Lou Zaccaron

I am a second-year PhD student in Economics at the University of Bordeaux (France). My doctoral research examines how firms organize and value scientific activity, combining rigorous empirical methods with research questions at the frontier between innovation economics, science policy, and firm strategy.

Title: The Business of Science: Understanding the Value of Firm-Academic Publication (Le Business de la Science : Comprendre la Valeur des Publications en Collaboration entre Entreprises et Universités).

Direction: Professor Valerio Sterzi (BxSE) and Associate Professor DIego Useche (BxSE).

Subject: My thesis examines publishing trends among large, R&D-intensive firms in Europe and the US in recent years. I have created a new dataset of corporate publications and matched it with firm-level financial and patent information for 1,200 companies. My findings show that firms’ collaborative research output, as measured by the quantity and quality of scientific publications, has increased over time. This upward trend contrasts with the previously observed decline in solo publishing activity among large, R&D-intensive US firms. Notably, this growth is primarily driven by increased collaboration with academic institutions. The observation of this change in publishing practices raises several questions, which I address in this thesis. What effect does firm-university collaboration have on publication quality? Do firms learn from these interactions?

‘Pôle Doctorant’ Representative | September 2025 - ongoing:

In charge of PhD students’ weekly seminars at the laboratory (organization and communication). I am also responsible for social events such as the beginning and end of the year and welcoming new PhD students’ integration of new PhD students.

Doctoral School Representative | September 2024 – January 2026 :

I served as a representative for the 'Ecole Doctorale' within the Economics Department in a substituting role. In this role, I contribute to department-scale governance by voting on major strategic decisions and representing the interests of my peers.