Analyse positive de la politique des zones d'éducation prioritaire

The zep program is the main educational policy based on the principle of affirmative action implemented in France. This paper aims at explaining why this policy has produced little results proposing a model in which national and local governments interact in providing public education. Several outcomes may arise depending on both the relative efficiency of the inputs and the production spill over effects associated with human capital accumulation. In a first case the zep policy displays poor results both in terms of efficiency and equity. In a second case, it leads to a more homogenous distribution of human capital though implying a significant social cost in terms of efficiency. However, in a last case, the program seems to be able to overcome the traditional trade-off that characterizes most of redistributive policies.