FIW Workshops

VIES: Thierry Mayer “The Trade-Off Between Decarbonization and Reshoring”

Tue, 02. December 2025 17:45h 19:00h
Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 1090 Wien - University of Vienna, Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics, lecture hall 17, 2nd floor
Präsenz-Event (Englisch)

The FIW Research Centre International Economics and its partners kindly invite you to participate in the upcoming Vienna International Economics Seminar (VIES) on the topic:

“The Trade-Off Between Decarbonization and Reshoring”

Abstract:
Governments increasingly tie clean-technology subsidies to social and industrial aims, hoping to accelerate decarbonization while nurturing domestic production. In 2024, a French reform embedded a life-cycle environmental score in its electric-vehicle (EV) purchase bonus (based on estimated emissions during the production process). Linking exhaustive French registration records to assembly plants and battery origins, we exploit the sharp induced eligibility shock in a difference-in-differences design. Treated EV models experience 60% decline in sales relative to EVs remaining eligible. We combine these estimates with survey-based stated preferences in order to estimate a nested-logit demand system. Model-based counterfactuals suggest that the reform reduced total EV penetration by 0.9 pp, implying slower fleet decarbonization. The reform cut both public spending and consumer surplus and raised tank-to-wheel emissions enough to offset manufacturing-stage CO2 gains. A budget-neutral variant that recycles the fiscal savings into larger bonuses for eligible models would restore the lost electrification, and would cost about e4 500 of consumer surplus per reshored battery while turning the net environmental gains positive.

Speaker:
Thierry Mayer is Professor of Economics at Sciences Po since 2009 and was Head of the Department from 2019 to 2023. He is also a scientific advisor at the Centre d’études prospectives et d’informations internationales (CEPII), and a research fellow in the International Trade / Regional Economics programme at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).
His research is primarily focused on trade theory and empirics, economic geography, as well as on foreign direct investment determinants. His recent publications include research on market power and trade, as well as papers estimating the impact of trade policies in industries characterized with multinational production. He also published theoretical and empirical analysis of migration choices in violent contexts, as well as spatial diffusion of cultural traits. His most frequently cited research includes empirical studies on the level and causes of market fragmentation in the European Union, and works on how gravitational forces shape economic interactions.

Date and Time: Tuesday, December 2, 17.45-19.00 p.m.
Location: University of Vienna, Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 1090 Vienna, lecture hall 17, 2nd floor
Language: English

Registration:
Participants are requested to register in advance with Julia Hnidek (julia.hnidek@univie.ac.at).

The Vienna International Economics Seminar (VIES) is a joint initiative of CEU, FIW Research Centre International Economics, Universität Wien, WIFO, wiiw, and WU Vienna. It provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of cutting-edge academic research in the field of international economics.

The seminar is held at irregular intervals on Tuesdays from 17:45 to 19:15, alternating each semester between participating institutions. From October 2025 to January 2026, the seminar will be hosted by the University of Vienna.

Organizers:
Gábor Békés (CEU), Alejandro Cuñat (Vienna U.), Harald Fadinger (Vienna U.), Gabriel Felbermayr (WIFO, WU), Miklós Koren (CEU), Harald Oberhofer (WIFO, WU), Robert Stehrer (WIIW).

The seminar is currently coordinated by Harald Fadinger.

For more information and the detailed seminar schedule, please visit: https://sites.google.com/view/viennainternationaleconomicsse/