Research Seminars

Research Seminar Series offers a unique opportunity for our Faculty to engage with leading international scholars. Distinguished researchers from the world's top universities are invited to present their latest research and engage in lively discussions on the latest trends and developments in various areas of economics. All seminars are conducted in English and are comprised of a 50-minute presentation followed by a 10-minute discussion session. These seminars are open to the public, and we warmly welcome spontaneous attendance. 

Coordinators: Martin Guzi, Štěpán Mikula, Miloš Fišar, and Luca Fumarco.

Upcoming seminars

22 Apr

14:00

“Climate Change Is Not Real!” – Investigating the Role of Social Media Message Formats in Climate Change Misinformation

Ellie Ismagilova (Swansea University) ESF Room S311 Personal website

In today's world, social media is a major source of information for many people. However, not all information on social media is accurate, and misinformation can spread quickly, especially on important topics like climate change. This study aims to examiner how social media message formats (text, picture and video) affect climate change perception and behaviours. A mixed-method study with participants from UK and Mexico was conducted. The study found that misinformation reduces the credibility of social media posts in all formats (text, picture, video). Accurate posts about climate change prompted people to think about taking action to protect the environment. In contrast, misinformation posts made some people believe that climate change is not caused by humans and therefore not their problem to fix. Finally, it was found that higher social media literacy generally helps people recognise misinformation, especially in pictures. However, surprisingly, those with higher social media literacy might find video misinformation more credible. The study significantly advances our understanding of the interplay between message formats, misinformation, and social media's impact on climate change perceptions.

This event is both online and in person. Join the Teams meeting

23 Apr

11:00

Shifting Paradigms in Bank-Firm Relationships: Post-GFC Dynamics in the Syndicated Loan Market

Han Zhou (Monash Business School, Department of Banking and Finance) Online

This paper examines post-Global Financial Crisis changes in the relevance of bank capitalization and firms’ unrated status in determining bank-firm matching in the U.S. syndicated loan market. Since 2010, the expansion of the bond market and persistently low interest rates have weakened the traditional ties between unrated firms and well-capitalized banks. Improved bond market access reduces the incentive for unrated firms to borrow from well-capitalized banks, while lower-capitalized banks, in search of higher yields, increasingly lend to these firms. Notably, during the COVID-19 crisis, matching with well-capitalized banks did not influence unrated firms’ credit access, as stricter capital requirements had enhanced the lending capacity of lower-capitalized banks.

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24 Apr

11:00

Microsimulation as a tool for policy making: Insights from the EUFEM model

Andrea Piano Mortari (Tor Vergata University of Rome) ESF Large Conference Room Personal website

Microsimulation models have become indispensable tools in evaluating the dynamic impact of policy interventions across Europe, the United States and other countries. This seminar introduces the principles and advantages of policy microsimulation, with a particular focus on the European Future Elderly Model (EUFEM).

EUFEM enables the integration of longitudinal and cross-sectional data to simulate the consequences of policy interventions in healthcare, labor markets, and social protection systems.

Drawing on results from recent applications—including disease burden estimation, LTC policies and prevention startegies—this talk illustrates how EUFEM supports policy evaluation in a controlled, data-rich environment. Particular attention will be paid to methodological choices, validation strategies, and the challenges of aligning health and economic models with real-world applications, e.g. in heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other areas.

24 Apr

14:00

Goodbye monopoly: the effect of open access passenger rail competition on price and frequency in France on the High-Speed Paris-Lyon Line

Flaurent Laroche (Universite Lumiere Lyon 2) ESF Room MT205 Personal website

The Paris-Lyon line is the busiest High-Speed Line in Europe and has been open to competition in open access since December 18, 2021. The main objective of the paper is to explore the effects for users with respect to price and frequency compare with the existing literature. The analysis is based on a large database (n = 1243) collected by web scraping from September 2019 to October 2022. The method relies on a descriptive analysis with a similar route without competition (Paris-Bordeaux) in the comparison group. The results highlight an increase of frequency by 15% and a decrease in price by 23%. The prices charged by the newcomer are lower than those of the incumbent (−30% to −50%). The comparison with the control route suggests a positive effect on price that moderates the economic catch-up effect following the COVID-19 pandemic in an inflationary context. More specifically, SNCF appears to take a wait and see attitude to competitive pressure from Trenitalia. It has moderated its prices since the new offer was introduced and has maintained its trains.

This event is both online and in person. Join the Teams meeting

25 Apr

10:00

Shareholder activism: Blessing or affliction for incumbent CEOs?

Jiaqi Zhao (Warwick Business School, University of Warwick) ESF Room P302a Personal website

We examine the CEO career consequences following shareholder activism in their companies. To address endogeneity, we employ a control function approach, using expected mutual fund flow-induced sales and purchases as exclusion restrictions. We show that CEOs targeted by activists are more likely to be dismissed earlier and less likely to retain internal executive board positions than non-targeted CEOs. We also find significant decreases in their remuneration, while their outside board seats remain unaffected. These effects vary across campaign hostility, activist types, and CEOs’ ex-ante resistance. Hostile campaigns and campaigns involving hedge funds impose more adverse career effects, though anticipated CEO resistance deters activism and mitigates negative effects from hedge fund involvement in non-hostile campaigns.

This event is both online and in person. Join the Teams meeting

29 Apr

12:00

On the mechanics of S3: firm competitiveness and territorial employment growth

Ugo Fratesi (Politecnico di Milano) ESF Room S311 Personal website

Smart specialisation strategies involve selective interventions in firms, expecting that these will spread to the wider local economic system (“entry” mechanism). This mechanism is tested here, examining the link between firm competitiveness, industry specialization, and territorial growth at a small functional spatial scale. With a novel counterfactual methodology, this analysis supports that it is meaningful to target firm competitiveness to improve territorial employment, since, in places and industries where individual firms are more competitive, more jobs are created locally. Furthermore, while specialisation in general is not significant, positive effects exist for sectors involved in regional S3.
Authors: Federico Fantechi and Ugo Fratesi

This event is both online and in person. Join the Teams meeting

15 May

14:00

Integrated vs. Separated Schooling for Refugee Children: Long-Term Effects on Education and Assimilation

Caterina Pavese (ifo/LMU Munich) ESF Room MT205 Personal website

The large influx of refugees over recent decades challenges many Western countries to devise effective policies for long-term integration. A key policy question is whether refugee children should be directly integrated into native schools or initially separated into migrant schools. In the Netherlands, refugee children arriving at primary-school age are taught either in integrated or separated schools depending on their randomly assigned municipality, whereas all secondary-school-aged arrivals are initially separated. We exploit this setting in a novel difference-in-differences framework, leveraging rich administrative data. Results indicate that on average, integrated primary schooling increases cultural assimilation as measured by hormonal-contraceptive usage but decreases educational outcomes at age 18. The negative educational effects are restricted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, whereas the positive assimilation effects are strongest for children from advantaged backgrounds.

This event is both online and in person. Join the Teams meeting

Past events

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