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International audience; Equity is often invoked as a possible justification for the imposition of universal service obligations (USOs). However, no previous analysis supports a formal link between equity and USO. In this paper, we describe the extent to which the im- position of USOs in oligopolistic network industries can meet the objectives of an inequality-averse regulator. We show that USOs can be used for equity purposes provided that the regulator is able to control the competitive structure of the industry. We also show that the uniform pricing constraint, which is an obligation to offer the same price conditions to all consumers, is welfare-enhancing but rather surprisingly, it does not necessarily improve equity.

A universal service obligation (USO) that imposes ubiquity and uniform pricing constraints generally creates strategic links among markets served by the universal service provider (USP). In this paper, we show that adding a unit subsidy in the compensation scheme of a USO helps to counteract the inefficiencies that result from these strategic links. Welfare obtained under different implementations of the USO depends on whether use of the unit subsidy is limited or not. In this respect, franchise bidding for the USO, where firms submit bids for lump-sum subsidies, is welfare-dominated by the exogenous choice of the USP and by pay-or-play regulation. Similarly, the second-best allocation can be attained through the endogenous choice of the USP’s geographic area of monopoly, provided the unit subsidy instrument is available.

The many surveys about information usages in academic environment tend to rest on the model of the generational digital divide, according to which the academic world is impacted from outside by the "digital natives" usages. As a consequence, they tend to evaluate students information practices according to the distance from the "good practices" as conceived by the mediators. A non-normative evaluation mode, based on efficiency, could give a better view on the diversity and inventivity of the strategies. Such an evaluation implies a new understanding of those information retrieval. Through three lines of questioning (knowledge of ressources, critical appropriation of interfaces, reassumption of subjectivity) we give a sketch for a new paradigm, that of a "fuzzy search" wich associates mastering the tools according to the relevance criteria with serendipity as implying the trained aptitude to greet the unexpected.; Les enquêtes sur les pratiques informationnelles en milieu universitaire tendent à reposer sur le modèle de la fracture numérique générationnelle, où le milieu universitaire est impacté de l'extérieur par les usages des digital natives, et à évaluer les pratiques des étudiants selon leur écart avec ce que les médiateurs estiment les "bonnes pratiques". Un mode d'évaluation non normatif mais basé sur l'efficience des stratégies de recherche permettrait de rendre mieux compte de leur diversité voire de leur inventivité. Une telle évaluation suppose une nouvelle compréhension de ces stratégies. A travers trois axes de questionnement (connaissance des ressources, appropriation critique des interfaces, réassomption de la subjectivité des pratiques) nous esquissons un nouveau paradigme d'une "recherche floue" qui associe la maîtrise des outils selon le critère de la relevance à la sérendipité en tant qu'elle suppose l'aptitude à accueillir l'inattendu