Public Lectures

Statistical analysis of historical data provides a natural complement to traditional historical analysis based on qualitative research and on the descriptive use of (typically univariate) quantitative information. At their best, econometric methods applied to individual-level historical data can identify causal relationships. I will present three empirical studies based on data from 20th-century wars that are meant to contribute to economics, demography, and political science. First, based on data on prisoners of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, we ask whether humans cooperate and whether preexisting social ties increase one’s chances of survival when facing extremely low survival chances. To identify causal effects, we rely on quasi-random composition of transports into the camp. Second, we ask about the formation of political identity of newly re-settled areas in Sudetenland after WWII. We exploit quasi-random differences in the presence of individuals with strong political convictions, to explore the theory of the small seed of political identity. Third, we measure and study the sources of the willingness to die in battle to defend national independence, based on data on the Croatia-Serbia war of 1991-1995.

Although the concept of using individual-level simulations to analyze economic and demographic trends dates back to the 1950s, it was only after advances in computing that microsimulation became a practical tool for research. Today, microsimulation is not just a fallback when traditional methods do not work—it has become a key approach for studying issues related to health care, labor markets, demography, employment, public finance. This method naturally fits with economic theories that focus on individual decision-making instead of broad aggregates. In this presentation, we will review the evolution of dynamic social science microsimulation, discuss situations where it offers valuable insights, and explore some current applications in RAND research in areas such as aging, diabetes care, lifestyle interventions, drug policy, and climate change.

More information about the event : https://hepii.econ.muni.cz/udalosti/roland-sturm-advances-in-healthcare-modeling-microsimulation-as-a-tool-for-applied-research-muni-seminar-series

This joint presentation of four research projects explores how institutions and markets evolve through processes of commercialization, innovation, and adaptation. The first study examines the transformation of a traditional nonprofit ski race into a major commercial event, highlighting the commercialization and professionalization of sports. The second study investigates how state interventions in solar energy markets both disrupt traditional market mechanisms and create new opportunities, focusing on how market actors respond to these transitions. The third study explores the concept of "hype" in management, using the case of Business Intelligence to illustrate the tension between technological control and market-driven innovation. The fourth study analyzes the introduction of digital reporting in Swedish road construction projects, where state-led environmental requirements elicit mixed reactions from contractors—ranging from proactive engagement to skeptical resistance.

1. The commercialization and professionalization of sports: The Vasaloppet case (Joacim Larsson von Garaguly)
2. Market construction for solar energy – actors and activities (Victoria Kihlström)
3. What is a Hype? (Ravi Dar)
4. The State as a driver of Innovation (Ravi Dar)

Nedávná inflační vlna zvedla inflaci vysoko nad cíle centrální bank. Bývalé transformující se ekonomiky měly (ne)překvapivě vyšší růst cenové hladiny než ostatní země EU. Co stálo za nedávnou inflační vlnou? Reagovaly centrální banky adekvátně? Proč byla inflace nad cílem tak dlouho? A jaké ponaučení si z inflační vlny mohou vzít centrální banky?

A new book coauthored with Michael Richter will be introduced. I will discuss three models of interaction between agents with NO PRICES and NO GAMES. In these models, each equilibrium concept reflects a social institution that systematically alters either the agents' choice sets or their preferences. The lecture will focus on simple examples that illustrate the concept.

Event link

So Germany was defeated in 1918 - and France seemed to have won. But of course, as we all know, it was the US who really won. But they did not like the result - and withdrew into what is often called "isolationism". Up to World War I, France had always relied on Russia as a counterweight to Germany. But after 1918 Russia no longer counted as an ally. France (and Britain) had failed to either overthrow the Bolsheviks - as Kramar had advised them to do - or make friends with them - as Benes had maybe wanted them to do. As a result, Germany had lost the colonies (that only cost money) and the battlefleet (that was no use on the continent) but its strategic position within Europe had in fact suffered far less than was generally believed.

MUNI Seminar Series

Dishonesty takes a variety of forms (tax evasion, corruption, book cooking, ...) and it has major implications for growth and trust in society. The standard "economics of crime" approach has shown its limits to analyze decision making in the ethical domain. Under the influence of behavioral economics, the role of monetary incentives and moral norms on unethical behavior has been reconsidered. During her lecture, Marie Claire Villeval brings together research in behavioral economics and field and laboratory experiments to analyze how and when individuals misbehave, and whether deterrence institutions and punishment are always the solution to discourage such misbehavior.

