving the EU’s 2020 targets and how they can best achieve 2030 goals. In the third section, we will look at the overall achievement objectives for 2030 based on draft NECPs assessed by the European Commission in June 2019. However, we will express some criticism of the planning process required by the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union. Finally, we will present the findings of expert contributors from nine EU countries - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom - who have assessed their respective countries’ energy-climate plans.

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Smart grids deployment is ongoing, providing data electricity system needs to achieve efficiency and environmental goals. This process also relies on specific regulation schemes and depends on technology adoption by consumers and on incentives for the flexibility efforts. Currently, regulation internalizes part or the overall risk of smart grids investments, future returns on investment being highly uncertain. Energy suppliers must create trust relationships with customer as to strengthen their technology acceptance and, thus, their involvement in demand response. Finally, market designs have to reward demand response and energy conservation behaviors, preserving incentives for consumers to adopt them.

The valuation of Demand Response (DR) has been the subject of much work both on its introduction and its valuation in the electricity market and on the effects induced in terms of surplus for the community. Using the industrial structure developed by Chao (2011) and day-ahead market data provided by EPEX, we develop a model simulating the introduction of DR in the French electricity market. We show that, for DR to improve collective welfare and create value for the different categories of actors involved, different conditions are required, including limited implementation costs. Using supply and demand curves obtained from the same data, we confirm these initial simulated results. We also analyze the effects in terms of surplus for consumers and suppliers and the extent of compensation paid by the load shedding operators.

Vehicle-to-Anything (V2X) is an umbrella term that explains the use of electric vehicle batteries to gain additional value during periods of non-use. V2X services generate battery revenue through dynamic one-way (V1X) or two-way (V2X) charging to provide benefits to the electric grid, reduce energy consumption in buildings and homes, or provide backup power to loads. A meta-analysis of the economic potential yields results contradictory to the literature and indicates that power consumption management, resource adequacy, and deferral of grid investment are more valuable than arbitrage in the energy markets and secondary reserve. While I agree that development is for and through the market, I emphasize that V2X will develop within the confines of the regulatory environment.Regulators therefore have a catalytic role to play.An important question is the extent to which additional use of the vehicle's battery will affect the battery's capacity over its lifetime. Understanding the intricacies of battery degradation is therefore critical to estimating costs. Li-ion batteries are complicated electrochemical systems that exhibit two simultaneous degradation phenomena, calendar aging and cyclic aging. In vehicular applications, calendar aging tends to be the dominant life degradation effect, which reduces time, the most important component of degradation.Therefore, the cost of degradation is fundamentally time dependent.A central claim of this thesis is that the marginal cost of V2X is neither zero nor negligible as accepted in the economic literature, but is highly dependent on battery degradation. Here we propose a theory of V2X marginal costs that is based on two principles: 1.) there is an efficiency cost associated with charging the battery, and 2.) the true degradation cost of V2X takes into account the opportunity cost, i.e., the degradation beyond what would have been the normal use of the vehicle.Having a clear concept of the marginal cost of V2X, allows for the proper accounting and balancing of all the real costs: cost of electricity, efficiency costs of the system, and degradation of the battery. This will enable optimal charging strategies and properly inform energy market bids. The result is a more nuanced understanding of marginal costs. The impact of the V2X battery on battery life could be considered a cost, a benefit, or zero. I conclude that V2X can provide more economic value than previously understood and that this additional value will be realized through the simultaneous improvement in charging efficiency and reduction in EV battery degradation.

This digital edition was made from a physical medium, sometimes old, kept in the legal deposit of the National Library of France, in accordance with Law No. 2012-287 of March 1, 2012 on the exploitation of unavailable Books of the twentieth century.

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The massive integration of variable renewable energies (VRE) is causing significant changes in the electrical system. Previously developed in a vertical and centralized manner, the system was robust and reliable. However, VRE production is intermittent and unpredictable. Thus, the system needs to be more flexible with new options such as demand side management, storage or shaving of VRF production. However, the potential of EnRV is unevenly distributed in Europe and with high penetration rates of EnRV, electricity exchanges between regions will increase causing congestion in the grid. Thus, flexibility options may not be able to reduce this congestion. To analyze these effects, the work conducted in this thesis uses the long term prospective model POLES (Prospective Outlook on Long-term Energy Systems) coupled with the new power sector module EUTGRID (EUropean - Transmission Grid Investment and Dispatch). This module includes a detailed representation of the European transmission grid with a more realistic flow calculation. In addition, reinforcements are determined according to the congestion costs of each line. This new coupling allows for a dynamic evolution of the transmission network. The role of the transmission network is then analyzed and compared with other flexibility options. The investments in the grid increase strongly with high penetration rates of EnRVs while the flexibility options cannot fully replace the grid. Finally, an exploratory work is conducted with the introduction of generic distribution networks (urban, semi-urban and rural) in EUTGRID. The results show that the reinforcements are slightly shifted with an increase in the use of back-up technologies (i.e. gas power plants) which increases the total emissions.

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France imposed a ban on hydraulic fracturing in 2011, giving in to public pressure about the potential negative impact of hydraulic fracturing on the environment (especially on water). In 2012, the newly elected president of the French Republic, François Hollande, announced his intention to maintain the ban during his entire presidency and called for the revocation of pending exploration permits.

In the electricity industry, the technological progress brought about by smart grids is challenging the idea that consumers cannot react to wholesale market prices. However, the integration of Demand Response (DR) into the power system is challenged by the question of its economic efficiency. This thesis evaluates the economic value of DS by using an energy market model under uncertainty to calculate the profits of an aggregator, by consumer class and end-use. The model belongs to the class of linear stochastic multi-period problems. Its resolution is based on Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming. It appears that in France, the profitable sectors are the industrial load-shedding and the load-shifting of cement and paper. The load-shifting of electric heating is not profitable for the tertiary and residential sectors. In addition, the capacity value of DEs is critical. Overall, DEs are becoming viable, but the development of their potential seems to be conditional on a decrease in fixed costs in smart grid technologies.

