"I am Anh Nguyen from Vietnam. I am currently a student of Master 2 Economic Theory and Econometrics (M2 ETE) at Toulouse School of Economics in year 2018 - 2019. Before coming to Toulouse, I had worked as teaching assistant of School of Business at an international university in Vietnam for three years. My goals are to become a trained researcher in Economics and contribute to my home country through economic research and teaching young Vietnamese students. Therefore, in addition to my day job, I decided to pursue Master in Economics program offered by Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) through a partnership with Vietnam National University at Ho Chi Minh city. After finishing the two-year program, I really wanted to further my studies at TSE and, thus, applied to M2 ETE program which is the preliminary step to PhD program. I believe that the intellectual challenges and rigorous training from leading researchers at TSE would prepare me well to become a good one. Thanks to the precious support from Jean-Jacques Laffont scholarship, I could not hesitate to embark on my journey at TSE. I am both grateful and honored to receive the scholarship bearing the name of my school founder and an extraordinary economist of the world." Anh Nguyen 

"My background of growing and living in a developing country provided me a wide vision of transversal social issues. After getting my bachelor’s degree as an economist I started my path towards the public sector in my home country for more than 3 years and I had the chance to work as an economic and policy analyst at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Education and Production. The opportunities and experiences I acquired in all these scenarios, mainly in the frame of regulatory impact analysis, increased my conviction to contribute in the development and design of wide-ranging public policies, having the inherent pattern that an analysis based on evidence converges into a well-founded decision. Along that line, implementing solid policy proposals require an academic groundwork founded and enriched by theory and practice. These reasons enhanced me to apply to the M2 in Public Policy and Development at Toulouse School of Economics. The opportunity of been enrolled on this rigorous school, where I can learn from the extensive field experience of professors, as well as getting and strengthening quantitative methodologies to make a rigorous analysis for the design and implementation of public policies, is finally materialized through the scholarship that I had the privilege to receive from the Association Jean-Jacques Laffont. Furthermore, this support represents for me a multiplier effect in knowledge and social terms because I can be involved in a strong research environment that fosters the continues generation of ideas and solutions that can be translated or scaled up into the design and implementation of social programs or public policies in different sectors in an effective, rigorous and genuine manner. The award received by the Association Jean-Jacques Laffont sets a tone in my road as policy maker and in the short run I expect to pursue PhD studies in public policy in the fields of health and education. Karen Trujillo Jara 

    "If it wasn’t for the Jean-Jacques Laffont fellowship in 2015, I could not have started my PhD at the Toulouse School of Economics. The grant allowed me to focus on reading and studying, instead of having to juggle with a side job (or becoming a notorious Fermier Général like Lavoisier did!). I am currently in the 2nd year of the PhD and researching how algorithms and platforms affect the economy, consequently, how to design and regulate them." Rossi Abi-Rafeh

  "I was delighted to receive the scholarship provided by Fondation Jean-Jacques Laffont. As a young student of Economics, I had always been keen to participate in the cutting-edge research that takes place at Toulouse School of Economics and Fondation JJL has given me an excellent avenue to be able to accomplish this. Being from a developing country, without this assistance, it would have been nearly impossible for me to fund my studies. After completing the M2 ETE, I wish to continue on to the doctoral program in Economics at TSE, hoping to contribute eventually to the literature on empirical Industrial organisation." Shreeti Vatsala

    "I am originally from Brazil, where I did my first studies in economics and discovered the fields that interest me the most: public economics, taxation, regulation... In short: how government intervention impacts the economy (and society) and what can be done to improve it or minimize its costs. Undecided whether I was more interested in research or policy-making, I did not come straight from my bachelor's program into a PhD. First I worked at the finance ministry of my home state in Brazil, São Paulo. Later I did a Master in Economics at Tilburg University, and worked for a consultancy company specialized in European policy making. But more and more I felt that my skills and interests directed me towards an academic career, and I applied to the doctoral program at Toulouse School of Economics. 
The school is particularly renowned for contributions in the field of regulation and industrial organization (fields in which Jean-Jacques Laffont and Jean Tirole wrote seminal works). Moreover, it has a large group of professors and researchers interested in policy areas such as environmental economics and taxation. All of that attracted long before I considered applying to a PhD at TSE. When I finally did apply, the decision to come into this stimulating and challenging environment was made possible through the support of the Association Jean-Jacques Laffont. I benefited from the scholarship and the helpful orientation given by the staff at the university concerned by the Association Jean-Jacques Laffont, to whom I am very thankful. I am happy and honoured to benefit from the support of the Jean-Jacques Laffont scholarship and have my period in Toulouse attached to the name of a leading figure for this school and the field of economics. I hope to be able to continue my doctoral studies here and learn from great researchers how to become one of them." Ferreira Da Silva Filho Alipio

  "I'm an Egyptian student and my country is witnessing a deep economic crisis. Without the scholarship, I really wouldn't be able to be here in Toulouse studying in one of the top economic school worldwide and I wouldn't be able to experience the beautiful student life in France. I'm thankful to everyone in the association who granted me this opportunity.". Ola ElToukhi