Postdoctoral researcher in economics in coastal risk areas

Employeur

The University of Bordeaux is a great dynamic and responsible university that cares about the well-being of its staff. Joining us means working in a privileged environment within a particularly diverse and open professional community, benefiting from welcome and inclusion schemes, training and internal mobility. It means participating in an academic, scientific and human adventure. It means committing to meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

Join the Bordeaux School of Economics of the University of Bordeaux (BSE)!

Bordeaux School of Economics is a joint research unit of the University of Bordeaux, CNRS and INRAE. This laboratory constitutes one of the main French research centers in economics and aims to contribute significantly to major contemporary societal issues.

BxSE aims to increase its visibility vis-à-vis the societal sphere, to strengthen its attractiveness for external researchers and PhD students and to instill a high-level interdisciplinary research dynamic.

As part of the IRICOT project included in the Risk Priority Research Program and Equipment (PEPR), we are recruiting a Post-Doctoral Researcher W/M whose work will focus on insurance and land arrangements in residential areas at risk.

This project focuses on the effects of climate change in coastal areas and aims to improve knowledge of its hazards, as well as to support risk management and promote the development of adaptation strategies.

Votre mission

According to the IPCC’s work, the coastline is facing increasing erosion and submersion, while remaining attractive, which increases pressure on land and real estate markets. social and environmental inequalities develop there.

The evolution of the climate is accompanied by an increase in claims and questions the evolution of our insurance system in these territories. If the increase in the natural disaster surcharge on January 1, 2025, allows for correcting the imbalance in the natural disaster compensation regime in the short term, its resistance to climate change in the medium term requires working on other levers [1].

It is recommended to encourage individual protective behaviors, which the CatNat mechanism struggles to do. The study focuses on incentive schemes to modify individual behaviours.

[1] Langreney, T., Le Cozannet, G. and Merad, M. (2023) Adapter le système assurantiel Français face à l’évolution des risques climatiques. https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/Rapport_final_Mission-assurance_climat.pdf

This project will study how devices combining insurance and other attributes (land) can limit residential location in a risk area, encouraging new residents not to settle there and current ones to move away from it.

Under the supervision of Mrs. Cécile AUBERT, Professor in economics Univ. Bordeaux – BxSE and Mrs. Jeanne DACHARY BERNARD Researcher in environmental economics, microeconomics and land economics INRAe – UR ETTIS, your mission will include the following components: 

# Modelling of individual housing decisions

You will ensure a better understanding of the interaction between housing markets and inequalities, depending on the type of insurance and prevention/protection efforts available.

•       For the current inhabitants of coastal areas, you will study their propensity to relocate according to different incentive attributes such as insurance or material (reserved land)

•       For potential future inhabitants, you will model the choices made by individuals, based on their wealth, when offered the opportunity to buy a property by the sea or in second line, as well as the possibility of taking out private financial insurance. This could be done under different scenarios concerning national solidarity (Catnat).

This analysis may give rise to forecasts concerning the impact of insurance on the housing market.

# Design of a hybrid incentive between public solidarity and private financial insurance

Such a hybrid incentive contract must allow for the modulation of coverage and premiums based on declared income, residential or seasonal use of the main or secondary residence, the date of acquisition of the property, the availability of adequate relocation, etc.

This analysis should be carried out within the framework of simplified versions of the individual decision models developed beforehand. The regulation should help to solve the sorting problems that make the standard design of insurance contracts unlikely to achieve the desired results. Equity issues, observability costs and fraud risks must be considered in the analysis. Some regulations may also not be legal under French laws.

In order to determine the desired outcome from a societal perspective, different scenarios for the current frequency and cost of disasters and their predictions, and the effectiveness and cost of preventive measures need to be considered. These scenarios must be based on existing data and expert forecasts.

The + of this position: the originality of the project lies in the articulation of theoretical and empirical approaches, and in the design of multi-attribute incentive devices to improve the mobility of agents based on their situation.

The specific subjects of study may evolve according to the skills of the recruited person and developments in research already underway. They include a priori the following elements:

-        Risk preferences [Economics of Risk and Uncertainty, Experimental Economics]

-        Moral hazard: the risk associated with the implementation of a public collective insurance (CatNat) does not encourage avoiding risky localization [Theory of Incentive]

-        Residential location choice and real estate/land market [Urban economy]

Vos atouts / Vos talents

Holder of a PhD in in Economics, you have proven knowledge of theoretical modelling, incentive theory and decision theory under uncertainty, moral hazard and anti-selection as well as empirical studies, preference evaluation, choice experiments, discrete choice simulations.

•       You are autonomous in organizing your work

•       Analytical mind an ability to synthetize

•       You are familiar with certain tools for conducting this type of study and are interested in training yourself on new techniques

•       You have a strong appetite for interdisciplinary work

•       You have excellent writing skills

Do you recognize yourself? Apply!

More information:

By joining this project, you will work within a group of 14 partners specialized in coastal dynamics in environmental sciences (physics, geology, fluid mechanics) and in human and social sciences (history, economics, geography).

Based in Pessac, Gironde, FRANCE – access from Bordeaux by tramway line B (stop « Montaigne Montesquieu ») buses, bike.

The laboratory is near the city-centre of Bordeaux and about 60 Km of the Atlantic coast.

15-month fixed-term contract

Gross monthly salary: from 2750€ to 3000€ according to our salary grid

This position is located in an area covered by the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST) and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival be authorised by the competent authority of the Ministry.

Job Benefits:

50 days of annual leave from the first year

75% of the cost of a Gironde public transport pass covered

Remote working possible according to needs and organization of the service

Contribution to private healthcare insurance of 15€ / month

Subsidised meals

Leisure, sports and cultural activities for all staff

Disabled-friendly establishment

Possibility of staff parking

Sustainable mobility package for commuting between home and work

Welcome programme and training courses

Recruitment process: Applications are reviewed as they arrive.

Candidates selected for an interview will be contacted by the Recruitment Officer for a first pre-qualification phone conversation. An interview with the supervisor will then be organised by videoconference.

Interested applicants should send a CV, brief statement of qualifications and basis for interest in the position, listing of your relevant publications, and the email addresses of 2 appropriate references.