Seminarios de Negocios 2023

El propósito del seminario es convertirse en el lugar donde presentar nuevas investigaciones, así como también, en un foro para aumentar el conocimiento mutuo entre los miembros del profesorado. 

                  Tel.: 5169 7301



Lunes 2 de octubre

Maria Marchica | Alliance Manchester Business School

"Promoting Digitalization through Information Dissemination"

Abstract
The U.K. Small Business Digital Capacity Programme Challenge Fund 2014 aimed at disseminating information and training about the use of digital technologies among SMEs. Using a novel firm-level dataset of web technologies, our matched differences-test strategy shows that, following the implementation of the program, treated SMEs were more likely to increase their web presence, adopted more sophisticated web technologies, and enlarged their operating boundaries through e-commerce. The program reduced the digital divide between SMEs and large companies and enabled digitalization in more geographically remote locations. As a result, firms observed positive effects on performance, labor outcomes, and likelihood of survival.

Maria Marchica is Professor of Finance at the Alliance Manchester Business School with an Economic background. She has regular visitings in Cornell University and TAU in Israel. Her research contributions are mainly in empirical corporate finance and governance with papers published in Journal of Finance, Review Financial Studies, Journal of Corporate Finance, among others. Her research explores how investment and financial decisions are affected by shareholders' and managerial incentives; financial contracting; financial constraints and other market frictions.


Lunes 18 de septiembre

Paula Margaretic | Adolfo Ibañez University

"The trade tensions of 2016-18, trade finance, and spillover effects: A prelude to international fragmentation?"

Abstract
This paper exploits the exogenous changes of destination/origin-specific trade uncertainty indexes to investigate the direct and spillover effects of trade uncertainty on firms' foreign-trade operations and credit outcomes. Using transaction-level data of Chilean firms and banks, we first show that increasing trade uncertainty dampens export growth through a deterioration of firms' working capital. This is especially true when exports are mainly financed by cash-in-advance, a payment mode that entails shorter and less permanent relationships between firms.  
Second, we find that increases in trade uncertainty induce a bank-firm portfolio redistribution away from small firms toward large importers and firms involved in the global value chain (GVC). Our results are consistent with a risk-mitigating channel from banks that grant larger loans to firms that are perceived as relatively less risky during periods of high trade tensions. This way, trade uncertainty shocks spill over to other firms not initially affected by the uncertainty through the bank credit market.


Paula Margaretic holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Toulouse. She is currently working at Adolfo Ibañez University, Chile, as an assistant professor of finance. Her research interests are in the field of banking, financial econometrics, and international finance.
Previously, she worked at the San Andrés University in Argentina, Central Bank of Chile, Airbus France, Banco Santander in Argentina and Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE) in Argentina, among others.


Jueves 14 de septiembre

Massimo Filippini | ETH Zurich & Università della Svizzera Italiana

"Adoption of plug-in electric vehicles: the role of government incentives and solar PV"

Abstract
Fossil energy sources dominate the currentEnergy System in the transportation sector. To achieve the energy transition,it is necessary to transform the current fossil fuel-based and inefficientenergy system to one based on renewable sources and efficient technologies. Inthis transformation, electrification of the private transportation sector iscrucial. At present, the adoption of electric cars is lower than expected inthe energy transition process in many countries. For this reason, manygovernments have introduced subsidies to incentivize the adoption of electriccars. In this study, we analyze the causal relationship between the diffusionof government incentives, rooftop solar PV, and the diffusion of plug-inelectric vehicles in Switzerland. For this purpose, we use yearly panel data onthe new vehicle registration and socioeconomic characteristics by municipalityfor the period 2014-2021. We find that a 1000 CHF purchase rebate increase the share of yearly newregistrations of battery electric vehicles by 0.55 percentage points. Additionally, using an instrumental variable approach exploiting solarradiation, we find that the diffusion of solar PV facilitates the adoption ofplug-in electric vehicles and specifically battery electric vehicles.  Wedo not find evidence that the diffusion of plug-in vehicles encourages theadoption of rooftop solar PV.

Massimo Filippini is a Full Professor in Economics and has a jointprofessorship at the ETH Zurich and the Università della Svizzera Italiana. Heis the director of the Centre for Energy Policy and Economics (CEPE) at ETHZürich, a research affiliate at the Centerfor Energy and Environmental Policy Research (MIT), the coordinatorof the network “Empirical Methods in Energy Economics” (EMEE) and a member ofthe board of Country Representatives of the European Association ofEnvironmental and Resource Economists (EAERE). Massimo Filippini has beena visiting scholar at MIT (Joint Program on the Science and Policy of GlobalChange) and at Harvard University (John F. Kennedy School of Government ofHarvard). Professor Filippini´s main fields of specialization are energyeconomics and policy, behavioral economics, applied econometrics, and publiceconomics. Massimo Filippini has published several books (a new textbook inenergy economics and policy will soon be published by Cambridge UniversityPress), book chapters, and more than 100 articles in top field and fieldpeer-reviewed journals.



