Research Rankings
In August 2021, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) ranked Barcelona GSE:
Research Rankings and Impact
#1 Economic Institution in Spain
#3 Economics Departments in Europe
#11 Economics Departments in the world
Indicators
85
working papers added in 2020-21
64
researchers with H-index>9 (Scopus)
93
researchers with H-index>5 (Scopus)
Impact Factor
109
Total number of publications (Recognition Program 2020)
13
Total number of publications in top 5 journals in 2020-21
The Severo Ochoa Excellence Program recognizes those institutions that are defining the global scientific debate. It is sponsored by Spain’s State Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación – AEI).
As a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence, Barcelona GSE is proud to be part of the SOMM Alliance, which works to promote excellence in Spanish research and to enhance its social impact at national and international levels.
Research initiatives that received Severo Ochoa Program support in 2020-21
The following Barcelona GSE research initiatives received support from the Severo Ochoa Program (CEX2019-000915-S) during the 2020-21 academic year:
Summer Forum
The Summer Forum is a series of independent workshops where researchers from around the globe debate the present and future of the frontier of knowledge in Economics and related fields.
The 2021 edition of the Summer Forum was held online due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The change in format allowed researchers from 67 countries to benefit from feedback and networking with colleagues during 23 workshops.
Barcelona GSE Summer Forum 2021 by the numbers
- 1,159 participants connecting from 67 countries
- 272 papers presented (1,499 submitted to the open call)
- 23 workshops (46 days of session time)
- 133 institutions in 21 countries represented
- 10 central banks and international organizations represented
Summer Forum Organizers
- Inés Macho-Stadler (UAB and Barcelona GSE)
- Jaume Ventura (CREI, UPF and Barcelona GSE)
Policy panel opens Summer Forum to a wider audience
The Summer Forum online panel discussion, “After COVID: Macroeconomic Challenges and Opportunities” was open to the public and offered insights from four economic policy experts:
- Raquel Fernández (Professor of Economics, NYU and Barcelona GSE Scientific Council Member)
- Philip R. Lane (Chief Economist and Member of the Executive Board, ECB)
- Carmen Reinhart (Vice President and Chief Economist, World Bank)
- Andrés Velasco (Dean of the School of Public Policy, LSE)
The panel was moderated by Alberto Martin (CREI, UPF and Barcelona GSE), Deputy Director for Research.
Calvó-Armengol International Prize
The Calvó-Armengol Prize is awarded every two years to a top researcher in economics or social sciences younger than 40 years old for contributions to the theory and comprehension of the mechanisms of social interaction.
Prize supporters:
Last year, Professor Benjamin Golub was chosen to receive the 6th Calvó-Armengol Prize for his deep, foundational, and timely work on how the structure of people’s social connections determines their opinions and behaviors.
The award ceremony in Andorra and the Calvó-Armengol Prize Lecture in Barcelona were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. They will take place in November 2021.
The selection process for the 7th recipient of the Calvó-Armengol Prize was finalized in September 2021. Prize activities for that edition will be held in the second half of the 2021-22 academic year.
IDESCAT-Barcelona GSE Socioeconomic Dataset Project
The Barcelona GSE and the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (IDESCAT) have created a registry-level database for researchers interested in using the data that combines education, health, and other socio-economic data.
In collaboration with:
The Barcelona GSE is the only institution dedicated to research on Economics and the social sciences to obtain the Severo Ochoa accreditation, first for 2012-15 and then again for 2016-19.
Research Recognition Program
This program acknowledges and rewards Affiliated Professors who have published research papers in a list of international economic journals of high impact within the last three years.
59
Affiliated Professors were recognized in the 2020 call.
Among the 109 publications recognized in this call are 20 articles in the “top five” journals: American Economic Review (9 articles), Econometrica (2), Journal of Political Economy (6), Quarterly Journal of Economics (1), and Review of Economic Studies (2).
Seed Grants
The Seed Grants program aims to fill a gap in the availability of funding that researchers often face at the beginning of their careers. They also fund researchers at more advanced stages of their careers who require special data or research assistance support.
By addressing both of these needs, the Seed Grants strengthen our capability to both attract and retain Affiliated Professors conducting applied research.
A total of 93 projects have been awarded Seed Grants. Of these, 13 later developed into ERC Grants.
