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Since December 1st till March 31 you can apply to our programs:
Master in Economic Research and PhD in Economics

Entry requirements are:
- BA / MA degree or equivalent
- Proficiency in spoken and written English
- Solid background in mathematics
- Previous education in economics is recommended

Your online application must content following documents:
- Curriculum vitae
- Statement of motivation
- Copies of your diplomas and transcripts
- Proof of English proficiency level
- Contact details for two (or max. three) referees (optional for MA applicants)

For more information please see sections: How to apply to MER or How to apply to PhD
In case of any question, please do not hesitate to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or see the FAQ sections for Master´s or Phd program.

Jessica Min, B.A.

Princeton University, United States

Abstract: U.S. employer-sponsored health insurance costs have quadrupled over the past four decades, placing a significant burden on employers. This paper examines how these rising costs impact U.S. labor markets. I exploit local differences in exposure to national health insurer mergers between 1999 and 2019. Using new administrative data and a difference-indifferences research design, I estimate that insurer mergers account for 22 percent of the overall cost increase in the past two decades. Firms facing higher costs experience employment losses, concentrated among middle-income workers without a college education. I calculate an estimated loss of 5.2 percent for less-educated workers. While some workers reallocate between firms, aggregate employment declines within merger-exposed markets. The resulting increase in unemployment raises government spending on unemployment insurance by 15 percent. Compared to Canada, where health insurance is governmentfunded, U.S. workers without a college education have experienced 3 percentage points more job losses than their Canadian counterparts over the past two decades. Incorporating my findings into a labor market model, I show that rising health insurance costs explain 44 percent of this excess job loss.

Full Text: Causes and Consequences of Rising Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Costs: Evidence from Insurer Mergers

Martin Vaeth, MSc.

Princeton University, United States

Abstract: We model electoral competition between two parties when voters can rationally learn about their political positions through flexible information acquisition. Rational voter learning generates polarized and aligned political preferences, even when voters’ true positions are unimodally distributed and independent across policy issues. When parties strategically select their positions, voter and party polarization mutually reinforce each other, and both rise as information costs decline. Because we show voters learn exclusively about the axis of party disagreement, party positions respond to only one dimension of aggregate shocks to voter preferences. We then adapt our model to a market setting with horizontally differentiated goods when consumers learn about their product preferences. Lower information costs increase product differentiation and moreover enable firms to charge higher markups, reducing consumer welfare. These results show how lower information costs can reduce welfare in both political and economic contexts.

Full Text: Rational Voter Learning, Issue Alignment, and Polarization