Head : Olivier Bargain
The researches conducted in this departement deal with the foundations and the modalities of public interventions.
Some of the researches aim at enlightening the ethical and philosophical underpinning of public policy. The research that are conducted here are often located at the boundary of philosophy and econonomics, and may also deal with the history of economic thought. Examples of research themes include the optimal public organization (e.g. Federalism vs Unitary), Inequality measurement, Equality of opportunities, Ethics, etc.
Concerning the modalities of public intervention, researches are more conventionally located in the field of economics. They concern taxation, local public economics as well as public intervention in environment and health.
The department runs the pluridisciplinary seminar "Law, Economics and Philosophy", in collaboration with the CEPERC , and the "Laboratoire de Théorie du Droit".
The seminar’s organizers are Philippe Grill (GREQAM), Gilles Campagnolo (CEPERC) and Jean-Yves Chérot (Laboratoire de Théorie du Droit). This seminar is usually organized at the Schuman building in Aix-en-Provence on Wednesday.