MUNI Seminar Series

The 2015 European migrant crisis shifted media and scholarly attention to the economic and political integration of refugees. During the MUNI lecture, Bratsberg will draw on his recent research on refugees as well as family and labor migrants in Norway and discuss the merits of policies targeted at immigrant integration.

MUNI Seminar Series

"Feeling Smart"  is the title of Eyal Winter's book that appeared 2015  with Perseus Books Group. The book deals with the relationship between our emotional being and our rational one, and the implications of this relationship to areas such as economics, business, romance and the social interactions. We shall address the following questions: Are emotions and rationality two separate systems? Can we synthesize emotions?  What is the difference between autonomous and interactive emotions. What is the role of altruism in promoting self‐interest? We shall also mention recent research findings on the "love hormone" Oxytocin, and in particular the implications for economic and social interactions. Finally, if time permits we shall discuss how regret and our fear of regret shapes our financial behavior.

website

Lecture is organized within Seminar Series sponsored by Masaryk University.

Abstract: The focus of my work is on the analysis and design of institutions (rules of the game) that promote cooperation among individuals and the solution of social dilemmas (such as environmental issues) in the fairest, efficient, equitable, democratic and sustainable manners possible. My reflection is based on two main points. (i) First, I challenge two analytical frameworks for understanding and addressing environmental problems, namely market environmentalism and the institutional framework. I call for adopting a vision that conceives environmental problems basically as social collective action dilemmas, instead of market failures. (i) Secondly, I analyze current trends in behavioral and experimental approaches to the study of collective action and summarize the main contributions to the growing literature in this field.

https://seminarseries.muni.cz/social-sciences-humanities/lectures/behavioral-foundations-of-collective-actions

Abstract: The lecture attempts to highlight challenges to European integration by raising key concerns and generating debate about potential responses. This discussion is intended to be a starting point for further reflection on specific issues related to the European integration process. The starting point is the explanation why there is a need for a clear and realistic integration mission; the argumentation is supported by the example of the history of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), one of the most tangible achievements of European integration policy. The history of the EMU also highlights the critical importance of clarity and realism in any approach to integration. The discussion analysis moves next to the challenges that the EU is facing today and considers how the European Commission has evaluated and reacted to these challenges so far. Finally, the lecturer proposes some key elements of – and makes the case for – a constructive practical approach.

The lecture is based on the article entitled Challenges to European Integration: Missions and Instruments written by the lecturer, published in Politics in Central Europe (ISSN: 1801-422), Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 77–91, DOI: 10.2478/pce-2018-0004

Bio: Tamás Szemlér, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the Faculty of International and European Studies of the National University of Public Service (Budapest) since 1 September 2016. Between 1993 and 2010, he was a researcher at the Institute for World Economics (IWE) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; in 2008-2009, he was Deputy Director (responsible for scientific affairs) of IWE. Between 2009 and 2016, he worked as an associate professor at the Faculty of International Management and Business of Budapest Business School; between 2009 and 2014 he was head of the Department of Economics; between 2012 and 2016, he was Dean of the Faculty of International Management and Business. He has over 140 publications; in his research and teaching activities, he focuses mainly on the issues of deepening, enlargement and external relations (economic and political) of the European Union.

Event 

Personal website

Authors: Daniel Jones (University of South Carolina), Michael Vlassopoulos (University of Southampton), Mirco Tonin (University of Bozen-Bolzano)

Abstract: How does performance pay (P4P) impact productivity on incentivized and unincentivized dimensions when workers may be intrinsically motivated by their job (e.g., public sector, nonprofit sector)? How does P4P impact the composition of workers in such jobs? We conduct a real-effort laboratory experiment, manipulating compensation and motivation, to answer these questions. We find that P4P has positive effects on productivity on the incentivized dimension (quantity) and negative effects on the unincentivized dimension (quality) for non-motivated workers. For motivated workers, P4P does not lead to a statistically significant change in either dimension. Finally, when workers can choose to remain in the experimentally-assigned payment scheme or opt for an outside option with a flat payment, but also no opportunity to be intrinsically motivated, we find that non-motivated workers sort on ability (higher ability workers opting into the P4P scheme) while motivated workers do not.

