Economics
The course
The Economics course from the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation's Mad for science programme is a course developed by the Centre for Research in International Economics (CREI) which has the support and collaboration of the Department of Economics at Pompeu Fabra University aimed at 1st and 2nd year A-Level students with a scientific and technical vocation, interested in STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). This course was created with the idea of introducing the multidisciplinary environment offered by economics, where different disciplines such as mathematics and statistics come together to solve problems related to some of the most important economic phenomena. Students will have the opportunity to get a closer look at research in the main areas of macroeconomics.
During 10 theoretical and practical sessions students will get to know the research in the main areas of macroeconomics among others.
Registration for the Economics course from the Mad for Science programme will be open from 15th September to 25th October 2021 and among all those enrolled there will be 35 students selected from the 1st and 2nd years of A-Levels who will participate in the 10th edition of the Mad for Science programme that will take place in 2022.
The course will be held on different Saturdays from 15th January to 19 March 2022 at the facilities of the Pompeu Fabra University, Ciutadella campus. The different sessions will be given by researchers and professors linked to the CREI and the Department of Economics of the UPF. The sessions will be either in English, Spanish or Catalan.
The course will cover the following areas:
- Globalisation and economic development
- Financial markets
- Gender inequality
- Monetary policy
- Economic geography
- Immigration
Sessions
Day: Saturday 15th January
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Albert Marcet
Language: Spanish, Catalan and English
In this course, we talk about determining the prices of financial assets, such as stocks, private bonds, government bonds, options, and so on. We initially discuss the efficient market hypothesis, where the price reflects the real value of each asset at any given time. We then discuss the role of investor expectations in determining these prices. We will contrast the conventional approach to rational expectations with an approach based on the formation of expectations of financial bubbles.
Day: Saturday 22th January
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Victoria Vanasco
Language: Spanish and English
The class introduces students to information frictions in economics, with an application to financial markets. The concepts of adverse selection and moral hazard are presented, followed by a discussion on how such frictions may affect the good functioning of financial markets and the real economy, and on which mechanism can ameliorate these frictions.
Day: Saturday 29th January
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Isaac Baley
Language: Catalan, Spanisha and English
Am I in the right career path, or am I over- or underqualified? Should I look for a job that better suits my abilities? Are recessions better times to switch careers? In this lecture, we will study how imperfect information and labor market frictions affect workers' career choices and how these choices interact with the business cycle.
Day: Saturday 5th February
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Jose Apesteguia
Language: Catalan and English
Economics is built on the basis of a model of individual behavior. In the first part we will outline the basics of the standard rational model of economic decision-making. We will emphasize it's instrumental value for the understanding of a large diversity of economic issues. In the second part we will cover recent attempts in the behavioral economics literature that have the aim of enriching the psychological foundations of economic models of decision-making in order to improve it's predictive power.
Day: Saturday 12th February
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Rosa Ferrer
Language: Catalan, Spanish and English
During this session we will study the possible determinants of gender gaps in the labour markets among individuals with high-education level. We will study traditional explanations for gender gaps in earnings such as discrimination and child rearing, as well as more recently studied alternative hypotheses such as performance pay and the potential effects of gender roles in career aspirations.
Day: Saturday 19th February
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Humberto Llavador
Language: Spanish and English
Mitigating the impact of climate change requires a drastic reduction in emissions and significant investments in adaptation. Who has to reduce emissions and how much? Who finances the adaptation? or what mechanisms induce countries to reach agreements and comply with them? these are difficult questions to answer but for which the instruments of economic analysis can help. In this session we will see that the economy of climate change is a global and intertemporal social dilemma that requires cooperation and suffers from great uncertainties, negative externalities and the tragedy of the commons. His study demands a broad conception of economics, including behaviors, institutions, international relations, and ethical perspectives.
To participate in the session you will need a phone or tablet with internet connection and enough battery.
Day: Saturday 26th February
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Luigi Pascali
Language: English
In this session we will analyse the deep roots of persistent differences in economic development across different regions of the world.
Day: Saturday 5th March
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Davide Debortoli
Language: Catalan and English
Government policies, such as government spending, taxation and interest rates, can have an enormous impact on the prosperity of our economies and social welfare. This session provides an overview of the empirical evidence on the effects of such policies, and of the economic models used to guide policymakers’ choices.
Day: Saturday 12th March
Opening hours: 10 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Caterina Calsamiglia
Language: Catalan and English
In many economic contexts we find that resource allocation is not governed by a price system. For example, there is no market with prices for kidneys, or the allocation of children to schools or universities, or residents to hospitals or children to adoptive families. The rules that define these types of assignments have an impact on our society’s equal opportunities. We will analyze the specific case of the mechanisms for allocating children to public schools in Catalonia and around the world.
Day: Saturday 19th March
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Giacomo Ponzetto
Language: Catalan and English
More than half of the world's population now lives in cities. Why do so many people live in so few places? This lecture will provide an overview of the economic study of the causes and consequences of urban agglomeration. We will introduce the seminal concept of spatial equilibrium: people choose to live where they are more productive, where they face a lower cost of living, and where they enjoy a higher quality of life. We will discuss housing markets as the crucial determinant of the urban cost of living. We will investigate why cities make us more productive, introducing the concept of agglomeration economies and focusing on the importance of the flow of ideas in a dense urban environment.
Collaborating entities
The Centre for Research in International Economics (CREI) is a research institute sponsored by the Government of Catalonia and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). Our research activities are focused on international economics and macroeconomics, which are broadly understood (i.e., including growth, economic cycles, monetary economics, macroeconometrics, international trade and finance, economic geography, etc.). Given its origin, location and spirit, it seeks to emphasise the European dimension of these fields of study.
Our goal is to promote research with the highest academic standards. Always in contact with this dimension of research, we also want to be a source of training and dissemination of new ideas. We are lucky to have the UPF Department of Economics and Business very close (link is external), and to be an academic unit of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE) (link is external) with whom we collaborate in many research and teaching activities.
We all share a commitment to CREI's ultimate mission: to contribute to a better understanding of the functioning of economics in contemporary society. This understanding, based on rigorous study, is needed to improve the design of policies and institutions that will increase economic growth and, ultimately, the well-being of citizens around the world.
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