Agenda

Description:

The inauguration of the 2021/22 academic year will be available online on the UAB's YouTube channel.

This year's inaugural speech will be given by Elvira Dyangani Ose, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA).

Due to limited seating capacity, all those interested in attending must first fill out this form. The event will comply with all prevention and security measures being put in place by the health authorities.

Date: Monday 27, September2021 - 12:00h

End date: Monday 27, September2021 - 14:00h

Description:

Title:  Facebook Ads vs. Malaria: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in India

Authors:  Nandan Rao, PhD UAB (with D. Donati and V. Orozco-Olvera)

Abstract:

We conduct a cluster-randomized trial on Facebook to measure the effectiveness of a social-media campaign on several self-reported outcomes of interest in the fight against malaria: preventative behaviors, treatment-seeking behaviors, and incidence of fever and malaria. We additionally nest an individually-randomized trial, utilizing the remarketing tools of the ad platform to experimentally vary exposure to ads that appear on their timeline and test the direct effect of advertising on individual behavior.

The novel study designs test full-scale, ``in the wild'' advertising campaigns run by and in collaboration with the organization Malaria No More. Outcomes are measured with survey responses and incentivized respondents recruited via a separate Facebook ad campaign, disconnecting the treatment and survey process and reducing response bias by design. The software used to optimize stratified recruitment and remarket to survey respondents is presented as an open source tool.

The results of the cluster-randomized trial were heterogeneous across two subpopulations of interest: there was evidence of an increased use of mosquito nets for those who live in concrete dwellings, while there was not evidence of any impact on those who live in non-concrete dwellings who, a priori, were more at-risk for malaria. The individually-randomized trial performed with remarketing, however, shows evidence for a consistent increase in preventative behavior in all subgroups. We conclude that ad content itself can improve preventative behavior against malaria, but campaigns might not reach vulnerable subgroups without additional effort. We propose that the same techniques we used to measure these effects can also be used to better target campaigns to maximize impact in subpopulations of interest.

Place: Sala de Graus, Faculty of Economics and Business (via ZOOM)

Date: Thursday 7, October2021 - 15:00h

Organiser: Department of Apllied Economics, UAB

Telephone: 93 581 1680

E-mail: d.econ.aplicada@uab.cat

Comments:

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83431642309?pwd=TlhuRVBram51b2ZtQkg1SDdBN1lKQT09

Description:

Title:  How do shocks affect human interactions in cities? Evidence from mobile phone data in Singapore

Authors:  Maximilian von Ehrlich (with P. Magontier and M. Schläpfer)

Abstract:

Social interactions are the fundamental drivers that establish cities as the hubs for innovation and economic growth. The daily interactivity of individuals and population groups in urban space is considered as an accelerator of social and cultural exchange. Environmental shocks (e.g. urban heat and air pollution) as well as the COVID-19 pandemic critically impact these interactions. Being enabled by the ongoing digital transformation, some of the physical interactions may thereby be shifted into the digital space. Despite this importance, the impact of such shocks on the meetings of individuals in cities has hardly been explored systematically.

Here, we address this gap by analyzing society-wide spatial interaction networks in Singapore at a very fine-grained spatial resolution. Meetings are intrinsically inseparable from space. Individuals have unconditional preferences for specific interactions, but, if meeting interests are similar, a meeting only takes place if both individual have common preference for location. We introduce a model that combines preferences over locations as well as for specific interactions. We bring this model to the data in order to address the following questions:  How sensitive are the interactions of individuals in urban space against shocks?  How sensitive is the mixing of different population groups? And what is the role of amenities such as parks or shopping malls for social interactions and in particular for maintaining human interactivity during adverse conditions?

Place: Sala de Graus, Faculty of Economics and Business and via Zoom

Date: Thursday 14, October2021 - 15:00h

Organiser: Department of Apllied Economics, UAB

Telephone: 93 581 1680

E-mail: d.econ.aplicada@uab.cat

Comments:

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83431642309?pwd=TlhuRVBram51b2ZtQkg1SDdBN1lKQT09

Meeting ID: 834 3164 2309
Passcode: 568604

Description:

Thesis title: A Tragedy of the Horizons? Temporal perspectives on environmental policy

Director of the thesis: EMILIO PADILLA (UAB)

Doctoral Program in Applied Economics

Place: Semi-face-to-face (Sala de Graus of the Faculty of Economics and Business, door B3 / 012)

Date: Friday 29, October2021 - 11:00h

Organiser: Department of Applied Economics, UAB

Telephone: 93 581 1680

E-mail: d.econ.aplicada@uab.cat

Comments:

To attend as a public, please contact at the email address: emilio.padilla@uab.cat

Description:

Applied seminar about the universality of financial credit and its welfare and mental health reform. The online activity will be moderated by Emma Tominey, professor of Economics at University of York.

Place: Online

Date: Monday 7, March2022 - 13:15h

Description:

Seminar about legislative priorities and the structure of government facing the challenge of microeconomics. The activity in the Sala de Graus of the Faculty of Economics and Business will be moderated by Antoine Loeper, professor of economics at the Carlos III University of Madrid.

Place: Sala de Graus of the Faculty of Economics and Business

Date: Tuesday 8, March2022 - 14:15h