Research & Expertise – News

Academics’ work week became even longer during the pandemic. This is true of researchers from different countries, independently of their gender and specialisation, an international research team with HSE University participation found. Their working time during the pandemic was 51 hours compared to the usual 40. The increased number of working hours per week seems to have become part of the new academic norm. The results of the study were published in the Plos One journal.

Why do people sometimes overestimate their knowledge—more often than not, those who are not well-versed in the subject at hand? Twenty years ago, two researchers studied this phenomenon and tried to explain it from a psychological point of view. This phenomenon is now known as the Dunning-Kruger effect after the names of the researchers. According to a report presented at a seminar of the HSE Department of Applied Economics, this effect has a purely statistical explanation.

After analysing the price fluctuations of almost 2,000 cryptocurrencies over seven years, Victoria Dobrynskaya, Associate Professor at the HSE University Faculty of Economic Sciences, found that there are no fundamental differences between their behaviour and that of conventional assets. Cryptocurrency follows the same principles, although its prices change much faster: processes that usually take years on traditional markets take only a month or so on the cryptocurrency market. An article on this research was reprinted by SSRN.

On February 10, Dr. Choong-Yong Ahn, Distinguished Professor of Economics of the Graduate School of International Studies (Chung-Ang University, Seoul) will take part in an online meeting of the Economic Policy Discussion Club organized by HSE University. He will talk about Korea’s economic development and the country’s astonishingly rapid and effective industrialization. Dr Ahn has spoken with HSE News Service about factors that have contributed to Korea’s success and the role of government in steering the Korean economy.

Hubert Kempf, Professor of Economics at the Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris - Saclay (France) and Academic Supervisor of HSE International Laboratory for Macroeconomic Analysis (IMLA), will speak about the greening of monetary policy at ameeting of theDiscussion Club on Modern Economic Policy on November 25. In his interview, Professor Kempf spoke about the work of IMLA, the development of macroeconomics, and the role central banks can play in combatting climate change.

Despite the risks associated with COVID-19 infection, many Russians either refuse to get vaccinated or are uncertain and hesitant about the practice. The factors behind these views are the subject of research by Yana Roshchina, Leading Research Fellow of the HSE University Centre for Longitudinal Studies and Senior Research Fellow of the Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology (LSES); Sergey Roshchin, Head of the Laboratory for Labour Market Studies (LLMS) and HSE University Vice Rector; and Ksenia Rozhkova, Junior Research Fellow at LLMS. The results of the study were presented at an LSES seminar.

What issues can modern economics help address? How can economists shape government policies? What languages should an economist speak? These are some of the questions Professor Alain Paquet of the University of Quebec at Montreal will talk about at the upcoming meeting of the Discussion Club on Modern Economic Policy hosted by HSE University’s Faculty of Economic Science on November 11. The News Service has talked to Professor Paquet ahead of the lecture.

Researchers from the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have proposed a mathematical model that describes the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account the restrictions applied in different countries. The model will help governments make reasonable and timely decisions on introducing or lifting restrictions. The paper was published in Eurasian Economic Review.

On October 15, the International Laboratory for Macroeconomic Analysis at HSE university held the international workshop ‘Frontiers of Macroeconomical Research’ for the third time. This year, it brought together economic scientists from the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, and Canada.

The HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences invites you to guess the Nobel Prize winners in economics.