Alan Kirman
Alan Kirman was educated at Oxford and got his PhD from Princeton. He has held chairs at the Universities of Brussels, Warwick, and the European University Institute in Florence and is a visiting professor at University College London. He is currently Professor in Marseille where he does his research at the GREQAM. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society and has been awarded the Humboldt Prize. He has published in the areas of mathematical economics, general equilibrium, social choice, game theory and international trade. His current research examines the functioning of different markets.
Papers Published in World Economics:
The Thirty-five Hour Working Week
The introduction of a reduced working week (RWW) in France has been widely condemned as an arbitrary additional constraint in an already rigid labour market. This article explores the origins of the law, and the reasons for the negative appreciation by economists of this measure. However, it goes on to suggest that the concessions gained by the employers in terms of flexibility coupled with the
state aid involved have resulted in an increase in labour market flexibility in France. This may explain the fact that, contrary to the predictions of many economists, the French economy is now growing faster rather than slower as
compared to the period before the introduction of the legislation, and that unemployment is falling.
Read Full Paper >