Faced with the urgency of the fight against global warming, the low-carbon energy transition is a societal transition that constitutes a real challenge due to its singularities. The conditions for its realization lie in a multi-level political steering in order to act now on the different possible levers of action. Indeed, the States intervene on the one hand during international negotiations in order to reach a universal agreement on the climate, and on the other hand in the legislation of their national regulatory framework. Local authorities also intervene because of their competences which give them a significant power of influence on decentralized production modes and on energy consumption. The local level plays a key role because it benefits from the bonds of proximity and trust that encourage collective action and constitute a real leverage effect. It is at the local level that energy transition projects emerge and that the fight against global warming takes shape. This is why it is necessary to understand what types of local projects for the energy transition are emerging, and what their performance is from an economic, social and environmental point of view. This will allow public authorities to identify the types of efficient projects to encourage their development, and also to identify the obstacles to be removed in order to encourage the emergence of innovative projects. In the long term, the aim is to understand which types of projects will be deployed and generalized within the framework of the energy transition according to the type of value they will manage to generate. In order to answer this question, the business model approach is relevant: it constitutes an analysis grid allowing to determine the characteristics of each project, by describing its value proposition and the configuration of this value, and to determine its viability and sustainability according to the creation (or destruction) of values (economic, financial, social, environmental) that it generates. The thesis thus proposes a typology of energy transition business models at the local level, a project analysis grid adapted to the societal challenge represented by the energy transition and finally proposes recommendations for public policy in terms of evaluating the economic, social and environmental performance of local energy transition projects.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine the presence of competitive advantages in South American electronic communications markets. The main operators present in the region, including Telefónica and América Móvil, entered under favorable conditions when the industry was privatized during the 1990s. From the early 2010s, changes in regulation tend to make markets more competitive. The evolution of performance in this context offers the opportunity to observe which operators have a competitive advantage, and which are in a position to compete due to favorable entry conditions. This thesis is organized into five chapters. The first two chapters present the institutional context and the evolution of the telecommunications markets in the three countries mentioned. In the third chapter, we establish that competition in the three countries is infrastructure-based and is accompanied by qualitative differentiation between operators. In order to determine whether this differentiation leads to competitive advantages, we analyze the presence of links in the evolution of operating margins, and in the volatility of operators' stock returns (fourth and fifth chapters). Our results indicate that there are short-run links in the evolution of operating margins between operators present in the same country, which indicates insufficient differentiation to avoid competitive pressures. Moreover, the volatility of returns on shares of national operators is much higher than that of multinational operators.

This thesis examines the sustainable management of non-renewable resources in general and rock phosphate in particular. The first chapter outlines the status, prospects and economic and geopolitical issues of the world phosphate market. This analysis highlights a significant long-term deficit in world supply compared to demand, encouraging phosphate producers, who have sufficient reserves, to invest in new capacities. The second chapter develops a multi-player Stackelberg model, calibrated on actual phosphate market data, and allows the calculation of the optimal capacities to be put in place by producers according to their reserve levels and development costs. The results of this model show that the market would become more concentrated in 2100 than it is today, with Morocco, the country that holds three quarters of the world's reserves, dominating. The third chapter aims to assess the spillover effects that Morocco generates from its phosphate exploitation. Using the Input-Output model, the proposed empirical analysis compares the socio-economic impacts of extraction with those of beneficiation or processing. The results of this analysis show that phosphate processing is more connected upstream with other branches of the economy and generates more value added, income and employment. The last chapter attempts to address the issue of the natural resource curse in a new way by linking agricultural performance and urbanization to the abundance of these resources. The empirical study, based on a panel of African countries, shows a significant link between the abundance of mineral resources, the underdevelopment of the agricultural sector and the urban explosion.

This thesis focuses on the issue of financing the low-carbon energy transition and the role of the financial and banking sector in achieving international climate objectives. The challenges of the energy transition for the financial sector are threefold. First, it is necessary to understand the need to adopt a differentiated analysis of household energy consumption, in particular that related to housing, in the search for a balance between macroeconomic objectives and individual financial and economic trade-offs. The first chapter analyzes household energy expenditures by typology and proposes a segmentation of the microeconomic behaviors of the actors and of the energy transition market in housing. It is then necessary to find a way to enhance the value of private investments in energy transition, which are still difficult to massify, especially when it comes to the energy performance of housing. Chapter 2 deploys a model based on a frontier function optimization technique to account for the presence of a green value in a local private housing market in France. Finally, the multiple risks related to climate change must be integrated into the mapping of the final risks (specific, systematic and systemic) that weigh on financial institutions, in the evaluation of their activity (the management of financial flows) but also in the evaluation of the risk profile of their balance sheet. Financial intermediaries, but also the institutions that regulate them, have a key role to play in establishing a social value of carbon endogenous to financial markets (Chapter 3).

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The global energy transition implies an accelerated development of new and renewable energies for electricity production (ENRe), which implies new technical, economic and regulatory challenges for the electricity sector. However, a stronger commitment of emerging and developing countries to deep economic decarbonization requires a strengthening of promotion policies as well as the design of regulatory instruments better adapted to the specificities of their economic and institutional contexts.This thesis addresses the issue of the design, implementation and evaluation of policies for the promotion of ENRe adapted to the context of Latin American countries. To this end, we first use environmental economics to analyze the different regulatory instruments available, characterize them and propose evaluation criteria, based on a thorough review of the literature. We then carry out a panel econometric study to identify the determinants of investments in new ENRe capacities and to measure the effectiveness of policies. Third, we mobilize the evolutionary theory of technological change to analyze in depth the process of policy implementation, the existing barriers and the results obtained. This analysis is based on three case studies of the electricity sector in Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Finally, we explore the issues related to the massive deployment of ENRe in Latin America by 2030-2040: the integration of intermittent energies, access to financing and the industrial challenge. Our analyses highlight that the transformations of the economic and institutional context drive a dynamic that conditions the choices of public policies and their performance. We therefore propose the basis of an analytical framework for the design and evaluation of ambitious long-term promotion policies. These policies must be integrated into a multidimensional and coherent project for the energy sector. Specifically regarding the choice of the promotion instrument and its design elements, we have highlighted four principles to be taken into account especially in the context of emerging countries: the level of risk for investors, the total cost of the policy for the consumer, the institutional adequacy of the instrument and, finally, its flexibility to support technologies with different degrees of technico-economic maturity. This flexibility must also respond to multiple objectives linked to the socio-economic development process of each country.

