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
PEPE (Political Economy & Public Economics) Seminar - Nicolas Ajzenman (McGill)
Title: Informational Roots of Support for Right-Wing Populists: Evidence from Argentina
Abstract: Support for populist and authoritarian regimes is rising worldwide, despite evidence that they tend to underperform economically. To examine the role of (mis)perceptions of regime performance as drivers of political attitudes, we conducted a survey experiment with 11,400 subjects during Argentina's 2023 presidential elections. At baseline, optimistic beliefs about the performance of populist and non-democratic regimes were widespread, and correlated with support for those regimes. When exposed to randomly assigned informational treatments challenging optimistic views about right-wing populism or autocracies, individuals significantly adjusted their beliefs and their support for candidates associated with populist and authoritarian regimes. We explore the impact of different information sources, showing that academic sources and newspapers are more influential than social media. Although individuals appear to adjust their beliefs and attitudes in response to credible information, we find that information countering people's beliefs reduces their demand for additional information on regime performance, consisted with an important role for motivated reasoning.