
Political Economy and Public Economics
The Department of Economics at the University of Warwick has an active Political Economy and Public Economics (PEPE) Research Group. These two disciplines have natural complementarities. Political Economy focuses more on the political feasibility of certain policies by looking at which policies are more likely to enjoy public support and thus succeed in an electoral contest. Public economics looks more at determining which policies are optimal in every environment, but is less concerned about their political approval or feasibility.
Recent world events such as the public backlash against globalization and inequality have raised awareness for the need for more integration between these two approaches as political resistance to the adoption of potentially beneficial policies has become ever more salient. Hence by their very nature these two disciplines transcend traditional field divisions such as micro and macroeconomics: they use theoretical, empirical and experimental methods to obtain conclusions, thus generating synergies with various other groups in our department from development to experimental to history to macroeconomics to economic theory.
Our activities
PEPE Research Group Seminar
Thursday: 11.15am-12.30pm
A weekly seminar is organised that brings top economists and political scientist speakers every week for a double-feature seminar in coordination with the LSE.
For a detailed scheduled of speakers please follow the link below:
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/seminars/seminars/political-economy
Organisers: Michela Redoano and Mateusz Stalinski
PEPE Research Group Annual Conference
In collaboration with colleagues from Princeton and Yale, and with the support of CEPR, the PEPE Research Group organises an annual conference which has become a central meeting of political economists in Europe. Having taken place in previous years in Venice and Rome, it attracts over 70 delegates attending from leading institutions in the US, EU and the UK. Every year, several of our PhD students get to participate in a fully funded conference with an opportunity to engage with leading scholars.
Find out more about this year's conference which will take place 26-27 April 2024 in Rome.
Organisers: Helios Herrera, Mateusz Stalinski
Academics
Academics associated with the Reseach Group Name research group are:
Research Students
Tue 29 Apr, '25- |
CWIP (CAGE Work in Progress) Workshop - Natalia ZinovyevaS2.79Title to be advised. |
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Tue 29 Apr, '25- |
CRETA Seminar - Larry Samuelson (Yale)S2.79Title: Delegated Bidding |
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Thu 1 May, '25- |
PEPE Seminar (Political Economy and Public Economics) Seminar - Pedro Vicente (Nova SBE)S2.79Title: On the Political Economy of Urbanization: Experimental Evidence from Mozambique The paper is here: https://pedrovicente.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/poleconurban.pdf |
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Thu 1 May, '25- |
Macro/International Seminar - Ethan Ilzetski (LSE)S2.79Title: Zipf's Law for Currencies Cannot circulate the paper because it is awaiting clearance due to data confidentiality. |
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Thu 1 May, '25- |
EBER (DR@W) Seminar - Daniel BenjaminS2.77 Cowling RoomTitle: Adjusting for Scale-Use Heterogeneity on Subjective Scales |
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Thu 1 May, '25- |
Econometrics Seminar - Yushi Peng (Tilburg)S2.79Title: Mortgage Regulation in Frictional Housing Markets Abstract: This paper investigates how mortgage regulation affects housing market outcomes and household welfare in segmented housing markets with search frictions. Using unique transaction data from China, I estimate a structural model of home listing, selling, and purchasing for heterogeneous housing products to capture housing market microstructure. Through counterfactual experiments, I quantify the impact of changes in mortgage credit conditions on house prices and market liquidity. The results suggest that the impact of mortgage regulation varies significantly across housing segments and markets, resulting in a substantial redistribution of welfare, particularly large losses for homebuyers. Moreover, the effectiveness and welfare implications of mortgage policies depend on the source of market frictions and the duration of the policy intervention. |
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Fri 2 May, '25- |
Teaching & Learning Seminar - Mathilde Peron (York)S0.08Title: Embedding careers in the curriculum: evaluation of a programme level approach for Economics undergraduates. Jointly with Dr Yaprak Tavman (University of York) Abstract: Embedding career development within academic curricula has gained attention as an effective strategy to prepare students for the labour market (Bridgstock et al, 2019) and address inequity in graduate outcomes (Flynn et al, 2022). Our objective is to evaluate a series of initiatives implemented by the Economics department at the University of York in collaboration with Careers (York Strengths) and external partners (York Health Economics Consultancy, HM Treasury). They are designed to embed career-oriented elements into the curriculum revolving around three themes: self-awareness, discovery and development planning; work-related learning and professional skills; reflective practice and translation of learning into the world of work. The primary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives in achieving the following outcomes: (1) Supporting students to connect academic theories and concepts with their future career aspirations; (2) Designing assessments that are both authentic to professional contexts and encourage reflective thinking; (3) Reducing disparities among students, ensuring equitable access to career development opportunities and improved confidence in graduate transitions. The presentation will share preliminary results, utilising anonymous online surveys from Economics students at the University of York. The focus will be on students’ perceptions of the initiatives, their confidence in linking academic learning to career opportunities, and the perceived inclusivity and fairness of career support embedded in the curriculum. |
