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Working Papers

Working Papers de l'année 2025

Georges Casamattay and Helmuth Cremerz (April 2025) : Tax avoidance and commodity tax differentiation

We examine the optimal combination of direct and indirect taxes in the presence of tax avoidance.
Our findings indicate that linear commodity taxes should be included in the optimal tax
mix, even when they are subject to avoidance and when the conditions of the Atkinson-Stiglitz
theorem hold. This is because taxing consumption—despite the possibility of avoidance—enhances
the ability to screen true income, whereas income taxation alone depends solely on reported income.
Additionally, we show that when utility is weakly separable, tax rates should be positive
and uniform across goods if the subutility function is homothetic, leading to linear Engel curves.
However, when Engel curves are nonlinear, commodity taxes need not be uniform. Furthermore,
the optimal taxation of luxuries versus necessities depends on the distribution of productivity
levels.

Keywords: direct and indirect taxes, avoidance

Working Paper TerRA n°27

Dominique Prunetti, Eric Innocenti, Ghjuvan’Dumè Maraninchi, Corinne Idda, Claudio
Detotto, Yuheng Ling, Dawn Cassandra Parker : Evaluation of Development Policies of a Tourist Territory Confronted with Intensive Urban Development using a Multi-Agent Modeling

This article employs an agent-based model to quantify how five alternative policy packages reshape land prices, urban form and ecological pressure in Corsica—a Mediterranean island where tourism intensifies competition for scarce coastal land. The model couples housing and tourist-rental markets with heterogeneous household and investor behaviour calibrated on 2010–2022 micro-data. We compare a Business-as-Usual baseline with: (i) a blanket ban on tourist-rental investments (BTRI); (ii) a 20 % tax on tourist-rental incomes (TTRI); (iii) a coastal-setback zoning that restricts new tourist-rental investments to sites located between 1 km and 50 km from the shoreline; and (iv) a CBD-buffer zoning that applies the same 1–50 km distance rule around the central business district. Linear-regression analysis of 2 500 Monte-Carlo runs shows that, ceteris paribus, the TTRI and Coastal-Zoning scenarios cut mean simulated coastal land prices by 12–18 % and reduce intra-island price inequality while preserving aggregate housing-stock growth. Conversely, the blanket ban displaces development towards ecologically sensitive upland areas and erodes local tax revenues. These findings highlight the importance of combining market-based and spatial instruments to reconcile economic vitality with ecological integrity in tourist territories. Beyond Corsica, the modelling framework is transferable to islands and coastal regions facing similar land-use tensions.

Keywords: agent-based modelling, land use change, coastal governance, tourist rental, policy mix, Corsica

Working Paper TerRA n°26

Daniel Brunstein, Georges Casamatta et Sauveur Giannoni (07/02/2025) : Using machine learning to estimate the heterogeneous impact of Airbnb on house prices : Evidence from Corsica

This study investigates the influence of Airbnb on property prices in Corsica. Leveraging machine learning techniques, we obtain more robust results than those achieved with conventional methods and uncover heterogeneous effects of Airbnb on property values. Our analysis reveals that a 1% increase in Airbnb listings leads to an average 0.21% rise in house prices. Interestingly, this effect is more pronounced in economically less developed regions, such as inland municipalities and remote seaside resorts, compared to traditionally popular tourist destinations and urban areas.

Keywords: Short-term rental; Housing market; Machine learning; Heterogeneous effects.

Working Paper TerRA n°25

Working Papers de l'année 2024

Antoine Belgodère et Georges Casamatta (02/12/2024) Second home taxation: Assessing the impact of the 2015 French housing tax reform

Since 2015, French legislation has allowed certain municipalities to impose a surcharge on the housing tax for second homes. Using a synthetic difference-in-differences approach to assess the impact of this reform, we find that treated municipalities experienced both a decrease in the number of second homes and an increase in tax revenues relative to the control group. However, housing prices did not decline as expected. An analysis of changes in the use and status of second homes suggests that the apparent reduction in the number of second homes is largely due to strategic tax reporting rather than actual changes in property usage.

Mots-clés: Second homes; Housing taxation; Tax reform; Synthetic difference-in-differences

Working Paper TerRA n°24

Laura Ciucci (24/10/2024) Nature et rôle du transfert de technologie des universités et leurs effets localisés : un double éclairage France-Italie

Fondé sur le concept d’université-hub, ce travail analyse les rouages du transfert technologique (TT) au sein des universités et avec les acteurs régionaux. Pour ce faire, l’étude des universités de Strasbourg et Pise, basée sur des entretiens semi-directifs, se décline en deux parties.
Premièrement, l’organisation du TT et le poids de l’intervention publique sont décrits.
Deuxièmement, une étude des cooccurrences de codes les plus fréquentes permet l’identification de thèmes émergeant des discours et l’analyse de leurs interrelations.
Finalement, malgré des différences marquées, des problématiques communes se dégagent des deux universités : l’instabilité des politiques publiques, la fragmentation des efforts et les difficultés de croissance des spin-offs. L’article montre également les différents stades de développement du TT atteints par les deux universités. Enfin, malgré des interactions régionales
fréquentes, c’est la portée internationale des activités de TT qui semble prévaloir dans les discours.