Research community “Trobada”
The “Trobada” is an opportunity for new and returning Affiliated Professors, post-docs, and PhD students to meet each other at the beginning of the academic year.
Even though this year’s Trobada was held online, nearly 70 members of our research community attended the event.
Trobada 2021 research presentations
- Rodrigo Carril (UPF and Barcelona GSE), “The Economics of Public Procurement”
- Minyoung Rho (MOVE, UAB and Barcelona GSE), “Dynamic Discrete Choice in Centralized Matching Markets”
At the conclusion of the internal Trobada program, the event was opened to Master’s students and the public for a roundtable on “The Impact of COVID-19.” This roundtable also served as the official opening of the 2020-21 academic year.
The panelists shared perspectives based on their research in four areas:
- Luca Fornaro (CREI, UPF and Barcelona GSE): The Macroeconomy
- Beatriz González (Bank of Spain): Employment and Firms
- Libertad González (UPF and Barcelona GSE): Gender Inequality
- Francesc Obiols (UAB and Barcelona GSE): Social Distancing
PhD Jamboree
The Jamboree is organized by students in the Graduate Program in Economics, Finance and Management (GPEFM) at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and the International Doctorate in Economic Analysis (IDEA) at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Both PhD programs are organized jointly with the Barcelona GSE.
The event provides an opportunity for these future academics to practice presenting their work to their peers.
7th Barcelona GSE PhD Jamboree (online edition)
The students leading the Jamboree this year were:
- Madalen Castells (ITFD ’14, GPEFM)
- Andrea Chiavari (Economics ’17, GPEFM)
- Skander Garchi (Macro ’17, IDEA)
- Boyao Zhang (IDEA)
The program included presentations by 20 students and two invited alumni speakers:
- Paola Antonia Profeta (GPEFM ’00)
Associate Professor of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University - Arnau Valladares-Esteban (IDEA ’14)
Assistant Professor, Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research (SEW), University of St. Gallen
Barcelona GSE Focus
The Focus is a website that offers research-based analysis and commentary from economists and social scientists in the Barcelona GSE community.
In 2020-21, there were 20 new articles published on the Focus.
The site has over 1,200 email subscribers and receives visits from more than 130 countries. This academic year, 87% of readers came from outside Spain.
Other research activities
The following activities are funded by the Barcelona GSE with support from our research endowment or sponsors, as indicated:
Research Professors
Research Professorships and Associate Research Professorships are funded by our research endowment to increase the critical mass of top scientists at our four academic units.
This year Piotr Zwiernik (UPF and Barcelona GSE) was appointed Associate Research Professor.
Piotr Zwiernik
PhD, University of Warwick UPF and Barcelona GSE
There are now
21
Barcelona GSE Research Professors
8
Associate Research Professors
Barcelona GSE Lecture Series
Organized with support from Banc Sabadell, the Barcelona GSE Lecture Series brings some of the world’s top scholars in economics to Barcelona to share their research with the School community.
Lectures will resume in 2021-22.
Supported by:
Barcelona GSE Data Science Center
Barcelona GSE Data Science Center hosts Mathematical Statistics and Learning
The meeting brings together leading experts from diverse areas of mathematical statistics and machine learning who are interested in the mathematical foundations of these two fields. The common theme of the meeting is modelling and statistical analysis of data from large complex systems, which leads to high-dimensional and structured problems.
Organizers:
- Gábor Lugosi (ICREA-UPF and Barcelona GSE)
- Gergely Neu (UPF)
- Caroline Uhler (MIT)
- Frederic Udina (UPF and Barcelona GSE)
- Piotr Zwiernik (UPF and Barcelona GSE)
The Barcelona GSE organizes the World Wellbeing Panel (WWP), a group of more than 50 economists, sociologists, behavioral scientists, and public policy experts from institutions in 20 countries.
Several times a year, these experts are called upon to answer survey questions of relevance to wellbeing policy. The World Wellbeing Panel surveys foster debate which, over time, should lead to better policies and decisions.
Managing Committee
- Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell (IAE-CISC and Barcelona GSE), WWP Director
- Tony Beatton (Queensland University of Technology)
- Paul Frijters (London School of Economics)
- Arthur Grimes (Victoria University of Wellington)