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This thesis brings together the main milestones for the competitive analysis of markets involving network activities and digital services or products. It is organized in three parts, which are attempts to account for the impact of the specificities of these markets on their competitive dynamics. The first part of the thesis deals with the issue of the concentration of Internet platforms. A two-sided market model is specified to account for the different levels of interdependence on the platforms linking companies or advertisers, on the one hand, and audiences or consumers, on the other. The result is that network effects (synergies and economies of scale resulting from the number of platform users) are such that any advantage (first entry into the market, higher quality or relative audience share, etc.), ultimately constitutes a sustainable competitive advantage. The second part of the paper addresses the question of the delimitation of "relevant markets" in the context of mergers applied to the fixed Internet access market. The structure of demand for Internet access is examined econometrically in order to verify the existence or absence of segmentation (or even differentiation) depending on whether the technologies used are broadband or very broadband. The third part deals with the effect of ad-blockers on media and content providers whose business model is based on free access. A two-sided market model is specified in order to verify what role Internet service providers can play in internalizing network externalities and limiting congestion phenomena. Descriptors: digital economy, competition, platforms, concentration, relevant market, advertising, network externalities, media.

At present, although most nuclear countries are converging on the same technical solution: deep disposal for the management of high-level and long-lived radioactive waste, the time objectives differ from one country to another. Through economic calculation, we wish to provide elements of an answer to the following question: In terms of temporality, how should the present generations, which benefit from nuclear electricity production, bear the burden of radioactive waste management, taking into account future generations? This thesis proposes to analyze specifically the French decision, taking into account its context. We propose a set of tools to evaluate the utility of the deep disposal project according to the choices of temporality. Our thesis also studies the feedback influence of storage choices on the nuclear fuel cycle. Beyond that, we take into account the interactions between deep storage and the choices of nuclear fleet and fuel cycle that constitute a "complete system".

The rise of variable input renewable technologies poses many challenges to the operation of the electrical system. This system must guarantee the supply-demand balance at all times, as well as ensure high levels of service reliability. Therefore, variability increases the need for flexibility and system services. There are several options capable of providing these services, including: strengthening interconnections, smart demand management, strengthening the rapid response capabilities of generation units, and implementing electricity storage technologies. However, the current electricity markets are based on the remuneration of energy. Therefore, the full valuation of the services that storage can provide seems difficult, which restricts the business case for flexibility options.This thesis focuses on the following issues: (1) modeling and evaluating the interrelationships between variability, flexibility needs and decarbonization objectives, (2) analyzing the role, as well as the value, of different storage technologies through the French case for the 2020, 2030 and 2050 time horizons, and (3) discussing the regulatory aspects of flexibility, as well as proposing concrete energy policies that allow the success of the energy transition and decarbonization objectives of the French electricity mix.

The back cover states, "The global energy system is entering a new era. The fight against global warming has been accelerated by the COP21, but the road ahead remains very long and subject to multiple turbulences: chaos of oil prices since 2014, election of Donald Trump, untraceable European policy. In a hardening geopolitical context, strong tensions are appearing between states, within states and between companies, which may well foreshadow new energy wars. as well as the advent of new systems adapted to the climate fight. The cross-analyses of experts and leading players gathered here outline the contours of this emerging energy world, and the battles that will have to be won in the years to come.

No summary available.

The global energy system is entering a new era. The fight against global warming has been accelerated by the COP21, but the road ahead remains very long and subject to multiple turbulences: the chaos of oil prices since 2014, the election of Donald Trump, and the untraceable European policy. In a hardening geopolitical context, strong tensions are appearing between states, within states and between companies, which may well foreshadow new energy wars. as well as the advent of new systems adapted to the climate fight. The cross-analyses of experts and leading players gathered here outline the contours of this emerging energy world, and the battles that will have to be won in the years to come.

No summary available.

In Europe, the energy transition in the electricity sector is unique from both a geographical and a historical point of view. On the one hand, it is part of a dual process of technological addition and substitution. On the other hand, it calls on electricians to move away from the thermal paradigm and to mobilize new knowledge to do so. The aim of this research is to characterize the innovation strategies implemented by the six largest European electricity groups (EDF, Enel, Engie, E.ON, Iberdrola and RWE) and at the sector level. Based on patents filed between 2007 and 2013 and on collaborative projects conducted within the framework of FP7, we analyze the technological strategies that concern the direction of progress and the knowledge acquisition strategies that concern the approach mobilized by electric utilities to introduce low-carbon technologies. We show that, at the sector level, addition technologies are favored over substitution technologies and that substitution technologies are less open than addition technologies. Furthermore, it appears that the electricity companies with the highest emissions are not those that have the most pronounced strategy of technological substitution. On the other hand, they are the most open to acquiring new knowledge.

The PV market has experienced strong growth over the past decade, supported by favorable policy actions in a context of energy transition. However, despite these beneficial conditions, the global PV market has paradoxically gone through a chaotic period with overproduction problems, an industrial crisis and long-lasting trade disputes between countries. This thesis takes these issues as a starting point and attempts to understand PV public policies and their impacts on technology and market dynamics. In order to clarify these issues, a systemic approach is used to provide a correct understanding of the general mechanisms of PV public policies. A concrete systemic overview of these mechanisms is constructed based on theoretical and historical analyses by defining key variables and context. A retrospective analysis using purpose-built mappings is conducted to identify critical limitations and challenges of the PV sector as well as risk factors. This thesis also shows how the nature of the policy environment is changing in conjunction with the dynamics of the PV sector. The thesis highlights that the national dynamics have been broken by China's entry into the PV sector. The thesis ultimately proposes strategic directions for PV development along two dimensions, domestic and international. At the national level, the thesis focuses on PV self-consumption as a natural way to use PV energy in the power system. This analysis implies a change in the nature of PV policies in the future. Finally, in order to solve the current industrial crisis, the thesis presents possibilities for collaborative international actions to create a new PV demand in the international context by seeking economic and environmental benefits at the global level.

