Posted by Franck Bessette
Our short series on PFM studies at the University raised a lot of interest and debate among our fellow blog readers. The first post from Dimitar Vlahov concluded with this statement: “While understandable perhaps, the lack of PFM studies does seem unfortunate. The present world economic crisis points to a continued need for high-quality management of public finances”, which triggered a response from the University of London: “Teaching Public Financial Management is getting hot!” Another response came from outside the English speaking sphere: from Professor Michel Bouvier, at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, where I had the privilege to teach public finance a few years ago to students preparing for civil service competitive exams.
The situation of PFM studies in France is quite different from the US or England where, as Dimitar Vlahov noted, public finance “is a subdivision of Economics”. In France, public finance is traditionally considered, at least within academia, as a subdivision of public law, which is itself a part of law schools. It is also a compulsory subject in all general civil service exams.
The Master’s of the Sorbonne University (Paris-1) headed by Michel Bouvier, also director of the leading French publication in PFM, La Revue Française des Finances Publiques reflects this “genealogy.” Its title is “Public Finance Law and Management”. The Master’s is a pole of excellence in training and research in PFM at the national and international level. The curriculum aims at meeting the growing need for practitioners, experts and researchers for central and local government management as well as for international organizations. Its main focus is on PFM methods and instruments geared towards results and performance. The added value of the Master’s is that students are exposed to the teaching of University professors as well as high ranking civil servants and private sector practitioners. They are also associated with research activities of the FONDAFIP, an institution dedicated to promote research in PFM in France and internationally and exchange between researchers and practitioners in this area.
Students have the choice between two main specializations, general PFM or sub-national PFM. To find out more information about these programs and how they can meet your professional development needs you can click here.
