Vincent Pons

Vincent Pons
Born (1983-11-30) 30 November 1983 (age 42)
Le Chesnay, France
Known forResearch on Democracy
Academic background
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Paris School of Economics (MS)
ENSAE (MS)
Ecole Normale Supérieure (MS)
Sorbonne University (MS)
Esther Duflo
Benjamin Olken
Academic work
DisciplinePolitical economy, Development economics
InstitutionsHarvard University
AwardsBest Young French Economist Award, 2023
Website

Vincent Pons (born 30 November 1983) is a French economist who is the Michael B. Kim Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Pons's research focuses on questions in political economy and development economics.

Early life and education

Born in 1983, Pons spent most of his schooling and higher education in France. After completing his secondary education in Alsace, he was admitted at École normale supérieure (Paris) in 2003.

He obtained his Master's degree in Political philosophy from Sorbonne University in 2005, his Masters in International Economics from Sciences Po in 2006 and his Master of Economics from ENSAE Paris and Paris School of Economics in 2006.

Pons moved to Boston to pursue his Doctor of Philosophy in 2008 and received his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014 under the direction of Esther Duflo and Benjamin Olken.

Career

Pons became interested in voter mobilization during Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign.

In 2012, he was invited to serve in 2012 François Hollande presidential campaign for President of France. As national director of Hollande’s field operation, he designed, implemented, and managed the largest campaigning effort in Europe’s political history. This campaign, coordinated with Guillaume Liegey and Arthur Muller, is described in their book Porte à porte: Reconquérir la démocratie sur le terrain.

Since 2015, Pons has been employed at Harvard Business School. He served as an assistant professor between 2015 and 2020, an associate professor between 2020 and 2024, and has been a full professor since 2024. He is affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research, Center for Economic and Policy Research and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.

Research

Pons' research concerns political economy – in particular the foundations of democracy: how democratic systems function, and how they can be improved.

In “Will a Five-Minute Discussion Change Your Mind?” Pons has evaluated 2012 François Hollande presidential campaign, showing that the door-to-door visits significantly contributed to Hollande's victory.  In subsequent work, Pons has assessed the overall effects of all campaign information and of all contextual factors on voters’ behavior.

Pons has examined the effects of Voter identification laws in the United States and voter registration barriers on electoral participation and on voter fraud.

He has shown that many voters value voting expressively over voting strategically for the front-runner they dislike the least to ensure her victory.

Together with Laurent Bouton, Julia Cagé and Edgard Dewitte, Pons has studied the rise of small campaign contributions in the U.S.

Entrepreneurship

Pons is a partner of the company Liegey Muller Pons, later renamed eXplain, which he cofounded in 2013 with Guillaume Liegey and Arthur Muller. After 2013, eXplain worked on 1,500 electoral campaigns, including the presidential campaign of Emmanuel Macron during the 2017 French presidential election. Since 2018, the company has provided AI tools to companies in contact with local governments.  In 2023, the company raised six million euros.

In media

Pons has written articles for Harvard Business Review and for French newspapers including Le Monde and Les Echos. He has been a columnist for L'Express and Les Echos.

Awards and recognition

Selected bibliography

  1. How do Campaigns Shape Vote Choice? Multicountry Evidence from 62 Elections and 56 TV Debates (with Caroline Le Pennec), Quarterly Journal of Economics, 138(2), pp. 703–767, May 2023
  2. Does Context Outweigh Individual Characteristics in Driving Voting Behavior? Evidence from Relocations Within the U.S. (with Enrico Cantoni), American Economic Review, 112(4), pp. 1226–1272, April 2022
  3. Strict ID Laws Don't Stop Voters: Evidence from a U.S. Nationwide Panel, 2008–2018 (with Enrico Cantoni), Quarterly Journal of Economics, 136(4), pp. 2615–2660, November 2021
  4. Expressive Voting and Its Cost: Evidence from Runoffs with Two or Three Candidates (with Clémence Tricaud), Econometrica, 86(5), pp. 1621–1649, September 2018
  5. Will a Five-Minute Discussion Change Your Mind? A Countrywide Experiment on Voter Choice in France, American Economic Review, 108(6), pp. 1322–1363, June 2018
  6. Happiness on Tap: Piped Water Adoption in Urban Morocco (with Florencia Devoto, Esther Duflo, Pascaline Dupas, and William Pariente), American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 4(4), pp. 68–99, November 2012