The transition to renewable energy involves two types of environmental concerns. Fossil fuels are exhaustible and their use generates negative externalities through irreversible environmental damage. In addition, there are opportunities for synergies between energy efficiency measures and the adoption of renewable energy to the extent that the former reduce energy demand so that the latter can begin to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the optimal energy transition under the certain and uncertain occurrence of an environmental disaster and to identify the incentive instruments at the household level to stimulate the energy transition.The thesis is composed of four chapters that independently address the different issues of the energy transition. The first chapter focuses on the optimal energy transition involving decisions on both the adoption of renewable energy and investment in energy saving technologies, when there is a certain pollution threshold that triggers an environmental catastrophe. The second chapter studies the optimal transition to renewable energy when the occurrence of the environmental catastrophe is uncertain. The third chapter seeks to understand the behavior of households with respect to their decisions to simultaneously adopt renewable energy and invest in energy efficiency. Finally, the fourth chapter examines the role of smart grids in integrating intermittent renewable energy to facilitate the energy transition.

The composition of the national electricity generation mix is based on the ranking of the different means of production in relation to their marginal cost of electricity generation. Thus, the considerable hydrocarbon reserves in oil producing countries have favored the misuse of oil or natural gas in the electricity generation fleet. The objective of this research work is to analyze the generation mix for these oil producing countries by constructing the optimal electricity mix regarding the rational (from the economic point of view) use of different means of electricity generation. In this work, we evaluate the current and future situation of electricity generation in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran through several modeling approaches: linear, dynamic and statistical. Then, we will conduct a sensitivity analysis to evaluate the optimality and efficiency of electricity generation considering the integration of other non-carbon alternative resources.

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Currently, the telecommunications sector is still concerned with issues related to the triptych of "regulation (re-regulation), privatization and liberalization. Although the regulatory framework of the telecommunications industry has changed radically since the 1980s, much remains to be done, especially in developing countries. Due to pressure from international institutions, developing countries are currently privatizing their incumbent operators, liberalizing their sectors, and creating independent regulatory institutions. The case of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region can be distinguished from two perspectives. First, MENA countries lag behind other developing countries in implementing reforms. Second, the institutional, political, and economic nature of these countries shapes their decisions regarding the adoption of reforms. This thesis proposes to analyze reform adoption by taking into account the institutional, political, and economic nature of MENA countries. We also aim to empirically test the effect of reform sequences on sector performance. The impact of telecom market restrictions on telecom performance is also addressed. Finally, we study the phenomenon of fixed-mobile substitution in the MENA region and its implications. We obtain empirical results that are used to develop policy options for the telecom sector in MENA countries.

Sociodemographics are transforming the world into an ‘archipelago of cities’, with over 70 % of the world’s population concentrated in urban environments by 2050. This trend brings as many threats (impact of pollution on public health, economic losses caused by congestion) as perspectives for new urban organizations. In this context, ‘smart cities’ are emerging. Although heterogeneous, smart cities have in common the optimization of data management to improve urban services, i.e. transport, energy, waste, habitat, health, education and culture. The issue of transportation crosses over all aspects of smart cities, whether in terms of urban design and social organization (more compact towns and distance work to reduce flows), or organizing new ways to manage vehicle capacities and infrastructure (shared fleets, car sharing, urban charging, road lane management), combined with the mid- or long-term dissemination of incremental innovations (electric vehicles) or disruptive innovations (autonomous vehicles). For the traditional automobile ecosystem (car and equipment manufacturers, etc.), the emergence of smart cities constitutes a potentially disruptive challenge with the calling into question of combustion cars in towns, new competition with other industrial players (information technology, community services, utilities, etc.) and the diversification of economic models (reliance on big data, less ownership, more service-rich).

The world is currently facing an energy market transition that is influenced by global economic growth dynamics, climate change negotiations, and increasingly volatile prices, among other factors. This rapid evolution of regulations and the macro-economy will transform energy demand conditions, requiring governments to acquire a growing set of quantitative tools to better assess the outcomes of their fiscal policies. This thesis addresses this issue by analyzing, through an elasticity-based approach, the different facets of energy demand in order to achieve sustainable energy consumption. This approach is complemented by cluster analysis, structural decomposition and various econometric tools applied jointly at the global and national levels. Particular attention is paid to modeling the demand of the subsidized markets, especially of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

This thesis is a micro-econometric study that aims to investigate the relationship between innovation, e-commerce and productivity. In order to achieve this objective, this work aims to identify the structure of firms that practice online sales. The present thesis is essentially composed of three studies in which statistical data are exploited that concern French companies of all sizes (micro, small, medium and large). The databases were constructed from the ICT and e-commerce, CIS, R&D and FARE surveys. The FARE survey provides additional financial statistics. The first study aims to determine the impact of e-commerce on productivity using a panel of data from 2008 to 2012. The data is analyzed using the Cobb-Douglas production function. The results show that e-commerce has a positive and significant impact on productivity during this period. Thus, e-commerce contributes to promoting the productivity of French companies. The second study aims to understand the motivations that drive microenterprises to adopt online sales and to evaluate their productivity. In this study, the Propensity Score Matching method is used. To evaluate the differences in productivity between, on the one hand, microenterprises that practice online sales and, on the other hand, those that do not use the e-commerce tool for the year 2012. The results show that the turnover generated by the microenterprises practicing online sales is higher, and they show a better productivity in comparison with the enterprises that do not practice it. The third objective is to determine the impact of R&D and innovation in ICT, especially e-commerce, on the performance of French firms in 2008. A variant of the CDM model (Crépon, Duguet and Mairesse) is applied. This study describes the link between R&D spending, e-commerce, innovation and productivity. The results show that R&D is an important factor for innovation, and ICT capital is also a key factor for e-commerce. Moreover, although both factors (R&D output specifically technological product/process innovations and e-commerce), positively affect productivity, the positive impact is more pronounced for innovation.

