Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 6d

Wrapping up a great visit to CREM @rennesuniv.bsky.social — PhD committee, seminar, and now a day off in stunning Saint-Malo.

Many thanks to colleagues for the invitation and insightful exchanges.

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · 14d

It is finally online the SI of the EER that we guest-edited together with @pgpiacquadio.bsky.social, @danielwaldenstrom.bsky.social, and Jakob Madsen. The full list of papers is available here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

European Economic Review | Capital vs. Labor: Perspectives on Inequality in the 21st Century | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier

This special issue addresses the complex dynamics between capital and labor in economic inequality and redistribution. It navigates the tension between concentrating capital in the top income distribu...

www.sciencedirect.com

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DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · 14d

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our @deps-siena.bsky.social Research Day! 📊 A great showcase of faculty work.

#Economics #Statistics #Siena #ResearchDay

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

Paper: Beliefs and Demand for Employee Ownership Among Young Adults (with Fabio Landini)

👉https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5362985

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

Policy takeaway:

💡 Low-cost informational interventions can boost societal support for employee ownership.

But belief updating alone may not trigger career choices → deeper barriers remain.

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

Methodological note:

👉Demand effects: shift in policy preferences persists even in an obfuscated follow-up survey
👉(Non-preregistered) analysis of open-text responses with human coders + ChatGPT adjudication of disputes

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

Implications:

👉Worker ownership has the potential to improve firm and worker outcomes

👉Uptake is low not only due to wealth constraints, risk aversion or decision costs, as emphasized by traditional explanations, but also due to biased priors and negative narratives.

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

We also asked: “What’s the first word you think of when you hear co-op?”

Control: “exploitation,” “low pay,” “instability.”
Treatment: “solidarity,” “cooperation,” “jobs.”

Information reduced negative first-order concerns about cooperatives and increased positive ones.

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

We exposed half the sample to expert-based judgments.

Result:

✅ Beliefs shifted (more optimistic)
✅ Policy support ↑ (“govt should support the creation of co-ops”)
❌ BUT career intentions did not change

5/

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

Left-leaning and more educated respondents hold more optimistic prior beliefs about cooperatives

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

We also asked a sample of international experts to evaluate existing evidence across similar performance dimensions.

🔍 Priors: Young adults were much more pessimistic than international experts about the relative performance of worker cooperatives.

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

We ran a preregistered experiment guided by a detailed pre-analysis plan involving 2,000 young adults in Italy.

We asked: what do people believe about worker co-ops vs conventional firms (firm productivity, survival, inequality, employment stability)?

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · 15d

🚨 New paper update!

Why are employee-owned firms with majority workforce control (e.g., worker cooperatives) so rare, despite evidence showing they perform at least as well as investor-owned firms in many contexts?

We argue: beliefs play a key role.

🧵

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · Sep 2

Just a few days left to apply for this additional fully funded PhD position. Happy to provide additional guidance

#econsky

DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · Sep 2

📢 One PhD scholarship available!

Conduct research on Worker Voice, Wages & Technological Change: The Role of Collective Bargaining, Unions & Employee Representation.

Deadline: Sept 5, 2025 2 pm (CET)

Application procedure:
unisi.it/ricerca/dott...

DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · Sep 2

📢 One PhD scholarship available!

Conduct research on Worker Voice, Wages & Technological Change: The Role of Collective Bargaining, Unions & Employee Representation.

Deadline: Sept 5, 2025 2 pm (CET)

Application procedure:
unisi.it/ricerca/dott...

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · Jul 23

📢 Our new wp "Beliefs and Demand for Employee Ownership Among Young Adults" (with Fabio Landini) is out!

Still a working draft - comments are welcome!

Link 👉 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · Jul 14

📢5 additional fully funded positions available in the PhD Programme in Economics of the Tuscan Universities (Florence, Pisa & Siena)!

One tied to research on worker voice, collective bargaining, wages & tech change.

Apply by July 30, 2025 👉
phdeconomics.unisi.it/admission-pr...

