Talking Economics

In a new episode of CERGE-EI’s Talking Economics podcast, Assistant Professor Achim Ahrens discusses what economic research tells us about migration, refugees and labour market integration. Speaking with host Katarina Stehlíková, Ahrens explains that the labour market effects of migration are far more complex than public debate often suggests. “There is no empirical consensus,” he says, noting tha...

The new episode of Talking Economics brings a timely discussion with Kamil Kovář, Director at Moody’s Analytics and our alumnus, on how today’s overlapping shocks are reshaping the global economy. Kamil explores how wars, energy disruptions, rearmament, trade fragmentation, and political unpredictability are changing the way economists think about growth, inflation, and risk. “It’s just, as you sa...

Our job market candidate Margarita Pavlova is the latest guest in the  Talking Economics: Emerging Scholars  podcast series, which highlights the research and career journeys of CERGE-EI PhD in Economics candidates and recent graduates. Margarita is an applied microeconomist specializing in labor and gender economics. Her research explores how macroeconomic conditions, labor market policies, and i...

The Talking Economics: Emerging Scholars podcast series highlights the research and career journeys of CERGE-EI PhD in Economics candidates and recent graduates. In this episode, we speak with Sona Badalyan, one of our current job market candidates. Sona is an applied microeconomist with interests in labor, public, and personnel economics. Her job market paper examines internal labor markets, expl...

Why does discrimination persist even when it’s costly for firms and societies? CERGE-EI alumnus and Associate Professor at the University of Milan, Vojtěch Bartoš, explains how behavioral economics helps uncover the mechanisms behind bias — and how evidence-based tools can help reduce it. https://www.cerge-ei.cz/ https://www.instagram.com/cergeei/ https://www.facebook.com/cergeei/ https://x.com/CE...

What happens when the labor market doesn’t match workers and firms efficiently? Can online platforms and better data solve the problem? And what role do families play in shaping the workforce of tomorrow? Luca Mazzone , Assistant Professor at CERGE-EI and Economist at the IMF, talks about the hidden dynamics behind wage inequality, employment policy, and how households shape labor market outcomes....

What determines the financial decisions we make throughout our lives—like choosing a mortgage, saving for retirement, or deciding whether to invest? In the latest episode of  Talking Economics , we explore these questions with  Marta Cota , a CERGE-EI PhD alumna and Assistant Professor of Finance at Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon. https://www.cerge-ei.cz/ https://www.instagram.com...

In the latest episode of  Talking Economics , we speak with Vladimír Novák, Senior Economist at the National Bank of Slovakia and CERGE-EI PhD alumnus, about his recent research and how it connects to real-world policy challenges. Vladimír’s academic work focuses on how individuals process information—and how that, in turn, shapes their beliefs, decisions, and broader societal outcomes. https://ww...

Associate Professor at CERGE-EI, Ctirad Slavík, discusses taxation, inequality, and the economic impact of policy reforms in our latest episode. He shares insights on optimal capital taxation, the effects of automation on wages, and the 2021 Czech income tax reform. https://www.cerge-ei.cz/ https://www.instagram.com/cergeei/ https://www.facebook.com/cergeei/ https://twitter.com/CERGE_EI/

Our next guest on the  Talking Economics: Emerging Scholars  series is Theodor Kouro, one of CERGE-EI’s job market candidates this year. Theo’s research spans behavioral, experimental, and development economics, with a particular focus on gender economics. In his job market paper, he explores the mechanics of autonomy in a large-scale natural field experiment on effort provision. This paper earned...

Our next guest on the Talking Economics: Emerging Scholars series is Sinara Gharibyan, one of CERGE-EI’s job market candidates this year In her job market paper, Sinara examines how memories influence human behavior, particularly political behavior. Her innovative work distinguishes between two types of memory effects: fam-ily memory and collective memory. This paper earned her the prestigious PED...

In the latest episode of the Talking Economics podcast, a CERGE-EI alumnus Lukáš Makovský shares insights on the central questions and tools of urban economics, how models incorporate people’s preferences, and examines the movement toward urbanization alongside the impacts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. https://www.cerge-ei.cz/ https://www.instagram.com/cergeei/ https://www.facebook.com/cerg...