This research is a contribution to the reflection on the regulation of a Universal Service of telecommunications integrating the access to the Internet in an optics of maximization of the collective well-being. A first topic concerns the effect of an integration of a minimal level of bandwidth in the definition of the Universal Service. A second theme concerns the optimal choice of technologies to ensure the quantum of bandwidth defined by the Universal Service. A third theme concerns the impact of the amount of bandwidth on consumption, and therefore the bandwidth objective that the Universal Service must aim for in order to maximize collective well-being. The fourth theme is that of consumer surplus gains as a function of Internet access prices. These relationships are established on the basis of data from OECD countries, and we mainly seek to answer questions concerning the minimum level of bandwidth, as well as the optimal choice of technologies from an economic theoretical analysis. On the other hand, questions concerning the impact of the amount of bandwidth on consumption and surplus gains by consumers are targeted through an econometric analysis.

Smart grids are considered as an efficient way to accommodate more renewable energies, to better control demand, to improve the operating conditions of the electrical system, to increase its performance and to facilitate the development of new uses such as the electric vehicle. However, these potential benefits of the smart grid also bring uncertainties for the electrical system and its actors. The thesis is part of the GreenLys project (a smart grid demonstrator addressing innovations from the energy producer to the consumer, including the actors of the transmission and distribution network). The objective of this study is to propose technical and economic steps for the transition to the smart grid by 2050.In the perspective of this thesis, three uncertainties that can significantly influence future investment strategies are addressed in three separate models. The three models are applied to the GreenLys scenarios (a conservative 'Grenelle' scenario that respects the European energy commitments and a more ambitious '100% RE' scenario that aims at 100% renewable electricity production) to propose smart grid investment tiers and recommendations. First, the uncertainty in the regulation of the public distribution network is studied in a model using a real options approach combined with a fuzzy logic algorithm. Second, a real options approach based on a classical binomial tree is used to analyze the uncertainty on the evolution of the flexibility pool. Finally, the uncertainty on the information system costs is modeled in a Monte-Carlo based algorithm.

This thesis is an assessment of the overall technical and economic mitigation potential in Chinese agriculture and the conditions necessary for the formation of a carbon price in this sector. The scope of the research includes emissions from croplands and in particular those related to the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. It is based on the construction of a marginal abatement cost curve (MACC), which provides a rational framework for combining biophysical and economic data to reflect mitigation costs. This tool aggregates the mitigation potential from applying a subset of cost-effective measures above a designated baseline. An analysis of China's climate policies reveals that agriculture is almost absent from the national mitigation strategy. We therefore intend to examine the feasibility, from a technical, economic and political perspective, of integrating agriculture into domestic mitigation policies. First, the trend and methods of calculating emissions are assessed to determine a rigorous approach to constructing baseline scenarios from business-as-usual projections for 2020. Second, we identify nine mitigation measures for cultivated soils, assess their abatement rates and future applicability beyond the baseline scenario to obtain a total technically feasible mitigation potential. Their translation into economic potential is then made by comparing the implementation costs of different mitigation options relative to conventional agricultural practices. The MACC results show that agriculture offers a significant mitigation potential, which could offset about one third of the baseline emissions and of which one third could be achieved at negative cost to farmers. Finally, we examine the use of economic instruments to reduce emissions at least cost in the agricultural sector. Given the institutional, behavioral, and social barriers, we strongly suggest reforming the fertilizer subsidy system to send a clear policy signal to farmers. The use of carbon intensity as a standardized benchmark is recommended to improve and broaden access to offset projects, and may also set the stage for a possible experimental emissions trading program in agriculture. Consistent with the priority of protecting food security in China, case studies of regional grain production are introduced in all these steps, including analysis of the greenhouse gas intensity of production in each province, the regional potential for reducing emissions from nitrogen fertilizer use, as well as the disparity in implementation costs in some regions.

The physical architecture of power grids and the organizational structures of the power industries that have emerged as a result of reforms have been designed primarily around the characteristics of transmission infrastructure and generation assets. However, the new energy transition challenges, coupled with advances in communication and automation equipment, argue for greater involvement of decentralized generation activities and end consumers. We note that electrical systems are on the verge of major evolutions that share a double characteristic. The first is that these changes will require considerable capital investments to adapt and modernize the distribution networks. The second is that the activation of the downstream part of the electricity chain will release economic efficiency gains that are currently untapped, but will also bring new constraints. Based on this observation, the objective of this thesis is twofold. First, we propose a theoretical analysis of the regulatory instruments that frame and guide the expenditures of network operators. Based on the literature, we seek to characterize the regulatory tools that are best suited to investment in smart technologies. Since it is necessary to confront the theoretical analysis with the facts, we undertake to identify the key economic efficiency gains expected from the generalization of smart grids. We illustrate each of these gains with an empirical study that allows us to compare the results of our theoretical analysis to existing regulation schemes and to formulate a number of recommendations.The second objective of the thesis focuses on the impacts of the diffusion of demand-side management programs. The reasoning adopted is based on two observations. Important benefits are expected from substantial reductions in peak demand, reductions that translate into reduced profit opportunities for producers. The aim is to estimate the gains and losses that can be expected from demand management. To do so, we develop and use an optimization model in which we integrate several interconnected countries with differentiated generation fleets.The thesis shows that the currently dominant regulatory frameworks are limited in their incentive scope to promote efficient investment in the technology, which is likely to delay its introduction. Quantifying the impacts of demand-side management shows that significant efficiencies can be achieved through the generalization of these measures. However, they pose new problems in the remuneration of existing and future capacity adequacy, and highlight the potential antagonism between loss of revenue for the most reactive peak units and the development of low-carbon energies.Clearly, the questions raised by the development of smart grids require an informed political debate, as the electricity industry is essential to our societies. Among the considerable number of issues to be addressed, questions about the financing of investment projects and the inclusion of new sources of flexibility brought about by the adoption of the technology in the liberalized electricity markets will figure prominently.

