Our research center
A dynamic international research center in Economics, Finance, and Management
Thema is a leading French research center in economics, finance, and management, jointly operated by CY Cergy Paris Université, ESSEC Business School, and CNRS. Thema is home to approximately 60 researchers, over 40 doctoral students, and a dedicated team of administrative and technical staff. It is currently directed by Eric Danan.
Our research is internationally recognised, with publications in the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals and sustained success in securing competitive external funding.
At Thema, we are committed to advancing frontier research that contributes to major scientific debates and remains deeply connected to real-world public policy challenges. Our work combines theoretical modelling, empirical analysis, and interdisciplinary insights to explore complex economic and social issues. Thema is also a lively intellectual hub, regularly hosting international conferences, workshops, and seminars that attract leading scholars from around the world.
What we do
Advance academic knowledge
We are a generalist research center in economics, finance and management, home to researchers at all stages, from graduate students to senior scholars, working together to produce high-quality, peer-reviewed research.
Support policy makers
We collaborate with public institutions, policymakers, and international organizations to provide insights that inform decision-making and public debate.
Engage with society
Our work tackles pressing societal challenges, from inequality and taxation to labor markets and global trade, with an emphasis on rigorous and policy-relevant analysis. It is regularly featured in the media, and we organize public events to make economic research more accessible.
Create synergies
We are open to ideas, methods, and perspectives that push the frontiers of our disciplines. Our researchers collaborate across disciplines and engage with global partners to address today’s most complex challenges.
Explore some of our research
How do our economic choices impact the environment? Can we design and implement policies that foster greater sustainability?
Our research seeks to answer these questions by combining expertise from fields as diverse as urban, public, international, or transport economics, finance, management, or marketing. We address pressing challenges such as reducing pollution, adapting to climate change, and promoting sustainable mobility.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Our research examines how education systems and labor market policies can foster both growth and social inclusion. We analyze the role of institutions and new technologies in shaping work opportunities and matching quality on labor markets. Our work also explores the polarization of the labor market, the evolution of inequality, and changes in job quality.
This research helps inform policies that prepare societies for the challenges of a changing economy.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Public Policies, inequality and democrcy
This research theme investigates how voting systems, and collective decision-making shape socio-economic outcomes. It combines empirical analysis with theoretical work in social choice theory to better understand the principles and functioning of democracies.
Our work also examines taxation and public finance, exploring their role in promoting welfare and reducing inequalities.
Photographie de Maurice-Louis Branger, reproduite dans L’Illustration, Domaine Public
How do firms and the design of markets and contracts affect the functioning of the economy?
Our research focuses on the role of firms in shaping economic efficiency and the distribution of resources in the society. We study marketing, management, industrial organization and market structures to understand how firm behavior affects markets, workers and consumers.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
How does globalization shape domestic economies and development trajectories?
This research theme examines the evolution of globalization in both developed and developing countries. We study its economic, social, and environmental impacts and explore policies to make globalization more sustainable and inclusive.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
How to foster economic development?
This research theme investigates the role of institutions in fostering growth and uses both macroeconomic tools and historical analysis to shed light on contemporary economic challenges. We also explore the history of economic thought to understand how and why economic knowledge and ideas have evolved over time.
Eugène Delacroix, La Libérté guidant le peuple, 1830. Musée du Louvre, Domaine public
We examine how risk, strategic decisions, and market dynamics interact to shape economic outcomes. We use tools from microeconomic theory, finance, and econometrics, alongside insights from management and strategy to study decision-making under uncertainty.
We also address these research questions on specific markets that have their own characteristics, in particular health markets and digital markets.
Caravaggio, The Cardsharps, c. 1594. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, Domaine Public
We investigate how households make economic decisions within diverse social, historical, and institutional contexts. Our work examines the distribution of resources within families, the factors shaping gender and social inequalities, and the relationship between individual decisions and the functioning of health markets.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Cities and environment
How do our economic choices impact the environment? Can we design and implement policies that foster greater sustainability?
Our research seeks to answer these questions by combining expertise from fields as diverse as urban, public, international, or transport economics, finance, management, or marketing. We address pressing challenges such as reducing pollution, adapting to climate change, and promoting sustainable mobility.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Work, labor markets and education
Our research examines how education systems and labor market policies can foster both growth and social inclusion. We analyze the role of institutions and new technologies in shaping work opportunities and matching quality on labor markets. Our work also explores the polarization of the labor market, the evolution of inequality, and changes in job quality.
This research helps inform policies that prepare societies for the challenges of a changing economy.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Public Policies, inequality and democracy
This research theme investigates how voting systems, and collective decision-making shape socio-economic outcomes. It combines empirical analysis with theoretical work in social choice theory to better understand the principles and functioning of democracies.
Our work also examines taxation and public finance, exploring their role in promoting welfare and reducing inequalities.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Firms and competition
How do firms and the design of markets and contracts affect the functioning of the economy?
Our research focuses on the role of firms in shaping economic efficiency and the distribution of resources in the society. We study marketing, management, industrial organization and market structures to understand how firm behavior affects markets, workers and consumers.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Globalization and Trade
How does globalization shape domestic economies and development trajectories?
This research theme examines the evolution of globalization in both developed and developing countries. We study its economic, social, and environmental impacts and explore policies to make globalization more sustainable and inclusive.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
History, Institutions, and Development
How to foster economic development?
This research theme investigates the role of institutions in fostering growth and uses both macroeconomic tools and historical analysis to shed light on contemporary economic challenges. We also explore the history of economic thought to understand how and why economic knowledge and ideas have evolved over time.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Risk, strategies and markets
We examine how risk, strategic decisions, and market dynamics interact to shape economic outcomes. We use tools from microeconomic theory, finance, and econometrics, alongside insights from management and strategy to study decision-making under uncertainty.
We also address these research questions on specific markets that have their own characteristics, in particular health markets and digital markets.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Households, Health and Socio-economic Equality
We investigate how households make economic decisions within diverse social, historical, and institutional contexts. Our work examines the distribution of resources within families, the factors shaping gender and social inequalities, and the relationship between individual decisions and the functioning of health markets.
Crédit Photo ©Photographe
Administration and reports
Directeur du Théma
M. Eric Danan
- 01 34 25 63 37
- lisa.collin@cyu.fr
Lisa Collin
- 01 34 25 63 37
- lisa.collin@cyu.fr
Secrétariat du Théma
Cécile Moncelon
- 01 34 25 60 63
- lisa.collin@cyu.fr
Imen Defferrard
- 01 34 25 23 21
- imen.defferrard@cyu.fr
Yolande Gustave
- 01 34 25 60 83
- yolande.gustave@cyu.fr
