Department News

Staff buffet in celebration of ranking 2nd for research excellence

There was a great turnout at the buffet last week. A much deserved celebration for staff who have worked so hard to help achieve this result.

  

Federico Rossi's paper has been accepted for publication in the American Economic Review

Federico Rossi's paper (with Tommaso Porzio and Gabriella Santangelo) "The Human Side of Structural TransformationLink opens in a new window" was accepted this week for publication in the American Economic Review. Abstract: "We document that nearly half of the global decline in agricultural employment was driven by new cohorts entering the labor market. A new dataset of policy reforms supports an interpretation of these cohort effects as human capital. Using a model of frictional labor reallocation, we conclude that human capital growth led to a sharp decline in the agricultural labor supply..." read more hereLink opens in a new window.

Natalie Chen’s paper “Markups, quality, and trade costs” (with Luciana Juvenal) has been accepted for publication in the Journal of International Economics

This paper examines how trade costs induced by geographic distance or bilateral tariffs impact the markups of exports differentiated by quality. It relies on a data set that combines Argentinean firm-level wine exports with experts' wine ratings as a measure of quality. Exporters price discriminate across destinations by raising markups in more distant markets, and by lowering them in high-tariff countries. However, the response of markups to changes in trade costs is heterogeneous and weaker for higher quality exports. These empirical patterns can be predicted by trade models featuring demand functions more convex than log-concave, but less than superconvex. They demonstrate that the variation in firm-level export unit values across markets is not only driven by quality differences but also by markup variation conditional on quality.

Warwick Economic Theory Workshop 2022

The Warwick Economic Theory workshop hosted by Bhaskar Dutta is back this year and will be taking place on 10th & 11th June. The agenda and registration form can be found hereLink opens in a new window.

Lory Barile is leading on the 'Warwick Sustainability Challenge'

The WIHEA ESD learning circleLink opens in a new window is delighted to launch the ‘Warwick Sustainability Challenge’. This is a project that has been developed in partnership with Economics, WMG, WBS, Warwick Enterprise, Estates, our Warwick Alumni, and Coventry City Council. The project will see staff and students across the whole University co-creating sustainable solutions to a particular challenge. Using a design thinking approach, the objective of this project is to provide a more holistic approach to sustainability in HE, linking the teaching and learning provision (Curriculum), to values and ways of working and studying on Campus, and the local Community by engaging with local people and partners (we are naming this ‘CCC approach’). You can find more information about the project hereLink opens in a new window. Join the Challenge. Help us to shape a more sustainable world where to live!

inVISIBLE Research and Diversity Conference

The Warwick Black Chemistry Society (WBCS) in collaboration with the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) would like to invite you to attend and/or present at the inVISIBLE Research & Diversity Conference at the Zeeman Building. The conference is part of an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion project (inVISIBLE) aimed at promoting the visibility of ethnic minorities in academia.

The conference will feature two days of research talks and posters by ethnic minority researchers (8th & 15th July) as well as one day of diversity-based talks (13th) to highlight projects targeted at addressing inequality gaps within academia.

For more details and to register please go to the 'inVisible Conference'Link opens in a new window webpage (deadline to register is 7 June 2022).

University Undergraduate Open Days 2022 – Save the Dates

The University have confirmed the dates for our upcoming Undergraduate Open Days which are expected to take place on-campus and online. We would kindly ask you to please save the below dates in your diary as we have called for PSS and Academic staff to support the events organised by the Department.

In-Person – No Social Distancing

• Saturday 18 June
• Saturday 25 June
• Saturday 8 October
• Saturday 22 October

Virtual Open Days

• Thursday 22 September
• Friday 23 September
• Saturday 24 September (if in demand)

Please let Charlotte Doughty (charlotte.doughty@warwick.ac.uk) know if you are available to support on these dates. Thank you in advance.

Walk with colleagues

Join us for a short 20 minute walk - Monday to Friday at 12.00pm. If you are in the Department and fancy a breath of fresh air during an early lunch break, come for a walk and a chat along the way. Be at Colin’s office (S2.130) by 12.00pm.

Departmental HR Update

---

Health and Wellbeing

Good health and wellbeing is paramount for staff at all times, but more especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The University offers a range of remote sessions dedicated to improving our wellbeing. We encourage as many of you as possible to explore any one of these opportunities.

Report and Support

Since its introduction, the University Report and Support scheme has been utilised by staff and students to report incidences of bullying/harassment, sexual misconduct, hate crime and discrimination. The University has analysed have produced the first Annual Report which shows that there has been significant use of the system by students and a smaller number of staff since the introduction of the scheme.

Conference Support Award

The University has reinstated the Conference Support Award Scheme. The Conference/Training Support Award scheme provides up to £200 to help cover the additional caring costs that individuals incur in order to attend a conference/training session or similar event. Details of the scheme and application form are available here. Applications should be forwarded to Sarah Duggan – Head of Administration, Business and Research in the first instance.

Should you have any queries regarding the scheme, please contact the departmental HR Officer.

Publications, Presentations & Workshops

Dennis Novy was the external invited speaker at the Macro Meeting of the Chilean Society of Economics on 11 May 2022. He presented his research paper on "Import Liberalization as Export Destruction? Evidence from the United States".

A conference is being held in Montreal in honour of Eric Renault. More information can be found hereLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window.

Andrew Oswald spoke at a 'levelling-up analysis' event run by the Cabinet Office and the What Works Centre, entitled Roundtable on Levelling Up Mission 8: Improving Wellbeing in the UK by 2030.

On Monday 16 May, Andrew Oswald presents to a mixture of Swedish trade unionists, politicians, civil servants and others on the topic of job satisfaction and the work environment. Sweden has recently begun a review of this issue for their nation.

Dennis Novy gave a seminar presentation on "Trade Flows and Trade Costs" at the Trade Policy Research ForumLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window (based in New York) on 28 April 2022.

Arun Advani has been appointed Associate Director at Fiscal Studies.

Dennis Novy discussed Andrei Levchenko's paper on "Information Frictions and News Media in Global Value Chains" at the CFM-LSE-Bank of England International Macro Conference on 6 May 2022.

Working Papers

---

Gianna Boero's and Robin Naylor's working paper (with Brian Karanja and Tammy Thiele) Awarding gaps in higher education by ethnicity, schooling and familyLink opens in a new window has been released.

Sascha O Becker's working paper (with Steven Pfaff) Church and State in historical political economyLink opens in a new window has been released.

Mirko Draca's and Giulia Vattuone's working paper (with Emma Duchini, Roland Rathelot and Arthur Turrell) Revolution in Progress? The Rise of Remote Work in the UKLink opens in a new window has been released.

Zeynep O Kurter's working paper How macroeconomic conditions affect systemic risk in the short and longrun?Link opens in a new window has been released.

Media Coverage

---

'We smile at an unexpected windfall, and daydream all the harder when times are tough'Link opens in a new window - Andrew Oswald's research mentioned - The Guardian

Dates For Your Diary

---