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The thesis analyzes the effects of regulation on the systematic risk of a panel of 17 large European telecommunications operators between 1997 and 2012. The regulation/risk relationship is studied from three perspectives: (i) via the modification of the firm's revenue distribution, (ii) the promotion of competitive intensity, and (iii) the operators' financial structure choices. A model of the impact of regulation on the firm's financial structure shows that the strategic increase in debt can increase or decrease systematic risk. Three risk estimation methodologies are used: OLS and Kalman filter without and with TGARCH effect. The three aspects of the risk/regulation relationship are then addressed via a panel data study (covering financial ratios, competitive intensity, regulatory intensity and regime) and then by assessing the risk response to announcements of changes in the European regulatory framework (event study).

Confidential thesis until 14/12/2019. Our thesis focuses on the Europeanization of the European energy system. By European energy system, we understand a set of 28 national policies, built in a European normative framework governed by the principle of primacy of Community law. Within this energy system, we have focused on the issue of energy security. Our research has shown that Europeanization through norms works.

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The price of PV modules has fallen below $1/Wp in many countries. Non-module prices have become critical factors to assessing PV system economics. This study sets out to review the price of residential PV systems in a comprehensive manner while looking for cost drivers to improve their economic competitiveness. The relation between the market size and price drop in the non-module sector is reviewed in this paper. In addition, this article investigates opportunities for using policy instruments to help reduce non-module costs of PV systems in Europe (e.g. standardization, etc.). In doing so, it shows how harmonized policy instruments on a regional level can reduce non-module prices of residential PV systems in Europe by benefiting from the experience of German practice (e.g. low nonmodule prices) and the size of the European market.

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A growing number of academic studies and reports from international organizations point to an increased dependence of new energy technologies on a category of resources often referred to as rare metals. At the same time, concerns have been raised for several years about the economic availability of these metals for the energy transition needed to combat global warming. The objective of this thesis is therefore to highlight all the constraints and risks involved in the frequent and widespread use of these metals in new energy technologies. The first part of the thesis is devoted to the indicators and theories related to the long-term economic availability of a non-renewable resource while highlighting a set of common traits shared by rare metals. The second part of this thesis demonstrates the risks attached to a lack of price elasticity in the supply of rare metals due to a by-product constraint. It also provides an in-depth analysis of the causes and consequences of the absence of a futures market for almost all of these rare metals. Finally, its last chapter proposes to explore the very strong connection between the energy sector and the metals sector. It is shown that this connection is growing and that it implies the possibility of a vicious circle between ever less concentrated energy (with a growing metal content) and metals that consume more and more energy due to their depletion.

This thesis studies the European electricity market. The first topic focuses on the interdependencies of electricity prices in the main European markets to assess the effectiveness of the reforms introduced by the European Commission to create a single electricity market. We use multivariate statistical methods (vector autoregressive model and Granger causality test). The second topic concerns the impact of the introduction of the derivatives market on the volatility of spot market prices through an econometric study with the GARCH model. The objective is to examine the stabilizing or destabilizing effect of derivatives on the volatility of electricity prices. Finally, the third topic analyzes the potential effects of the evolution of regulatory reforms on prices and security of supply as well as the interactions between the UK and EU reforms.

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Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have experienced strong market growth over the last decade. Since the mid-2000s, the increase in demand in line with policy supports in Europe has attracted the Chinese players into the PV manufacturing market. Chinese production soared in a short time and managed to quickly reduce the cost thanks to large-scale supply with mass-produced products. Faced with the global economic crisis, the European countries began reducing their policy supports that caused a decrease in the demand for PV installations. Despite such a market situation, Chinese PV manufacturers have continued to produce large quantities of solar PV products and thereby aggravated the global PV industry situation with a global supply–demand imbalance. China's rapid market expansion without domestic market development has brought unexpected results with an oversupply of PV materials and equipment in a global market and destabilized the PV market. It influenced the PV policy mechanisms of other countries. Many PV firms in the world have since gone into bankruptcy. China and Europe lately went through a trade dispute over the Chinese solar panel imports (dumping suspicion). In this context, this study aims to identify the PV policy mechanisms based on a multiperspective approach in Germany, Japan, and China. A systematic logical framework is proposed and then used to explain each country's PV policy strategy and results. Moreover, PV globalization impacts and interactions among them are studied using the international trade theory. At the end, this research also attempts to seek optimal strategies to improve the global PV mechanisms. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The development of shale gas and oil in the United States is a major event in the energy sphere, but also in the dynamics of globalization and in the geopolitics of the coming decades. This development is a warning for Europeans, both in terms of their energy policy and their industrial policy. It reinforces, in Europe, the obligation (and the risks) of an energy transition and, in particular, the indispensable efforts of energy efficiency.

Where does globalization lead the economy? In an attempt to answer this question, the authors extend the insights of the economist Charles-Albert Michalet by analyzing the spaces of globalization: global finance, stock exchanges, world trade - that "imperialism in reverse" -, European protectionist pressures, and the globalization of intellectual property. It is also about understanding how the main actors of globalization, the States and the Firms, overcome and maintain the crisis. Indeed, the competition between states to attract foreign investors feeds this crisis despite national innovation policies. For their part, firms, whose strategies are now part of a global reorganization of industry and services, are accentuating the flow of relocations and the relocation of activities. At the same time, new firms from the "South" are bursting into the world. The labor force must thus adapt to a new situation that goes from the financialization of firms to the individualization of remuneration.

This article analyzes the development of unconventional hydrocarbons, distinguishing between their "internal" effects, i.e., those that can be observed in the North American space, and those of an "external" nature, whether economic or geopolitical, that are spreading beyond these borders, particularly in Europe. The objective is, in particular, to determine the range of adaptations available to Europeans in order to cope with the increased competitiveness of the Americans. The essential conclusion is that, insofar as European companies will not be able to benefit from energy prices (gas, electricity) comparable to those in the United States, they must absolutely preserve their advantage in terms of energy efficiency.