Mots-clés : Université; Transfert technologique; Hub de connaissances; Innovation régionale; Entretiens semi-directifs.

Working Paper TeRa n°23

Working Papers de l'année 2021

Yuheng Ling (01/12/2021) A tale of two “AR” models: a spatial analysis of Corsican second home incidence

Spatial autoregressive (AR) models can accommodate various forms of dependence among data with discrete support in a space, and hence are widely used in economics and social science. We examine the relationship between spatial (autoregressive) error models and conditional autoregressive models, considered to be the two main types of spatial AR models. This topic is likely incomplete in the literature and is often overlooked by econometricians. To further develop and broaden this topic, we demonstrate that spatial error and conditional autoregressive models can be made equivalent via hierarchal models, but have different variance-covariance matrices. We then propose a

Bayesian approach, known as integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA), to produce accurate estimates for these models and to speed up inferences. We also discuss how to interpret model coefficients, especially estimates of spatial latent effects. We illustrate the two AR models with the proposed methodology in an application to the

second home incidence rates of Corsica, France in 2017. We find that both models can capture spatial dependence, but conditional autoregressive models perform slightly better and produce a higher spatial autocorrelation coefficient. We further illustrate estimates of latent effects by identifying several “hot spots” and “cold spots” in terms of second home incidence rates.

Keywords: spatial error model; conditional autoregressive model; hierarchical model; integrated nested Laplace

Working Paper TerRA n°22

Georges Casamatta, Sauveur Giannoni, Daniel Brunstein, Johan Jouve (25/05/2021), Host type and pricing on Airbnb: Seasonality and perceived market power

The literature on short-term rental emphasises the heterogeneity of the hosts pop- ulation. Some argue that professional and opportunistic hosts differ in terms of their pricing strategy. This study highlights how differences in market perception and in- formation create a price differential between professional and non-professional players. Proposing an original and accurate definition of professional hosts, we rely on a large dataset of almost 9,000 properties and 73,000 observations to investigate the pricing behaviour of Airbnb sellers in Corsica (France). Using OLS and the double-machine learning methods, we demonstrate that a price differential exists between professional and opportunistic sellers. In addition, we assess the impact of seasonality in demand on the size and direction of this price differential. Professionals perceive a higher de- gree of market power than others during the peak season and it allows them to enhance their revenues.

Working Paper TerRA n°21

Caroline Tafani, Santiana Diaz, Véronique Venturini (17/05/2021), Mieux caractériser les espaces vides : un enjeu pour un aménagement durable du territoire. Application à la commune de Corte, Centre Corse

L’urbanisation des « espaces vides » ou libres de toute construction est un sujet qui n’a de cesse de faire débat dès lors que l’on cherche à penser un urbanisme durable. En Centre Corse, territoire d’arrière-pays montagnard méditerranéen, ce sujet appelle une réflexion sur le maintien des formes urbaines dites traditionnelles (villages typiques). Pour éclairer la décision en la matière, nous proposons ici une méthode précisant la façon d’appréhender la mutabilité effective de ces espaces vides, considérant leurs configurations géographiques mais aussi leurs usages au travers du temps.

Mots-clés : urbanisme durable, Centre Corse, mutabilité, espace vides

Working Paper TerRA n°20

Alfred Stein, Claudio Detotto, Mariana Belgiu (20/04/2021), A spatial statistical study of the distribution of Sardinian nuraghes

The spatial distribution of nuraghes throughout the island of Sardinia still raises many questions. In this paper, we apply spatial statistical methods to investigate their relations with topographical features and with related objects nearby. We use the non-stationary G- and J-functions. To model interactions with topographic variables we use the non-stationary Poisson model. We find that the elevation of the nuraghes show a uniform distribution between 0 and 400 m, and with a peak in distances to water bodies of approximately 5 km. As expected, we found a clustered pattern, with clustering occurring in the mid-west, the center and the south west of the island. We further observed a very strong interaction with Domus de Janas, and a strong spatial interaction for distances in the range between 0 and 1000 m with the pre-Nuragic dolmens and menhirs, and the collective funerary structures, the so-called Nuragic Giant's tombs. We conclude that the study is useful to quantify spatial patterns of pre-historic sites, in particular if these occur in a great abundancy and provides new insight into the spatial relations of the different pre-historic objects and buildings.

