TSE Human Capital Center

About

Vision & Mission

In response to the pressing need for evidence-based solutions to improve education and labor policies, TSE created the Human Capital Center. The aim of the Center is to foster the production and dissemination of cutting-edge research that helps public and private organizations address key challenges and design more effective education and labor market policies in France and around the world.

Main objectives

The center has two main objectives:

Pursue academic research, using and extending state-of-the-art methods to reliably answer crucial policy questions,
Provide and evaluate specific and implementable improvements in government policies as well as practices in the private sector.

To achieve this, we work with a large team of researchers, organize conferences and seminars to interact with top academics and practitioners from around the world. We also collaborate with governments and other organizations to provide us with insights on the key problems to solve, as well as the data and institutional knowledge they have.

Expertise

TSE boasts a strong community of researchers specializing in the economics of education and labor markets, with nearly 25 researchers engaged in these areas.

Focus areas and leading members

The Human Capital Center is led by Director Olivier De Groote and Scientific Director Matteo Bobba. It is structured around five focus areas:
Education Policies

Objective: From early childcare to compulsory education and college, many questions arise that our researchers have investigated. Some examples include: the optimal design of assignments to schools, and quantifying and improving school and teacher quality.
Program leader: Olivier De Groote

The Future of Labor Markets

Objective: The intensive usage of AI in the economy affects many aspects of labor markets, from the production of skills to aggregate labor demand. Theory and evidence-based research provides answers to understand how new technologies, like AI, shape the future of labor.
Program leader: François Poinas

Human Capital in Developing Countries

Objective: Children born in remote or rural communities achieve significantly lower levels of academic achievement than their urban counterparts. These disparities are particularly salient in developing countries, where distressed and remote areas suffer from structural underdevelopment. Researchers involved in this program leverage randomized control trials, often combined with rich administrative data and structural econometric approaches, to study the sources of these spatial inequalities in education outcomes as well as the interplay between education and labor market outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.
Program leader: Matteo Bobba

Income Shocks and Welfare

Objective: Household inequality is a major societal concern, yet focusing solely on income inequality fails to capture what ultimately matters: household welfare over the life cycle. In this research area, projects examine consumption—including durables and housing—alongside wages and human capital investment, to understand how households manage and protect themselves against unexpected shocks to income or preferences. These analyses support the evaluation of economic policies aimed at mitigating microeconomic shocks across multiple dimensions.
Program leader: Thierry Magnac

Gender and the Labor Market

Objective: Wage gaps between men and women persist and progress has stalled. Women are underrepresented in high-paying STEM fields due to early gender stereotypes, leading to long-term disparities. Motherhood further impacts careers through reduced participation and part-time work. Even with equal qualifications, women face pay and promotion gaps. Closing the gap would benefit both firms and society. Our researchers are examining the mechanisms behind persistent gender inequality in the labor market and exploring targeted solutions to address key bottlenecks.
Program leader: Emmanuelle Auriol

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