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Welcome to Paris-Saclay Applied Economics, PSAE.

On January 1, 2022, the Paris-Saclay Applied Economics (PSAE) Joint Research Unit was born from the merger of the ALISS and Public Economy units. In alignment with Agricultural and Resource Economics Departments in US universities, PSAE aims to address broad themes related to agriculture, food, and the environment. It is at the centre of applied economics research at the University of Paris-Saclay and is helping various disciplines strengthen their work using quantitative methods.

PSAE has brought together around fifty permanent staff from AgroParisTech and INRAE and will train an average of forty students and interns each year. The unit has played a major role in designing educational curricula at AgroParisTech (engineering programme), the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (Master’s Degree in Economics, Degree Programme in Polytechnical Engineering [Cycle Ingénieur polytechnicien]), and the University of Paris-Saclay (Master’s Degree in the Economics of the Environment, Energy, and Transport [EEET], Master’s Degree in Economics [MoE]).

Recent work by PSAE researchers has focused on (i) the role of land use in reducing greenhouse gas emissions; (ii) the interactions between international trade and adaptive responses to climate change; (iii) the development of foods based on plant proteins; (iv) the impacts of the Nutriscore and Ecoscore on consumer food choices; and (v) power dynamics within the agrifood industry. In all their work, PSAE researchers examine how stakeholders, such as producers, consumers, and taxpayers, are affected by different regulatory options (e.g., taxes, subsidies, mandatory labelling, technical standards) when it comes to economic, nutritional, health, and environmental returns.