Different types of economic shocks hit countries periodically. Recent examples include the global financial crisis or the exposure to trade with China. The ability to respond to these shocks depends, among others, on government quality: countries with more accountable governments and/or with higher state capacity enact faster and more effective policies. Crisis might also affect government quality: increasing government fragmentation and polarization, and affecting the selection of politicians or political norms and institutional legitimacy. Crisis might also foster nationalism and lead to political disintegration, as exemplified by the recent rise of secessionism or by the crisis of the European Union.
The workshop will focus on the interplay between economic shocks, government quality and the vertical structure of government. Papers on the causes and consequences of government quality, the political economy of secessionism and political unions, and the political economy of federalism and local government in general are also welcome.

Rising levels of income and wealth inequality are a challenge for tax design. At the same time, greater mobility of capital, but also of individuals, undermines the capacity of the public sector to collect taxes. Inequality and globalization reinforce each other, which inevitably calls for the adoption of a broader approach to tax design, including tax enforcement policies. In this regard, globalization might require further efforts between countries to harmonize statutory tax parameters or to fight the negative effects of avoidance practices like physical mobility and profit shifting by multinationals, among others. Needless to say, though, there is still room for the analysis of public policies within a country, for example, regarding the design and level of unemployment benefits, the pros and cons of regional tax decentralization, or the relevance and effects of tax avoidance and evasion practices, among others.
The aim of this workshop is to bring together scholars currently working on these topics either from an analytical or from an empirical perspective. The workshop will run for 1 & ½ day and will include 12 papers.

El objetivo de esta jornada es debatir sobre competencia, regulación e inversión dentro de la política de infraestructuras y transporte, a partir de una presentación de la política de infraestructuras en España por el Secretario de Estado de Infraestructuras y dos informes de Fedea: uno sobre competencia y regulación en el transporte de mercancías por ferrocarril y otro sobre tarificación y política de inversiones.

The evaluation of public policies is one of the most active and innovative areas of research in the social sciences in general and, specifically, in economics. Educational policies have received significant attention in this process. The intended aim of this workshop is double: on the one hand, to establish and share the theoretical and methodological knowledge frontier of the evaluation of educational policies. On the other hand, to have access to a diversity of applied studies in which different methodologies are used.

The aim of this workshop is to bring together original research papers that cast some light on these issues, especially those from an economic perspective. Although the Workshop focuses on empirical papers, theoretical studies are also welcome. The accepted papers (10) will be presented in plenary sessions that will complement the two keynote speakers’ presentations.

The Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB) will host its fourth workshop on Urban Economics on the 13th and 14th June 2016. The aim of the workshop is to bring together original research in the area of urban economics. Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome. The accepted papers will be presented in parallel sessions that will be complemented with three plenary sessions.