Proyectos pasados

Proyectos en curso | Proyectos pasados

"Conflict, refugees and stability"
PGC2018-096133-B-100, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
2019-2022
Laura Mayoral , Joan M. Esteban, Hannes Mueller, Timothy Besley, Andrea Canidio, Itzhak Gilboa, Andre Groeger, Massimo Morelli Dominic Rohner, Ola Olsson, Debraj Ray, Joan Serrat


"Innovation and policy intervention in social and economic issues"
PGC2018-097898-B-100, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
2019-2022
Sjaak Hurkens , Esther Hauk, Enriqueta Aragonès, Toke Aidt, Facundo Albornoz-Crespo, Antonio Cabrales, Doh-Shin Jeon, Andrea Lanteri, Albert Marcet, Javier Ortega, Clara Ponsatí, Orestis Troumpounis, Dimitrios Xefteris


"Microeconomics in the digital era"
ECO2017-88129-P, Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad
2018-2020
Mattew Ellman , Roberto Burguet, Ramon Caminal y David Austen-Smith


"Experimental economics, matching markets, and subjective well-being"
ECO2017-88130-P, Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad
2018-2021
Flip Klijn , Jordi Brandts, Ada Ferrer, Peter Biró, David Cooper, Joan Costa-Font, Enrique Fatas, Karita Gerxhani, Bettina Klaus, Joan Pais, Arno Riedl, Christina Rott y Arthur Schram


"Theoretical and experimental microeconomics"
2017 SGR 1136 , Generalitat de Catalunya
2017-2021
Jordi Brandts , Roberto Burguet, Ramon Caminal, Matthew Ellman, Sjaak Hurkens, Vaiva Petrikaite

We work on theoretical and experimental microeconomics, with emphasis on industrial organization and organizational economics. Specific issues we cover are: crowdfunding, the regulation of the telecom industry, markets for search and experience goods, market phenomena linked to internet trade, the internal organization of the firm, sperformance effects of profit sharing and coalitional bargaining.

"Social and political conflict"
2017 SGR 1359 , Generalitat de Catalunya
2017-2021
Ada Ferrer , Enriqueta Aragonès, Flip Klijn, Ana Rute Pedro Cardoso, Joan Mª Esteban, Laura Mayoral, Ursula Mello, Hannes Mueller

We study social and political conflict issues focusing on: (i) how economic and political conditions, and ethnic composition may precipitate conflict; (ii) the role of economic inequality as a source of conflict; (iii) study economic inequality with a focus on labor market institutions; (iv) consequences of inequality for individuals' behavior and attitudes; (v) migration; and (vi) the behavior of participants in electoral processes and other markets to understand how conflict evolves and the institutions that promote the development of democracy and good functioning of the market. The research is based on theory and empirics, using cutting-edge statistical analysis.

"Theoretical and applied macroeconomics: inequality, partial information and expectations"
2017 SGR 1571 , Generalitat de Catalunya
2017-2021
Hugo Rodríguez , Esther Hauk, Joachim Jungherr, Xavier Ramos, Sara Ayllón, Pau Milán, Luis Rojas, Raúl Santaeulalia

Our group Works on the following areas:
1. Expectations: the literature assumes that investors know how prices are formed. We assume limited knowledge and study stock and bond price fluctuations and policy. 2. Debt frictions and Financial Intermediation: we study if banks should be rescued and the issuance of government and bank debt. 3. Optimal Policy: we develop a framework to study policy when the government has imperfect information about the economy, an issue usually ignored, applied to fiscal, monetary and debt policy. 4.Labor Income: we study the implication of countercyclical labor shares for labor market dynamics and human capital misallocations. We study efficiency in occupational choice with endogenous spillovers due to socializing and on the job learning. 5.inequality: we design indeces of social integration and inequality of opportunity and indeces that capture individual well-being. We study inequality reducing policies including redistribution, conditional cash transfer programs and education policies.

"Firm behavior under government policies: the interaction of credit markets and labor markets in shaping economic performance"
ECO2016 76734-P, Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad
2017-2020
Ana Rute Cardoso , Hugo Rodríguez, David Card, Paulo Guimaraes, Lous-Philippe Morin, Benjamin Olken, Dina Pomeranz


"Costly consumer search and privacy online markets"
ECO2015-74328-JIN, Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad
2017-2019
Vaiva Petrikaite ,


"Innovación e información en la economía digital"
201612006, Fundación BBVA- Ayudas a Equipos de Investigación Científica
2016-2018
Matthew Ellman , Roberto Burguet, Sjaak Hurkens, Vaiva Petrikaite, Fabrizio Germano, Tomás Rodriguez-Barraquer


"Culture and social conflict"
ECO2015-66883-P, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
2016-2018
Laura Mayoral , Joan M. Esteban, Hannes Mueller Timothy Besley, Massimo Morelli, Joachim Voth, Gilat Levy, Dominic Rohner, Christopher Rauh, Debraj Ray

The general research theme of our project is the interaction between culture/religiosity, social conflict and political instability. We have set to ourselves three goals: (i) to study in greater depth the two-way relationship between culture and conflict, (ii) to have a richer understanding of the drivers of conflict, with emphasis on the difficulties to reach prior agreements, and (iii) to obtain measures of political risk that allow us to anticipate the onset of violence.
Our first research line focuses on the bidirectional relationship between culture and conflict. Culture is a mechanism that transmits behavioral norms from generation to generation. As situations of extreme violence can alter these norms, the effect of conflict in a society can be perpetuated through cultural transmision.
The second set of issues studies the determinants of conflict onset. First, we consider two independent sets of reasons of why it turns out to often be imposible to reach an agreement. One explanation we offer is that it might me imposible to satisfy the participation constraints of all the potential coalitions threatening peace. Our second explanation wants to develop a model in which 'just' agreements turn out to be an incentive for an even more violent conflict. We characterize sharing rules that lead to peaceful agreements.
In the third set of issues considered we turn to the economic consequences of conflict and weak political institutions. This line of research first aim to develop an empirical method to predict civil wars. The prediction uses several hundred thousand articles from English-speaking newspapers and an unsupervised learning algorithm to generate topics from these texts. These topics are then used to predict instability out of sample. Finally, the project analyses the effect of weak law and order enforcement, which is often found in fragile countries.