The podcast series Talking Economics Emerging Scholars is dedicated to showcasing the research and inspiring journeys of CERGE-EI PhD in Economics graduates. Our guest in this episode is Daniil Kashkarov. Daniil’s research interests lie in macroeconomics and labor economics, with a focus on life-cycle modeling, skills accumulation, and the adaptation of workers to labor market disruptions. During...

The podcast series Talking Economics Emerging Scholars is dedicated to showcasing the research and inspiring journeys of CERGE-EI PhD in Economics graduates. Our first guest is Ella Sargsyan, an empirical economist specializing in development economics. Ella's academic journey included research visits to MIT and Columbia University. She will join UCLouvain as a postdoctoral researcher. https:/...

In our latest episode of Talking Economics, we met with Barbara Pertold-Gebicka, a CERGE-EI alumna and Assistant Professor at the Institute of Economic Studies of Charles University, to explore family economics and gender wage gaps. https://www.cerge-ei.cz/ https://www.instagram.com/cergeei/ https://www.facebook.com/cergeei/ https://twitter.com/CERGE_EI/

We explore the world of criminal behavior and the Czech justice system with Michal Šoltés, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics and Empirical Legal Studies at Charles University Faculty of Law, a CERGE-EI PhD in economics alumnus, and an IDEA think-tank researcher. In his research, he focuses on public economics, empirical legal studies, the economics of criminal justice, and the...

In a recent episode of Talking Economics, we discussed firms and labor markets in developing countries with Andreas Menzel, an Associate Professor with Tenure at CERGE-EI. Andreas’s research projects focus on development, organizational, and labor economics with field experiments in Ghana, Tanzania, and Bangladesh. https://www.cerge-ei.cz/ https://www.instagram.com/cergeei/ https://www.facebook.co...

Why do some regions thrive while others struggle to keep up in the race for economic development? In a recent episode of  Talking Economics , we talk about regional economics with Christian Ochsner, an Assistant Professor at CERGE-EI. https://www.cerge-ei.cz https://www.instagram.com/cergeei/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/cergeei

In a recent episode of Talking Economics, we embark on a journey with our special guest, Professor of Experimental and Behavioral Economy at the University of New South Wales Business School in Sydney, Australia, Professor Andreas Ortmann, to talk about behavioral economics, exploring the rise and challenges it faces now due to recent reports of fraudulent behavior in the field. https://www.cerge-...

What are the expectations and how far are the discussions on Central Bank Digital Currencies across the world? In a recent episode of  Talking Economics , we took a closer look at digital currencies with Branislav Saxa, a CERGE-EI PhD alumnus, Principal Analyst, and Head of Monetary Analyses and Monetary Policy Transmission Team at Czech National Bank. https://www.cerge-ei.cz https://www.instagram...

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is an international financial institution, established in 1991 to help Central and Eastern Europe transition to a market economy after the fall of communism. How has the bank’s mission changed over time and what are its priorities now? We discuss EBRD’s response to world changes with Libor Krkoška, a CERGE-EI PhD in Economics alumnus and EBRD De...

Central and Eastern European regions have undergone significant socioeconomic transformation; following the fall of communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and European Union’s accession in recent years. What are the main challenges for the regions’ economies now?  We discuss CEE region’s economic performance with Katarzyna Rzentarzewska in our most recent episode of Talking Economics. Katarz...

The challenges of recent years bring mental health issues to the forefront of all science fields, including economics. In the most recent episode of Talking Economics, Katarína Stehlíková discusses long-term mental health trends and the effect of the pandemic with Liyou Borga.  Liyou Borga is a CERGE-EI PhD graduate in Economics and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the  Luxembourg Institute of Health . Hi...

Can humans cooperate with one another when facing extremely low survival chances? Do pre-existing social ties increase one's chances of survival in life-and-death situations? Social linkages in extreme circumstances are discussed with Štěpán Jurajda in Talking Economics. Štěpán Jurajda is the Mellon Endowment Professor with Tenure at CERGE-EI, a Full Professor at CERGE, Charles University, an...

When and why do national institutions change? Can some people living under particular institutions, such as democracy, play a crucial role in changing their institutions back home? Do national leaders matter? Katarína Stehlíková and Sebastian Ottinger look back to European history, and from the perspective of political economy, discuss its relevance for institutional change in today’s China or Rus...