He originally studied at the École Polytechnique (1986–89), but then obtained a master's degree from the University of Toulouse (1990), followed by a Ph.D. in 1992; his Ph.D. thesis, an analysis of mechanism design with multiple principals and asymmetric information, was written under Jean-Jacques Laffont.
[4][5] David Martimort's research interests include contract theory and mechanism design, public-private partnerships, and ("green") public procurement.
[8] Martimort then applied multiprincipal incentive theory to supply chains, using it to explain why manufacturers' choice of common or exclusive retailers depends on the complementarity or substitutability of their brands,[9] and government, where it is used to describe the shared control of entities by regulatory bodies as a set of competing contracts.
[18] Finally, Martimort and Denis Gromb study how to design optimal incentive contracts for experts in different collusion environments, with important implications for the organization of delegated expertise.
[22] In subsequent research with Elisabeth Iossa, Martimort further extends the analysis of benefits and costs of public-private partnerships by allowing for asymmetric information, moral hazard, and renegotiations as well as private or public financing.