Idea: We explore how the economic structure of a country influences institutional choices and, hence, economic, and political development.
People: Sebastian Galiani (http://www.sebastiangaliani.com/) and Gustavo Torrens (https://gustavotorrens.com/).
Publications and Working Papers:
- Sebastian Galiani, Tyler Daun, and Gustavo Torrens. Populism, Protectionism, and Political Instability.SSNR Working Paper Series No. 3764096
- Sebastian Galiani and Gustavo Torrens. The Political Economy of Trade and International Labor Mobility.Canadian Journal of Economics, Volume 54, Number 4, November 2021. SSRN Working Paper Series No. 3230432
- Sebastian Galiani and Gustavo Torrens. Why Not Taxation and Representation? A Note on the American Revolution.Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization,Volume 166, Pages: 28-52, October 2019.[Media Coverage: The Washington Post] [Media Coverage: The Wall Street Journal] [Media Coverage: Marginal Revolution]
- Sebastian Galiani and Gustavo Torrens. Autocracy, Democracy and Trade Policy.Journal of International Economics, Volume 93, Issue 1, Pages: 173-193, May 2014.
- Sebastian Galiani, Norman Schofield, and Gustavo Torrens. Factor Endowments, Democracy and Trade Policy Divergence.Journal of Public Economic Theory, Volume 16, Issue 1, Pages: 119–156, February 2014.
Blog Posts and Short Essays:
- Institutions and development: Some thoughts and open questions [Link]
- The political economy of international migrations [Link]
- On the old topic of political economy: Free trade or protectionism? [Link]
Idea: We study the determinants of criminal activities and the effects of law enforcement policies on crime and violence.
People: Sebastian Galiani (http://www.sebastiangaliani.com/), Iván G. López Cruz (https://ivanlopezcruz.wordpress.com/), José Manuel Paz y Miño (https://josempazymino.github.io/), and Gustavo Torrens (https://gustavotorrens.com/).
Publications and Working Papers:
Blog Posts and Short Essays:
- Stirring up a hornets’ nest: Geographic distribution of crime [Link]
Idea: We use game theory to formally model the mechanisms behind conflict and conflict resolution. We explore the connections between formal game models of conflict and international relations with a particular focus on geopolitics.
People: Sebastian Galiani (http://www.sebastiangaliani.com/), Iván G. López Cruz (https://ivanlopezcruz.wordpress.com/), José Manuel Paz y Miño (https://josempazymino.github.io/), and Gustavo Torrens (https://gustavotorrens.com/).
Publications and Working Papers:
Blog Posts and Short Essays:
The Pandemics working group analyzes aspects of governance and political economy during pandemics.
Pandemics are not only biological events. They generate impacts that are worth understanding from a broad societal, political, and economic perspective. This requires focusing on the big picture and on fundamental questions. Central features of our global society such as connectivity, mobility, and social interactions render the world more vulnerable to the challenge of pandemic diseases.
Pandemics increase the general problem of scarcity that always exists in society. For every decision made, opportunity costs must be considered in order to reduce total damage for society. Awareness of a secondary non-biological crises arising from the side effects of pandemic reactions need to be raised at the same time.
Questions that can be explored within the working group are, among others: Why are some countries/region handling the crisis better than others? What is the role of political and economic institutions for crisis management? How can resources be effectively mobilized? What are the lessons for the future?
Specific Research Ideas Related to the Pandemic and Addressed by the Working Groups (non-exhaustive list)
- What type of institutions should be built to deal with a pandemic?
- What is the relevance of the separation of powers and “checks and balances”?
- How do and how should we deal with emergencies that may require temporary concentration of power?
- The political economy of rational behavior versus panic during crisis.
- Macroeconomic and general equilibrium aspects related to redistributive politics.
- The economics and politics of government debt: Who is buying government bonds to pay for stimulus programs?
- Enforcement and cooperation mechanisms during pandemics: Lockdowns, trust, immunity certificates.
- Role of experts during crises.
Working Group Leader: David Stadelmann, david.stadelmann@uni-bayreuth.de
Contacts:
David Stadelmann, david.stadelmann@uni-bayreuth.de
Gustavo Torrens, gtorrens@iu.edu
About Dr. David Stadelmann
Prof. Dr. David Stadelmann studied Economics (MA/BA) as well as Mathematics (MSc/BSc) at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) where he received his PhD in 2010 in Economics and Social Sciences.
