LSE-Miguel Dols Fellows' Workshop Autum 2024-5

Each term the Cañada-Blanch Centre at LSE organises a Fellow Workshop in which its visiting LSE-Miguel Dols Fellows present their ongoing research.

 Meet our speakers

Dr. José Abad, consultant in the Economic and Market Research Department at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group. His research focuses on the usability of bank capital buffers and the political economics of subnational public finances.

Government Arrears and Corporate Decisions: Lessons from a Natural Experiment

We show that the late payment of public procurement (government arrears) affects corporate decisions. We exploit a public program that unexpectedly repaid local government arrears. Our identification strategy compares firms in the program with similar firms that were accidentally omitted. Early repayment of arrears increases corporate investment and cash reserves, while reducing firm leverage. Financially constrained firms increase investment and reduce accounts payable, transmitting the effect to the supply chain through trade credit. Less financially constrained firms react by repaying debt. Lastly, we find that the accumulation of arrears deteriorates procurement relationships, which never recover upon repayment.

Ana Lleó-Bono, PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Cambridge, UK. Her research focuses on topics such as productivity, team dynamics, and incentives, in particular, her PhD. thesis investigates the incentives’ structure of workers on the Spanish citrus industry.

Work Collaboration with Unequal Productivity: An Experimental Study

Understanding the drivers of prosocial behaviour in collaborative work settings, particularly under conditions of productivity inequality, is crucial for effective team management. This paper explores how collaborative behaviour is influenced by two factors, individuals' social value orientation, and the origins of productivity differences - whether exogenous or stemming from effort-based, endogenous factors that may trigger an entitlement effect. I develop a theoretical model that accurately measures levels of altruism and inequality aversion needed to achieve work collaboration when there is a productivity gap, with salaries linked to their productivity levels and equilibria unaffected by belief variations. The theoretical hypotheses and the entitlement effect are then tested through an online experiment. Results show that both factors significantly affect collaboration among higher-productivity workers, while the size of the payoff gap influences behaviour among lower-productivity workers. Furthermore, I observe that the entitlement effect can create preference inconsistencies in lower-productivity individuals. These findings underscore the importance of recognizing the origins of productivity differences to design collaborative environments that enhance team performance.

Rosa Pla Almendros, PhD candidate in Private International Law at the Universitat de València, particularly on the challenges of the Digital Services Regulations.

Judicial claims for removal of illegal content under the DSA

Dark patterns, disinformation or hate speech head an endless list of risks to which digital users are exposed in their daily use of online platforms. The European legislator, in the interest of strengthening the digital single market, has tackled this situation with a new regulation: the Digital Services Act (DSA). This instrument imposes new due diligence obligations on online platforms such as Facebook, Amazon or LinkedIn, which translate into rights that digital users can claim in court against them. However, this (cross-border) enforcement of rights raises a number of issues related to the discipline of Private International Law that the DSA does not resolve, including the competent court to hear the legal claim, the law applicable to it and its cross-border circulation, among others.In this context, the focus here will only be on one of the possible legal claims under the DSA: the enforcement of judicial orders addressed to platforms for the removal of illegal content. Specifically, the presentation will seek to set out the Private International Law problems that they raise, as well as to offer possible solutions.

Daniela-Andreia Damian, PhD candidate in Geography at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania, and Côte d'Azur University Nice, France. Her research explores the connection between human capital formation and academic trends in the European context, with a specific emphasis on the Romanian case.

An European overview with an emphasis on Romania's educational landscape

This study investigates educational performance in European Economic Area (EEA) countries using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for the years 2018 and 2022, complemented by National Assessment Data for Romania at Local Administrative Unit (LAU2) level for the same years. Through a comparative analysis framework, the research examines variations in student performance across regions, seeking to identify the key determinants contributing to these disparities. Preliminary results reveal significant disparities in academic performance both between countries and within Romania, underlining the critical role of educational policies and socio-economic factors in shaping human capital. The findings reinforce the need for cohesive educational strategies to promote equitable and high quality education across and within countries.

Hasan Küçük, PhD. candidate at the Sociology Department, Gaziantep University (Turkey). His research focuses on developmental challenges among Global north and south, regional inequalities and social justice. 

A textile hub as part of global production: Gaziantep

First, Hasan will contextualise the topic by providing information on the textile sector and a short overview of the economy of Gaziantep and Turkey. Then, he will present the framework of the interviews-based analysis and the information obtained from field work. This consists both on firm-level interviews (30) and independent evidence on top company managers about local and global textile firms. Finally, he will outline the preliminary findings, resulting from the research undertaken up to this date. This research contributes to our knowledge on global and local firms' power asymmetries, the global production networks how affects social and economic welfare.

Meet our chair

Prof. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose is the Princesa de Asturias Chair and a Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics. He is the Director of the Cañada Blanch Centre LSE. He is a former Head of the Department of Geography and Environment between 2006 and 2009. He is a past-President of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) (2015-2017) and served as Vice-President of the RSAI in 2014. He was also Vice-President (2012-2013) and Secretary (2001-2005) of the European Regional Science Association.

More about this event

The Cañada-Blanch Centre at LSE is the vehicle to achieve the objective of the Fundación Cañada Blanch: developing and reinforcing the links between the United Kingdom and Spain. This is done by means of fostering cutting-edge knowledge generation and joint research projects between researchers in the United Kingdom, and at the LSE in particular, on the one hand, and Spain, on the other.

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Or the speakers and chair, , Prof. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose.