Benjamin Marx is nominated for the 2024 Meilleur Jeune Économiste Prize

Inspired by the American Economic Association’s John Bates Clark Medal, Le Monde and the Cercle des économistes, created the prize in 2000, to highlight the work of France’s best young economists and to make better known the multiple facets of economic science. On May 27th, they announced the laureate (Alexandra Roulet) and the three nominees of their 2024 edition - Fanny Henriet, Antonin Bergeaud, and Benjamin Marx (assistant professor at Boston University and affiliated faculty at the Department of Sciences Po). 

Benjamin's work lies at the intersection of political economy and development economics. In particular, he studies the cultural, institutional and political phenomena which condition the trajectories of economic development, in countries such as Indonesia, Kenya, Uganda, and Senegal. His research combines the quantitative methods of economics with the perspective and knowledge provided by other social sciences, notably history and political science.

His main areas of research include religion - an original facet for contemporary economics, underscored by the jury - democratic competition and voting behavior, as well as informal governance structures. He studies, for example, how Islamic institutions in Indonesia adapt to government policies and affect their implementation. He is also interested in the evolution of State functions during the process of economic development in historical contexts such as 19th century France.

His articles have been published in leading international journals such as The Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Economic Journal, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Financial Economics, and have been recognised with prestigious awards such as the Oliver Williamson Award Best Conference Paper in 2022.

With Benjamin's nomination for the 2024 "Meilleur Jeune Économiste" Prize, the Department's faculty members have been distinguished by the Cercle des économistes 13 times – seven faculty members are laureates of the prize (in 2023, Julia Cagé was the latest faculty member to win it) and another six have been nominated for it.

Congratulations to Benjamin Marx !

More about Benjamin Marx and his research

Read Le Monde's interview with Benjamin Marx (May 27th, 2024, in French)
More information about the 2024 Prize on the Cercle des Économistes' website (in French)

Benjamin Marx is Assistant Professor at Boston University (BU) since 2023. Prior to joining BU, he was a permanent faculty member at the Department and remains an Associated & Affiliated Faculty member. He is also affiliated to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). He holds a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).