He has been teaching and researching as a professor at the University of Bayreuth (Germany) since 2013 (call at age of 29). He is a committed educationalist.
David Stadelmann’s research interests include political, public and institutional economics as well as the topics related to growth, development, federalism, and global factor mobility. He has authored over 40 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals (among others in the PLOS ONE, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Public Choice, Journal of Development Economics) and seeks to extend economics beyond the standard neo-classics by including insights from other disciplines such as political science and sociology.
He publishes policy-relevant findings of his research in non-academic outlets such as newspapers, magazines, and blogs, and he is a regular guest at international conferences around the world. He is a research fellow at CREMA (Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts), BEST (Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology), the Walter-Eucken-Institut, IREF (Institute for Research in Economic and Fiscal Issues), among others.
He has been awarded diverse research prices including the “Reinhard-Selten-Preis” (German Economic Association), the “Ludwig-Erhard-Preis” (Ludwig Erhard Foundation), or the “Wissenschaftspreis” of the Region of Vorarlberg. Since 2015 he is an editor of the peer-reviewed journal Kyklos—International Review for Social Sciences.
Scientific and Other Contributions
The working group leader has already authored several scientific contributions (peer-reviewed articles and working papes) on the COVID-19 crisis and these contributions are discussed in the international press.
Extract of Scientific Contributions
- Eichenberger, R., Hegselmann, R., Savage, D. A., Stadelmann, D., and Torgler, B. (2020). Certified Coronavirus Immunity as a Resource and Strategy to Cope with Pandemic Costs. Kyklos, forthcoming.
- Eichenberger, R., Hegselmann, R., Savage, D. A., Stadelmann, D., and Torgler, B. (2020). Corona-Immunity as a Resource and Opportunity for Emerging Markets. in The Viral World, Observer Research Foundation, forthcoming.
- Frempong, R. B., Stadelmann, D., and Wild, F. (2020). A Perspective on Secondary Effects of the Spread of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa, CREMA Contributions to Economic Policy No 2020-8, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts.
- Eichenberger, R. Hegselmann, R., Stadelmann, D. (2020). Corona-Immunität als entscheidende Ressource: Der Weg zurück in die Normalität, CREMA Contributions to Economic Policy No 2020-3, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts.
- Eichenberger, R., Hegselmann, R., Savage, D. A., Stadelmann, D., and Torgler, B. (2020). Coronavirus Immunity: A Certifiably Valuable Resource, Dialogues - COVID-19 , NATURE community Behavioral & Social Sciences.
Extract of Contributions in the International Press
Idea: We focus on specific questions in political economy. In particular, we target a specific institution (e.g., fiscal rules, legislative apportionment) and study how this institution affects key economic outcomes associated with it. The goal is to provide a more detailed understanding of how a particular institution works and what are the key mechanisms that influence particular collective decisions.
People: Sebastian Galiani (http://www.sebastiangaliani.com/), Iván G. López Cruz (https://ivanlopezcruz.wordpress.com/), Julio Ramos Pastrana, Jorge Streb, David Stadelmann, Gustavo Torrens (https://gustavotorrens.com/),
Publications and Working Papers:
- David Stadelmann, Marco Portmann, and Gustavo Torrens. Mapping the Theory of Political Representation to the Empirics: An Investigation for Proportional and Majoritarian Rules.Journal of Comparative Economics, Volume 48, Issue 3, Pages 548-560, September 2020.
- Sebastian Galiani, Iván Torre, and Gustavo Torrens. International Organizations and Structural Reforms.Journal of International Economics,Volume 121, November 2019.
- Sebastian Galiani, Iván Torre, and Gustavo Torrens. Fiscal Federalism and Legislative Malapportionment: Causal Evidence from Independent but related Natural Experiments.Economics & Politics, Volume 28, Issue 1, Pages: 133-159, March 2016.
- Jorge Streb and Gustavo Torrens. Making Rules Credible: Divided Government and Political Budget Cycles.Public Choice, Volume 156, Issue 3-4, Pages: 703-722, September 2013.
- Jorge Streb, Daniel Lema, and Gustavo Torrens. Checks and Balances on Political Budget Cycles: Cross-Country Evidence.Kyklos, Volume 62, Issue 3, Pages: 426-447, August 2009.
Blog Posts and Short Essays:
- Institutions and development: Some thoughts and open questions [Link]
- International organizations and structural reforms [Link]