"Policy intervention in social and economic networks"
ECO2015-67171-P, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
2016-2018
Esther Hauk , Sjaak Hurkens, Enriqueta Aragonés, Orestis Troumpounis, Facudno Albornoz-Crespo, Doh-Shin Jeon, Dimitrios Xefteris, Andrea Lanteri

In this project we propose to analyse social and economic networks with the aim of studing how policy intervention may solve their shortcomings. We focus both on specific and currently relevant applications such as the digital markets, as well as on more general issues about the functioning and economic consequences of social and economic networks. The ultimate goal of this project is to guarantee optimal levels of social welfare in all those environments where social or economic networks play a role. Therefore, our main interest would be to characterize the main efficiency problems caused by the existence of networks, to design specific measures of policy intervention and regulations that may overcome this shortcomings, and finally to characterize the features of the political instutions that may guarantee the correct implementation of the designed policies.
With this aim we have structured the contents of the project in two research lines:
1) Social and economic networks, where we analyze its functioning and detect its possible inefficiencies
2) Political institutions and optimal policies, where we design policy intervention and its strategic implementation
Both research lines consist of several subprojects. The first research line attempts to integrate the social preference literature with the social network literature with the aim of understanding the effects of the networks features on social welfare. It also studies market competition with strong network effects in a particular application: the digital market. The second research line proposes a new equilibrium concept in order to study optimal policy, examines the effect of corruption on the society's policy preferences and analyzes a number of political institutions according to their social and economic effects on society's welfare

"Fricciones y Fallos en Viejos y Nuevos Mercados"
ECO2014-59959-P, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
2015-2017
Ramon Caminal , Roberto Burguet, Matthew Ellman, Vaiva Petrikaite, Lídia Farré


"Economía Experimental, Mercados Bilaterales y Bienestar Subjetivo"
ECO2014-59302-P, Ministerio Economía y Competitividad
2015-2017
Jordi Brandts , Flip Kliin, Ada Ferrer, Jose María Ortíz, Joana Pais, Péter Biró, Markus Walzl, Bettina Klaus, Klarita Gerxhani, Arthur Schram, David Cooper, Enrique Fatas


"The Macroeconomic Implications of Heterogenous Firms"
2014 SGR 1432, Generalitat de Catalunya
2014-2017
Omar Licandro , Joachim Jungherr, Francesco Cerigioni, Dmitry Matveev

Within the general framework of the empirical and theoretical literature on firm dynamics, its applications to trade, on firms' financing choice along the business cycle, the dynamics of employment and occupations, the history of longevity and migration, the welfare implications of output growth measurement and endogenous fertility, and on the relationship between bank opacity and financial stability, the research of the group will cover the following issues:

1. The dynamics of Spanish manufacturing firms
2. Real Exchange Rate and Export Behavior of Firms2
3. Dynamics of Firm Dynamics
4. Occupational Obsolescence
5. Longevity and Migration in Human History
6. The Welfare Implications of GDP Growth
7. Capital Structure, Uncertainty and Macroeconomic Fluctuations
8. Bank Opacity and Financial Stability

"Macroeconomia teòrica i aplicada"
2014 SGR 1446, Generalitat de Catalunya
2014-2017
Albert Marcet , Angel de la Fuente, Hugo Rodríguez, Sarolta Laczó, Albert Sánchez

The research of the group will focus on five major topics:

1. Formation of expectations. Rational expectations (RE) are replaced by the Internal Rationality (IR) approach that includes a learning algorithm consistent with the optimal behavior of the agents.
2. Volatility of asset prices. IR models will be applied to explain the apparent excess variability in the price of certain assets.
3. Fiscal policy. The optimal portfolio of debt will be analyzed and the implications of consistent temporarily fiscal policy. We quantify the results of the regional financing system at a national level.
4. Monetary policy. We will employ the IR approach to this policy. We will analyze the implementation of monetary policy during financial crises.
5. Economic growth. The links between education and economic growth will be studied. We will analyze the statistical quality of education indicators and the impact of the quality and quantity of education on the level of income and productivity of countries.

"Microeconomia teòrica i aplicada"
2014 SGR 510, Generalitat de Catalunya
2014-2017
Roberto Burguet , Jordi Brandts, Ramon Caminal, Matthew Ellman, Sjaak Hurkens, Jose Mª Ortiz

The research will cover organizational economics. This includes transactions that take place inside the firm. We will pay particular attention to issues referring to manager-employee relationships, particularly the effects of several factors (legitimacy, employee assignment, group composition, etc.) on the feasibility of cooperation. It also includes transactions that take place outside the boundaries of the firm. We will study issues related to bilinguism, media subsidization, or service externalization.
The research will also cover topics on the economics of market mechanisms, with a focus on industries characterized by the need of coordination or centralization, typically due to the existence of externalities or an essential facility. This includes analysis of telecommunication or energy markets or the internet.
Finally, we will contribute to classical themes in industrial economics, with the study of issues like bundling, the dynamics of consumer preferences, or procurement.

"Social Unrest, Migration and Inequality"
2014 SGR 1414, Generalitat de Catalunya
2014-2017
Ada Ferrer , Ana Rute Cardoso, Joan Esteban, Laura Mayoral, Guillem Pons, Adrian Pino

This research proposal aims at contributing to the understanding of the causes of social unrest, focusing on economic and ethnicity diversity. The research will be based on both theory and empirics. The project can we divided into the six parts: (i) study how the economic conditions of a society and its ethnic composition may interact to precipitate internal conflict; (ii) examine the link between inequality and status seeking and how this affects individuals' welfare perceptions; (iii) assessing the inequalities in the labor market, in concrete, looking at the impact of firm dynamics and labor market institutions on the returns to education, the gender pay gap, and labor market inequality; (iv) explore further immigrant locations and native residential preferences in Spain; (v) build a theory of migration where in some development stages immigrants are an essential mean to increase the natives' welfare; and (vi) contribute to the econometric literature of instrumental variables.

"Economia Política"
2014 SGR 1064, Generalitat de Catalunya
2014-2017
Enriqueta Aragonès , Josep M. Colomer, Hannes Mueller, Esther Hauk, Flip Klijn, Clara Ponsatí, Jan Zapal, Benjamin Tello

This research group focuses on the relationship between economics and politics. On the one hand, we work on the application of economic analysis to political issues, that is, we use the analytical tools that have been developed mostly by economists that have been adopted to study issues that traditionally belong to other disciplines, specially political science. On the other hand, we study the relationship between economic structures and decisions with political and public institutions. In particular, we analyze the possibilities of reform for political and public institutions, for electoral and voting rules, federalism, institutional design, turnout, electoral strategies, economic growth, inequality. The aim of this research group is both theoretical and applied.

