paulcharruau

Publications (peer-reviewed)

Charruau, P. and Epaulard, A. (2025). Finding a better job: The geography of socio-professional mobility during working life. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 115:104162.

What determines the chances of moving up or down to better or worse jobs? We examine how local labor markets influence individuals’ socio-professional mobility throughout their working lives, focusing on large promotions and demotions. Using an empirical strategy that accounts for spatial sorting bias, applied to a sample of approximately 350,000 workers in France between 2009 and 2015, we find that job density, local human capital, and labor market size significantly increase the likelihood of being promoted to a higher socio-professional status. The effect of local factors is stronger for external promotions (outside the firm) than for internal ones. Moreover, experience accumulated in the most densely populated and educated areas continues to enhance promotion prospects, even after relocating to less dense or educated areas. This dynamic effect of promotion explains around 16% of the wage premium associated with experience in dense areas. Finally, we show that agglomerations effects on promotion are driven more by human capital externalities and proximity to other dense markets than by pure urbanization or scale effects.

Charruau, P. (2024). Spatial wage disparities and human capital externalities in France. Journal of Regional Science, 1–29.

The paper re-examines the respective role of local density and local concentration of human capital in the agglomeration gains for about 750,00 individuals working in 304 commuting zones of metropolitan France over the period 2009-2015. Agglomeration gains are mostly driven by human capital effects over this period. Also, because it absorbs dynamic learning effects, the use of worker fixed effects to address spatial sorting of individuals may underestimate, by about two third, the wage premium with respect to local concentration of human capital over a mid- term period. Finally, wage gaps stem more from differences in human capital in the private sector than in the public sector. And no evidence of a multiplier effect of public employment on local human capital externalities in the private sector.

Working Papers

The Local Impact of University Decentralization: Evidence from Higher Education Policy in France Revise & Resubmit - Regional Studies

I measure the effects on the local human-capital accumulation of the "New Universities" created as part of the U2000 Plan implemented in France in the early 1990s. Using the synthetic control method, I show that, on average, the opening of "new universities" has led to a significant increase in the local share of higher-educated people (not including those in school) by 4 points within 27 years (17% increase from the counterfactual level), though the positive impact seems not automatic and differs across cases. These effects did not occur from a regional displacement effect and imply attraction mechanisms of higher-educated population that go beyond a mere students’ decision to stay in the zone where they went to university. Exploring local implications in terms of employment and demographics, I show that local human capital accumulation in treated areas comes with employment growth and an increase of the young population, plus gains in skilled employment.

Quantitative Evaluation of policy-mixes: Lessons from a French Regional Innovation Policy (with Corinne Autant-Bernard - UJM/GATE, and Frédéric Perrin - Région AURA) Under Review - Spatial Economic Analysis

This paper evaluates the effects of R&D place-based policies implemented by regional governments. We constructed a unique database that provides detailed information on direct R&D support from France’s leading Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region from 2009 to 2021, while controlling for national direct and indirect R&D support policies. Using a staggered event study design, we assess the policy’s impact on firm-level employment, turnover, exports, and financial performance. The econometric results reveal that innovative firms experience a gradual increase in turnover and employment after receiving regional support, with a more pronounced effect emerging approximately eight years later. Additionally, our findings highlight interaction effects between different instruments and government levels.

In Progress

Universities, and Innovation in Secondary Cities: Empirical evidence from the local impact of new universities created in France (with Corinne Autant-Bernard - UJM/GATE)

Who Benefits from Cities? Agglomeration Effects and the Social Selection of Workers

Mental Health Outcomes in Cities: A Diseconomy of Urban Agglomeration? (with Nelly Exbrayat - UJM/GATE)

Policy Reports and Other Publications

Charruau P. et Épaulard A. (2017). D’où viennent les écarts de salaire entre les territoires ? la Note d’analyse, n°55, France Stratégie, mai.

Charruau P. et Épaulard A. (2017). Disparités spatiales de salaire et externalités de capital humain. Document de travail, n° 2017-06, France Stratégie, mai.

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