European Center for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics

Conference jointly organized by ECARES and Times²

The program will be available soon.

Stepan Jurajda (Associate Professor of Economics at CERGE-EI, CZ will present : 

"McMonopsony"

​Abstract ​| Poster 
*Please contact Helene.Bertaux@ulb.be if you wish to participate (lunch is provided so please confirm your presence max. one week before the event).​

Title: "Media Consolidation" (joint with Josh McCrain, Gregory Martin, andNicola Mastrorocco

Abstract: Recent decades have seen major changes to the local mediaenvironment in the United States, with the absorption of many formerlyindependent local TV stations into conglomerates. Using a comprehensive datasetof acquisitions, we examine the effects of ownership by the three largesttelevision conglomerates on local news advertising, content, and viewership.Conglomerate owners consistently increase advertising duration during localnewscasts. We find large effects on stations' coverage of local events and localpolitics, but the direction of these effects varies across owners. Despitethese changes, viewer responses are minimal. We conclude by investigatingdownstream consequences on viewers' political knowledge.

Title: Positive tipping points ans transitional dynamics : policies for the green transition

Abstract: Using a dynamic model in which heterogenous consumers make forward-looking choices between brown and green durable goods, we establish conditions under which peer effects lead to multiple steady states and multiple equilibrium path. Policy, such as a green subsidy, needs to exceed a critical threshold level to achieve green transition, and even larger to increase welfare. We analyse the feasibility, speed, and cost of transition showing how they depend on the strength of peer effects, the value of emissions avoided, and on policy employed. 
Pigouvian policies internalising the externalities associated with climate damage and with peer effects may not be sufficient to lead to a green transition; even if they are, they may not yield net benefits given the costs of transition.Outcomes seem relatively insensitive to the exact form of policy measures, providing they exceed the critical threshold level.