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
Macro/International Seminar - Elisa Keller (Exeter)
Title: Immigration and Productivity: Unpacking the Role of Spatial Sorting (with Jan U Auerbach, Julian Neira, Rish Singhania)
Abstract: Foreign-born and US-born workers sort differently across space. This paper examines how spatial sorting affects US productivity by disentangling the roles of worker productivity and local amenities. Using data on labor market outcomes and new measures of user cost of capital across regions, we identify spatial distributions of local amenities and productivity by worker birthplace, including birth state for US-born workers, in a general form under minimal assumptions. We use a productivity decomposition as a diagnostic tool to isolate channels through which immigration contributes to aggregate TFP. The decomposition applied to US Census data from 1980 to 2018 reveals that amenity-induced spatial sorting is the primary driver of TFP gains from immigration, with the largest share coming from foreign-born workers mitigating the birth-state bias of US-born workers. Counterfactual exercises show that the birth-state-bias-mitigation channel accounts for at least 90% of TFP gains from immigration.