Lunes 4 de septiembre

Inés Berniell | CEDLAS-UNLP

"Pay Cycles: Individual and Aggregate Effects of Paycheck Frequency"

Abstract: This paper shows that the frequency at which workers are paid affects the within-month patterns of both household expenditure and aggregate economic activity. To identify causal effects, I exploit two novel sources of exogenous variation in pay frequency in the US. First, using an as-good-as random variation in the pay frequency of retired couples, I show that those who are paid more frequently have smoother expenditure paths. Second, I take advantage of cross-state variation in labor laws to compare patterns of economic activity in states in which the frequency with which wages are paid differs. I document that low pay frequencies lead to within-month business cycles when many workers are paid on the same dates, which in turn generates costly congestion in sectors with capacity constraints. These findings have important policy implications for contexts where firms and workers do not internalize such congestion externalities as this situation leads to market equilibria with suboptimally low pay frequencies and few paydays.

Inés Berniell es investigadora Senior del Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) y profesora en la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Es Licenciada en Economía por la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Magíster y Doctora en Economía por el CEMFI (España) y realizó un postdoctorado en el Instituto Universitario Europeo (Italia). Trabajó en el Banco Mundial en Washington y ha sido consultora del BID, UNU-WIDER y de la Comisión Europea. Es miembro del comité Ejecutivo de LACEA y del Consejo Directivo de la AAEP. Es co-editora de la Revista Económica de la UNLP, coordinadora de WELAC-LACEA (‘Women Economists in LAC’), miembro del equipo a cargo de IEA–WE (‘Women in Leadership in Economics’, International Economic Association) y forma parte del equipo responsable de GenLAC, la iniciativa para la equidad de género del CEDLAS. Su investigación se enfoca en temas de economía laboral, economía de género y desarrollo económico, y ha sido publicada en el Journal of Development Economics, European Economic Review, Labour Economics, World Development, Economic Development and Cultural Change, entre otras revistas.


Lunes 7 de agosto

Andrés Gago | UTDT

"Confrontation Costs in Negotiations: Bargaining Under the Veil of a Screen"

Abstract
In negotiations, the objectives of parties are generally in conflict. Confronting this conflict can trigger negative emotions, such as nervousness, embarrassment or awkwardness, which I denote as confrontation costs. In this paper, I run a lab experiment to explore whether these costs shape the decision to engage in negotiations, and how this depends on the communication channel. I find that when participants can opt-out from negotiations, nearly 30% of times they avoid bargaining, even if opting-in delivers higher monetary payoffs. Moreover, when negotiations are face-to-face instead of electronic, the probability of avoiding them roughly doubles, due to higher confrontation costs. This makes electronic bargaining an effective way of fostering negotiations while improving subjects’ total welfare. When I analyze differences by gender, I find that women are more reluctant to bargain than men and that they suffer higher confrontation costs, which could be mitigated through electronic bargaining.

Andrés Gago es profesor full-time en la Escuela de Negocios de la Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Licenciado en Economía por la UAM, es PhD en Economía por el CEMFI. Su investigación se enmarca en el campo de la economía aplicada, con intereses en la economía experimental y del comportamiento, así como en temas de economía política. Durante los años 2011-2015 trabajó como analista de Riesgos Financieros en Repsol S.A.


Lunes 3 de julio

Fernando Bernstein | Duke University

"Dynamic Population Tracking in Large Service Systems"

Abstract
We develop a stylized theoretical framework for the problem of dynamically tracking the population in a service system with noisy input and output observations. The motivation for the project is the problem of tracking the population of passengers in the TSA area at an airport in real time using the noisy data from people counters. In the airport, such real-time population tracking can be useful for several operational decisions. For example, when the number of passengers in the TSA area is large, the airport needs to deploy staff to manage the overflow from the designated queueing area. This use suggests an objective that detects when the queue becomes large. Other operational decisions, such as determining the number of security lanes to open or the number of officials to check IDs, rely on having an accurate estimate of the exact number of passengers in the TSA area. Our goal is to devise and analyze policies that use past people counter data to estimate the population in the system over a finite and discrete time horizon. We evaluate the performance of policies in two distinct settings, each involving a different objective.

