Background & objective

Toulouse School of Economics is organizing a conference to celebrate Christian Gollier’s 65th birthday. Christian Gollier is an internationally renowned economist, best known for his work in the economics of uncertainty, which lies at the core of his scientific contributions. A co-founder of the Toulouse School of Economics alongside Jean Tirole, he has developed a rigorous analysis of decision-making under risk and uncertainty, with particular attention to how individuals and societies make trade-offs between present and future outcomes. His research has significantly advanced the understanding of risk preferences (such as risk aversion, prudence, and higher-order risk preferences) as well as intertemporal discounting, that is, how future costs and benefits are valued today. These theoretical contributions have important applications in environmental economics, especially in the analysis of climate policies, where he is recognized as a leading authority: he has notably studied carbon pricing, the management of climate risks, and collective decision-making under long-term uncertainty. More broadly, his work contributes to the economic evaluation of public policies by incorporating issues of risk, time, and deep uncertainty, particularly in the context of rare but potentially catastrophic events. Through this approach, Christian Gollier has played a key role in shaping modern microeconomic theory of risk and in informing public decision-making in situations where the future is fundamentally uncertain.

The conference will bring together prominent scholars from around the world, including Christian’s co-authors, colleagues, and former students, for presentations and discussions, and will highlight the depth and breadth of his contributions to risk, financial and environmental economics.

Organizing comitee

David Alary (TSE), Nour Meddahi (TSE), Nicolas Treich (TSE, INRAe)