European integration assessed in the light of the 'rules vs. standards debate'

The interplay of various legal systems in the European Union (EU) has long triggered a debate on the tension between uniformity and diversity of Member States' (MS) laws. This debate takes place among European legal scholars and is also paralleled by economic scholars, e.g. in the ambit of the 'theory of federalism'. This paper takes an innovative perspective on the discrepancy between 'centralized' and 'decentralized' law-making in the EU by assessing it with the help of the rules versus standards debate. When should the EU legislator grant the national legislator leeway in the formulation of new laws and when should all be fixed ex ante at European level? The literature on the 'optimal shape of legal norms' shall be revisited in the light of law-making in the EU, centrally dealing with the question how much discretion shall be given to the national legislator; and under which circumstances. This paper enhances the established decisive factors for the choice of a rule or a standard in a national setting (complexity, volatility, judges' specialization and frequency of application) by two new crucial factors (switching costs and the benefit of uniformity in terms of information costs) in order to assess law-making policies at EU level

Bayesian Action–Perception Computational Model: Interaction of Production and Recognition of Cursive Letters

In this paper, we study the collaboration of perception and action representations involved in cursive letter recognition and production. We propose a mathematical formulation for the whole perception–action loop, based on probabilistic modeling and Bayesian inference, which we call the Bayesian Action–Perception (BAP) model. Being a model of both perception and action processes, the purpose of this model is to study the interaction of these processes. More precisely, the model includes a feedback loop from motor production, which implements an internal simulation of movement. Motor knowledge can therefore be involved during perception tasks. In this paper, we formally define the BAP model and show how it solves the following six varied cognitive tasks using Bayesian inference: i) letter recognition (purely sensory), ii) writer recognition, iii) letter production (with different effectors), iv) copying of trajectories, v) copying of letters, and vi) letter recognition (with internal simulation of movements). We present computer simulations of each of these cognitive tasks, and discuss experimental predictions and theoretical developments

Politique Temporellement coherentes et theorie des jeux dynamiques: un essai de clarification.

THEORIE DES JEUX

Modes d'indemnisation du chomage, niveau du chomage et croissance.

CHOMAGE;ASSURANCE CHOMAGE

On the Smoothness of Optimal Paths.

We study the differentiability of order k greater than or equal to 1 of optimal trajectories of dynamic economic models with respect various parameters like initial stock, discount rate, ... We use the framework of Babach spaces of sequences and we use Differential Calculus on operators between these spaces. We obtain an alternative condition to the classical Block Diagonal Dominant condition.ECONOMIC MODELS ; DISCOUNT RATE ; OPTIMAL CONTROL

Cash-in-Advance Constraints in the Diamond Overlapping Generations Model: Neutrality and Optimality of Monetary Policies

This paper is a study of money in overlapping generations models with cash-in-advance constraints a la Champ and Freeman and Hahn and Solow. We first offer a brief review of different features of the cash-in-advance constraint. Then we propose a general formulation. We show that neutrality of money prevails when the ratios of lum-sum monetary transfers and public expenditures to the money supply do not depend on the money growth rate.MONEY ; MONETARY POLICY ; GENERATIONS

Debt Neutrality and the Infinite-Lived Representative Consumer.

In this paper, we study the intertemporal equilibria of an infinite-lived representative agent model with public debt. We show that for a given path of government expenditures, there generally exist a continuum of equilibria depending on various debt policies.PUBLIC DEBT ; MODELS ; GOVERNMENT ; CONSUMPTION

Seigneuriage et financement d'un bien public.

Dans ce document, on itudie le seigneuriage dans un modhle ` ginirations imbriquies avec contrainte de liquiditi. La monnaie criie par le gouvernement sert ` financer un bien public. On considhre d'abord le cas oy c'est le seul instrument de financement, le bien public correspondant ` un seigneuriage pur. Le montant de bien public est alors igal ` la valeur rielle prilevie par le gouvernement ` l'aide de la criation monitaire. Nous mettons en ividence une "courbe de Laffer" du seigneuriage, ou, a partir d'un certain niveau de creation monetaire, la valeur de la monnaie creee diminue et tend vers zero. L'optimum social dynamique depend fondamentalement du choix du facteur d'actualisation social. C'est un optimum de second rang, obtenu sous forme explicite. L'introduction d'instruments de politique economique supplementaires, les transferts forfaitaires, permet de realiser l'optimum social de premier rang, ou les distorsions monetaires sont totalement neutralisees. Pour cela, il faut que le rendement reel de la monnaie soit egal au rendement des investissements dans les firmes. C'est la regle de Friedman dont la realisation impose que le gouvernement detruise de la monnaie en sorte que le taux de deflation soit egal au taux d'interet.FINANCEMENT ; BIENS PUBLICS ; SEIGNEURAGE