Having entered the field of economics through an unconventional path (the Corps des Ponts et Chaussées), Roger Guesnerie began his career as a research fellow at CERMAP (Center for Studies and Research in Mathematics Applied to Planning), and later at CEPREMAP (Center for Prospective Studies and Research in Mathematical Economics Applied to Planning). He served successively as a research fellow, senior research fellow, and research director (in the exceptional class of 1996–2000) at the CNRS.
Out of personal interest rather than necessity, he has in the past held teaching positions, both on a temporary basis in France at several Parisian grandes écoles and universities, as well as abroad, as a long-term professor at the London School of Economics and at several American universities (Pennsylvania, Harvard), and on a more permanent basis at the EHESS, the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, where he has served as director of studies (in a concurrent capacity) since 1979.
At the Collège de France, teaching has become his primary focus. The opening lecture for the chair was published in the *Revue d’Économie politique* (2002) under the title “The State and the Market: Scholarly Constructions and Spontaneous Thought,” (119), 6, November–December 2002, pp. 799–814. His involvement in research promotion activities constitutes a significant part of his career. In particular, he co-founded DELTA (Department and Laboratory of Theoretical and Applied Economics) with François Bourguignon, where he served as director from 1991 to 2000. At the request of François Furet, then president of the EHESS, he also served as the first director of the doctoral program in Analysis and Economic Policy from 1981 to 1991. He currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Paris School of Economics. Economic policy advisory roles are another area of his work: most recently, his membership on the Economic Analysis Council.
It should undoubtedly be regarded not only as a responsibility but also as an honor and distinction to have served on the editorial boards of several renowned professional journals and to have held leadership roles within scholarly societies—in particular, having served as co-editor-in-chief of *Econometrica* (from 1984 to 1989), president of the European Economic Association (1994), president of the Econometric Society (1996), and president of the French Economic Association (2003). Also included in this section are the CNRS Silver Medal (1993) and his appointments as an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Economic Association (since 1997) and a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2000.
His publications are compiled in a comprehensive list, organized under the following categories: general economic equilibrium, applied public economics, theoretical public economics (economic calculus, taxation, and redistribution), the economics of climate change, the economics of incentives, endogenous fluctuations, the rationality of expectations, and miscellaneous articles.
Roger Guesnerie passed away on January 3, 2026.