The Centre d'Études Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (lit. 'Centre for Prospective Studies and International Information' ), generally referred to by its acronym CEPII, is a French institute for research in international economics. It is government-funded and part of the Office of the Prime Minister, within a network coordinated by France Stratégie. The origins of CEPII go back to the creation in 1963 by French official Michel Courcier of the GEPEI, rebranded GEPI in the 1970s. In 1978, CEPII was given permanent status by government order, with Courcier as its founding director. The CEPII has a core team of around 30 economists. The four main research areas are: factor markets and growth; the international financial and monetary system; EU economy; international trade models.

History

Precursors

Michel Courcier had started his career after the liberation of France in the research service of the Ministry of Finance, and had assisted several former French colonies such as Cambodia, Madagascar and Senegal in their creation of a national accounting framework. From his international experience, he gained a belief that the methodologies and achievements of French national accounting could and should be expanded to the international level, which became the driving insight for the creation of GEPEI in 1963. The research group was hosted by the Centre Français du Commerce Extérieur (CFCE), a trade promotion agency of the French government. An early opportunity came with the preparation of President Charles de Gaulle's visit to the Soviet Union in June 1966, for which the GEPEI prepared briefing materials and from which it developed regular relationships with the Soviet Gosplan. The GEPEI thus became a leading center of expertise on the economy of the Communist bloc. Meanwhile, its research team was joined by economists such as Gérard Lafay in 1966, Anton Brender in 1969,, or Jean Pisani-Ferry in 1977. By the early 1970s, Courcier and Lafay had developed an economic model of the global economy.

Founding

In 1978, Prime Minister Raymond Barre, on advice from General Planning Commissioner Michel Albert and from his own economic adviser Jean-Claude Casanova, reformed the GEPI by expanding its resources, relocating it within the machinery of government from CFCE to the General Planning Commission, and rebranding it as CEPII. CEPII thus acquired an interagency profile mirrored by its board which brought together the heads or deputy heads of major government organizations with economic expertise such as the Planning Commission, the Direction du Trésor, INSEE, the Directorate for External Economic Relations (later merged into the Trésor), the Direction Générale de l'Industrie (later merged into the Directorate General for Enterprise), the Bank of France, and the Secretariat-General for National Defence.

Development

The GEPEI was initially established in Paris on Quai Branly, then Avenue d'Iéna, then on 54-48, rue Saint-Denis. In late 1980, its successor CEPII moved from there to 9, rue Georges Pitard, where it remained for three decades. In 2010 CEPII relocated to 113, rue de Grenelle, then in 2017 to 20, avenue de Ségur in Paris. The CEPII developed a series of publication formats: the monthly Lettre du CEPII from May 1979,, the quarterly Économie Prospective Internationale from January 1980 (rebranded Économie Internationale in 1993), working papers from 1984, the yearly essay L'Économie mondiale from 1991, and a first website in 1996.

Merger with OFCE

In late 2023, a government-commissioned report by economists Jean-Luc Tavernier and Nicolas Véron recommended a merger between CEPII and OFCE, another government-funded think tank that focuses on domestic economics. Upon the report's publication, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne endorsed the recommendation.

Leadership

The successive chief executives of the CEPII have been: Chairs of the Conseil du CEPII: The CEPII created a Scientific Committee in 2000, successively chaired by François Bourguignon (2000-2004), Olivier Blanchard (2004-2007), Francesco Giavazzi (2007-2020?), and Marc Melitz (since 2020?).