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This book is a contribution to the French debate on the environmental and economic issues raised by energy problems: shale gas, the place of nuclear power, the efficiency of the energy system and the precariousness of users. The authors explain that choices must be made by each citizen on pain of an economic catastrophe.

ICT is a key performance factor in developed countries. This thesis focuses on the adoption of ICT and its impact on the performance of manufacturing SMEs in a developing country. Following a first part that presents the theoretical and conceptual framework, the rest of the thesis is organized into three empirical studies. The first study proposes a Probit model to identify the determinants of ICT adoption. Human capital is the most significant explanatory variable. Based on dummy-variable linear regression, Granger causality, Kruskal-Wallis test and Welch's ANOVA test, followed by corresponding post-hoc tests, the second study finds a strong statistically significant relationship between the level of ICT adoption and profitability. In a third study, several Probit models (simple, ordered and multivariate) were tested on different performance measures. We show, first, that ICT has a positive impact on productivity, profitability and competitiveness. Second, ICT, human capital and training are determinants of overall performance. Finally, the contribution of ICT to overall performance is strong when combined with skilled human capital. Ultimately, our empirical results showed a positive effect of ICT, human capital and organizational change on the performance of SMEs.

If the liberalization of the electricity industry calls for a very long time, such is the complexity of this industry, Europeans expect, after fifteen years, identifiable benefits in terms of price, innovation in associated services, environmental performance or security of supply. Rather than the evidence of progress, complexity - or even confusion - characterizes Europe's electricity industry today. The insertion of large-scale intermittent renewables amplifies the difficulty of progressing towards a simple and efficient electricity market regime. The vocation of the new European Electricity Markets Chair, which has just been set up at Paris Dauphine, is to enter into this complexity in order to explore second- and third-tier solutions that could improve the situation. The path is narrow, but it seems possible to us, in the European electricity space, to combine public coordination, market regime and social equity. This is done here around seven recommendations, some of which directly concern the challenges of the energy transition.

In a world where climate change has become a proven reality, it is clear that global energy consumption is currently on an unsustainable path. Humankind's insatiable appetite for energy has sparked a new crisis, and there is a deep uncertainty about what the long term physical, economic and social impacts of global warming will be. This revised and updated book examines the climate-energy equation in a post-Fukushima world, examining the implications of this crisis for energy choices and energy policies around the world.

"This book draws up an inventory of the strengths and weaknesses of the French energy model. On the plus side: unparalleled energy expertise and heritage. On the minus side: overdependence on hydrocarbons, an insufficient share of renewables, and prices that do not reflect the reality of the market. So how can we rebuild our model: should we lift the ban on shale gas to reduce our imports? What place for nuclear power in the face of global warming? Who will pay for the development of renewable energies and the associated transformations? Finally, how can we make our energy system more efficient and fight against growing energy insecurity? Citizens, consumers, professionals, we are all concerned to one degree or another by these questions. Breaking down a number of taboos - on prices, shale gas, nuclear power - this book sheds light on the issues at stake in the debate and highlights the opportunities of the necessary transition that is opening up to us." Source: 4th cover.

The trend in the global refining market is towards closure or reduction of capacity in Europe and North America while new consumer countries, such as some producing countries, develop their industry. In recent years, oil-producing countries have announced the construction of "mega-projects" for refining and basic petrochemicals. The question of where to locate refineries has been raised many times since the 1970s, and several strands of the literature offer elements of analysis depending on the economic and political conditions of the countries. The objective of this thesis is to understand the stakes and the limits of vertical integration of producing countries in the downstream oil sector, taking into account the evolutions and perspectives on crude oil supply, the localization of demand and the increased implementation of environmental policies. An empirical analysis of the oil and macroeconomic characteristics of the oil producing countries allows us to identify the theoretical investment framework in which the announced projects fit. The literature review allows us to understand downstream integration, but the development of certain projects is more difficult to explain. From these theoretical and empirical analyses, a typology of producing countries is proposed according to their investment strategies. In addition, in order to better understand the markets for these new projects, an econometric analysis of oil product prices on the major world markets is conducted. While the relationship between the prices of refined products and crude oil is significant, in line with the literature, the price hierarchy between products reflects a change in demand. A portfolio analysis is developed to identify the efficient industrial choices that a producing country can consider to ensure its economic development by controlling the exposure to the risk of variation of its revenues. With the increase in industrial and financial stakes associated with these new refineries, the cooperation of producing countries with international majors allows them to share the risk and meet their respective economic development challenges. Each of the parties masters certain production factors that are essential to the success of a project and which, when combined, increase the overall value of the project.

This 2013 edition of Climate Economics in Progress thus represents a contribution to the trial-and-error process in constructing and fine-tuning efficient economic tools for mitigating emissions and for developing adaptation strategies. While the content is indebted to the cooperation of our highly committed European corporate partners, we pay great attention to putting forward solutions that can help transform the social and political outlooks of our societies regarding environmental issues by means of economic tools.

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The automotive sector is increasingly dependent on plastics, whose price level and volatility have risen sharply over the last ten years, presumably due to changes in the price of oil, which is the main input required for their manufacture. This thesis aims to provide econometric tools to analyze and manage the risk of price variations of the main plastic materials used in the automotive industry. Using cointegration methodologies, we show that long-run equilibrium relationships and short-run dynamics highlight a transmission mechanism of production cost variations on the price of plastics located downstream of the production process. The existence of significant cointegration relationships between petrochemical and oil prices justifies the development of hedging strategies against production cost variations and the estimation of error correction models that allow for the refinement of price forecasts.

