Aims
The Research Program in Public Policy´s mission is to encourage research related to the design and implementation of public sector policies in order to meet social needs.
The program is led by the researchers Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela y Javier Vázquez-Grenno.
In particular, the Research Program revolves around these five themes:
- Economics of Education
- Health Economics
- Labour Market
- Economics of Crime
- Gender Economics
Economics of Education
- Evaluation of public policies on education
- Monetary and non-monetary effects of education
- Education and equality
- Analysis of the inclusion of minorities in the education system
Health Economics
- Evaluation of changes in labor policies related to health and illness
- Impact of the economic crisis on health
- Evolution and determinants of sick leave
- Job promotion programs for people with disabilities
- Effects of healthcare system reforms on health and on healthy/non-healthy habits
- Immigration and health
Labour Market
- Effect of human capital acquisition in the workplace
- Evaluation of the effects of labour reforms
- Impact of immigration on the labour market and public finance
- Evaluation of the effects of policies to legalize illegal immigrants on the labour market, public accounts and demography
- Analysis of employment patterns of immigrants returning to their countries of origin
- Impact of minimum wage on employment
- Wage gaps
- Effects of the labour market on maternity/paternity leave
Economics of Crime
- Determinants of crime in an urban environment
- Gender violence
- Social networks and crime
- Design and impact of public policy on security
- Social interactions and criminal activity
- Predictive models for criminal activity
Gender Economics
- Determinants of gender inequality in the labour market
- Impact of gender violence on the labour market
- Economic effects of sexual harassment
- Determinants of the gender gap in education and health
A common denominator running through these five themes will be the clearly applied nature of the research, and the objective is to generate knowledge that is both useful for society and which guides the design of public policies. The analyses focus on the study of the determinants and outcomes of the measures and policies undertaken by the public sector in education, health, labour market, gender inequalities and their evaluation, all from an economic perspective.
As such, it has the following objectives:
- To develop a research program focused on the five mentioned themes
- To maintain a permanent research group that is active and dynamic
- To promote the mobility of researchers – encouraging researchers in our team to visit centres abroad as well as inviting international experts to visit our group
- To organize scientific conferences related to the Research Group’s field of study – specifically meetings of an academic nature, but also those aimed at disseminating knowledge to society as a whole
- To promote the publication of the research conducted by members of the Group as IEB Working Papers and other scholarly publications, and the dissemination of the research
Research topics:
- Economics of Education
- Health Economics
- Labour Market
- Economics of Crime
- Gender Economics