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pons, Vincent (2014). The determinants of political behavior : evidence from three randomized field experiments (PhD). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/90130.
  2. 1 2 "Prix du Meilleur Jeune Économiste 2023". Le Cercle des économistes (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  3. 1 2 "Vincent Pons | CV". My Site. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  4. ↑ "Vincent Pons - Faculty & Research - Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  5. 1 2 Rotman, Charlotte. "Europe ? Yes, we can". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  6. 1 2 "Vincent Pons, PhD '14". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  7. ↑ Erlanger, Steven (2012-04-21). "In France, Using Lessons From Obama Campaign". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  8. ↑ Issenberg, Sasha (2012-04-20). "The American Connection". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  9. ↑ "Porte à porte (Grand format - Broché 2013), de Guillaume Liégey, Arthur Muller, Vincent Pons | Calmann-Lévy". www.calmann-levy.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  10. ↑ "Vincent Pons". NBER. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  11. ↑ "Vincent Pons". CEPR. 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  12. ↑ "Vincent Pons". The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  13. 1 2 "Vincent Pons : « Il est impossible de comprendre les mutations de l'économie sans s'interroger sur les chocs politiques dans la société »". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2021-05-31. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  14. ↑ "Personal Statement". My Site. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  15. 1 2 Pons, Vincent (June 2018). "Will a Five-Minute Discussion Change Your Mind? A Countrywide Experiment on Voter Choice in France". American Economic Review. 108 (6): 1322–1363. doi:10.1257/aer.20160524. ISSN 0002-8282. S2CID 155545995.
  16. 1 2 Le Pennec, Caroline; Pons, Vincent (May 2023). "How Do Campaigns Shape Vote Choice? Multi-Country Evidence from 62 Elections and 56 TV Debates". Quarterly Journal of Economics. 138 (2): 703–767. doi:10.1093/qje/qjad002. ISSN 0033-5533. S2CID 232679762.
  17. 1 2 Cantoni, Enrico; Pons, Vincent (April 2022). "Does Context Outweigh Individual Characteristics in Driving Voting Behavior? Evidence from Relocations within the United States". American Economic Review. 112 (4): 1226–1272. doi:10.1257/aer.20201660. hdl:11585/846109. ISSN 0002-8282. S2CID 247919195.
  18. 1 2 Cantoni, Enrico; Pons, Vincent (November 2021). "Strict Id Laws Don't Stop Voters: Evidence from a U.S. Nationwide Panel, 2008–2018". Quarterly Journal of Economics. 136 (4): 2615–2660. doi:10.1093/qje/qjab019. hdl:11585/821494. ISSN 0033-5533. S2CID 159170634.
  19. ↑ "The Importance of Protecting Voting Rights for Voter Turnout and Economic Well-Being | CEA". The White House. 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  20. ↑ G.E.M (2019-02-19). "Do voter ID laws reduce turnout among black Americans?". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  21. ↑ Douthat, Ross (2019-02-12). "The Myths of Voter ID". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  22. ↑ Lopez, German (2019-02-21). "A new study finds voter ID laws don't reduce voter fraud — or voter turnout". Vox. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  23. ↑ Braconnier, Céline; Dormagen, Jean-Yves; Pons, Vincent (August 2017). "Voter Registration Costs and Disenfranchisement: Experimental Evidence from France". American Political Science Review. 111 (3): 584–604. doi:10.1017/S000305541700003X. ISSN 0003-0554. S2CID 9712520.
  24. 1 2 Pons, Vincent; Tricaud, Clémence (September 2018). "Expressive voting and its cost: Evidence from runoffs with two or three candidates". Econometrica. 86 (5): 1621–1649. doi:10.3982/ECTA15373. ISSN 0012-9682. S2CID 56023967.
  25. ↑ "More Americans are giving to political campaigns". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  26. ↑ "Explain - Transformer la donnée publique en opportunités business". www.explain.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  27. ↑ "How Obama Won The French Election". HuffPost. 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  28. ↑ Halliburton, Rachel. "How big data helped secure Emmanuel Macron's astounding victory". www.prospectmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  29. ↑ "Trois hommes + un logiciel = l'Elysée ?". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  30. ↑ "Les stratèges de la grande marche d'Emmanuel Macron". L'Express (in French). 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  31. ↑ Lechevallier, Anne-Sophie. "IA et politique : en France, les start-up indiquent la marche à suivre". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  32. ↑ "Explain, l'IA qui aide les entreprises à faire des affaires avec les acteurs publics". Les Echos (in French). 2023-04-03. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  33. ↑ "4 Ways Businesses Can Help Uphold Democracy". Harvard Business Review. 2022-11-04. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  34. ↑ "Midterms aux Etats-Unis : les trois conséquences à prévoir pour les prochains mois". L'Express (in French). 2022-11-11. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  35. ↑ "Dépolariser la France". Les Echos (in French). 2023-04-03. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  36. ↑ "The Susan and Paul M. Sniderman Best Experimental Paper in Europe Award". University of Bergen. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  37. ↑ "Prix du Meilleur Jeune Économiste 2021". Le Cercle des économistes (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  38. ↑ "American Economic Journal: Applied Economics". AEA Papers and Proceedings. 112: 702–708. 2022-05-01. doi:10.1257/pandp.112.702. ISSN 2574-0768.
  39. ↑ "JEEA Excellence in Refereeing Award 2021 | EEA". www.eeassoc.org. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  40. ↑ "American Economic Review: Insights". AEA Papers and Proceedings. 112: 687–694. 2022-05-01. doi:10.1257/pandp.112.687. ISSN 2574-0768.
  41. ↑ Bleizeffer, Kristy (2022-05-13). "2022 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Vincent Pons, Harvard Business School". Poets&Quants. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  42. ↑ "Julia Cagé et Vincent Pons, Prix du meilleur jeune économiste 2023". Le Monde (in French). 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  43. ↑ "Le palmarès du Prix du meilleur jeune économiste". Le Monde (in French). 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  44. ↑ "Julia Cagé and Vincent Pons recipients of the 2023 Best Young French Economist Award". CEPR. 2023-05-25. Archived from the original on 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  45. ↑ "2024 Young Leaders". French-American Foundation. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  46. ↑ Devoto, Florencia; Duflo, Esther; Dupas, Pascaline; Pariente, William; Pons, Vincent (November 2012). "Happiness on Tap: Piped Water Adoption in Urban Morocco". American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. 4 (4): 68–99. doi:10.1257/pol.4.4.68. hdl:1721.1/76281. ISSN 1945-7731. S2CID 7419402.