​Fernando Bernstein is the William and Sue Gross Professor of Business​ ​Administration at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. He​ ​obtained a Ph.D. in Operations Management from the Graduate School of​ ​Business at Columbia University and joined Duke University in July 2000.​ ​Prof. Bernstein’s research interests include retail operations, supply chain​ ​management, production planning and inventory control, applications of game​ ​theory for​ ​production and distribution systems, and revenue management.​ He has published papers in leading journals such as Operations​ ​Research, Management Science and​ ​Manufacturing and Service Operations​ ​Management, and also serves as Associate Editor for​ ​these journals.



Lunes 26 de junio

Gwen-Jirō Clochard | Joint Initiative for Latin American Experimental Economics (U. Chicago & U. del CEMA)

"Race Fluidity in Brazilian Elections"

Abstract
When determining the causes of racial differences in a setting with ambiguous racial classification, it is unclear whether differences arise from identity signaling or perception. We argue that municipal elections in Brazil are appropriate to disentangle the two, as candidates self-report their identity (signaling), and then voters make their decision based on how they feel about candidates, potentially taking their race into account (perception). We exploit the fact that, between 2016 and 2020, more than a quarter of candidates in Brazilian municipal elections changed their declared race, to observe the effects of race fluidity on electoral outcomes. We find that, despite the existence of substantial racial differences in the votes received by candidates and a high degree of switching of one’s reported race, there is no link between candidates changing their declared race and electoral outcomes, indicating that race perception is more important than signaling in this context. This contrasts sharply with previous results from the labor market which reveal strong gains from switching one’s declared race. These results have potential implications for affirmative action policies in a context where identity is ambiguous. We are also designing field experiments to test for potential mechanisms.

Gwen-Jirō Clochard is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Joint Initiative for Latin American Experimental Economics, an initiative between the University of Chicago and the Universidad del CEMA. His research lies at the intersection of experimental and development economics, with particular interest in understanding the causes of prejudice, and how to reduce it. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from L´Institut Polytechnique de Paris in 2022. 



Lunes 12 de junio

Verónica Frisancho | CAF

"Ability Grouping and Student Performance: Experimental Evidence from Middle Schools in Mexico"

Abstract
This article relies on a large-scale field experiment in Mexico to measure the effects of two ability-grouping models (tracking and heterogeneous/bimodal groups) on student learning outcomes during middle school. Both strategies yielded an average learning gain of 0.08 of a standard deviation. We find larger and more persistent effects among initially high-achieving students and no significant effects among low achievers. Students in top tracking enjoyed multiple advantages, particularly a concentration of high-performing peers and a very homogeneous classroom, that facilitated the teacher’s work and increased students’ effort levels. Bimodal classes fostered greater effort levels among top students, while teachers induced less competition and allocated more time to practice and feedback activities, to the detriment of lecture time. Our results support the allocation of students to homogeneous classes to maximize performance gains among top students without hurting low achievers. Fostering inclusive learning among weaker students would require complementary investments under both models.

Verónica Frisancho es gerenta de Conocimiento de CAF, el Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina. Antes de unirse a CAF, trabajó por más de 10 años como economista líder en el Departamento de Investigación del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID). El trabajo de Verónica se puede describir mejor como microeconomía aplicada y su principal campo de especialización es la Economía del Desarrollo. Su investigación en estas áreas incluye un énfasis en educación, mercados laborales en países en desarrollo, género, inclusión y educación financiera. Verónica tiene un doctorado en Economía de la Pennsylvania State University y una licenciatura en Economía de la Universidad del Pacífico en Lima, Perú.


Lunes 29 de mayo

Magdalena Cornejo | UTDT

"La transición hacia energías renovables como mitigador de los impactos de los precios internacionales de la energía en los precios locales. Evidencia para América Latina y el Caribe"

Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between the incorporation of renewable energies and inflation. Energy price volatility is one of the main causes of inflation. The transmission of international energy price fluctuations to local inflation occurs mainly through electricity and fossil fuel prices. We use data from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), which exhibit significant spatial and temporal variations, to estimate the pass-through effects of international oil and natural gas prices on local prices and assess how renewable energy transition helps mitigate these effects. Our findings reveal that countries with a higher proportion of renewable energy in their energy matrix exhibit, on average, a lower pass-through effect from international energy prices to local prices, in contrast to countries with lower renewable energy generation. Therefore, this study proposes that the widespread adoption of renewable energies is an effective way to limit vulnerability to spikes in fossil fuel prices.