#econsky

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Filippo Belloc @filippobelloc.bsky.social · Jul 13

🎉 Just accepted in JEBO!

“Incentive Pay, Managerial Skills and Span of Control”
w/ F. Landini & S. Dughera.

Why do some firms rely more on bonuses than others? We show that incentive pay is more likely when managers are better educated and hierarchies are wider.

WP 👉 shorturl.at/7LgAj

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · Jun 12

🚨New paper out!

"Property rights, sick pay and effort supply" in J. of Development Economics (w @pablobl.bsky.social @andresdean.bsky.social)

Using variation in Uruguay’s sick pay, we study how absenteeism varies between worker co-ops and conventional firms.

doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...

#econsky

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DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · Jun 11

The Annual Meeting of the PhD in Economics of the Tuscan Universities (Florence, Pisa & Siena) is ongoing!

Our PhD students are presenting their research and receiving constructive feedback from discussants and faculty members.

#Pontignano #econsky

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · Jun 9

👇

DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · Jun 9

🚨THIS WEEK🚨

Our PhD Annual Meeting kicks off this week, 10–12 June!

We'll spend three days at the beautiful Certosa di Pontignano (Siena), sharing and discussing our PhD students' research and strengthening our community.

Program:
phdeconomics.unisi.it/wp-content/u...

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DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · Jun 9

🚨THIS WEEK🚨

Our PhD Annual Meeting kicks off this week, 10–12 June!

We'll spend three days at the beautiful Certosa di Pontignano (Siena), sharing and discussing our PhD students' research and strengthening our community.

Program:
phdeconomics.unisi.it/wp-content/u...

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · May 30

We're thinking big!

Have a look at @DepsUSiena new Distinguished Visiting Scholar Program! #econsky

👇

DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · May 30

🚨Our @deps-siena.bsky.social is launching a new Distinguished Visiting Scholar Program!

We welcome leading economists conducting broad and impactful research. The program offers fully-funded academic visits lasting 1–3 weeks.

More information 👇
www.deps.unisi.it/en/avvisi/ca...

#econsky

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DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · May 30

🚨Our @deps-siena.bsky.social is launching a new Distinguished Visiting Scholar Program!

We welcome leading economists conducting broad and impactful research. The program offers fully-funded academic visits lasting 1–3 weeks.

More information 👇
www.deps.unisi.it/en/avvisi/ca...

#econsky

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Filippo Belloc @filippobelloc.bsky.social · May 29

🧨 🧨 @deps-siena.bsky.social launches a fully funded Distinguished Visiting Scholar Program! We welcome scholars from any field of economics. Apply now and share your vision with us! More info below 👇

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Gabriel Burdin @gabrielburdin.bsky.social · May 19

The call for applications for the PhD in Economics at the Tuscan Universities is out! (Deadline: June 9, 2025)

If you have ideas in labor and organizational economics and a credible research design in mind, I encourage you to apply. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. #econsky

DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · May 19

📢 The application for the PhD in Economics at the Tuscan Universities (Siena, Florence and Pisa) is now open!

Several fully funded scholarships available

Deadline: June 9, 2025, at 2:00 PM (CEST)

Website: phdeconomics.unisi.it

Call: phdeconomics.unisi.it/the-new-call...

#econsky

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DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · May 19

📢 The application for the PhD in Economics at the Tuscan Universities (Siena, Florence and Pisa) is now open!

Several fully funded scholarships available

Deadline: June 9, 2025, at 2:00 PM (CEST)

Website: phdeconomics.unisi.it

Call: phdeconomics.unisi.it/the-new-call...

#econsky

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DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · May 16

🚨8th Hahn Lecture🚨

Prof. Matthew O. Jackson is discussing the relevance of different forms of social capital

#Inequality #SocialMobility #ConnectionsMatter

@deps-siena.bsky.social

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DEPS Siena - Department of Economics & Statistics @deps-siena.bsky.social · May 15

Join us tomorrow for the 8th Hahn Lecture!

@deps-siena.bsky.social

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