Xavier Timbeau

A graduate of École Polytechnique and ENSAE, Xavier Timbeau is a French economist. He began his career at the Ministry of Industry before joining the Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Économiques (OFCE) in 1995, where he now serves as Executive Director. He also chairs the Environment and Sustainable Development Commission of the CNIS (French National Council for Statistical Information).

Alongside his institutional responsibilities, Xavier Timbeau is actively involved in academic research and teaching.

His research covers macroeconomic analysis, economic modeling, and applied econometrics, with a specific interest in labor markets, household consumption, and housing in both France and Europe.

The OFCE, which he leads, is an independent institution dedicated to economic forecasting, public policy research, and evaluation. Hosted by the French National Foundation for Political Science (FNSP) under a 1981 agreement with the French State, the OFCE brings together more than 40 French and international researchers. Its mission is to contribute to public economic debate through the rigor of academic research and scientific independence.

The OFCE covers a wide range of economic domains, including macroeconomics, growth, welfare systems, taxation, employment policy, sustainable development, inequality, competition, innovation, and regulation. Its research is grounded in advanced econometric models—complex scientific tools continuously developed and refined—as well as household and firm-level microdata, which enable detailed analysis of inequality dynamics and business heterogeneity across the economy.