"Tecnología, Capital Humano, Innovación y Comercio"
ECO2013-48884-C3-1-P, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
2014-2017
Omar Licandro , Joachim Jungherr, Fernando Del Rio, Eduardo Giménez, Miquel Pérez-Nievas, Antonio Rodríguez Sampayo, José Ramón Ruiz

The aim of this project is to contribute to the understanding of the processes of technological innovation and capital accumulation in a global economy. Technology interacts with the investment decisions taken by households, firms and governments over the accumulation of physical and human capital, and the management of natural resources, the labor force and population growth. This interaction occurs in a global environment opened to international trade and international capital and labor flows. All of these processes are of interest for the Convocatoria de Excelencia del Plan Nacional de I+D, and at the core of some of the Challenges of the Spanish Strategy of Research 2013-16 (Challenge 6 and part of Challenge 5).
To better understand the aforementioned processes our goal is to construct economic models that incorporate those features, and test the models empirically. We target models of i) sustainable growth; ii) inequality, poverty and growth; iii) demography and fertility, iv) international trade and finance, v) competitive search and bargaining, vi) employment and business cycle, vii) technology adoption and vintage capital, viii) energy use and non-renewable resources. The results obtained with these models will allow us to make recommendations for macroeconomic policy. We will consider applications of many of these models not only to the global economy but also to the Spanish economy and the EU.

"Integrated Macro-Financial Modelling for Robust Policy Design"
MACFINROBODS, FP7-SSH-2013- 2 GA 612796, European Commission,
2014-2017
Albert Marcet , Esther Hauk, Omar Licandro, Sarolta Laczo, Nezih Guner, Juan Carlos Conesa, Joan Llull y Francesc Obiols. Other institutions participant: University of Amsterdam (Project Coordinator), Centre Pour La Recherche Economique Et Ses Applications (CEP)
http://www.macfinrobods.eu

"The Dynamics of Firm Behavior at the Intersection of Labor Markets, Financial Markets, Foreign Product Markets, and Government Regulations"
ECO2012-38460, Ministerio Economía y Competitividad
2013-2015
Ana Rute Cardoso , Hugo Rodriguez Mendizabal, Radim Bohacek, David Card, Paulo Guimaraes, Patrick Kline, Núria Rodríguez-Planas, Keke Sun, Jose Varejao
Misallocation of workers and capital across firms has been shown to generate substantial loss of income and wellbeing. This problem is particularly obvious when we talk about high unemployment rates in a crisis setting, jobless economic recoveries, or a profusion of low quality jobs. At the heart of these problems lies the behavior of firms, which are constrained by financial markets, product markets, labor markets, and government regulations.
This project brings to the forefront of the analysis the firm and its decisions on the allocation of resources, addressing three issues on the dynamics of firm behavior: i) What are the sources of firm quality (access to high quality and flexible labor force? Access to export product markets? Access to financial markets?); ii) How do firms of different quality compare, in terms of their growth rates and the development of careers they offer their workers?; iii) How stable is the ranking of firms over time according to their quality?
We aim at analyzing the interaction between institutions and regulations, on one hand, and supply and demand market forces, on the other, as determinants of firm behavior. We are particularly interested in the labor market, foreign product markets, financial markets, and regulations such as: incentives for labor market participation, rules on labor flexibility and adequate pay, regulations aimed at reducing financial market frictions and promoting insurance markets, and recent innovations in central banking policies.

"Schools, Culture, Markets and Democratic Institutions in a Globalized World"
ECO2012-37065, Ministerio Economía y Competitividad
2013-2015
Esther Hauk , Sjaak Hurkens, Clara Ponsatí Obiols, Facundo Albornoz Crespo, Giovanni Immordino, Doh-Shin Jeon, Javier Ortega Diego, Arnau Valladares Esteban
The number of immigrants are growing, cultures mix, are schooled together and need to find ways to resolve their conflicts. As markets grow, network effects gain importance. The aim of this project is to address some of these challenges that globalization entails. We will concentrate on the following main issues. (i) We will look at the historical issue of Nations and Nationbuilding and propose a theoretical model that links nation building and industrialization. (ii) We will study family immigration, in particular, the effect of immigration on the school system and try to understand how to attract immigrants with high parental motivation. (iii) We will try to understand whether TV program imports constitute a threat for cultural diversity, (iv) we will examine lying aversion and whether the same behavioral theory can explain behavior in TV game shows in different countries, (v) we will study competition and regulation in markets with network effects. Finally, we are interested in understanding how groups should negotiate and which institutions will form under democracy: in particular, we want to understand which sharing rules and stable organizations evolve under democratic decision making, how different majority rule affect the conflict resolution among two groups and if groups will choose a delegate to represent them in negotiations or prefer to submit the agreements reached by their representative to a ratification vote.

"Advances in the Political Economy of Democratic Institutions"
ECO2012-37857, Ministerio Economía y Competitividad
2013-2015
Enriqueta Aragonès , Josep Maria Colomer Calsina, Hannes Felix Mueller, Timothy John Besley, Micael R. Castanheira de Moura, Marco Giani, Dominic Patrick Rohner, Dimitrios Xefteris
This project brings together researchers in Economics and Political Science. Its aim is to explore the role and social consequences of different political institutions by developing scientific methods that lie on the frontier between Economics and Political Science. Its ultimate goal is to contribute to the innovative design of social and political institutions.
The new developments that we propose in our work plan will proceed along three main research lines:

1. Proposing models of electoral competition that analyze the effects and the effectivity of electoral campaigns from both the voters’ and the political parties’ point of view.
2. Addressing the design of democratic institutions that could improve the performace of representative democracy.
3. Analyzing the political dimension of conflict: the role of social and political institutions in determining the extend and consequences of social conflict.

"Social Polarization and Conflict: Models, Estimation, Evidence"
ECO2011-25293, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2012-2015
Laura Mayoral , Joan Esteban, Francesco Fasani, Laia Balcells, Andrew Gianou, Alessandra Conte, Debraj Ray, Mateo Cervellati, Massimo Morelli, Dominic Rohner, Kalyvas Stathis, Ana Arjona
The project deals with the determinants of societal conflict as an outcome of rational behaviour, combining formal modelling with empirical testing of the implications of the models. In the ongoing research by Joan Esteban, Laura Mayoral and Debraj Ray we define a general model of conflict that provides a framework where one can accommodate the key role of non-material aspects often present in civil conflicts. These aspects are the payoffs other than direct private benefits(fighting for a “cause”) and the concern for the fate of the group, involving (partially) altruistic behaviour. This is an empirically testable model that in addition facilitates an organized way of thinking about the different issues involved in inter-group conflict that constitute the core of this research project. We will use this framework as a thread that organizes most of the research plan. This general model suggests two features that appear to be key in explaining the nature of conflict and its correlates: what the group is fighting for and the level of group cohesion. Following these two leads, we shall first develop different questions associated with the group’s objectives and how are they set, and next we will develop various determinants of group cohesion. How the objectives are set, how mutual concern and differentiation from the “others” can develop, what are the trade-offs between homogeneity and heterogeneity within groups? Finally, we will discuss the problem of civil conflict between groups in a framework of repeated interaction.

