This paper surveys the existing theoretical and empirical research on long term contracts inspired by the American experience. We analyze the role of take-or-pay clauses and price indexation rules, questioning whether regulation distorts optimal contract duration. The models we summarize allows...

This paper analyzes the role of private storage in a market for a commodity (e.g. natural gas) whose supply is subject to the threat of an irreversible disruption. We focus on the medium term in which seasonality of demand and exhaustibility can be neglected. We characterize the price and...

Cet article propose une réflexion sur l’action publique pour accompagner, orienter et réguler les transformations et les différenciations régionales face à la mondialisation. Les défis pour l’État sont importants dans la mesure où il existe, à côté des grandes agglomérations, des...

Face à la mondialisation et à l'élargissement de l'Union européenne, le groupe de travail présente les conséquences pour les entreprises françaises notamment pour la répartition des activités entre les régions, les évolutions possibles des économies régionales, l'emploi et propose...

The debate over a common European energy policy, its necessity and its establishment has been going on for a number of decades. The discussions have been recently brought back into the spotlight by the evolution of energy market fundamentals and the taking into account of environmental...

Twenty-one papers explore the accomplishments, limitations, and unmet needs of the field of new institutional economics. Papers discuss the theories of the firm; contracts--from bilateral sets of incentives to the multilevel governance of relations; institutions and the institutional...

Network industries are now characterized by a regime of permanent innovation, while they continue to be fixed and sunk cost industries, due to the high level of investments in R&D and infrastructures. Players in these industries need to coordinate their investments; hence a threat of collusion....

Regulators often do not regulate all firms competing in a given sector. Due to product substitutability, unregulated competitors have incentives to bribe regulated firms to have them overstate their costs and produce less, thereby softening competition. The best collusion-proof contract entails...