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Tue 6 May, '25- |
MIEW (Macro & International Economics Workshop) - David Boll (PGR)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Tue 6 May, '25- |
CWIP (CAGE Work in Progress) Workshop - Subhasish DeyS2.79Title to be advised. |
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Tue 6 May, '25- |
Applied Economics, Econometrics & Public Policy (CAGE) Seminar - Mushfiq Mobarak (Yale)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Wed 7 May, '25- |
Econometrics Seminar - Max Farrell (UCalifornia Santa Barbara)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Wed 7 May, '25- |
CRETA Seminar - Roberto Corrao (Stanford)S2.79Title: The Bounds of Mediated Communication (with Yifan Dai) |
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Thu 8 May, '25- |
PEPE (Political Economy & Public Economics) Seminar - Ro'ee Levy (TelAviv)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Thu 8 May, '25- |
Macro/International Seminar - Rachel Ngai (LSE)S2.79Title: Sowing Seeds of Mobility: The Uneven Impact of Land Reform (joint with Ting Chen, Jiajia Gu and Jin Wang) Abstract: Barriers to labor mobility impede structural transformation. This paper explores the mobility barrier linked to land insecurity within China’s hukou system. Rural households face the risk of losing their land if they migrate. Using quasi-natural experiments of land reforms that increase land security, we show that the reforms have encouraged rural women to migrate away from agriculture at higher rates than men, increased joint spouse migration, but reduce urban women's employment rate relative to urban men. We develop and calibrate a two-region model that allows households to decide which members should migrate. The predicted impact of land reform is consistent with empirical findings on employment and migration patterns by gender. It highlights the importance of land reform on relative agricultural productivity. |
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Mon 12 May, '25- |
Economic History Seminar - Andreas Ferrara (Pitt)S2.79Title: The U.S. Civil War’s Impact on Women’s Work and Political Participation. This is joint work with Madison Arnsbarger (Weber State) and Paige Montrose (Pittsburgh) |
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Mon 12 May, '25- |
Econometrics Seminar - Francesca Molinari (Cornell)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Tue 13 May, '25- |
MIEW (Macro & International Economics Workshop) - Alperen Tosun (PGR)S2.79Title: to be advised. |
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Tue 13 May, '25- |
CWIP (CAGE work in progress ) Workshop - Alex ZhouS2.79Title to be advised. |
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Wed 14 May, '25- |
Teaching & Learning Seminar - Anthi Chondrogianni (Bristol)S0.10Title: Search for Work during Students’ Higher Education Journey Authors: Dr Anthi Chondrogianni (Presenter) and Dr Ahmed Pirzada |
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Wed 14 May, '25- |
CRETA Seminar - Drew Fudenberg (MIT)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Thu 15 May, '25- |
Macro/International Seminar - Keith Head (UBC)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Mon 19 May, '25- |
Economic History Seminar - Stephan Heblich (Toronto)S2.79Title: The Distributional Consequences of Trade: Evidence from the Repeal of the Corn Laws (with S. Redding and Y. Zylberberg) Abstract: We examine the distributional consequences of trade using the Repeal of the Corn Laws and the Grain Invasion during the 19th-century. We use a newly-created dataset on population, employment by sector, property values, and poor law transfers for over 10,000 parishes in England andWales from 1801–1901. In response to this trade shock, we show that locations with high-wheat suitability experience population decline, rural-urban migration, structural transformation away from agriculture, increases in welfare transfers, and declines in property values, relative to locations with low-wheat suitability. We develop a quantitative spatial model to evaluate the aggregate economic implications of these findings. Undertaking counterfactuals for the Grain Invasion, we show that geography is an important dimension along which the distributional effects of trade occur. |
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Mon 19 May, '25- |
Econometrics Seminar - Matias Cattaneo (Princeton)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Tue 20 May, '25- |
MIEW (Macro & International Economics Workshop) - Pawel Krolikowski (Cleveland F)S2.79 |
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Tue 20 May, '25- |
CWIP (CAGE Work in Progress) Workshop - Ludovica GazzeS2.79Title to be advised. |
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Tue 20 May, '25- |
Applied Economics, Econometrics & Public Policy (CAGE) Seminar - Elias PapaioannouS2.79Title to be advised. |
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Wed 21 May, '25- |
Econometrics Seminar - Lorenzo Magnolfi (Wisconsin)S0.13Title to be advise. |
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Wed 21 May, '25- |
CRETA Seminar - Agathe Pernoud (Chicago)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Thu 22 May, '25- |
PEPE Seminar (Political Economy and Public Economics) Seminar - Juan S Morales (Lazaridis SB)S2.79Title to be advised. |
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Thu 22 May, '25- |
Macro/International Seminar - Elisa Keller (Essex)S2.79Title to be advised. |