Venue information

Kartelové dohody mezi konkurenty oslabují konkurenci na trhu a vedou k vyšším cenám. Firmy v takovýchto případech platí svým dodavatelům, kteří se domluvili na ceně, více, než kolik by platily na správně fungujícím trhu. Pokud je kartel odhalen, mohou poškozené firmy žádat o náhradu škody u soudu. Ale jak velkou škodu tyto firmy utrpěly? Jaká by byla tržní cena na fungujícím trhu a jak ovlivnil kartel zisk poškozených firem? Odpovědím, které soudu běžně poskytují ekonomové, se bude věnovat i tento seminář.

Prof. James Alm is Chair of Economics at Tulane University in New Orleans. Alm’s most recent research areas include tax compliance and tax evasion, the marriage tax, tax and expenditure limitations, tax amnesties, taxpayer responses to tax reforms, enterprise zones, the determinants of state economic growth, and corruption. He has worked extensively on fiscal and decentralization reforms in numerous countries, including Bangladesh, Jamaica, Grenada, Indonesia, Turkey, Hungary, China, Egypt, the Philippines, Russia, Uganda, Nigeria, India, Colombia, Nepal, Ukraine, Pakistan, South Africa, and Tunisia. Alm's international projects have been funded by the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations Development Program, and the International Monetary Fund. Alm has published in various respected journals and has been ranked among the world's top economists of today.

http://seminarseries.muni.cz/lectures-by/james-alm

We propose a novel empirical strategy for identifying and studying nationalism using name choices. We first show that having been given a first name that is synonymous with the leader(s) of the fascist Croatian state during World War II predicts volunteering for army service in the 1991-1995 Croatian war of independence and dying during the conflict. Next, we use the universe of Croatian birth certificates and the information about nationalism conveyed by first names to contrast the evolution of nationalism and its intergenerational transmission across locations affected by extreme war-related experiences. Our evidence suggests that in ex-Yugoslav Croatia, nationalism was on a continuous rise starting in the 1970s, that its rise was curbed in areas where con- centration camps were located during WWII, and that nationalist fathers consider the nationalism-transmission trade-off between within-family and society-wide transmission channels suggested by Bisin and Verdier (2001).

Download paper

We examine labor market favoritism in a unique laboratory experiment design.  Group identities are created and both employment preference rankings and wage offers favor in-group members.  Workers positively reciprocate towards in-group employers by choosing higher effort in a gift exchange game.  Thus, favoritism can be privately rational for employers.  However, unemployed subjects are allowed to burn resources (at a cost to themselves), and we document significantly increased resource destruction when unemployment is due to favoritism towards others.  This highlights a significant spillover cost of favoritism that is often ignored, and it points to one possible micro-foundation of some anti-social behavior.

We study perception biases arising under second-best perception strategies. Agent correctly observes all payoff-relevant parameters but cannot retain all the information until her decision. Evolution chooses a perception strategy that determines the pattern of information loss across many decision situations the agent encounters across her life. We argue that the optimal perception strategy exhibits illusion of control, over-confidence, and optimism.

During the last decade, economists have identified sticky floors in the labour market, i.e. the pattern in which women are, compared to men, less likely to (start to) climb the job ladder. Two studies were conducted to test two potential mechanisms underlying these sticky floors. On the one hand, a field experiment was conducted to test whether employers discriminate (more) against women when they apply for promotion jobs. On the other hand, a lab experiment was conducted to test whether women have a less pronounced preference for jobs implying a promotion than men.

V posledních 12 měsících několik zemi opustilo fix na dolar, a přešlo na floating. Tento krok je však spojen s řadou rizik. Přednáška nabídne pohled absolventa ESF MU, který v rámci práce pro MMF pomáhá centrálním bankám v rozvojových zemích zlepšit jejich analytický aparát.

