MISCEA thesis offer ESR18 – Low-carbon cooling systems in African countries
Offer Description
1 – Air conditioning ownership is currently low across Africa. It could however, increase tremendously under the joint effect of global warming, growth and urbanization. This prospect raises two questions. First, will AC adoption take a carbon-intensive path dominated by conventional, low-energy efficiency models, or a sustainable one relying on passive cooling or solar-powered technologies? Second, what is the impact of these changes on consumer wellbeing – household expenditure and health outcomes in particular? Answering these questions is key to assess the risk of ‘maladaptation’ associated with AC and design effective policies to mitigate it.
Two approaches are currently taken at ENPC/CIRED under the AFRICOOLING project to address this question: (i) an econometric analysis of pan-African AC product lines; (ii) a field study of household behavior in relation to cooling technologies. Depending on their skills, the successful applicant will contribute to either of these approaches, and possibly to both.
The first line of research will extend recent work by Aja et al. (2024) and exploit a panel dataset of AC products to examine cross-country differences and temporal variations, in an effort to capture weather and climate effects.
The second line of research will build on ongoing field work in Côte d’Ivoire to elicit the determinants of AC adoption and assess its effect on economic and health outcomes. Particular interest will be paid to solar-powered AC technologies, which can be deployed at a decentralized level.
2 – Thesis supervisor: Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet (louis-gaetan.giraudet@enpc.fr).
3 – The candidate will be hosted at CIRED in Nogent-sur-Marne.
4- The project is co-developed with Meridiam, an asset management corporation that funds infrastructure projects in several African countries. It is also connected to the ANR-funded project AFRICOOLING awarded to L.-G. Giraudet.
5 – The project is linked to EELISA communities SDG3 (Good health and wellbeing), SDG7 (Affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (Climate action).
Where to apply
-
louis-gaetan.giraudet@enpc.fr
Requirements
- Research Field
- Economics
- Education Level
- Master Degree or equivalent
Applicants are expected to have extensive training in applied economics, econometrics and data management, in relation to development, health and environmental issues. They are expected to master state-of-the-art empirical approaches to technology adoption and impact estimation (instrumental variables, difference-in-differences estimation, etc.), tools for statistical analysis (R, Stata, etc.) and electronic data collection (ODK, SurveyCTO, etc.).
Applicants are also expected to have demonstrated experience in field studies and project management. Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in French would be a strong plus. Some interest or experience with information technologies (using e-commerce, cellphone or electricity metering data) is a strong plus.
Lastly, the position requires a taste for both leadership and team work. It also involves a strong interest in public policy and an ability to engage with both professionals (from the public and private sector) and survey participants.
More details on the Euraxess website:
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/370812
- 30/11/2025