Essay on four issues in public policy evaluation[Essai sur quatre problèmes d’évaluation de politiques publiques]

This dissertation proposes four independent evaluations of French public policies, using recent micro-econometrics methods. After a first chapter that presents a summary in French, the second chapter studies the impact of the French "ecological bonus/malus" (feebate) policy on total CO2 emissions. As the policy was implemented in a very span of time, it provides a credible source of identification for the sensitivity of consumers to financial incentives. The estimates suggest that the policy has a negative impact, as it increases total CO2 emissions. The third chapter examines the capacity of fiscal policies to foster employment and economic activities in targeted areas, through the French ZFU (enterprises zones). With precise local data we could evaluate the impact of tax exemptions provided to firms implemented in the second wave of enterprise zones. Enterprise zones have a significant but small impact on business creation and employment by comparison with other similar disadvantaged areas. The fourth chapter considers consequences of temporary contracts on professional trajectories. A dynamic fixed-effect model is used to deal with unobserved heterogeneity. According to these estimates, fixed-term contracts significantly increase the transition intensity to permanent contract relatively to unemployment. By contrast, temporary agency work does not significantly improve transition to regular jobs. The fifth chapter deals with the impact of minimum wages increases on earnings inequalities. Estimates suggest significant but small on earnings distribution.