Nielen Slovensko, ale žiadna krajina nedokáže mať naraz anglosaské dane, škandinávske výdavky a balkánsku korupciu. Úspešné krajiny 21. storočia s najvyššou kvalitou života sa líšia veľkosťou štátu, no jedno majú spoločné: efektívnu verejnú správu zameranú na dosahovanie výsledkov. Nemôžu si dovoliť luxus masívneho obchádzania platenia daní, a preto okrem ich účinného vyberania občanom ponúkajú kvalitné a efektívne verejné služby. Hľadajú najvyššiu hodnotu (úžitok) pre svojich občanov, teda najlepšie spôsoby získavania a vynakladania verejných zdrojov alebo regulácie správania ľudí a firiem. Slovensko bude naozaj vyspelou krajinou, len ak sa zbaví „korupčného“ zmýšľania, a keď obmedzí zdroje verejného plytvania založeného na nevedomosti, nezáujme a pasivite. Hlavným cieľom našej štúdie je ukázať, ako zaviesť účinný systém hľadania najvyššej hodnoty za peniaze (value for money, výhodnosti) vo verejnom sektore.

Štúdia

Aktuálním tématem v médiích je a vyvolává to velké vášně, kolik půjde ze státního rozpočtu do zdravotnictví. Tedy výše platby za státní pojištěnce, minulý vývoj, návrhy na jeho automatickou valorizaci, možnosti řešení, mezinárodní pohled, vliv zájmových skupin, kontext celkového financování zdravotnictví, návaznost na platy lékařů apod.

Ing. Jakub Haas je vedoucí oddělení Zdravotnictví a veřejného zdravotního pojištění Ministerstva financí ČR.

Záznam přednášky: on-line video

Diskusie o deficite verejných financií sa často končia návrhom na zníženie dávok pre Rómov. Mnohí však nemajú vedomosti ani o hodnote dávok ani o ich skutočnom objeme. Štát však evidenciu Rómov nevedie, ako potom zistiť objem dávok? Cieľom prednášky Rómsky mýtus bude poskytnúť zrozumiteľné odpovede na zložité otázky postavenia sociálnych dávok v systéme verejných financií.

Články od autora Radovan Ďurana

Schopnost firem volně určovat své ceny v konkurenčním prostředí přináší spotřebitelům výhodu nižších cen. Určité formy cenové diskriminace mohou ale také umožnit firmám s dominantním postavením vyloučit jejich konkurenty z trhu. Jakým způsobem správně posuzovat cenové praktiky dominantních firem? Kdy mohou být náklady užitečným ukazatelem? Odpovědi budou diskutovány v kontextu nedávného případu zneužiti dominantního postavení na trhu poštovních služeb v UK.

Martin Vlček (předseda představenstva CETIN) a Michal Frankl (člen představenstva) promluví o největší události posledních let v oblasti telekomunikací: rozdělení O2 Czech Republic na retailového operátora O2 a velkoobchodního správce infrastruktury CETIN.

The lecture will introduce students to this increasingly popular method for testing and stimulating economic theory. Traditionally, economics research has sought to test the predicted effect of a policy change on economic outcomes of interest using data surveyed from households, firms, or public organizations. Such tests require sophisticated statistical techniques to control for the fact that other variables may also be changing simultaneously and influencing the outcomes of interest. In contrast, experiments require instead that the researcher have the ability to randomly assign individuals across policy treatment conditions. The effects of a policy on economic outcomes should then be more easily identified across treatments, as differences in other factors should average out. The lecture aims to familiarize students with experimental methods, learn some interesting applications, and critically evaluate the potential and limitations of laboratory experimental research.

The introductory lecture to course Experimental and Behavioral Economics is organized by MUEEL (Masaryk University Experimental Economics Laboratory).
Prof. Maroš Servátka will lecture via Skype.

Jedna z nejčastějších definic integrace (včetně integrace menšinových skupin do majoritní společnosti) vychází z konceptu oboustranného procesu. Jinými slovy, má-li být integrace úspěšná, je třeba, aby se „menšina“ chtěla integrovat do společnosti stejnou měrou, jakou by měla být „majorita“ ochotna ji přijmout. 

Často se mluví o způsobech, jak výše zmíněným skupinám pomoct/motivovat je k integraci, méně ale o tom, jak ke stejnému cíli motivovat majoritu. I proto si vás dovoluji pozvat k diskuzi o tom, jak vnímá česká majorita integraci cizinců v České republice. Co si myslí o soužití s imigranty, zda vítá „jinakost“ nebo je jí nepříjemná (případně proč) a hlavně, co by mělo být dle jejího názoru uděláno, aby „jejich“ integrace byla zároveň i „naše“ integrace."