Every question addressed combines modelling with empirical tests. Empirical work on this topic poses two complex problems. One is the scarcity and quality of the data. For instance, the ethnic or religious composition of many countries is not known or the data are extremely unreliable. The second issue is methodological: the nonlinear models typically employed to estimate conflict probabilities are subject to a number of problems that difficult the estimation strategy. This research project will take these issues very seriously and will devote a significant amount of resources to adequately dealing with them.

Besides the scientific contribution of our project, the results obtained will be useful for a rigorous study of some pressing issues relevant to Spain. We are observing a marked process of dilution of the social cohesion driven by an increased income inequality and the large influx of immigrant population. The understanding of the role of ethnic, religious and/or economic polarization in the creation of social unrest may permit to adapt the institutions for a harmonic channelling of the increasingly different attitudes and social priorities.

"Contracts, Negotiations, and Markets"
ECO2011-29663, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2012-2014
Roberto Burguet , Ramon Caminal, Matthew Ellman, Lídia Farré, Ben Ner Avner
This project deals with individuals’ interactions and exchange in negotiations, contracts and markets. First, the project will contribute to contract theory and in particular to the analysis of the relationship between formal and informal contracts. It will extend this study to other situations where the trade-off between formality and informality is an issue. Second, the project will contribute to the study of negotiation and renegotiation, both from the conceptual point of view and in particular settings. In this sense, we will analyze endogenous mergers and option contracting under renegotaition. A third goal is to analyze issues both in contract theory and in negotiation theory that affect public policy. Here we will deal with the analysis of bribery, accountability and subsidies. Finally, we will continue analyzing problems of market behavior from the microeconomic point of view, including product variety, loyalty reward, or labor substitution. The project will contribute with theoretical concepts, applied analysis and also empirical test of hypothesis and measurement.

"Economic Growth and Public Policies (4)"
ECO2011-28348, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2012-2014
Ángel de la Fuente , Marcelo Soto, Francesca Rondina, María Gundín
This project analyzes the determinants of economic growth in two samples of economies, the Spanish regions and the member countries of the OECD, within the framework of modern growth theory, with special attention to the role of human capital and public investment policies. It also covers the construction of historical series of certain economic and demographic regional aggregates and the analysis of some issues related with public finances in the autonomic state, with the role of external aid in the development of LDCs and with policy design in the presence of model uncertainty. The issues to be studied include the private and social returns to investment in education, the impact and effectiveness of regional policies, the determinants of investment and job creation, the design of the regional financing system and the territorial implications of the public budget, the contribution of foreign aid to the development of poor countries and the role of private agents' expectations in the design of robust public policies. The results will be of interest to policymakers, especially those with responsibilities in the areas of regional and growth policy.

"Studies on Two-Sided Matching Markets and Subjective Well-Being"
ECO2011-29847, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2012-2014
Flip Klijn , Ada Ferrer, Bettina Klaus, Markus Walzl, Joana Dantas Vaz Pais
The first research line will consist of a number of theoretical and experimental studies on various aspects of two-sided matching markets. The research can be summarized in five topics. Three topics deal with centralized markets: (i) normative study of conditions under which school choice mechanisms satisfy consistency and converse consistency, (ii) experimental study of the performance of a school choice mechanism in a hybrid model with so-called exam schools and regular public schools, and (iii) experimental study of the impact of information flows on the performance of school choice mechanisms and its robustness with respect to varying preference intensities. The other topics deal with decentralized markets: (iv) equilibrium analysis of decentralized matching markets with an exogenous termination time (for transactions) and (v) study of coordination requirements and impact of limited blockings in the stabilization of decentralized markets.

The second research line will consist of a number of empirical studies on various aspects of individual preferences and behavior focusing mainly on the use of subjective well-being measures as a proxy for utility. The research can be summarized in four main topics: (i) the role of uncertainty and risk attitudes on well-being by examining how individual characteristics other than risk attitudes shape inequality aversion; (ii) empirically examining the validity of anchoring vignettes as a method to operationalizing the concept of ex ante utility; (iii) work on the formalization of an econometric method to estimate life satisfaction; and (iv) continue the work on the importance of uncertainty and risk attitudes for individuals’ behavior and outcomes in the labor market.

“Immigrant Location and Native Residential Preferences in Spain: New Ghettoes?”
ACUP , RecerCaixa 2011
2012-2014
Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell , Jesús Fernández-Huertas Moraga, Albert Saiz

In recent years, Spain in general and Catalonia in particular have seen an enormous and unprecedented increase in the international migration inflows. This project wants to understand the impact of immigration on neighborhood dynamics in Spain. We will study whether immigrants and/or natives display preferences for residential segregation on an ethnic basis or if location decisions depend mostly or only on geographical amenities. Answering these questions would allow us to understand the future of ethnic segregation at the residential level in Spain and to evaluate whether there are policies that could help mute the segregation process. The residential level of segregation, geographical location of individuals, and the formation of ghettoes are very important determinants of future welfare.

Location is an important factor for social integration and public participation of migrants. If immigrants live close to natives, they have a larger probability to meet them and integrate into their social networks. This is especially important for their children (the second generation).

“Innovación Tecnología y generaciones de capital físico, humano y natural (vintage capital)”
ECO2010-17943, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2011-2013
Omar Licandro , Luis Antonio Puch González, Raouf Boucekkine, Russel Cooper, Jorge Durán Laguna, Eduardo Gimenez Fernandez, Blanca Martínez Gonzalo, Miguel Pérez-Nievas Montiel, Julien Prat, Fernando del Río Iglesias, Ramón Ruiz Tamarit, Antonio Rodríguez Sampayo
The aim of this research project is to contribute to the understanding of firms and countries’ decisions on trade, investment and innovation. To this purpose we will construct and estimate economic models with heterogeneous physical, human and natural capital. This heterogeneity is notably related to the age, cohort or vintage of capital, but not only to this. On the other hand, empirical evidence suggests that trade openness induces firms and countries to increase their innovation efforts. The project aims to evaluate the role played by the processes of creation and adoption of innovations in the global economy for the transmission of technical progress to productivity. The empirical exercise will use microeconomic data from the panel databases which contain information on the timing, size and type of investments carried out by firms and countries.

We consider a broad concept of capital that includes tangible and intangible physical investments, and among them, especially those of innovative nature which are key in the adoption process and thus, for the evolution of productivity gains. In particular we consider human capital investment as a complementary factor in the adoption process. The analysis of the relationship between innovative investments and the opening to trade is key to evaluate the consequences of all these investment processes. Moreover, the project consider the linkages between innovation and the stock of natural capital (natural resources and the environment), particularly related with debate on energy use and climate change.

