Hélène Ehrhart

Specializing in development economics and public finance management, Hélène Ehrhart is an economist within AFD's Department of Economic Diagnostics and Public Policy.

Her research and studies have focused on the links between taxation and inequality, the quality of public spending, financing for development and the macroeconomic analysis of AFD’s intervention countries.

With a PhD in economics from the University of Auvergne (CERDI), Hélène Ehrhart was already interested in public finance issues for her thesis, which focused on issues related to the mobilization of tax revenues in developing countries.

After working for three years as a research economist at the Banque de France, Hélène Ehrhart joined AFD’s Department of Economic Diagnostics and Public Policy from 2014 to 2020. She participated in the macroeconomic analysis of the countries of intervention of the franc zone and conducted research on the theme of public finances. In 2020, she became project manager in financial governance and oversaw several projects in the field of public finance management in Africa and the East. She came back to AFD’s Department of Economic Diagnostics and Public Policy at the end of 2024.

• "Aid and growth: evidence from firm-level data", with L. Chauvet, Journal of Development Economics, vol. 135, pp. 461-477 (2018)
• "Trade networks and colonial trade spillovers", with A. Berthou , Review of International Economics, vol. 25, issue 4, pp. 695-947 (2017)
• "Le Mexique à l’heure des réformes structurelles", with Magali Gilliot, Revue d'économie financière, vol. 124, issue 4, pp.115-133 (2016)
• "Does migration foster exports? Evidence from Africa", with M. Le Goff, E. Rocher and R.J. Singh, Policy Research Working Paper, Banque mondiale n°6739 (2014)
• "Debt, seigniorage, and the Growth Laffer Curve in developing countries", with A. Minea and P. Villieu, Journal of Macroeconomics vol. 42, issue C, pp. 199-210 (2014)
• "Commodity price volatility and tax revenue: Evidence from developing countries", with S. Guérineau, Working Paper Series n° 423, Banque de France (2013)
• "Elections and the structure of taxation in developing countries", Public Choice, vol. 156, issue 1-2, pp. 195-211 (2013)
• "Tax Revenue Instability in Sub-Saharan Africa: Consequences and Remedies", with C. Ebeke, Journal of African Economies vol. 21, issue 1, pp. 1-27 (2012)
• "Direct Redistribution, Taxation, and Accountability in Oil-Rich Economies: A Proposal", with S. Devarajan, T.M. Le and G. Raballand, Working Paper n° 281, Center for Global Development (2011)