Aghion was born in Paris, the son of Gaby and Raymond Aghion [REF].
Aghion is a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (ENS Cachan, Mathematics Section), has a Diplôme d'études approfondies (DEA) in Mathematical Economics from University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University (1987).