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Talking Economics Emerging Scholars: Sona Badalyan

18 February, 2026

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, exploring how firm organization, labor market institutions, and frictions shape outcomes for workers and firms in an aging economy.

During her PhD studies, Sona visited the University of Chicago, completed a PhD internship at the Dutch National Bank, and worked as a research associate at the Institute for Employment Research. In 2024, she was awarded second prize in the Young Economist of the Year competition organized by the Czech Economic Society, as well as first prize at the Young Economists Seminar organized by the Croatian National Bank.

Tune in to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube to learn about her path and research.