Keywords: Dolmen, Menhir, Nuraghe, Spatial distribution, Spatial statistics

Working Paper TerRA n°19

Giovanni B. Concu, Claudio Detotto, Marco Vannini (18/01/2021), Drivers of intentions and drivers of actions: willingness toparticipate versus actual participation in fire management inSardinia, Italy

Changing wildfire regimes coupled with budget cuts are spurring increased involvement of communities and citizens in fire management programs. Policy making faces the task of understanding citizens’ willingness to participate and mobilizing will into actions. As there is no reason to expect that the same factors affect willingness to participate and actual participation in the same direction, policy making would require information both on citizens’ preferences over management programs and on drivers and barriers to adoption. In this paper we compare data on preferences from a latent class Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) with data on adoption of fire prevention and mitigation measures. The objective is to test if the same factors explain actual participation and willingness to participate in fire management programs. Results suggest that sufficient information for policy design cannot be gained exclusively from the DCE or the analysis of actual behavioural data as the sets of explanatory factors do not entirely overlap. However, two variables – knowledge of fire prescriptions and community’s capacity – can be used to influence both the adoption of prevention and mitigation measures and citizens’ willingness to participate in fire management. Policy makers can directly control these factors to nudge the public towards greater involvement in fire prevention and mitigation.

Keywords: Citizens’ participation; Willingness to participate; Drivers of preparedness; Latent class discrete choice experiment

Working Paper TerRA n°18

Working Papers des années précédentes

Georges Casamatta (24/06/2020), Optimal income taxation with tax avoidance and endogenous labor supply

Working Paper TeRa n°17

Georges Casamatta (18/05/2020), Optimal bequests taxation in the steady state

Working Paper TerRA n°16

Georges Casamatta (04/05/2020), Optimal income taxation with tax avoidance

Working Paper TerRA n15

Yuheng Ling, Claudio Detotto, Dominique Prunetti (03/02/2020), Spatio-Temporal Modeling of second homes dynamics in Corsica

Working Paper TerRA n°14

Yuheng LING (09/04/2019), Time, space and hedonic prediction accuracy evidence from the Corsican apartment market.

Working Paper TerRA n°13

Laura CIUCCI & Marie-Antoinette MAUPERTUIS (28/01/2019), Les activités de transfert de technologie des universités permettent-elles de réduire le gap technologique entre sphères académique et non-académique ? Une étude du cas italien.

Working Paper TerRA n°12

Steven B. CAUDILL, Claudio DETOTTO & Dominique PRUNETTI (25/01/2019), Bargaing power in apartment sales in Corsica : A latent class approach.

Working Paper TerRA n°11

Maria Giovanna BRANDANO, Claudio DETOTTO & Marco VANNINI (15/05/2018), In vino feracitas ! Efficiency of wineries in and out of Sardinia’s wine routes.
Working Paper TerRA n°10

Claudio DETOTTO, Laura SERRA & Marco VANNINI (12/09/2017), Did the establishment of specialised courts affect the frequency of business bankruptcy petitions in Spain ?

Keywords : bankruptcy, commercial courts, endogenous treatment effects, Spain.

Working Paper TerRA n°09

Claudio DETOTTO & Bryan C. MCCANNON (12/09/2017), Consolidation of Prosecutor Offices.

Keywords : crime, Data Envelopment Analysis, district attorney, ef- ficiency, jurisdiction, Propensity Score Matching, prosecution

Working Paper TerRA n°08

Anna BUSSU, Claudio DETOTTO & Laura SERRA (12/09/2017), Does slow and steady win the race ? An Italian case.

Keywords : probit; regular careers; commuter students; residential students; undergraduate.

Working Paper TerRA n°07

Olivier BEAUMAIS & Sauveur GIANNONI (08/06/2017), Insiders vs outsiders in the hotel sector : is it worth entering an official classification system ?

Working Paper TerRA n°06

Sauveur GIANNONI, Olivier BEAUMAIS & Caroline TAFANI (09/05/2017), Foreign buyers, price dispersion and local buyers eviction in bargaining markets.

Working Paper TerRA n°05

Claudio DETOTTO, Marta MELEDDU, Marco VANNINI (09/05/2017), Cultural identity and willingness to protect and preserve art.

Keywords : Cultural heritage; Discrete Choice Experiment; Identity; Mixed Logit.

Working Paper TerRA n°04

Sauveur GIANNONI, Juan M. HERNANDEZ & Jorge PEREZ-RODRIGUEZ (13/04/2017), Market-segment targeting and long-term growth in a tourism-based economy.

Keywords : tourism-led growth, learning-by-doing, market-segment, re- juvenation.

Working Paper TerRA n°03

Claudio DETOTTO, Sauveur GIANNONI & Claire GOAVEC (22/03/2017), Does good governance attract tourists ?

Keywords : GMM, Governance, Panel data, Tourism, WGI

Working Paper TerRA n°02

livier BEAUMAIS & Dominique PRUNETTI (12/01/2017), Time for Waste, Waste of Time ? Assessing Heterogeneous Values of Time Spent Recycling Using a Latent-Class Rank-Ordered Logit Approach.

Working Paper TerRA n°01