Magdalena Cornejo es profesora de la Escuela de Negocios de la UTDT e investigadora del CONICET. Su investigación se focaliza en la econometría de cambio climático, la modelación de precios de commodities, el análisis de series temporales y los métodos de pronóstico. Sus publicaciones recientes incluyen artículos publicados en Econometrics, International Journal of Forecasting, Agricultural Economics, entre otros. Dicta cursos de Estadística y Econometría tanto en grado como en posgrado.


Lunes 8 de mayo

Rodrigo Guesalaga | Universidad Finis Terrae

"How do I carry all this now?: Understanding consumer resistance to sustainability interventions"

Abstract
Dada la crisis ambiental cada vez más grave, los gobiernos y las organizaciones con frecuencia realizan intervenciones de sostenibilidad para fomentar un comportamiento responsable en los consumidores. Sin embargo, estas intervenciones a menudo tienen la consecuencia no deseada de generar resistencia en los consumidores, lo que socava su eficacia. Los autores investigan qué genera la resistencia de los consumidores y cómo se puede reducir, utilizando las respuestas de los consumidores a la prohibición de bolsas plásticas desechables en Chile en 2019.

Rodrigo Guesalaga es PhD en Marketing de Emory University (Estados Unidos) e Ingeniero Comercial y MBA de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC). Es profesor de Marketing y exdecano de la Facultad de Economía y Negocios de la Universidad Finis Terrae. Sus principales áreas de expertise son venta estratégica y gestión de clientes B2B, marketing de servicios, consumo responsable y marketing sostenible. Ha publicado su trabajo en Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, e International Marketing Review, entre otras, y es coautor del libro Implementing Key Account Management (Kogan Page). 


Lunes 3 de abril

Elisabeth Kempf | Harvard Business School

"The Political Polarization of Corporate America"

Abstract
Executive teams in U.S. firms are becoming increasingly partisan. We establish this new fact using political affiliations from voter registration records for top executives of S&P 1500 firms between 2008 and 2020. The new fact is explained by both an increasing share of Republican executives and increased assortative matching by executives on political affiliation. Executives who are politically misaligned with the majority of the team are more likely to depart, especially in recent years, and their departures are more likely to be involuntary. Executives’ political views influence how they view the prospects of their companies as well as how stock prices respond to executive departures, suggesting that politically-motivated turnovers have real consequences.

Elisabeth Kempf is an Associate Professor in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. She is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR). Her research interests lie at the intersection of political economy and empirical corporate finance.


Viernes 3 de marzo

Fernando Saltiel | McGill University

"Business Cycles and Police Hires"

Abstract
We show that the quality of police hires varies over the business cycle. Officers hired when the unemployment rate is high have fewer complaints, disciplines, and are less likely to be fired than officers hired when the unemployment rate is low. Effects are larger for younger workers who have weaker outside options in recessions. We find that the size and quality of the applicant pool increases in high unemployment years–more people take entry exams and a smaller fraction fail the exam. Our findings shed light on how outside options affect police hires and speak to policy questions about police recruitment.

Fernando Saltiel es profesor asistente de Economía en McGill University e investigador afiliado al Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) y Duke University. Tiene un Ph.D. en Economía por la University of Maryland. Su investigación se centra en diversos temas de economía laboral, incluyendo la importancia de habilidades en el mercado laboral, el retorno a inversiones de capital humano y el proceso de desarrollo de habilidades. Sus trabajos han sido publicados en revistas académicas como Economic Journal, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Applied Econometrics, European Economic Review y Economics of Education Review, entre otros. 


Martes 28 de febrero

Leonardo Bursztyn | University of Chicago

"Perceived Gender Norms: Global Evidence" 

Abstract
Actual and perceived gender norms are key to understanding gender inequality in society. In this paper, using newly collected nationally representative datasets from 60 countries, we study gender norms on two distinct policy issues: 1) basic rights, allowing women to work outside of their home, and 2) affirmative action, prioritizing women when hiring for leadership positions. We establish that misperceptions of gender norms are pervasive across the world. The nature of the misperception, however, is context-dependent. In less gender-equal countries, people underestimate support for both policies, particularly among men; in more gender-equal countries, people overestimate support for affirmative action, particularly among women, and underestimate support for basic rights. We provide evidence of gender stereotyping and overweighting of the minority view as potential drivers of the global patterns of misperceptions. Together, our findings indicate how misperceptions of gender norms may obstruct progress toward gender equality, but also may contribute to sustain gender policies that are not necessarily favored by women themselves.

Leonardo Bursztyn is the Saieh Family Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and the co-director of the Becker Friedman Institute Political Economics Initiative. He is also an Editor of the Journal of Political Economy. His research uses field experiments, often combined with observational data, to better understand how individuals’ main economic decisions are shaped by their social environments.