The results will allow to pointing out the main factors determining firms’ decisions on investment in different types of capital as well as their innovative activity and, hence, identifying the main obstacles to innovation and technological diffusion among firms.
Given these results, it would be possible to provide a set of conclusions and guidelines for public policies regarding the promotion of technological progress and trade openess, as well as policies for sustainable growth and environmental policies.

"Conflicte Social i Polarització Econòmica, Ètnica i Religiosa"
RecerCaixa 2010, ACUP
2011-2013
Joan M. Esteban , Laia Balcells, Laura Mayoral, Stathis Kalyvas, Debraj Ray
The globalization process and the large scale migration flows precipitate deep changes in the income distribution and in the ethnic/religious polarization in of many countries. Higher heterogeneity —economic, ethnic or religious— significantly increases the risks of social conflict. This research project merges two research lines on civil conflict and social unrest coming from political science and economics. Our goal is the identification of the causes and the profile of social conflicts based on a quantitative approach. The project will permit to assess the role of poverty and of the ethnic and religious cleavages in the onset, intensity and modality of conflict. We shall work with a sample of 120 countries over the period 1960-2010. We expect that the result will permit an early warning on violent conflict.

"Training and Mobility Network for the Economic Analysis of Conflict" (TAMNEAC)
FP7-People-2010-ITN, European Community
2011-2014
IAE-CSIC Coordinator: Joan M. Esteban , DIW Berlin (Project Coordinator), Institute of Development Studies, Univ. Libre de Bruxelles, Oxford Policy Management Limited, Planet Guarantee, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Institut for Fredsforskning Stiftelse, Humboldt U. Berl
The overall objective of the Training and Mobility Network for the Economic Analysis of Conflict (TAMNEAC) is to train a young generation of professionals and researchers in tackling the challenges associated with mass violent conflict in developing countries. This training will range from rigorous research methods to knowledge-based policy responses and program implementation in conflict-affected countries.

TAMNEAC’s research will contribute to our understanding of the causes, processes, interactions of mass violent conflicts, as well as on the short- and long-term impacts that they have on individuals, households, communities, and states. This will effectively allow the linking of micro-level interactions that take place before, during, and after the outbreak of violent conflict with macro-level political processes. Recent outbreaks of violent conflict have put a strain on the European Union’s ability to engage effectively. In the future, the European Union will attempt to develop its capacities to anticipate and react to such conflicts, as outlined in the European Commission’s “Instrument for Stability Strategy Paper 2007-2011”. When considering challenges such as climate change, population growth, or the unequal exploitation of natural resources, the global potential for conflict will only increase, as will expectations upon the European Union to mediate and to prevent cycles of violence. TAMNEAC will play an important role in addressing these challenges.

“New Developments in Political Economy”
ECO2009-08820, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2010-2013
Clara Ponsatí , Enriqueta Aragonès, Josep Colomer, Hannes Felix Mueller, Borek Vasicek, Humberto Llavador, A. Postlewaite, Thomas Palfrey, Paola Manzini, Micael Castanheira, Santiago Sánchez Pagès
This project brings together researchers in Economics, Game Theory and Political Science under a joint research agenda of new contributions to the analysis and design of political institutions with the tools of Political Economics, that is, the study of political institutions by the methods for analysis of competitive behavior developed in Economics.
We will develop studies of the strategic interactions among the agents involved in political competition and negotiations, that is, candidates, parties, and voters. Our work-plan encompasses specific projects that will advance our understanding of democratic institutions along three main research avenues:

1- Proposing models of electoral competition that allow to discuss how and why issues become salient in a campaign, and to explore the fundamental role of promises and rhetoric.
2- Addressing the design of voting rules and electoral systems, with focus on their efficiency and durability, and on the mechanisms that promote quality in the election of leaders.
3- Developing models of bargaining and coalition formation aiming to explore the links between negotiations and political processes, and the effect of voting rules over negotiated outcomes.

“Labor Markets and Public Policies: Recent Trends and Perspectives"
ECO2009-07958, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2010-2012
Ana Rute Cardoso , Begoña Domínguez, Rosario Crinò, Hugo Rodríguez, Ioana Cosmina, Daniel S. Hamermash, Paul Gimaraes, José Varejao

This research project focuses on critical developments taking place in the economy, with a focus on the labor market, to provide enhanced understanding of trends in employment, productivity, the dynamics of social cohesion, the impact of public policies and the interaction between financial and economic systems. We therefore focus on a set of issues elected as key policy areas at the European level, under the Lisbon Strategy, which aims at promoting sustainable growth and employment while guaranteeing social cohesion.

Our research is organized as follows. We depart from a set of factors that are shaping the future of labor: demographic changes (ageing population and rising female participation); increased internationalization (flows of goods, capital and people); technological progress; changes in education and training systems; changes in the financial system. Within this framework, we analyze the labor market as the arena where labor supply and demand interact, under the mediation of institutions, to focus on the role played by the following actors and policies in promoting economic adjustment:
- company policies: recruitment and pay policies, outsourcing of services, export behavior
- workers’ mobility
- trade union action
Government policies, in particular educational policies, fiscal and monetary policies, and labor market regulations.

“New Solutions to Old Problems”
ECO2009-12695, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2010-2012
Sjaak Hurkens , Esther Hauk, Martin Meier, Nir Vulkan, Navin Kartik

The aim of the project is to address various relatively old and known problems from new and different angles. In particular, Esther Hauk will consider oligopoly without imposing an exogenous timing schedule. She will also address the phenomenon of terrorism as a rational strategy. Sjaak Hurkens will consider mainly issues of telecom regulation of termination tariffs. Other topics to be addressed are the effect of personal and private deadlines on bargaining outcomes (joint with Nir Vulkan,with a possible application to negotiating with criminals and terrorists) and the effect of morals and ethics (in particular, in relation to lying and truth-telling) on communication, deception, signalling and contracts. The latter will be in collaboration with Navin Kartik. Finally, Martin Meier will address the issue of how to formally model and analyze unawareness which could lead to a well-founded concept of incomplete contracts.

