Infrastructure & Network Center

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Purpose & ambition

The development and management of infrastructure present complex economic challenges, whether in terms of financing investments, conditions for access to networks, or the organization of increasingly interconnected systems. These issues affect essential sectors such as transportation, energy, telecommunications, housing, and public services, and play a decisive role in the competitiveness of economies as well as in major environmental and digital transitions. 

To address these challenges, public and private decision-makers must have access to rigorous analyses that enable them to evaluate the most appropriate investment choices, regulatory mechanisms, and governance models from a long-term perspective. 

In this context, the Infrastructure & Network Center aims to: 

• Bring together and promote TSE’s scientific expertise
• Foster relationships with partners around targeted issues
• Structure and encourage researchers’ contributions to the public debate 

Launched in 2021, the Infrastructure & Network Center draws on TSE’s academic excellence and close interactions with its partners. Researchers are conducting work that spans a wide range of sectors and draws on various approaches to economic analysis, from finance to industrial economics, including development economics, public economics, and environmental economics. The center brings together research on these issues and fosters dialogue among researchers, regulators, businesses, and public institutions. 

Research areas 

The Center is organized according to a matrix structure. The researchers’ expertise is organized around three research areas covering the main issues related to corporate strategy, financing, and regulation. 

Finance and decision theory under uncertainty 

Researchers analyze long-term investment decisions in environments marked by uncertainty. Their work focuses in particular on risk assessment, infrastructure financing, and the adaptation of investment strategies in the face of developments that are difficult to anticipate. 

Network economics and spatial economics 

Researchers study the economic organization of networks and the efficient allocation of scarce resources. In particular, they analyze the interactions between demand, costs, geographic location, and network externalities in order to improve access to infrastructure. 

Public procurement and regulation 

Researchers examine regulatory mechanisms for network industries and the conditions for access to essential infrastructure. Their work aims to design frameworks that promote competition, quality of service, and sustainable investment financing. 

Activities

The TSE Infrastructure & Network Center promotes, highlights, and disseminates research in all of these fields through various scientific and outreach activities aimed at the academic community, public policymakers, and industry stakeholders.

• A dedicated resource hub: We provide a central platform showcasing TSE’s activities in the field of infrastructure and network, including academic experts, research outputs, events, and news related to our research programs and partnerships.
• Events for researchers and decision-makers: We organize scientific events that bring together the academic community, as well as targeted events designed specifically for public and private decision-makers to shed light on infrastructure ans network challenges and their implications for public policy and strategy.
• Outreach and dissemination initiatives: We develop a variety of formats to make research findings accessible to a broader audience. These initiatives include the publication of research reports, thematic newsletters, and other editorial content. 

TSE’s Infrastructure & Network Center brings together several initiatives and research chairs dedicated to these issues, as well as research projects on these topics, selected through publicy funded research programs. 

Research initiatives 

Supported by one or more partners, the chairs and research initiatives encourage the development of research projects addressing issues of common interest to academics and economic stakeholders.

• Economic regulation of railway sector, French Transport Regulatory Authority (ART)
• Economics of postal and digital services, La Poste Groupe
• Railway network economics, SNCF Réseau
• Regulation & development: states, markets, and information asymmetries, French Development Agency (AFD)
• Sustainable Finance and Responsible Investment, ABN AMRO IS, Amundi AM, Caisse des Dépôts, Candriam Institute for Sustainable Development, Edmond de Rothschild AM, Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites, LBPAM
• Tariff structure and network optimization, Gaz Réseau Distribution France (GRDF)
• Telecommunications in the Digital Age, Orange

VIEW ALL OUR RESEARCH INITIATIVES

Publicly funded research projects  

Several TSE researchers are currently receiving grants or research funding related to infrastructure and network, awarded through major national or European public research programs. 

European Research Council (ERC) Grants

• Mathias Reynart, SPACETIME - Econometric Models to Evaluate Environmental and Spatial Effects of Long-Lasting Policies, 2023-2028
• Koen Jochmans, NETWORK - A coherent approach to analysing heterogeneity in network data, 2023-2027

French National Research Agency (ANR) Grants

• Matthieu Bouvard, FINRIS - "Innovation financière et gestion du risque", 2021-2026
• Sophie Moinas, ECLIPSES - The eclipse of lit markets: understanding the rise of opaque trading mechanisms in Europe
• Arnaud Reynaud, WAT-IMPACTS - "Long-term approaches to assess the economic, social and environmental impacts of water scarcity under uncertainty", 2023-2027

ADEME’s ClimFi 2 Call for Projects

• Frédéric Cherbonnier: VALADAPT - “Promoting Climate Change Adaptation Projects,” 2023–2026

VIEW ALL GRANTS AND FUNDINGS

The Infrastructure & Network Center highlights all research conducted at TSE in this field, with a particular focus on work that has a strong impact on economic stakeholders. Emerging from all of our research programs, this work draws on a wide range of disciplines, including economics, mathematics and statistics, as well as the social and behavioral sciences.

Researchers at TSE’s Infrastructure & Network Center participate in numerous conferences and workshops focused on their areas of expertise: construction and housing, development, postal and telecommunications economics, sustainable finance and long-term investment, transportation, and public services. These events promote the production and dissemination of research to a wide audience. While some are intended primarily for the academic community, others prioritize exchanges with professionals working in companies and public institutions.

Regular scientific events

Postal Economics Conference on E-commerce, Digital Economics and Delivery Services

La Poste Groupe and TSE have co-organized this international conference on the postal economy every two years since 1993. It is part of the research initiative between La Poste Group and TSE-P and highlights recent research contributions, whether theoretical, econometric, or focused on public policy. It aims to foster exchanges between professionals and academics on a variety of topics, such as the economics of e-commerce and parcel delivery, the regulation of the digital economy, the “silver” economy and long-term care, the societal role of postal operators, and environmental sustainability. 

Energy and Climate Economics Conference 

Held every two years, this event brings together researchers and policymakers to discuss recent advances in energy and environmental economics, as part of the activities of TSE’s Energy & Climate Center. It fosters dialogue on understanding energy markets and designing environmental and climate policies, and highlights theoretical, empirical, experimental, and public policy-oriented research.

We warmly thank the companies and public institutions that partner with our research initiatives and chair focused on infrastructure and network, who are also committed to supporting the Center. Through their support, our partners actively contribute to TSE’s scientific output and play a key role in promoting this research as well as in developing the Center’s activities.

Members of the Research Chair in Sustainable Finance and Responsible Investment

We also express our gratitude to the public institutions that support the work of our researchers, particularly through major funding programs.