5 LIDAM entities
Upcoming Events
LFIN Seminar - Syrine Ayachi
16/05/2025 - 11:00 - LIDAM D.251
> "Green Bonds and Competitive Markets: Exploring Incentives for Sustainable Financing".
Syrine Ayachi (UNamur)
will give a presentation on :
Green Bonds and Competitive Markets: Exploring Incentives for Sustainable Financing.
Abstract :
This paper examines the impact of market competition on firms' decisions to issue green bonds, with emphasis on whether competition from firms with previous green bond issuances influences such a decision. Using a Cragg model on a sample of green bond issuers from the MSCI World Index between 2012 and 2023, we find that greater competition significantly increases the likelihood of green bond issuance. Firms are more likely to issue green bonds when a greater proportion of their competitors have already done so, supporting the signaling theory, where firms use green bond issuance to communicate positive information about their financial stability and environmental commitments. Furthermore, competition from firms that have previously issued green bonds leads to an increase in the amount of green bonds issued, while competition from non-issuers has the opposite effect, aligning with the differentiation strategy. Our findings also highlight the influence of corporate governance in green bond issuance, showing that firms with a higher proportion of independent directors and female executives are more likely to adopt green financing. Additionally, firm size plays a significant role in green bond issuance. Large companies dominate the market, with superior access to capital markets, more financial resources, and better investors' confidence. In contrast, smaller firms, despite showing early interest in green bonds, face greater constraints that limit their ability to issue green bonds on a large scale. Macroeconomic factors such as trade openness and inflation also positively influence green bond issuance, and it indicates how the general economic environment affects firms' sustainable financing. These results connect green bond issuance to competitive pressures and provide valuable insights into how competitive forces, firm characteristics, and macroeconomic conditions collectively determine the adoption of sustainable financial practices worldwide. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for policymakers, investors, and business leaders seeking to foster green financing and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy.
IRES Lunch Seminar - Marion Richard
20 May | 12:45 | Dupriez D. 144
Marion Richard
(NovaSBE)
will give a presentation on
Mass media and fertility: evidence from a population-control program
Abstract
This paper examines the long-run impact of a national-scale family planning radio campaign on fertility outcomes in Malawi. Leveraging quasi-random variation in radio coverage driven by topography and a sharp shift in content policy by the state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) starting in 1995, we assess the causal effect of radio exposure on reproductive behaviour. We combine detailed signal propagation models with geo-referenced fertility data from three waves of Demographic and Health Surveys and the national census. We find that greater exposure to family planning radio programming significantly reduced fertility, primarily by shifting fertility preferences and increasing contraceptive use, rather than through improved knowledge. The results highlight the role mass media have played in accelerating fertility transitions in low-income settings by targeting social norms.
About the speaker
Marion Richard is postdoctoral researcher at NovaSBE and IC Migration fellow. Her current work focuses on conflict, climate change, gender norms and colonial policies as determinants and barriers to migration in developing countries.
Brown Bag Seminar - Robin Ng
21/05/2025 - 12:50 - CORE C.035
> "Enabling Communication Through Content Moderation".
Robin Ng (University of Mannheim)
will give a presentation on :
Enabling Communication Through Content Moderation.
Abstract :
This paper investigates how moderation can facilitate effective communication on online platforms where users have strategic incentives to mislead. In a model where a sender communicates information to a receiver and may exert costly effort to make their message more persuasive, communication fails without moderation due to either cheap talk dynamics or excessive sender costs that deter participation. When combined with sender effort, moderation discourages misleading messages, enabling truthful communication without requiring excessive sender effort. Full information transmission can often be sustained with minimal moderation, as even limited inspection deters deception. However, excessive moderation reduces sender effort, diminishing the quality of high-effort messages that benefit receivers. An optimal moderation policy often strikes a balance: just enough intervention to sustain truthful communication while preserving sender incentives to provide high-quality messages.
Leuven - Louvain Trade Workshop - Serena Chellini
21 May | 15:30 | Online
Serena Chellini
(KU Leuven)
will give a presentation on
How do environmental measures impact firms’ trade?
joint with Hylke Vandenbussche
About the speaker
Serena Chellini is PhD candidate at the Department of Economics at KU Leuven. Her research interests are international trade and environmental economics.
Practical information
We invite graduate students and faculty with an interest in international trade to participate, and to sign up for our mailing list.
For further information on how to attend, you can contact: serena.chellini@kuleuven.be or c.depierpont@uclouvain.be
UCLouvain Economic Seminar - Enrico Spolaore
22 May | 12:45 | Doyen 22
Enrico Spolaore
(Tufts University)
will give a presentation on
Cultural Remittances and Modern Fertility
Abstract
We argue that migrants played a significant role in the diffusion of the demographic transition from France to the rest of Europe in the late 19th century. Employing novel data on French immigration from other European regions from 1850 to 1930, we find that higher immigration to France translated into lower fertility in the region of origin after a few decades - both in cross-region regressions for various periods, and in a panel setting with region fixed-effects. These results are robust to the inclusion of a variety of controls, and across multiple specifications. We also find that immigrants who themselves became French citizens achieved lower fertility, particularly those who moved to French regions with the lowest fertility levels. We interpret these findings in terms of cultural remittances, consistently with insights from a theoretical framework where migrants act as vectors of cultural diffusion, spreading new information, social norms and preferences pertaining to modern fertility to their regions of origin.
About the speaker
Enrico Spolaore is Seth Merrin Professor of Economics at Tufts University and a Research Associate with the NBER. He does research in political economy, growth and development, and international economics