Microeconomia Teòrica i Aplicada, Grup de Recerca Consolidat
2009 SGR 1420, Generalitat de Catalunya
2009-2013
Roberto Burguet , Ramon Caminal, Heiko Gerlach, Esther Hauk, Sjaak Hurkens

Conflicte, Cohesió Social i Polítiques Públiques, Grup de Recerca Consolidat
2009 SGR 1142, Generalitat de Catalunya
2009-2013
Joan Mª Esteban , Clara Ponsatí, Flip Klijn, Martin Meier, Laura Mayoral, Laia Balcells, Joaquin Naval, Michelle Pistollato, Riste Gjorgjiev, Alessandra Conte

Migrations
2009 SGR 896, Generalitat de Catalunya
2009-2013
Ana Rute Cardoso , Javier Polavieja, Ada Ferrer, Jesús Fernández-Huertas, Rosario Crinò, Lídia Farré, Francesco Fasani

Economia Política
2009 SGR 1126, Generalitat de Catalunya
2009-2013
Josep M. Colomer , Enriqueta Aragonès, Alessandra Bonfiglioli, Olivier Dagnelie, Hannes Mueller

Macroeconomia, Política Fiscal i Monetària, Grup de Recerca Consolidat
2009 SGR 885, Generalitat de Catalunya
2009-2013
Albert Marcet , Ángel de la Fuente, Begoña Domínguez, Hugo Rodríguez, Marcelo Soto, Tatiana Dahlhaus

“Crecimiento económico y políticas públicas (3)”
ECO2008-04837, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2009-2011
Ángel de la Fuente , Olivier Dagnelie, Marcelo Soto, Maria Gundin, Isabel Busom

“Estudios de microeconomía experimental, mecanismos de asignación bilateral y bienestar subjetivo”
ECO2008-04784, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2009-2011
Jordi Brandts , Flip Klijn, Ada Ferrer, Klaus Abbink, David Cooper, Arthur Schram, Enrique Fatas

“Desempeño del mercado y política de la competencia”
ECO2008-01850, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2009-2011
Roberto Burguet , Ramon Caminal, Rosella Nicolini, Heiko Gerlach

“Política fiscal y monetaria y mercados financieros”
ECO2008-04875, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2009-2014
Albert Marcet , Sarolta Laczó, Alessandra Bonfiglioli, Jesús Fernández-Huerta, Davide Debortoli, Ester Faia, Juan Pablo Nicolini, Klaus Adams, Marek Jarocinski


"An Inquiry into Health and Safety at Work: A European union Perspective"
HEALTH@WORK 200761, EUROPEAN COMMISSION 7PM
2008-2012
Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell , U. Aberdeen, U. de Bourgogne, Baltic Int. Centre for Economic and policies studies, HYDRAULIS, Centre National de la Recherce Scientifique, The Instite for Economic Analysis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, U. of Amsterdam, Welsh Econ

The HealthatWork project aims to review current knowledge and issues related to the economic impact of health at work, to assemble, organise, analyse and synthesise data from national projects and surveys, and to recommend future actions for research and policy development aiming at improving health and safety at work in a changing labour market environment in the European Union in an era of ageing populations, feminised labour markets and increased incidence of Small and Medium Enterprices (SMEs). This is achieved through co-ordinated reviews, the development of common databases regarding indicators of health and safety at work in the participant countries and the associated GIS analysis capability. In addition, a pilot study aiming at designing appropriate data collection protocols is designed to explore the appropriateness of small scale surveys, using purpose-build questionnaire, to determine the preference setting of both employers and employees with regard to health and safety at work and to highlight the cost and benefits of investing in improving the health and safety at work.

“Modeling and Implementation of Optimal Fiscal and Monetary Policy Algorithms in Multi-Country Econometric Models”
MONFISPOL, SSH-CT-2009-225149, EUROPEAN COMMISSION
2008-2011
Albert Marcet , Other institutions participants: CEPREMAP, London Metropolitan University, CFS-Frankfurt University, Commission of the European Communities-Directoratre General JRC, University of Surrey

This project contributes to the evaluation of macroeconomic policy by advancing the analysis of optimal fiscal and monetary policy in monetary union such as the European one. This work will result in the addition of new numerical tools, specially designed for the computation of optimal policy in large macro-econometric models. Such multi-country models are necessary to take into account the diversity of the countries making now the European Union. These new tools for the computation of optimal policy will be added to DYNARE, a public domain platform for the simulation and estimation of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models (DSGE), that is increasingly used in policy making institution and in academic research alike. New models are proposed to analyze the contribution of optimal policy to smooth shocks in a union of heterogeneous countries with rigidities in labor and financial markets. In that framework, special attention is given to the dynamics of public debt. Systematic models comparison is made possible thanks to a database of macroeconomic models currently in use in policy making institutions around the world. New numerical tools are added to DYNARE that provide the computation of optimal policy, either under commitment, in a timeless perspective or under discretion, for a general class of nonlinear models. Particular attention is given to correct linear quadratic approximation of these models.Extensions are proposed to deal with partial information. These tools shall also permit to perform Bayesian estimation of models under the assumption that the policies followed were optimal. Special emphasis is placed on the definition of priors. Given the complexity of the numerical computations, we stress speed of computation and the development of parallel algorithms. Altogether, this project should represent a very significant step forward towards better models and better tools for the formulation of macroeconomic policies.


"Consolidating Economics"
CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010, CSD 2006-00016, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia
http://pareto.uab.es/p.eco.consolider
Programme Research project “Consolidating Economics” financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science Ander the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Programme. The research team is formed by the following Spanish Institutions: Department of Economics (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Unit of Economic Analysis (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Instituto de Análisis Económico (CSIC); Department of Economic Analysis (University of Alicante); Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREI); Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros (CEMFI, Madrid); Department of Economics, Department of Business and Department of Economic History (Universidad Carlos III, Madrid); Sector Público-Sector Privado Group, IESE; Applied Economy Studies Foundation (FEDEA, Madrid); Law and Sociology Group (UPF, Barcelona); Political Sciences (CSIC)

The main objectives of the research Project are:
1- Foster and project economics research in different areas of science, both theoretical and applied, where a position of internacional prestige has already been attained.
2- Increase the bibliometric impact of the research team during the next half-decade by about 25% over what has been achieved during 2001-2005.
3- Create or strengthen interdisciplinary links that will also lead to research projects and publication.
4- Develop a Spanish institution, the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE), to support and foster postgraduate teaching, particularly the already existing doctorate programmes at UAB and UPF, in close collaboration with the ongoing PhD programmes at UC3M and UAM.
5- Carry out actions to promote and structure economics research in Spain on a level of global prestige.
6- Increase activities to foster international co-operation and projection, aimed particularly at Europe and Latin America.


"Strategic Behavior and Conflict Resolution in Economic and Political Institutions"
SEJ2006-02079, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia
2006-2009
Clara Ponsatí Obiols , Enriqueta Aragonès, David Rodríguez, Tahir Ozturk, József Sákovics, Santiago Sánchez, Andrew William Postlewaite, Thomas Palfrey, Paola Manzini

This research project aims to contribute to the study of the functioning of economic and political institutions, and its impact on the resolution of conflicts among strategic agents. Our goal is to explore the institutional factors that foster welfare through the efficient resolution of conflicts, analyzing which social situations are more prone to confrontation and which procedures and institutions stimulate more effectively the search for consensus.

