LSE-Miguel Dols Fellows' Workshop Spring 2025

Each term the Cañada-Blanch Centre at LSE organises a Fellow Workshop in which its visiting LSE-Miguel Dols Fellows present their ongoing research.

Meet our speakers

A Prof Enrique Acebo, Assistant Professor of Management at the University of León, where he earned a PhD Summa Cum Laude in Business Economics.

Firm Size and Eco-Innovation in Response to Extreme Climate Events

This study examines the impact of extreme climate events on firms’ eco-innovation and the moderating role of firm size. Analysing data from 8,481 Spanish firms using a non-linear moderated mediation, we separate direct adaptation channels from indirect pathways through environmental concern. Results indicate heatwaves and dry spells spur eco-innovation via direct operational adaptations rather than institutional pressures. Small firms exhibit greater eco-innovation responses than medium and large firms despite resource constraints. This challenges traditional resource-based perspectives, implying that agility and vulnerability may be more critical than resource abundance in fostering climate-driven innovation. Implications arise for adaptation theory and policymaking to encourage eco-innovation across firm sizes.

A Prof Marta Martinez Matute, Associate Professor in the Department of Economic Analysis: Economic Theory and History at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, she also teaches a course on Economics of European Integration at Syracuse University (Madrid Campus) and is Research Affiliate at IZA.

Formal institutions and the gendered labour market impact of governance quality

This paper investigates how the interplay between formal and informal institutions shapes the gender wage gap. By adopting a framework that integrates governance quality and institutional structures, it highlights how inclusive institutions can enhance women’s human capital accumulation, thereby reducing wage disparities. Using data from the Human Development Report (1990–2019), the analysis covers key dimensions such as education, health, and labor force participation, with gender-disaggregated indicators. The study fills a gap in the literature by addressing the simultaneous effects of formal and informal institutions on wage inequality, offering new insights into the mechanisms behind persistent gender wage gaps.

Dr. Yue Dai, PhD in Economics from Swansea University and she is currently on the job market. Her doctoral research investigates the cultural, social, and political forces that shape the socioeconomic lives and choices of Chinese individuals, particularly in relation to their consumption behavior.

Mobility, Political Preferences, and Regional Development Disparities in the UK

This study explores the relationship between individual socioeconomic factors, political preferences, and regional inequality in the UK. While the UK has institutional and economic reasons for centralizing economic activity, this has led to imbalanced regional development. Using data from the British Social Survey, this study examines how residential mobility reflects individuals' capacity to pursue economic opportunity or relocate based on political preferences. This mobility, shaped by both personal background and regional context, may reveal a broader resorting effect with implications for regional inequality and political divides. The study contributes to the understanding of human capital mobility, political preferences, and regional productivity inequality. 

Jinghui Yu, PhD candidate in Economics at Lancaster University, UK. She specializes in International Macroeconomics, Innovation and Trade. Her research focuses on topics such as global technology diffusion, labor market dynamics, and the role of trade in productivity spillovers.

Aggregate and Sectoral Diffusion of Global Technology Shocks: Evidence from OECD Countries

This study examines how trade facilitates technology diffusion and productivity gains across 18 OECD countries (1971–2015) using panel local projections. A novel World Total Factor Productivity (WTFP) was measured via import-weighted partners’ TFP changes to capture global technology shocks. In the short run, these shocks propagate through traded sectors, raising foreign demand, domestic output, and employment. Over time, they generate persistent output and TFP gains with lower hours worked. Cross-country heterogeneity arises from borrowing capacity and labor mobility: higher borrowing favors import-led lower responses in hours, while greater mobility accelerates sectoral reallocation of labor to meet higher foreign demand. Results suggest the need for open trade networks amid rising trade tensions.

Nuria Leon-Perez, PhD. Candidate in Human Rights, Democracy and International Justice at the University of Valencia. She has been granted the Manuel Serra Foundation scholarship to support her research in the field of procedural law. 

Externalisation of border controls and the principle of non-refoulement

The principle of non-refoulement is a well-established principle both in the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees as well as in the Convention Against Torture. This principle, which enjoys an absolute character, protects people from being returned to any country where they might suffer torture or other serious harm. However, in our current society, some countries, among them the United Kingdom, have established agreements with other states to externalise the management of asylum seekers and migrants, a practice that not always align with the principle of non-refoulement and the obligations undertaken by States in international law.

Meet our chair

Prof. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose is the Princesa de Asturias Chair and a Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics. He is the Director of the Cañada Blanch Centre LSE. He is a former Head of the Department of Geography and Environment between 2006 and 2009. He is a past-President of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) (2015-2017) and served as Vice-President of the RSAI in 2014. He was also Vice-President (2012-2013) and Secretary (2001-2005) of the European Regional Science Association.

More about this event

The Cañada-Blanch Centre at LSE is the vehicle to achieve the objective of the Fundación Cañada Blanch: developing and reinforcing the links between the United Kingdom and Spain. This is done by means of fostering cutting-edge knowledge generation and joint research projects between researchers in the United Kingdom, and at the LSE in particular, on the one hand, and Spain, on the other.

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Or the speakers and chair, , Prof. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose.