Rodolfo Debenedetti Chair in Entrepreneurship
Professor Thomas Le Barbanchon is an economist specialized in Labor Economics, with a particular emphasis on job search and matching, gender studies, discrimination, and social insurance.
Additionally, his expertise extends to Public Finance and Econometrics. Professor Le Barbanchon earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Ecole Polytechnique (CREST-ENSAE) in France between 2008 and 2012, following a Master's degree in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain in 2005.
Currently, he works as an Associate Professor of Economics with tenure at Bocconi University, a position he has held since 2019 after serving as an Assistant Professor from 2015 to 2018. He has also held notable academic appointments, including a Visiting Associate Professorship at Princeton University (IRS) from September 2022 to June 2023 and a Visiting Scholar position at Harvard University from September 2013 to February 2014. His post-doctoral work was conducted as a Research Associate at CREST's Department of Economics from 2012 to 2015.
Professor Le Barbanchon is affiliated with several prestigious research organizations such as CEPR, CREST, J-PAL, LEAP, BIDSA, and IGIER, and is a research fellow at IZA. He is also a research associate at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the Institute of Public Policy (IPP).
In addition to his research roles, Professor Le Barbanchon is a member of the editorial board of the Review of Economics and Studies (RESTUD) and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the European Economic Association (JEEA).
Earlier in his career, Professor Le Barbanchon worked as an economist at the French Ministry of Labor from 2008 to 2011 and at the French Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) from 2005 to 2008.
He has received several accolades for his impactful research, including the 2022 Bocconi Impact Award for his work on "The Effectiveness of Hiring Credits," conducted in collaboration with Pierre Cahuc and Stéphane Carcillo. His research contributed to the design of Unemployment Insurance and Anti-Discrimination policies in France, and to the development of work-study programs in Uruguay.
Joint Purpose
In 2011 Carlo De Benedetti established the Rodolfo Debenedetti Chair in Entrepreneurship through a philanthropic gift, naming the endowed Chair after his father Rodolfo De Benedetti, to honor his memory as an individual and an entrepreneur. From 2014 to 2016, Professor Fabiano Schivardi was the chairholder, followed by Professor Nicolaj J.Foss who held this academic position for 3 years (2016-2019).
In 2023, the Chair’s research purpose changed from Entrepreneurship to Labour Economics. Therefore, the name itself of the Chair was changed into Rodolfo Debenedetti Chair in Labour Economics. This new academic position is aimed at promoting research and improving the quality of teaching in the field of labor economics. A particular emphasis is placed on wage setting mechanisms, including collective bargaining and minimum wages, frictions in the matching of vacancies and jobseekers, regulations on hours of work, the impact of new technologies on worker and job reallocation, and the interplay of unemployment insurance and activation schemes. Evidence based policy evaluations of labor market institutions promoted via this chair may affect the wellbeing of millions of individuals, affect earning and income distributions and play a crucial role in economic growth.
Research
The Chair will produce research to design the Future of Labor Policies. The first research project will study how AI-powered labor market design affects job search behavior, especially how the effects differ across workers, and thus contribute to wage inequality. The second research project will analyze how the rules for collective bargaining agreements shape their content (wages vs other dimensions) and in turn impact workplace productivity and workers satisfaction.
Dissemination
The activities of the new academic position will be enriched by the dissemination of Professor Le Barbanchon's research findings, thanks to his participation in seminars and conferences organized by the most prestigious academic and institutional entities. The Lectio Inauguralis on June 5, 2024, will indeed constitute the first official event of the Rodolfo Debenedetti Chair in Labour Economics.