Institutions are enduring systems of social constraint on human behavior. Economic analysis and Game theory have developed a rigorous methodology for evaluating proposals to analyze and reform social institutions. Our goal is to contribute to this frontier of knowledge with new research developments along two main lines of inquiry.

Our first avenue of research will address negotiation procedures between parties at conflict. We will contribute to the analysis of bargaining problems with incomplete information; we will study (inter)mediation mechanisms, and their impact in the efficient performance of markets and other institutions that require the resolution of bilateral conflicts among the actors. Along this line of work we will develop subprojects addressing:
a) The Robust Optimal Bargaining
b) The impact of third parties, mediators, arbitrators and stakeholders.
c) Applications to market regulation.

Our second line of research belongs to the field of political economics, and will focus on the analysis of conflict resolution in democratic political processes. The research that we propose on this front concerns the analysis of strategic interactions among actors involved in elections, candidates, parties and voters. Within this line we propose four different subprojects:
d) Campaign Rhetoric.
e) Participatory Democracy.
f) Voting as making a statement.
g) Government Formation.

"A New Microeconomic Perspective on Incentives and Constraints in the Public and Private Sector"
SEJ2006-01717, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia
2006-2009
Jacobus Petrus Hurkens , Esther Hauk, Nir Vulkan, Navin Kartik

In this project we try to understand the impact of certain constraints that we believe to be realistic and relevant, but that have been ignored in previous research. We will also try to understand the impact of relaxing certain constraints that we believe to be unrealistic (in some specific contexts), but that have been imposed in previous research. We will consider a wide variety of theoretical models, ranging from political economy and public procurement to bargaining and industrial organization. We also intend to run laboratory experiments and to contrast our theoretical findings with empirical data.
Examples of the first type of constraints that will be considered are time constraints (deadlines) in bargaining models, limited liability in procurement, avoiding social up-rise and disorder on political decision making, and endogenous participation constraints in markets and contracts. One of the fundamental constraints imposed in mechanism design is the incentive compatibility constraint, which by the revelation principle is equivalent to the truth telling constraint. Recent experimental research has shown, however, that people often do tell the truth even if it is not incentive compatible in the classical sense. We will try to understand empirically when and why this is the case and propose alternatives to the standard incentive compatibility constraints that take the empirical findings into account in theoretical models.

"Socio-Economic Interactions: Models, Estimation and Evidence"
(SEJ2006-00369), Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia
2006-2011
Joan Mª Esteban , L. Mayoral, D. Ray, M. Coles, M. Ellman, M. Francesconi, C. Telmer, A. Booth, E. Field

Topics of our ongoing research:
• Taxation, education and female labour participation rate (Booth, Coles, Gong)
• Family organization and Education (Booth, Coles, Francesconi)
• Education, Marriage and Surnames (Booth, Coles, Francesconi, Guell, Telmer)
• Labour market institutions and marriage (Coles, Francesconi)
• Optimal employment policy (Coles, Field, Guell)
• Personnel practices and labor market institutions (Guell)
• Polarization and social mobility (Esteban, Ray)
• Extensions of a measure of polarization (Esteban, Ray)
• Identity and groups (Esteban, Mayoral)
• Endogenous sentiments (Cervellati, Esteban)
• Redistribution and Public Expenditure (Esteban)
• Ethnic Conflict (Esteban, Ray)
• Measuring and testing persistence in socioeconomic variables (Mayoral)
• Testing for structural breaks under general alternatives (Mayoral)
• Combining macro and micro data for forecasting purposes (Mayoral)
• Dimensionality reduction in large dimensional panels (Mayoral)
• Determinants of social polarization by countries (d'Ambrosio, Esteban, Mayoral, Ray)
• Social polarization and conflict (Esteban, Mayoral, Ray, Schneider)

"Experimental Economics at the Institute for Economic Analysis"
SEC2002-01352, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología
2003-2005
Jordi Brandts , Paul Pezanis, Klaus Abbink, Gary Bolton, Gary Charness, Arthur Schram and David Cooper

The project proposes the conduct of a series of laboratory experiments. The aim of the project is to study, in detail, human behavior in a number of simplified economic and social situations. We are specifically interested in improving our understanding of the workings of different types of markets, of the social aspects of human motivation and of the type of strategic behavior followed by, boundedly rational, human actors.

The experiments are organized in the following blocks:

1. Experimental studies on auctions and other market institutions
2. Interdependent preferences: beyond "homo oeconomicus"
3. Analysis of strategic behavior: market entry and bargaining
4. Organizational behavior.

"Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Organizations, Social Preferences and Markets"
SEJ2005-01690, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia
2005-2008
Jordi Brandts , Flip Klijn, David Cooper, Klaus Abbink, Enrique Fatas

The project proposes the conduct of a series of laboratory experiments and of theoretical studies. The aim of the project is to study, in detail, human behavior in a number of simplified economic and social situations. We are specifically interested in improving our understanding of the workings of organizations, of the social aspects of human motivation and of markets.

The experiments are organized in the following blocks:

1. Behavior in organizations
2. Interdependent preferences: beyond "homo oeconomicus"
3. Experimental and theoretical studies of markets

"Contracts and Markets: New Issues"
SEJ2005-01427, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia
2005-2008
Ramon Caminal , Roberto Burguet, Giacinta Cestone, Rosella Nicolini, Martin Perry, Adina Oana Claici, Lionel Artigue

The goal of this project is to study how the structure of contracts or the pricing policies affect the performance of markets, and its efficiency both from a dynamic and a static point of views. According to this general goal, we consider four different types of issues: the management by monopolistic firms of long-run customer-supplier relationships; the efficient allocation of licenses; the localization of economic activities; and the relationship between internal capital markets and entry and competition in multi-market industries. The project builds on the previous experience of the members of the team on those areas. The final goal is to provide a theoretical framework that specifies the sources of market failures and the potential role of the state in various situations, ranging from the design of mechanisms for the allocation of licenses, the public management of firm location, or antitrust policy concerning customer relationships or mergers with conglomerate characteristics.

"Economic Growth and Public Policies"
SEJ2005-06357, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia
2005-2008
Ángel de la Fuente , Marcelo Soto, Isabel Busom, Juan Antonio Duro

The project analizes the dynamics of growth in the regions of Spain and in the OECD countries within the framework of modern growth theory, with special attention to the impact of public policies (at the regional, national and community levels) on the evolution of income and the location of economic activity and population. The issues to be studied include the analysis of the sources of growth and regional inequality at the aggregate and sectoral levels, techniques for the estimation of growth models, the determinants of investment and employment creation, the analysis of migration flows and the effects of various public policies, including investment in infrastructure, education and R&D and various aspects of EU and regional government financing. The results will be of interest to policymakers, especially those with responsibilities in the areas of regional and development policy.

