2025 Philippe Martin Awards Ceremony

On December 9th, during the Centre for Economic Policy Research’s 2025 Paris Symposium, the Department and the Conseil d’Analsye Économique (CAE) organised a research awards ceremony for the second time in memory of Philippe Martin, who passed away too quickly in 2023.

The Philippe Martin Awards perpetuate the commitment of Philippe Martin to helping young researchers in economics. 

• The Sciences Po & CEPR Philippe Martin Award rewards a paper written by junior scholars for its high-quality---pushing the frontier in the research themes Philippe cared about (international trade, economic geography or international macroeconomics/finance). 
• The Conseil d’Analyse Economique & Crédit Mutuel Philippe Martin Award rewards the best PhD thesis in economics in 2025

Thierry Mayer, Professor and former head of the Department of Economics, presented on behalf of the scientific selection committee, the prize-winning paper Industrialization and the Big Push: Theory and Evidence from South Korea. He then turned the floor over to Jaedo Choi (University of Texas at Austin), present in Paris to accept the award for himself and his co-author Younghun Shim (International Monetary Fund).

Their paper examines the relevance of one-time “big push” policy intervention as an instrument that could resolve “coordination failures” which can leave an economy stuck at an inefficient equilibrium with a low level of technology adoption. This sort of question is perfectly aligned with Philippe Martin’s deep commitment to ensuring that economic research informs public debate.

Korea implemented between 1973 and 1979 a large-scale industrial policy that temporarily subsidized the adoption of modern technology in heavy manufacturing sectors to spur rapid economic growth and secure high export performance. Relying on novel historical microdata, Choi and Shim’s work sets out to establish whether (or not) this policy choice was responsible for the rapid industrialization in Korea during this period.

The CAE & Crédit Mutuel Philippe Martin Award for the best thesis in economics, was presented by François Fontaine, member of the CAE, to Maddalena Conte (CREST – Institut Polytechnique de Paris) and Léonard Bocquet (Paris School of Economics).

According to the selection committee, the two theses stood out in helping us to better understand why labour markets are slow to adjust to major economic shocks, and where the levers for action by public authorities lie in concrete terms.

• Maddelena Conte’s thesis highlights the decisive role of professional networks, whether it be in access to housing or in the location of businesses, in creating inequalities between regions.
• Léonard Bocquet’s thesis focuses on career changes in the context of technological disruption. By building a ‘network of professions’, he highlights the crucial role played by a small number of ‘bridge’ professions that enable – or block – retraining.

Read the CAE announcement (in French)

The Department renews its congratulations to the 2025 laureates of both Philippe Martin Awards - this well-attended event was a wonderful opportunity to remember the legacy of Philippe to economics research.