Research News

Dr Holger Breinlich's project will evaluate the nature of the barriers preventing firms from exporting, as well as the consequences of export activity for firm-level variables such as productivity, employment or investment.
The project will be completed in three stages. Each stage will use a standard questionnaire of respondents in their workplace. (1) A survey will be sent to appropriate individuals (employees) at a firm that asks about firm characteristics and attitudes towards exporting; then (2) of firms that chose to fill out the questionnaire, a random subset will be sent information about exporting and its benefits; and (3) finally, a year later, firms that responded will be sent a follow-up survey regarding firm characteristics and attitudes towards exporting.

Professor Andrea Galeotti, from the Department of Economics, has won a €1 million grant to study the economics of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
The funding from the European Research Council will help Professor Galeotti develop a theory which could help both companies and governments.
Using mathematical modelling, he will map how social networks evolve and how they influence social and economic interaction. He hopes governments may be able to use the results in order to influence behaviour – for example, by making more effective use of health education messages. Read the full story

'It's time to drop the rhetoric and posturing: the evidence calls urgently for a European-wide integrated policy on asylum'.
Much of the debate over asylum policy has been dominated by newspaper rhetoric and political posturing. A new report written by Professor Tim Hatton for the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) puts these arguments into perspective by offering a sober assessment of what drives asylum applications and what asylum policies have achieved.

Dr Edna Solomon's paper titled "Foreign Direct Investment, Host Country Factors and Economic Growth" selected as one of the best papers submitted to the Fifth Prize of Economic Research of Ensayos Revista de Economía.

Research by Professor Marco Francesconi and Alison Lenton from the University of Edinburgh has picked up wide-spread media coverage following their latest piece of research that assesses the effects of variety on real-world mate choice. The researchers analysed human dating decisions across 84 speed-dating events and found that people were unable to choose when they were too overwhelmed by choice. They also found that choosers generally preferred people who were taller, younger, and well educated - attributes that could be judged quickly. Read the paper in full on the Royal Society Publishing website

A study by Matthias Parey and Fabian Waldinger at the University of Warwick examines the impact of Erasmus, a student exchange programme introduced by the European Union in 1987, in which more than two million students have participated, including about 180,000 from the UK. The results indicate that graduates who have studied abroad are 15 percentage points more likely to work abroad after graduation. Read the full news release

Leading economist, Professor Sheri Markose has been appointed as consultant to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to provide expert guidance at their Financial Stability Division on how to develop large scale models that can monitor the build up of financial risk in India. This also includes the transition to an information technology based framework for systemic risk analysis.

Dr Kate Rockett has been awarded a grant of £20,600 by the European Commission to study the empirical/technical assessment of potential anticompetitive conduct in the field of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and assessment of the interplay between competition policy and IPR protection more generally.

A paper by Jonathan James from the Department and Michèle Belot from Nuffield College at the University of Oxford, provides field evidence on the effects of a diet on educational outcomes, exploiting a campaign lead in the UK in 2004 (the Feed me Better campaign by Jamie Oliver), which introduced drastic changes in the meals offered in the schools of one Borough – Greenwich - shifting from low-budget processed meals towards healthier options.
They evaluated the effect of the campaign on educational outcomes in primary schools using a difference in differences approach; comparing educational outcomes in primary schools (key stage 2 outcomes more specifically) before and after the reform, using the neighbouring Local Education Authorities as a control group. They found evidence that educational outcomes did improve significantly in English and Science. They also found that authorised absences – which are most likely linked to illness and health - fell by 14%.

This research has picked up wide-spread media coverage, including the Financial Times, Times Online, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Independent, Channel 4 News, BBC Newsround, BBC News, Guardian, Times Online (education) and Washington Post.

Holger Breinlich and Stefan Niemann have been awarded an Leverhulme Trust grant in support of a project entitled, Channels of Firm Expansion & Contraction.
Marcus Chambers has been awarded an Economic & Social Research Council grant in support of a project entitled, Jack-knife Methods of Estimation.
Sanjeev Goyal and Andrea Galeotti /a>have been awarded an Economic & Social Research Council grant in support of a project entitled, Influencing The Influencer.
David Reinstein has been awarded a grant from the British Academy in support of a project on Experimental Evidence On Charitable Giving.
Holger Breinlich has been awarded a grant from the British Academy in support of a project on Competing On Foreign Markets Firm-Level.
Patrick Nolen has been awarded a grant from the Nuffield Foundation in support of a project on cell phone & economic development.