"Fiscal and Monetary Policy under Uncertainty"
SEJ2005-05971, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia
2005-2008
Albert Marcet , Ester Faia, Juan Pablo Nicolini, Ricardo Praça Cavaco, Marek Jarocinski

Our objective is to study the efects of fiscal and monetary policy in dynamic stochastic models with microfoundations, when both private agents and the government face uncertainty. In some studies we impose rational expectations and in other we assume learning about expectations. The topics under study are:

Part 1) Fiscal policy.
a) Composition of government debt (Debt Management) with endogenous capital
b) Government debt with capital taxes
c) Optimal fiscal policy with temporary credibility
d) Inflation differentials and diverse labor and commodity markets in the EMU

Part 2) Monetary policy
a) The relationship between inflation and the quantity of money under learning
b) Interest rate policy and the stock market
c) The interaction between monetary and fiscal policy in the EMU

Part 3) Econometric Study of business cycles
a) Estimation of econometric models in differences, applications
b) Estimation of long dependence models (ARMA and fractionally integrated), applications
c) Optimal short sample estimators, applications.

Part 4) Wealth distribution and mobility
a) Nutrition curves and mobility in wealth distribution




"Polarization and Conflict"
506084, European Community (FP6-2002 CITTZENS-2)
Joan M. Esteban , Local team: Clara Ponsatí, Enriqueta Aragonès, Melvyn Coles, Joan Esteban, Flip Klijn, Marta Reynal-Querol
http://www.polarizationandconflict.org
Other institutions participants: London School of Economics, Universitá Bocconi, IGIER, Universität Konstanz, IDEI-Université de Toulouse I, University of Tel Aviv, University of Utrech, Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW), International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO)

The purpose of this multi-disciplinary research project is to promote and coordinate research on the conceptualization, modelling and measurement of polarization and conflict and the links between the two. We aim at contributing to identify the main forces leading to conflict, to provide tools and indicators for early warning, to understand the role of alternative forms of third party intervention such as mediation or arbitration in the reaching of an agreement, and to the design of post-conflict, viable agreements, including the system of political representation. In order to achieve this task, we will integrate the different approaches that have independently been developed in the different social sciences and will combine models with factual evidence. We expect the outcome be a multidisciplinary understanding of conflict in which the analytical models will be teste.

"Macroeconomia, Política Fiscal i Monetària", Grup de Recerca Consolidat
2005 SGR 000976, Generalitat de Catalunya
2005-2008
Albert Marcet , Ángel de la Fuente, Marcelo Soto, Ramon Caminal, Melvyn Coles, Ricardo Flores, Ágnes Pinter, Concepción Román

"Microeconomia Teòrica i Aplicada", Grup de Recerca Consolidat
2005 SGR 00470, Generalitat de Catalunya
2005-2008
Jordi Brandts , Roberto Burguet, Rosella Nicolini, Jacobus Petrus Maria Hurkens, José Penalva, Mª Fernanda Rivas

"Conflicte, Cohesió Social i Polítiques Públiques", Grup de Recerca Consolidat
2005 SGR 00626, Generalitat de Catalunya
2005-2008
Joan M. Esteban , Clara Ponsatí, Enriqueta Aragonès, Flip Klijn, Martin Meier, Jesús Enrique Morales, Irina Prokofieva, Tahir Ozturk

Area network "Barcelona Jocs"
2003 XT0055, Generalitat de Catalunya
2003-2005
Clara Ponsatí
Other participants: Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Antonio Cabrales), CODE-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Salvador Barberà), Universitat de Barcelona (C.Rafels), Universitat de Girona (Dolors Berga), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Francesc Carreras)

This network has the purpose of doing periodically seminars about game theory and its economic implications. Two research papers will be presented in each session, one from a participant of one of the institutions of the network and the other one from a researcher of an external academic institution.

"Public Decisions and Social Cohesion"
SEC2003-01961, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología
2003-2006
Joan Mª Esteban , Clara Ponsatí, Enriqueta Aragonès, Marta Reynal, David Rodríguez, Melvyn Coles, Debraj Ray, Thomas Palfrey, Itzhak Gilboa, Andrew William Postlewaite, David Schmeidler, Laurence Kranich

This project addresses two of the priority topics listed in the NP for Socioeconomics: economic and social integration and public decision-making.

There is an increasing concern among scientists and politicians about the degree of social cohesion and the functionality of democracy to give way to conflicts of interests. Indeed, the distribution of income in most countries shows higher degrees of polarization, showing an increasing social fragmentation. This weakens the social cohesion necessary to solve cooperatively opposing societal interests. This greater fragmentation also manifests itself in a lower degree of political participation among the excluded sectors of society. This in turn weakens the role of the political system as a mechanism favoring integration and participation.

The design of policies and social mechanisms conducive to cohesion has become high priority in Spain and in Europe at large. The aim of this research project is to analyze the interaction between public policies and social cohesion.

"Vertical Relationships and Contracts: Financing, Supply and the Role of Regulation"
SEC2003-08080-C02-02, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología
2003-2006
Roberto Burguet , Juan José Ganuza, József Sákovics and Yeon Koo Che

The aim of this project is the study of vertical contractual relationships, i.e. relationships between customers and suppliers. This project will study the ways in which actors are chosen in an exchange, the contracts they choose to make the deal official and the ways of financing the agreement, paying special attention in how this relationship interacts with other vertical relationships. Policy conclusions related to regulation and intervention issues will be derived.

"Economic Growth and Public Policies"
SEC2002-01612, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología
2003-2005
Ángel de la Fuente , Isabel Busom and Juan Antonio Duro

The project analizes the dynamics of growth in the regions of Spain and in the OECD countries within the framework of modern growth theory, with special attention to the impact of public policies (at the regional, national and community levels) on the evolution of income and the location of economic activity and population. The issues to be studied include the analysis of the sources of growth and regional inequality at the aggregate and sectoral levels, techniques for the estimation of growth models, the determinants of investment and employment creation, the analysis of migration flows and the effects of various public policies, including investment in infrastructure, education and R&D and various aspects of EU and regional government financing. The results will be of interest to policymakers, especially those with responsibilities in the areas of regional and development policy.

"Incomplete Contracts, Firm Management, and Market Performance"
SEC2002-02506, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología
2003-2005
Ramon Caminal , Roberto Burguet, Giacinta Cestone

The goal of this project is to continue the analysis of the optimal design of incomplete contracts, in relation to firm management and organization as well as market performance. The project is organized along two separate but complementary lines. First, we will deal with labor contracting, procurement and vertical integration, and corporate governance (alliances between managers, stockholders and stakeholders). The second line includes the study of various types of markets: banking, cyclical goods and housing.