Labour, Public, Development and Health Economics

Labour economics focuses on the functioning of the Labour markets both theoretically and empirically. The main research topics in Labour economics in the Department include the design of optimal Labour market institutions (such as employment protection legislation), the effects of Labour market institutions on Labour market outcomes (such as fixed-term contracts), and economics of the family.

Researchers at the DEB are associated with the main Labour programs in Europe: Institute for the Study of Labour, Centre for Economic Policy Research, and Centre for Economic Performance-London School of Economics.

Several conferences bringing together several Labour economists from other European and US universities have been held in our department. See, for instance, the conference on Technology and Employment or the conference on Unemployment in Transition Economies in 2001.

Although Public Sector Economics accounts for less than 50% of the undergraduate curricula (much below the Public Sector Expenditure on GDP ratio!), it is a very large area of teaching and research. This includes Public Finance, Economics of Taxation, Welfare Economics, Local Finance, Public Management, Social Security, Analysis of Public Policy and other related topics. The main research areas are Fiscal Federalism, Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth and Redistribution. The Department also organises joint Seminars on Labour Economics and Public Finance on a regular basis.

In addition to traditional Public Economics, some of our Faculty are leading actors in the field of Health Economics, with an important influence on the International Health Economics Association Board and the Spanish Health Economics Association.

Health economics has emerged as a field of study over the last two decades. From institutional organisation and finance, the field has evolved to a situation where a set of distinctive economic principles are systematically applied to a wide variety of health related issues: technology assessment, supplier induced demand, social insurance and regulation and competition in health markets, amongst others. These are some of the research areas represented in the Centre for Research on Economics and Health (CRES), created in 1996.

A Workshop on Health Economics is organised by CRES and scheduled meetings on Fiscal Federalism are held on a regular basis.

Faculty

 

Last working papers

[1366] - Do Spanish informal caregivers come to the rescue of dependent people with formal care unmet needs?
by Sergi Jiménez-Martín and Cristina Vilaplana Prieto
(May 2013)

[1365] - Interbank liquidity crunch and the firm credit crunch: Evidence from the 2007-2009 crisis
by Rajkamal Iyer, Samuel Da-Rocha-Lopes, José-Luis Peydró and Antoinette Schoar
(April 2013)

[1364] - Turnout, political preferences and information: Experimental evidence from Perú
by Gianmarco León
(March 2013)

[1334] - How accurate are surveyed preferences for public policies? Evidence from a unique institutional setup
by Patricia Funk
(September 2012)

[1333] - Civil conflict and human capital accumulation: The long-term effects of political violence in Perú
by Gianmarco León
(March 2012) [Published in: Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 47(4): 991-1023. Forthcoming (fall 2012)]