The research in economics at CORE is quite diverse, but researchers share the view that any research, should it be applied or empirical, should be grounded on robust theoretical foundations. While general equilibrium and game theory were the dominating themes when CORE was founded, current research is mostly directed towards applications of theory to a broad variety of problems of market regulation and the organization of the public sector.
Industrial Organization
Faculty: Paul Belleflamme, Claude d'Aspremont, Julio Davila, Jean Gabszewicz, Jacques Thisse
- Product differentiation: Monopolistic competition in general equilibrium. Applications to international trade and economic integration; Economic geography models
- R&D and innovation: Cooperation and competition in R&D; Inforamtional spilloveros in industrial districts; R&D and market structure; Globalization and R&D; Patenting and licensing; Piracy; Intellectual property rights dynamici efficiency
- Superstar firms: Mergers, cartels and endogenous coalition formation in industrial change; Mixed market structures
- Regulation of oligopolistic markets: Networks and public utilities; Natural oligopolies; Mixed oligopoly; Antitrust policy
- Regional policy: Competition and agglomeration; Trade and regional issues
- Geography, population and development
- Oligopoly theory: Aggregative games, price, quantity competition; Computation of equilibria for oligopolistic industries
- Multi-sided markets: Competition, regulation, platform strategies
Public Economics and Political Economy
Faculty: Julio Davila, Jacques Drèze, Jean Hindriks, François Maniquet, Pierre Pestieau
- Optimal fiscal policies and limits to redistribution: International tax competition with mobile factors; Fiscal federalism; Fiscal integration and regional decentralization
- Static and dynamical effects of capital taxation
- Economics of social security and pension systems: Pay as-you-go schemes; Pensions in Belgium and Europe
- Public finance
- Voting behavior and party competition and hteir effects on various aspects of public policy
- Efficiency in the public sector: Methodological and applied issues in the measurement of performance; Incentives for public firms and services
- Fertility and education
- Moral hazard in health insurance
- Bargaining over public goods provision
Environmental Economics
Faculty: Julio Davila, Thierry Bréchet, Henry Tulkens
- Transfrontier pollution and international negociations
- Theory and simulation of economico-ecological models
- Choice of economic instruments in environmental policy
- Endogenous coalition formation and application of cooperative game theory to climate change policy negotiation
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Environmental externalities
Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory
Faculty: Claude d'Aspremont, François Maniquet
- Mechanism design: Incentives in collective decision-making; Design of economic and political institutions
- Foundations of utilitarianism
- Axiomatics of llocation mechanisms
- Intergenerational equity
- Collective household models
- Foundations of well-being measurement
- Poverty economics
General Equilibrium
Faculty: Julio Davila, Jacques Drèze
- Multiplicity of equilibria; Temporary equilibria; Nominal rigidities
- Market incompleteness; Stock market and expectations
- Production efficiency; Efficient factors' productivity
- Endogenous longevity; Endogenous population and human capital
Game Theory
Faculty: Pierre Dehez, Vincent Vannetelbosch
- Cooperative games: Shapley value and the core (theory and applications)
- Game-theoretic modeling of network formation; Learning and networks; Diffusion through networks; Networked markets; Networks and cooperative games
- Bargaining Matching: Coalition formation and cooperative games
- Equilibrium refinaments and selection; Games of incomplete information; Dynamic and stochastic games
- Algorithmic game theory and their economic applications; Behavioral game theory and their experiments
- Market incompleteness; Stock market and expectations
- Production efficiency; Efficient factors' productivity
- Endogenous longevity; Endogenous population and human capital