SOE reform is an important dimension of China's ongoing economic reform. This transformation has been carried out in different stages such as the modification of the "operations system" (1978-1992), the adoption of modern organizational principles (after 1993) and then the implementation of gradual privatization operations from 1998 onwards using MBOs. This evolution leads progressively to a modernization of corporate governance, a model in which the influence of the state and the employees is still prevalent. The purpose of our thesis, in this context, is centrally to analyze the effectiveness of MBO-type arrangements in managing the agency costs that conventionally result from the differentiation between ownership and control in firms. The analysis conducted in our thesis from this perspective shows that the reform undertaken in China has had paradoxical effects, by improving the incentive mechanisms on the one hand, but without allowing for a better selection of managers on the other. The use of MBOs in privatization processes has certainly reduced agency costs, but has not eroded the power of the state and the problems of insider control. In order to improve the corporate governance system in China, various observations are made in the thesis, concerning the monitoring role of independent directors, the education of private shareholders, the improvement of transparency of corporate disclosure in order to achieve effective internal governance and a fair external competition environment.

The interaction between technological, economic, strategic, organizational and regulatory innovations has contributed to a strong dynamic in the telecommunications sector. Its evolution can be characterized by two phases: a phase of modernization with the emergence of a competitive operator model, followed by a phase of convergence and increased globalization. In this context, we analyze the technological and managerial dynamics in the telecommunications sector, through two dimensions. On the one hand, we analyze the deployment and reconfiguration of relational assets, favoring competitiveness and innovation. These relational assets allow the establishment of positions and positional movements in a context of increasing competition and globalization. On the other hand, the process of internationalization of the industry, with the internationalization of operators, the globalization of technologies and standards, and the technological catch-up in emerging economies.

This thesis seeks to answer the following question: When and how does research and development become strategic for competitiveness, growth and development in less developed countries? To answer this question, it articulates its analytical framework around the concepts of interactive learning spaces, technological capabilities and co-evolution of technologies, institutions and organizations. This thesis proposes a theoretical model of technological catch-up based on interactive learning spaces and the impact of the institutional framework and environment on the acquisition of technological capabilities. Using the case study approach, this thesis seeks to analyze the opportunities and pressures that drive developing countries to improve their technological capabilities on the one hand. It seeks to understand the interactive learning processes that lead to this improvement. It goes on to examine the prospects for a developing country such as Morocco to catch up in the knowledge economy. It explains the opportunities and pressures in this new context and the technological capabilities needed to take advantage of them. Finally, this thesis concludes with policy recommendations for developing countries and a discussion of research needed to better understand the nature and role of interactive learning spaces in technological catch-up processes.

This thesis deals with the impact of the multiplication of broadcasting modes on the financing of French film production. During the 1970s, the crisis in cinema attendance caused by the arrival of television led to the implementation of a system of mandatory contributions by the channels to the financing of French films. Since the end of the 1990s, the multiplication of distribution methods made possible by digitization has been accompanied by changes in the way cinema films are viewed, both in a cumulative and a substitutional logic. The multiplication of the offer leads to a decrease in the appetence of cinema films on television, which translates into a decrease in the revenues generated by their broadcast. It follows that the level of contribution made by television channels to the financing of French cinema is less and less covered by revenues. We conclude that there is a mismatch between the regulatory system of support for the cinema by the channels and the evolution of the market, and we discuss possible changes in the financing of films.

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The deregulation of the banking market associated with the rapid and massive spread of new information technologies has transformed the banking industry, pushing both the existing banks and the new entrants to compete according to new criteria and new strategies. The Internet seems to favor the implementation of an important "commoditization" process. This research work consists of an analysis of the effects of the diffusion of the Internet on the evolution of the structures, the behaviors and the organization of the banking industry. The first part of the thesis presents the first factor leading to this diffusion, the development of a new financial innovation called "Internet banking". This first part studies the context but also the impact and the limits of this innovation. The second part of the thesis examines the effects of the second factor, the "shopbots", on the evolution of banking supply and demand. The analysis of the effects of a frequent use of shopbots (by Internet users) on the possibilities of developing a commoditization process in this industry is at the heart of our problematic. This empirical analysis studies the reaction of European banking actors through an examination of banking strategies of appropriation and protection of rents. These transformations are at the heart of industrial economics, and are the result of a major technological diffusion in a deregulated market.

Since 1991 and after 16 years of civil war, the authority of the Lebanese state has been gradually restored. Consequently, this long period of hostilities deteriorated the main aggregates of the Lebanese economy, causing the GDP to fall, the exchange rate to be fixed against the US dollar, strong inflationary currents, the reduction of purchasing power and the shrinking or even elimination of the middle class. This has stimulated an increase in poverty among the Lebanese population as a result of poor redistribution of national income. The substratum of this thesis will have been to address the savings factor and its relationship with growth. In addition, the effects of GDP, inflation and interest rates on savings have been analyzed and studied. Between 1974 and 2000, econometric analyses proved that the determinants of savings are GDP and inflation. Interest rates on deposits are the third most important factor. Between 1992 and 2001, additional studies were carried out and the following conclusions were reached: savings have a negative effect on investment and gdp because of the crowding out effect of a monumental public debt (185% of gdp). This situation is explained by the poor fiscal and monetary policies applied over the last decade. These policies have contributed to the increase in public debt, the unjustified increase in interest rates, the degradation of national production and consequently the impoverishment of the Lebanese population. The prominent conclusion of this research is that the decrease in the savings rate is a major obstacle to growth. Thus, a monetary policy that favors savings and imposes an appropriate budgetary and administrative management are strongly recommended.

Venture capital is a financial innovation. It constitutes a world of financing for innovative smes that reduces the crowding out effect that these companies are subject to both in terms of bank financing and capital markets. After an analytical review of the theories of financial innovation and a decomposition of the production process of the capital industry, the thesis proposes an analysis of its formation. This analysis is based on a grid that articulates the two dominant (and complementary) schemas of the theories of financial innovation: the theory of "financial innovation induced by the demand for new characteristics of agents" and "financial innovation induced by institutional constraints". These schemes allow, respectively, to highlight the new productive function of smes (and the resulting needs) and the action of institutions (public institutions, large firms and banks) as the main determinants of "venture capital" innovation. The relevance of these relationships is then tested on two models of venture capital formation: it appears that the American model, the matrix of venture capital, is specified by an induction by the demand for characteristics according to a logic of private innovation, while the French model is specified by an induction by the constraints of institutions according to a logic of public innovation.