A tribute to Denis Fougère

In memoriam

It is with profound sadness that the Centre for Research on Social Inequalities (CRIS) pays tribute to Denis Fougère, CNRS Research Director of Exceptional Class, a member of the laboratory since 2015 and an affiliated professor in Sciences Po’s Department of Economics.

A labour and education economist, and a specialist in public-policy evaluation, Denis Fougère developed a major body of scholarly work on employment, wages, training, education policies and educational inequalities. His research was characterised by a consistent commitment to rigorous econometric analysis, close attention to causal identification, and a determination to shed light on the concrete consequences of public policies—in employment, training and education—as well as on the conditions for reducing social inequalities at an early stage.

After beginning his academic career at the University of Toulouse, he joined the CNRS in 1989 and subsequently the CREST, where he directed the Microeconometrics Laboratory from 1997 to 2002. He joined Sciences Po in 2011 as a member of the Department of Economics and the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Public Policies (LIEPP). There, he notably co-directed the “Education Policies” research group, whose work informed discussions at the French Ministry of National Education and France Stratégie. Since joining CRIS, Denis Fougère made an important contribution to the dialogue between economics and sociology in the study of inequalities.

His research received wide recognition in France and internationally. He was awarded the CNRS Bronze Medal in 1993 and the Hicks-Tinbergen Prize of the European Economic Association in 2010 for his research on youth unemployment and crime in France. A member of the CEPR and IZA, he also played an important role in the training of economists through his teaching at ENSAE, École Polytechnique and Sciences Po.

CRIS will remember a colleague whose research, teaching, intellectual rigour and commitment to the collective life of the laboratory have left a profound and lasting mark on our community.

A selection of Denis Fougère’s publications is available on his Google Scholar profile.