Research

The courses taught at the Saint-Étienne School of Economics are taught by lecturers and researchers in economics, mathematics, computer science, management, law and political science. They are mostly from the GATE CNRS research unit, but also from the Institut Camille Jordan and the Hubert Curien, COACTIS and Triangle research units. All the lecturers from the GATE CNRS research unit are involved in the programmes offered by SE².

Fields of research developed at the GATE CNRS research unit

The GATE CNRS research unit specialises in describing and analysing individual and collective decision-making. In Saint-Étienne, particular attention is given to ethical and spatial dimensions.
The research unit in Saint-Étienne publishes articles on theoretical and applied economics, mainly on questions around game theory and cooperation between economic agents, resource allocation, standards and networks, as well as urban and geographical economics, competition policy and innovation. Our researchers also participate in public debates and produce reports based on their research (economic studies and public policy recommendations, for example).

The research carried out at the Saint-Étienne unit is classified under two main headings: “Game Theory, Collective Choices and Markets” and “Development, Institutions, Cities and Regions”.

Game Theory, Collective Choices and Markets

Researchers in the “Game Theory, Collective Choices and Markets” group work on producing solutions to collective decision-making problems. Their work focuses on designing tools that can be used to evaluate and support policy decisions in situations where needs are increasingly specific and individualised. Such situations include, for example, assessing conflict risks within an institution, measuring the power of an agent within a social network, designing voting or consultation rules, establishing prices for a public good, creating a mechanism for allocating a rare resource, or defining rules setting out responsibilities for pollution problems. These tools can also help solve matching problems, for example matching students and universities or organ donors and recipients.

Go to Game Theory, Collective Choices and Markets (fr)

Development, Institutions, Cities and Regions

Members of the Development, Institutions, Cities and Regions group use theoretical and empirical methods to conduct research in applied microeconomics. The main research topics are:

• The design and evaluation of public policies in the areas of labour, taxation, innovation, housing and health
• The determinants and consequences of urbanisation and the spatial organisation of economic activities
• The origins and consequences of violence and democratic forces.

Empirical research analyses data from surveys, and administrative, historical and geolocalised data using applied econometric or machine learning methods. Case studies cover both developing and developed countries. Theoretical research focuses mainly on the development of network formation models, urban economic models, and optimal taxation models.

Go to Development, Institutions, Cities and Regions (fr)

Other areas covered by the GATE CNRS research unit

Behavioural Economics

Research carried out by the Behavioural Economics group focuses on decision-making and social interactions. Three main areas are covered: ‘Institutions and preferences’ (formation of moral and social preferences, role of economic, emotional and neural mechanisms, institutional efficiency); ‘Cognition and motivations’ (role of mental processes, emotions and beliefs in processing information and uncertainty); ‘Incentives and organisation’ (role of identity, interactions between humans and robots, and artificial intelligence in organisations).

This group carries out laboratory and field experiments and cross-cultural studies, using cross-cultural and biological measuring tools and virtual reality.

The main research topics are:

• Unethical behaviour (fraud, dishonesty, lying)
• Incentives and peer effects in organisations
• Cooperation
• Cognitive and behavioural finance.

The members of the Behavioural Economics group are involved in the activities of the University of Lyon’s LABEX CORTEX research group.

Go to Behavioural Economics (fr) 

Macroeconomics, Finance and History of Economics

This group carries out research in three main areas related to monetary economics.

Macroeconomics of cycles and economic policy
Research into the macroeconomics of cycles examines the transmission of business cycles in open and financialised economies and looks at how monetary policy and central bank communication policy can affect economic outcomes. The analyses are based on empirical and experimental tools, as well as theoretical ones, in particular dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) modelling.

Finance and banking
Banking issues are addressed using industrial finance and network design tools, taking an original experimental approach.

History of economic analysis
Research into the history of macroeconomics focuses on the foundations of monetary policy and the history of banking practices.

Go to Macroeconomics, Finance and History of Economics (fr)

Go to the main GATE CNRS research web page (fr)