Francoise Nicolas is a Senior Researcher and Director of the Center for Asian Studies at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Paris, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in International Economics at Paris-East University (Marne-la-Vallée). She also teaches at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Langues’ O Paris) and at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po, Paris) and is an occasional consultant to the Directorate for Financial, Fiscal and Enterprise Affairs (DAFFE) of the OECD. 

She holds a Ph.D in international economics (1991) and an MA in political science (1985) from the Graduate Institute of International Studies (Geneva, Switzerland). She has also studied at the University of Sussex (1980-81) and was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore (1999) and at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) in Seoul (2004).

Her research focuses on development Strategies in East Asia; FDI and growth; regional economic integration; emerging economies and globalization. Her latest publications include: ? Economic regionalism in East Asia : The end of an exception ? ?, in Tong Sarah (ed.), Trade, Investment and Economic Integration (Volume One: Globalization, Development and Security in East Asia), World Scientific Publishing, forthcoming;  ? China and Post-Crisis Regional Financial Cooperation in East Asia ?, in Cabestan, J.-P., J.-F. DiMeglio and X. Richet (eds), China and the Global Economic Crisis:  A Comparison with Europe, Routledge, London and New York, 2012; ? Chinese ODI in France: Motives, Strategies and Implications ?, China Economic Policy Review, vol. 1, No 1, 2012; ? De Facto and De Jure Regional Economic Integration in East Asia - How Do They Interact ?, Singapore Economic Review, vol. 55, n°1, 2010.