This page complements the conventional (CV-style) presentation with an entry point designed for a curious, non-specialist reader: each topic opens with a plain-language framing, followed by the relevant work — academic articles and outreach pieces together.
Can the richness of life on Earth — thousands of species, all different from one another — be summarized in a single number? Does such a number even make sense, and which one should we choose among the many indices proposed by ecologists and economists? And once such knowledge exists, can it be trusted — or is it sometimes bent by the interests of those who produce or fund it? This line of work covers both the mathematical and normative foundations of biodiversity measurement, from early inequality-style indices applied to species down to more recent tools borrowed from Mathematics, and the question of how reliable environmental knowledge itself is, when experts and private interests are involved.
Aulong, Erdlenbruch & Figuières (2005), "A survey of criteria for the measurement of biological diversity", Économie Publique, 16-1, 3-46.
Courtois, Figuières & Mulier (2019), "A tale of two diversities", Ecological Economics, 159, 133-147.
Figuières, Irisson, Reygondeau, Sy, Pi Alperin & Salles, "MESI: a multidimensional ecosystem services index", mimeo.
Charles Figuières, 2026, "Hurdles in the measurement of biodiversity: indetermination and incommensurability". Mimeo.
Charles Figuières and Nicolas Gravel, 2026, "An axiomatic characterization of quadratic diversity indices". Mimeo.
Aulong, Erdlenbruch, Figuières & Salles, "Should society defer to experts on biodiversity choices? Noah's parable revisited.", mimeo.
Figuières, Bramoullé & Preti, "Diversion Research", AMSE wp 2025-18, CEPR 20726.
Charles Figuières, "Why put a price on biodiversity?", op-ed, Marseille l'Hebdo, November 2010.
Aurore Basiuk & Charles Figuières, "From Protecting Nature to Protecting Biodiversity: A History of Debate", Dialogues économiques, January 2022.
Interview for Les Shifters — with an accompanying podcast, 2025.
A conservation policy can be ecologically effective while still being seen as unfair by the people it affects. This theme explores the tensions between ecological effectiveness, equity, and trust in conservation policy, through the case of Mediterranean coastal lagoons and the way citizens form their preferences over ecosystem services.
Figuières, Adjeroud, Rey Valette, Blayac & de Wit, "Revealing a Moral Dilemma in Equitable Conservation: Evidence from French Coastal Lagoons", (under review).
Figuières, Adjeroud, Rey Valette, Blayac & de Wit, "Ecosystem services and environmental inequalities; the case of Mediterranean lagoons", mimeo.
Adjeroud, Rey-Valette, Figuières, Blayac & De Wit, "Tradeoffs Between Biodiversity and Equity Depending on Justice Principles" (under review).
Sy, Figuières, Rey-Valette, Grolleau & De Wit, "Classifying ecosystem services from a demand-side perspective to reinforce conservation policies" (under review).
Sy, Figuières, Rey-Valette, Howarth & De Wit, "Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Social Choice: the Impact of Deliberation in the Context of two Different Aggregation Rules", Social Choice & Welfare, 63(3), 619-640.
Sy, Rey-Valette, Figuières, Simier & De Wit (2021), "The Impact of Academic Information Supply and Familiarity on Preferences for Ecosystem Services", Ecological Economics, 183.
Sy, Rey-Valette, Simier, Pasqualini, Figuières & De Wit (2018), "Identifying Consensus on Coastal Lagoons Ecosystem Services and Conservation Priorities", Ecological Economics, 154, 1-13.
Abbadie, Figuières & Michelot (2015), "Inégalités écologiques et justice environnementale", Les cahiers prospectives du CNRS.
Charles Figuières & Hélène Frouard, "How can we assess the impact of deliberation on people's votes?", Dialogues économiques, May 2024.
Figuières, Lopez & Rey-Valette, "Knowledge: another way to protect nature", Dialogues économiques, December 2022.
Figuières, Gallai & Salles, "Economic assessment of an insect pollinator decline: a general equilibrium analysis", mimeo.
A species introduced far from its native range can upend an entire ecosystem. How should management priorities be ranked when resources are limited, and how does international trade itself contribute to the spread of invasive species?
Courtois, Weill, Figuières & Mulier (2018), "A cost-benefit approach for prioritizing invasive species", Ecological Economics, 146, 607-620.
