Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) and the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST) are pleased to announce the launch of this permanent research Chair supported jointly by Fleur Pellerin, French Minister of Culture and Communication, and Jean Tirole, TSE - IAST chairman. The Chair is named after the late Toulouse economist Jean-Jacques Laffont, whose work led to major advances in public economics and information theory.

According to Jean Tirole, "the launch of the Jean-Jacques Laffont Chair on the Digital Economy at TSE and the IAST is an important step for economists and more generally for researchers in the social sciences in Toulouse. It is also a landmark event for French research on the impact of digitization on our societies."


To undertake its research agenda, the Chair will rely on the skills and talents of the researchers already in Toulouse, but also on our colleagues from universities and research centers in France, Europe and around the world. A program of visits – ranging from one month to one year – will be organized. The Chair will allow us to recruit key new talent at both the junior and senior levels. Researchers working on fields linked to the Chair will be invited to conferences and workshops. Each year a high-level meeting, aimed at a wider audience and involving the best-known names in digital economy research, will be held in Paris. Through these means, the Chair aims to provide a discussion forum not only for the research community, but also for the whole of civil society.

TSE and IAST would like to thank The Ministry of Culture and Communication and the partners of the Jean-Jacques Laffont Chair for their leadership and support: