About Thema
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 120 members: permanent faculty, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, administrative and technical staff.
Our research is internationally recognized, with publications in the most prestigious peer-reviewed academic journals and sustained success in securing external funding for our research projects.
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.
Our missions
Advance 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 our research
Research at Thema covers a wide range of fields and topics in Economics, Finance, and Management. Read below about some of the key issues our researchers tackle. You may also browse through our academic publications, policy reports, and research projects.
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.
Photo credit: suphaporn, Adobe Stock
Public policies, inequalities, and democracy
We investigate how voting systems and collective decision-making shape socio-economic outcomes, combining 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.
Photo credit: Ministère français de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la recherch, CC-BY-SA-2
Firms and competition
How do firms, market structures, and contracts affect the functioning of the economy?
Our research focuses on the role of firms in economic efficiency and the social distribution of resources. We use marketing, management, and industrial organization to understand how firms’ behavior determine market outcomes, workers and consumers.
Photo credit: boonterm, Adobe Stock
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.
Photo credit: eakgrungenerd, Adobe Stock
Globalization and trade
How does globalization affect domestic economies and development trajectories?
We analyze the evolution of globalization in both developed and developing countries as well as its economic, social, and environmental impacts. We explore policies to make globalization more sustainable and inclusive.
Photo credit: william william, Unsplash License
History, institutions, and development
Our researchers investigate the role of institutions in fostering economic growth and development, using 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.
Photo credit: Ajin K S, Unsplash License
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.
Photo credit: Annika Wischnewsky, Unsplash License
Risk, strategies and markets
We examine how risk, strategic decisions, and market dynamics interact to shape economic outcomes, using tools from decision and game theory, microeconomics, finance, and econometrics, alongside insights from management and strategy.
We also address these research questions on specific markets with distinct characteristics, such as health and digital markets.
Photo credit: Tima Miroshnichenko, Pexels
Organization and governance
- Frédérique
- Bec
Director
- Pascal
- Belan
Deputy director
- Gorkem
- Celik
Deputy director
- Lisa
- Collin