Courtois, Figuières, Martinez, Thébaud & Thomas (2023), The Economics of Biological Invasions: Towards a Hierarchization of Management Strategies, Éditions QUAE.
Charles Figuières, 2026, "The Biological Endowment Curse: International Trade, Comparative Advantage, and the Spread of Invasive Species", AMSE WP 2026-16.
Basiuk, Lapique & Figuières, "Invasive species: join the fight against them!", Dialogues économiques, November 2020.
A dyke, a school, a lighthouse: some goods benefit everyone, whether or not one helped pay for them. How can we design rules — mechanisms — that give each person an incentive to honestly reveal how much such a shared good matters to them, and to contribute fairly to its funding?
Benchekroun, Figuières & Tidball (2016), "Implementation of the Lindahl Correspondence via Simple Indirect Mechanisms".
Claude, Figuières & Tidball (2012), "Regulation of investments in infrastructure: the interplay between strategic behaviors and initial endowments", Journal of Public Economic Theory, 14(1), 35-66.
Figuières, Prieur & Tidball (2013), "Public infrastructure, strategic interactions and endogenous growth", Canadian Journal of Economics, 46(2).
Drèze, Figuières & Hindriks (2007), "Can federal grants mitigate social competition?", CESifo Economic Studies, 53(4).
Figuières & Hindriks (2002), "Matching grants and Ricardian equivalence", Journal of Urban Economics, 52, 177-191.
Figuières, Gardères & Rychen (2002), "Public infrastructure and decentralized development policies", L'Actualité Économique, 78(4), 539-570.
Why do some people spontaneously contribute to a collective project, while others try to free-ride on it? This theme brings together largely experimental work on cooperation, trust, and the motives — moral or self-interested — underlying collective action.
Figuières, Rosaz & Willinger, "Competitive selection crowds-in non-altruistic trustors", mimeo.
Beretti, Figuières & Grolleau (2013), "Using Money to Motivate Both 'Saints' and 'Sinners': A Field Experiment on Motivational Crowding-Out", Kyklos, 66(1), 63-77.
Beretti, Figuières & Grolleau (2019), "How to turn crowding-out into crowding-in?", European Journal of Law and Economics, 48, 417-438.
Figuières, Masclet & Willinger (2013), "Weak moral motivation leads to the decline of voluntary contributions", Journal of Public Economic Theory, 15(5), 745-772.
Figuières, Masclet & Willinger (2012), "Vanishing leadership and declining reciprocity in a sequential contribution experiment", Economic Inquiry, 50(3), 567-584.
Rouaix, Figuières & Willinger (2015), "The Trade-off Between Welfare and Equality in a Public Good Experiment", Social Choice and Welfare, 45, 601-623.
Midler, Figuières & Willinger (2015), "Choice overload, Coordination and Inequality: Three Hurdles to the Effectiveness of the Compensation Mechanism?", Social Choice and Welfare, 45, 513-535.
Bracht, Figuières & Ratto (2008), "Relative performance of two simple incentive mechanisms in a public good experiment", Journal of Public Economics, 92, 54-90.
Using a natural resource today often means depriving someone of it tomorrow. Should we keep "discounting" the future — that is, counting the well-being of future generations for less than our own — or are there more defensible principles of intergenerational justice?
Figuières & Tidball (2012), "Sustainable exploitation of a natural resource: a satisfying use of Chichilnisky's criterion", Economic Theory, 49, 243-265.
Figuières, Long & Tidball (2017), "The MBR intertemporal social choice criterion and Rawls' just savings principle", Mathematical Social Sciences, 85, 11-22.
Figuières & Tidball (2011), "Managing natural resources without forgetting future generations: Two alternatives to discounting", INRA Sciences Sociales, 2-3.
Figuières, Guyomard & Rotillon (2010), "Sustainable development: between moral injunctions and natural constraints", Sustainability, 2(11), 3608-3622.
Figuières & Doazan, "Sustainable development and equity among generations", IDEP op-ed, November 2007.
Kiernan, Lapique & Figuières, "Of rice and folly in Cambodia: from Angkor to Democratic Kampuchea", Dialogues économiques, July 2019.
Video, Collège de France, conference "Managing Climate Change", presentation "Equity between generations", 2010.
Methodological note: some works deliberately appear under more than one theme when they touch on several questions at once (e.g., the lagoon papers speak to both measurement and justice). Projects not yet published ("mimeo", "in preparation") are listed without a link, pending a shareable version.