Browse all research funded by the Stone Centre at UCL

During the 1980s and 1990s, merger waves led to unprecedented corporate consolidation, and prior studies have highlighted that both markups and firm concentration have considerably risen over that timeframe. Although mergers allow firms to unlock synergies, which are productivity-enhancing, they also allow firms to capture market share, thereby reducing competitive pressure in the affected industries. I study the effects of merger activity on aggregate outcomes, and whether mergers can explain the trends mentioned above.

Why is there such strong opposition to carbon taxes in rural areas? In this article, we focus on the role of perceived unequal treatment. We argue that per- ceptions of unequal treatment by the state lead people living in rural areas to be less supportive of carbon taxes, because they believe that carbon taxes un- fairly punish those that have already been disadvantaged by the state. We carry out a survey with a representative sample of around 3,000 respondents from the United Kingdom to test our argument. We provide observational and experimen- tal evidence showing that for those living in rural areas, increased perceptions of unequal treatment by the state reduce the perceived fairness of carbon taxes and substantially lower support for carbon taxation. Our results suggest that tackling deep-rooted perceptions of unequal treatment in rural areas is crucial for building broad public support for carbon taxation.

Understanding the roots of violent and criminal behaviour is crucial for developing effective prevention and intervention strategies. A large body of research has highlighted the complex interplay between genetic, environmental, and psychological factors in explaining such behaviours. This project will focus the long-term consequences of early exposure to abuse and violence.

Our project advances the hypothesis that financial literacy could be one of the factors responsible for the gender gap in wealth, as financial knowledge helps individuals accumulate wealth, but women tend to be less financially literate than men.

In this project we study ethnic discrimination by states as an organizational problem. To do so, we have collaborated with Peru's anti-corruption agency to accurately characterize differential treatment of public officials.

Are slums stepping-stones to better lives or poverty traps? To do so, we will leverage unique administrative data from Brazil alongside an intergenerational quantitative urban model which integrates human capital investment decisions and thus social mobility.

This project studies the distributional effects of international trade policies and shocks via their impact on consumer prices, which may be different across consumer groups who have different consumption baskets.

The main focus of my research is the question of what makes some schools more effective in helping pupils to make academic progress.

Telehealth connects patients to qualified health care professionals via phone. Although its popularity dramatically increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is limited rigorous evidence of its impact, and no impact of its effect in low-income countries. This project investigates the long-term effects of telehealth on health services and outcomes, as well as the impact across gender, income and age groups.

We propose to study worker and firm views on and willingness to pay for the expansion of job loss insurance in Ethiopia. Job loss insurance consists of payments given to workers after job loss. We propose to interview a representative sample of firms and their workers in the capital city of Addis Ababa, the economic hub of the country.