Thomas Delemotte

Book

• The Employment and the Territory
with Francis Kramarz and Benoît Schmutz
Sciences Po Press, May 2021 (in bookstores: Fnac, Furet, Charlemagne .. )
Best Book in Economics (video) awarded by the French Economic Association (AFSE).

Abstract
This book reviews the economic literature at the interesection between economic geography and labor economics. The highlighting of local labor markets, where people resides and works, allows us to better understand why productivity and employment gap between territories. By taking into account the possibility of relocation of workers, we details the frictions they face in accessing in other territories. These insights provide a solid framework for analyzing the public policies implemented over the past 50 years to reduce spatial inequalities. They also provide a background to open up perspectives on how to redesign public intervention.
Presentations: Louis Bachelier Institute (Securing Career Paths), Ministry of Labor (DARES).
Media coverage: Le Monde, France Inter, Alternatives Économiques, BFM,
Acteurs Publics, Entreprise & Carrières, La Gazette des communes.
Presentation video / Slides / Thread / Summary

Published paper

• Inequality and Earnings Dynamics in France:
  National Policies and Local Consequences
with Francis Kramarz and Elio Nimier-David
Quantitative Economics, vol. 13.4 pp.1527-91, Nov. 2022.

Abstract
This paper provides new stylized facts about labor earnings inequality and dynamics in France for the period 1991-2016. Using Linked Employer-Employee Data, we show that labor inequality in France is low compared to other developed countries. It is mostly driven by women experiencing high earnings growth, in particular at the bottom of the distribution.
Then, studying labor earning within and between territories, we document a continuous decrease in inequality between cities, as well as between rural and urban territories. It is moslty the results of the formerly mention changes of women earnings in rural territories at the bottom of the wage distribution.
GID project organized by Fatih Guvenen, Luigi Pistaferri and Gianluca Violante.
Supported by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth
and the Minnesota Economics Big Data Institute
Presentation: Stanford Institute for Theoretical Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (online).


• The Origins of the Gilets jaunes Movement
with Pierre Boyer, Germain Gauthier, Vincent Rollet and Benoît Schmutz
Revue Economique, vol. 71.1 pp.109-38, Jan. 2020

Abstract
The Gilets jaunes movement (yellow vests) was unprecendented in France, for its highly decentralized origins and its use of social media. This paper presents the results of a geographical study on the areas where the Gilets jaunes movement first emerged. We show a strong spatial correlation between online mobilization (Facebook groups) and offline actions (map of the blockades). Using administrative data, we find that the issue of mobility (road speed, commuting distances) is an important explanatory factor for the initial growth of the movement.
Presentations: Paris School of Economics, Sciences Po, ENS Ulm, CREST.
Media coverage: France Inter, Le Figaro, Alternatives Économiques, Le Parisien, Libérartion
Working Paper / PDF

Working Papers

• Mobilization without Consolidation:
  Social Media and the Yellow Vests Protests
with Pierre Boyer, Germain Gauthier, Vincent Rollet and Benoît Schmutz

Abstract
How do social media affect the way protest movements unfold? Drawing from the Yellow Vests episode in France, we show that the ease of coordination on social media may come at the expense of the ability to structure coherent political movements. Both daily time-series and instrumental variable estimates suggest that protests were planned online and later reinforced online activism. However, protests rapidly subsided, while a textual analysis of persistent online discussions reveals that anger at the government progressively replaced practical demands.
Presentations: ETH Zürich, Harvard University, Paris School of Economics, Paris 8, CREST, ULB Brussels, Boston University.
CEPR Discussion Paper 14780 / CESifo wp8326 / Thread

Work in Progress

• The Making of the Suburban Metropolis:
  Evidence from Paris (1960-2020)
with Corentin Trevien.

Abstract
Using historical data on travel time and commuting flows for the metropolis of Paris, we assess the impact of two major infrastructure programs: National Highways and the Regional Express Rail (RER). Although they contributed to a decrease in travel time in the overall networks, average commuting time of individuals has increased over the period.
We show a significant adjustment of residents and jobs location explained by relative gains in commuting access to the labor market opportunity of the metropolis. Network nodes (hubs, junctions) magnify labor supply incidence of commuting time that benefits the firms, while infrastructure length has fostered residents' remoteness in outer suburbs.
Presentations: CREST, ERSA-European Commission (JRC, Seville), Annual Conference of the International Association of Applied Econometrics (IAAE, Rotterdam), European Economic Association Congress (EEA, Copenhagen), Journées LAGV (AMSE, Marseille), Urban Economic Association (North American Meeting, Arizona).



• The Spatial Dynamics of Firms

PhD Thesis

• Anatomy of the Suburban Metropolis:
  Labor Earnings, Large Scale Commuting, and Social Discountent.
Abstract
The location of jobs and populations has changed signicantly over the last half century, with the rise of car use and the increase in commuting distances. It has led to emergence of the suburban metropolis. This model is now challenged by both increasing environmental concerns and social protests. This dissertation aims at contributing to this debate.
The first chapter shows how labor market reforms have contributed to the reduction of inequality between rural and urban municipalities, while the second chapter describes the contribution of new transportation infrastructures in the making of the suburban metropolis. In France, the Yellow Vests (Gilets jaunes) movement has been the emblem of the call into question of this spatial organization with many blockades in metropolitan outskirts. Chapter three provides suggestive evidence that the protests are tied to mobility constraints, and chapter four describes the dynamics of the movement, which has also developed its own on digital territories.
Defence : July, 5, 2022, Palaiseau X-ENSAE-CREST.
Jury members - President: Florence Goffette-Nagot, Referees: Laurent Gobillon et Clément Bosquet, Examiners: Yanos Zylberberg et Clémence Tricaud, Directors : Francis Kramarz et Benoît Schmutz.
Manuscript / Slides / Degree / thèse.fr