Welcome to my academic website! I am a Postdoctoral researcher at the French Institute for Demographic Studies (Ined), and an affiliated researcher at the Aix-Marseille School of Economics (AMSE). I also co-founded and currently serve as the general secretary of the French Association of Population Economists (AFÉPOP).
My research explores education and wealth inequalities in France, with a focus on the role of elite institutions (grandes écoles) in social stratification and on the impact of life trajectories on wealth inequalities. Using an interdisciplinary approach that combines applied economics and quantitative sociology, part of my work also relies on historical data.
My Ph.D. dissertation—Grandes Écoles in the 20th century, the field of the French elites: social reproduction, dynasties, networks—was awarded the 2022 Prize of the French Economic Association (AFSE) and a 2023 Thesis Prize special mention from the French National Institute for Youth and Community Education (INJEP).
I have or have had the privilege of teaching at Aix-Marseille University, Sciences Po, Rennes University, and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.
Please do not hesitate to contact me:
stephane[dot]benveniste[at]ined[dot]fr | stephane[dot]benveniste[at]univ-amu[dot]fr
Stéphane Benveniste
Researcher in Economics
Research fields:
- Applied economics
- Inequality
- Education
- Wealth
- Economic history
- Demography
NEW!
March 2024: Working paper available on a social gradient in returns to education and occupational dynasties
Nov 2023: Honored to be awarded a special mention in the 2023 PhD Thesis Prize from the French National Institute for Youth and Community Education (INJEP)
Nov 2023: send us your work to participate to the AFÉPOP 2024 Ingaugural Conference (2-3 May 2024, Campus Condorcet)
Sept 2023: Working paper available on Grande École admissions in the long run
Focus on selected projects
Grande École admissions in the long-run
The top French elite colleges (Grande Écoles, GE) endorse meritocratic admissions through partially anonymous competitive examinations. I apply a novel name-based method for intergenerational mobility to a self-collected dataset on 285,286 graduates from 10 GE between 1886 and 2015. This reveals a consistent pattern of low intergenerational mobility for all cohorts born since 1916, with children of GE graduates having approximately 80 times higher chances of admission compared to the rest of the population.
The Value of Légions d’honneur
joint with R.Coulomb and M.Sangnier
This paper provides the first quantification of the impact of State awards given to Directors on the stock value of their firms. We link recipients of the French Légion d’honneur to Board positions in French listed firms over 1995–2019. We document positive abnormal returns in the stocks of recipients’ firms at the date of the award. We provide suggestive evidence that awards signal valuable access to policy-makers.
Parental death in childhood and wealth
joint with M.Leturcq
Roughly 10% of individuals born between the 1930s and 1980s in France experienced the premature death of a parent during childhood. We find that this experience is associated with a lasting wealth penalty. We differentiate between maternal and paternal death and explore various mechanisms, such as financial hardship in childhood, hindered educational achievements, and the amount and timing of gifts and inheritances.
Illustrations credits: Pierre-Henry Gomont, La grande école, 2020; L’Assiette au Beurre, 1902; Thomas Kennington, Orphans, 1885.
References
Arnaud Lefranc, CY Cergy Paris
Marion Leturcq, Ined
Marc Sangnier, AMSE
Alain Trannoy, EHESS – AMSE
Louis-André Vallet, CNRS – Sorbonne Université
Contact Information:
Mail: stephane[dot]benveniste[at]ined[dot]fr
Mailing Address: Ined – Campus Condorcet, 9 Cours des Humanités, 93322 Aubervilliers cedex, France