Inspired by the American Economic Association’s John Bates Clark Medal, Le Monde, French daily, and the Cercle des économistes, created the prize in 2000, with a twofold objective: to highlight the work of France’s best young economists (under 41) who have contributed significantly to economic thought and knowledge and to make better known the multiple facets of economic science.

Nicolas Cœurdacier, Professor at SciencesPo and CEPR Research Fellow, was nominated for his research on international financial integration and capital flows. Cœurdacier’s work has led him to take a second look at classic economic theory that holds that capital should flow towards to countries/regions where economic growth is strongest. This theory flies in the face of observed phenomena of the past 20 years, and notably the behaviour of China that has massively invested in economically developed countries but in which growth has been slow.

The nomination of Nicolas Cœurdacier as « Meilleur Jeune Économiste » is the latest in an already impressive line of consecration of his research - notably an ANR Chaire d’Excellence grant for a 3-year project on International Portfolios and Risk-Sharing (2010-13), and an ERC Starting Grant his project «Within and across countries Heterogeneity in International Finance (INFINHET) » (2014-18). Last autumn, he co-authored with Department colleague Stéphane GUIBAUD and Keyu JIN (LSE) a paper that was published in the prestigious American Economic Review.