Economic Geography and Spatial Economics

The Economic Geography and Spatial Economics seminar series brings together scholars who work at the intersection between spatial and urban economics and the more institutionally-oriented fields of economic geography.

Irrespective of the specific methodological approach, research presented in the series is anchored in a shared culture and core research values, which place strong emphasis on theoretically-informed, policy-relevant and evidence-based research.

Some of the seminars are co-hosted by the Department of Geography and Environment and the Centre for Economic Performance.

The series is organised by Dr Carolin Hulke, Dr Elena Renzullo, Dr Felipe Carozzi, Prof Riccardo Crescenzi and Prof Olmo Silva.

Unless otherwise noted, the seminars take place at 12.30-2pm in CKK 3.15.

If you wish to attend any of the seminars, please email geog.research@lse.ac.uk.

Spring Term 2026

Thursday 7 May
Lucie Gadenne (Queen Mary University of London)
'Places, people or houses? Households' carbon emissions in the UK'

Abstract: Understanding the determinants of households' carbon emissions is key to designing successful decarbonization policies. We examine the role of household tastes and `places’ in explaining households’ carbon emissions in the UK using a 15 years household panel dataset and a mover design. Our detailed data on the characteristics of households’ houses and features of the places they live in enables us to go beyond a simple decomposition between household and geography fixed effects and investigate the causal effects of different aspects of places on emissions. We find that most of the effect of `geography’, captured by granular geographic fixed effects, can be explained by observables. House characteristics in particular explain one-fourth of the variation in household emissions. Counterfactual analysis suggests that electrifying all UK homes decrease emissions substantially more than greening the grid, though both policies have particularly large effects on households with high baseline emissions, including amongst the poor. These results suggest that policies that invest in greening places, and in particular houses, would help make carbon pricing more horizontally equitable, thereby overcoming a key political constraint on the path to net zero.

Thursday 14 May
Dr Kerstin Schaefer (Utrecht University)
'Chinese Firms bridging the Standardization Gap in 3GPP: Liabilities of Outsidership and the Role of Technological Shifts'

Abstract: Chinese firms often face liabilities of outsidership, struggling to access established global technology development networks. Focusing on technical standardization, we analyze how generational technology shifts affect collaboration in 3GPP, the body developing global telecommunication standards. Employing fractional logit regressions on a standards contribution panel dataset, we observe that Chinese firms strengthened their collaboration in standardization networks following the shift from 3G to 4G, particularly with geographically and institutionally proximate partners in the Asia-Pacific. This narrowed the standardization gap, leading us to conclude that technological shifts within collaborative networks might offer opportunities for late entrants to become standard setters.

Thursday 21 May
Dr Pelin Demirel Liu (Imperial College London)
'Does AI benefit the responsible firm more? Evidence from large US firms'

Abstract: Large firms increasingly embed Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their core businesses to increase productivity and create economic value. Yet, AI does not consistently deliver financial returns, and it can even wipe out firm value quickly if its deployment compromises important stakeholder expectations, such as fairness or accuracy. Consequently, firms are warned to take a responsible approach to AI implementation and deployment. This paper examines whether more responsible firms with a more substantial corporate social responsibility (CSR) portfolio can appropriate higher financial value from their AI investments based on a dataset of 1,087 publicly listed US firms between 2005 and 2021. The findings show that firms can only reap returns from AI investments if they also invest in a strong CSR portfolio, particularly with sizeable Social (S) and Governance (G) elements. However, the CSR portfolio's Environmental (E) element does not significantly moderate the relationship between AI adoption and market value. Our findings are robust after conducting instrumental variable estimations and using a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) approach. The paper contributes to the growing literature on AI management by showcasing the role of the firm’s responsibility stance as a condition for financially beneficial AI investments.

Thursday 4 June
Dr Patrick Gaule (University of Bristol)

Abstract: Exceptional talent accounts for a disproportionate share of innovation, yet many individuals with exceptional ability may never realize their potential. Whether expanding access to advanced training generates learning gains remains an open question. We study this using a randomized controlled trial with 620 highly gifted students from 44 countries, nominated by national Olympiad organizations. Participants were randomly assigned either to an 18-week advanced combinatorics course by Art of Problem Solving or to independent study using equivalent materials. Assignment to the course increased final-exam performance by 0.16 standard deviations. Engagement varied widely: roughly half of assigned students participated minimally, and baseline characteristics explain little of this variation (R² ≈ 0.10). Using random assignment as an instrument for engagement, we estimate learning gains of 0.66 standard deviations among fully engaged students. Among those who later competed in the International Mathematical Olympiad, students assigned to the course performed better on combinatorics problems. Overall, access to advanced training yields large gains when engagement is sustained, but access alone does not reliably induce engagement.

Thursday 11 June
Prof Adrian Smith (University of Sussex)