The Best Young Economist of France Award, organised by the Cercle des Économistes and Le Monde, aims at rewarding academic excellence, innovation capacity and contribution to the public debate.
The Best Young Economist of France Award 2014 was handed to Augustin LANDIER by Mario MONTI, Senator and President of Bocconi University, under the honorary patronage of the Senate Chancellor Jean-Pierre BEL. The ceremony, taking place at the Sénat, was also attended by Jean-Hervé LORENZI, president of the Cercle des Économistes, Jean-Michel Charpin, jury chairman, and Alain FRACHON, Chief Editor of the broadsheet Le Monde.
Among 34 applications from French economists working in various countries, the jury selected Augustin LANDIER and 3 nominees.
THE LAUREATE
- Augustin LANDIER
Aged 39, Professor at the Toulouse School since 2009, Augustin Landier studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure – Ulm, holds an agrégation in mathematics and a Ph. D. from the MIT. His academic production focuses on companies’ financial contracts with an emphasis on their incentive properties. He plays a major role in the economic debate in France thanks to the numerous articles and books published with David Thesmar (Laureate 2007). His work is often controversial, sometimes polemic within the Cercle itself but always well documented and rigorous.
THE NOMINEES
Concerned by the diversity of approaches, the Cercle des économistes and Le Monde put forward three candidates with a less theoretical background but closer to the economic life.
- Antoine BOZIO
Aged 26, Nicolas Bozio is head of the Public Policy Institute at Paris School of Economics (PSE). Alumni of the Ecole Normale Supérieur – Ulm, holder of a Ph. D. from the EHESS, he was awarded a prize for his thesis by the French Association of Economic Sciences (AFSE). He is a specialist of public policy rating which he carried out in the United Kingdom and France, in particular regarding the social aspect. Many regard him as a major expert on pension issues.
- Matthieu BUSSIERE
Aged 40, Matthieu Bussière is currently working for the Banque de France, after a period at the ECB. Holder of a Master from Cambridge and a Ph. D. from Florence University Institute, he notably published a large number of articles on unemployment.
- Elise HUILLERY
Aged 36, Elise Huillery is a full professor at Sciences Po. She studied at HEC and holds a Ph. D. from the PSE. She carried out development policies rating in Niger, Congo and Cameroun in a way similar to Duflo’s. She included history in her analysis by studying colonisation’s effect on the long run.
