Applied Microeconomics
Applied Microeconomics
The Applied Microeconomics research group unites researchers working on a broad array of topics within such areas as labour economics, economics of education, health economics, family economics, urban economics, environmental economics, and the economics of science and innovation. The group operates in close collaboration with the CAGE Research Centre.
The group participates in the CAGE seminar on Applied Economics, which runs weekly on Tuesdays at 2:15pm. Students and faculty members of the group present their ongoing work in two brown bag seminars, held weekly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 1pm. Students, in collaboration with faculty members, also organise a bi-weekly reading group in applied econometrics on Thursdays at 1pm. The group organises numerous events throughout the year, including the Research Away Day and several thematic workshops.
Our activities
Work in Progress seminars
Tuesdays and Wednesdays 1-2pm
Students and faculty members of the group present their work in progress in two brown bag seminars. See below for a detailed scheduled of speakers.
Applied Econometrics reading group
Thursdays (bi-weekly) 1-2pm
Organised by students in collaboration with faculty members. See the Events calendar below for further details
People
Academics
Academics associated with the Applied Microeconomics Group are:
Research Students
Events
Economic History Seminar - Toike Aidt (Cambridge)
Title: Can democratic reforms promote political activism? Evidence from the Great Reform Act of 1832 (with Gabriel Leon-Ablan)
Abstract: Activists play a key role in the process of democratic transition and consolidation.
How is their activism affected by democratic reforms? We study how local activism responded to
the changes in representation introduced by Britain’s Great Reform Act. This reform
removed all parliamentary representation from some areas; other areas gained
representation for the first time. We exploit exogenous variation in which areas lost
and gained representation and measure activism using the number of petitions each area
sent to parliament. We find that petitioning increased in areas that gained representation,
partly because of greater civil society mobilization. We also find that petitioning fell in
areas that lost representation. This shows that pro-democratic reforms can promote political
activism, while anti-democratic reforms can decrease it. In the case of Britain, there
could have been positive feedback between activism and reform, making democratization a
path-dependent process and the Great Reform Act its critical juncture.