The Department of Economics, University of Toronto

Nominations are being accepted until February 15 for the AEJ Best Paper Awards. Articles published since 2023 in each of the AEJ journals are eligible. Visit: aeaweb.org/about-aea/ho.... #econsky

🇮🇪🇨🇦 The De Chastelain Scholarship Programme will make 50+ awards to Irish & Canadian scholars, from early-career researchers to senior professors.

🗓 Deadline: 11 May 2026 🔗 Apply / learn more: 

www.icuf.ie/scholarships...

Upcoming: 31 Jan is Hug an Economist Day. A hug is when one person envelops another in their arms and applies mild pressure in a soothing manner. Experts say hugs should be 20 seconds long for maximum benefit, but the average is between 5 and 10 seconds. holidaytoday.org/hug-an-econo...

Last call for applications for the 2026 AEA Summer Program at American University. Submit applications at aeaweb.org/about-aea/co... by January 31. #econsky

The Department of Economics is pleased to welcome Professor Robert Clark to the @utoronto.ca newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/new-faces-20...

Brian Rathbun and Darius Ornston

Successful Societies, a new course at the Munk School, shows that cooperation is the most important element in creating communities that are healthy, affordable and peaceful.

Read more: bit.ly/4jRMCvi

Campus status Find out the campus status for the University of Toronto's three campuses.

⚠️ Weather Watch: Environment Canada is forecasting significant snowfall beginning Sunday. We will share updates on any impacts to U of T campus operations through our social media channels and on the campus status page: utoronto.ca/campus-status

Understanding Labour Conditions, Testing Policies in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program The Temporary Foreign Workers Program has always provoked questions about wages for domestic workers and the rights of foreign workers. In 2002, the government added a stream to the program that permi...

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program has always raised questions about wages & human rights. Using a unique model & extensive StatsCan data, @KoryKroft & co-authors tested a series of policy conditions that suggest the program can work for everyone. newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/understandin...

Want to cut emissions? Young advocate says tax the rich — and what they own Many are tempted to focus on taxing luxury consumption, but this University of Toronto PhD student says they should aim bigger: rather than just focus on what the rich are consuming, policymakers shou...

The largest share of emissions linked to rich individuals comes not from their yachts or jets, but from the production of their businesses, says Tasnia Hussain. They should be taxed on their investments. @katharinehayhoe.com @taxjustice.net @climatedesk.org www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/19/o...

Markets and Mobility: How Employers Structure Economic Opportunity

Intergenerational mobility, measuring the ability to achieve economic success regardless of family background, is a critical reflection of a society’s commitment to equality of opportunity. Rising income inequality has raised concerns about the potential erosion of upward mobility. While education has traditionally been viewed as the path to mobility, its transformative power is facing challenges in a rapidly evolving job market. This project reorients the focus of intergenerational mobility research by highlighting the labor market as an arena for the reproduction of advantage. It employs a comparative approach, using administrative data from four countries: Sweden, Austria, England, and the United States. It also incorporates evidence from a broader set of nations through cross-national surveys, longitudinal household surveys, labor force surveys, secondary data, and digital trace data. The project employs cutting-edge empirical methods, including quasi- experimental designs, event studies, within-family comparisons, decomposition analyses, counterfactual simulations, and diagnostic checks to rigorously assess the extent of inequalities in the labor market. The research investigates how family background influences the sorting of individuals to employers and workplaces, accounting for education and occupation, and explores variations in career progression within and between employers. It comprehensively catalogues and assesses mechanisms shaping workplace inequality, contributing to the development of social closure theory. Additionally, the project evaluates intervention strategies, encompassing both employer practices and government actions, to promote fair opportunity in the labor market.

JOB! I'm hiring a postdoc for 2 years on my ERC MaMo project.

Looking for someone with strong quant methods, ongoing work close to the project's aims, and a desire to publish in sociology. Start flexible in the next 12 months.

Formal call out shortly, but contact me first.

WP: Sources of Evidence for Evidence-based Policymaking: Journals, Articles and Scholarly Structures in the Economic Report of the President 2010-2025, by Richard V. Burkhauser & Ji Ma

Four different colourful landmarks.

Announcing the creation of the Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies (ISPLAS) at #UofTArtSci.

The interdisciplinary unit will offer expanded language and cultural programming.

Learn more: www.artsci.utoronto.ca/news/isplas-...

Studying AI Safety Through Student Collaboration: Economics Undergrad Joseph Kostousov Joseph Kostousov isn’t worried about AI chat bots. Instead, the second-year Economics Specialist is investigating the weaponization of autonomous artificial intelligence, and other catastrophic risks ...

Interested in AI safety? See the newsletter to learn more about a new fellowship opportunity. newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/studying-ai-...

@utoronto.ca @econuoft.bsky.social @uoftlinguistics.bsky.social @uoftnmc.bsky.social @uoftstatsci.bsky.social

Happy snow day everyone! Due to the campus closure, we have to postpone tonight’s Backpacks to Briefcases event. Please stay tuned for a new time and date.

Graduating in 2026? Backpacks to Briefcases is returning to the Department of Economics on Thursday, Jan. 15th to help you evolve from student to professional. See you in the Max Gluskin House Lounge at 5:30 on Thursday? Yes, there will be pizza.

A comic book picture of a grandmother and the text: Why aren't you married yet? Worried about this embarrassing question over the holidays? Don't lie to Grandma about why you're single! Just blame the cost of housing. You can cite Sean Elliott's job market paper: Marriage, Cohabitation, and Separation: A Dynamic Approach to the Second Demographic Transition. https://newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/for-as-long-as-we-shall-have-a-place-to-live-sean-elliott/

OK, #EconSky. Sean Elliott has your back for the holidays. Dating's hard. Ghosting is real. Red Pill virgin influencers killed romance. But when Grandma wants to know why you're not married yet? Just cite Sean and #BlameHousingCosts. newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/for-as-long-...

Navigating International Trade with Vanya Georgieva: Tariffs, Subsidies and Public Understanding It’s a fascinating time to be an international trade specialist. Just ask Vanya Georgieva, a PhD candidate with the Department of Economics who has spent the last five years developing expertise in ta...

You might find some context in a conversation with Vanya Georgieva of our department newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/navigating-i...

Reminder: The #UofTArtSci Office of the Faculty Registrar will be available by phone or email on December 23 until noon. The office will reopen on January 5.

Have a wonderful holiday season! ❄️

Learn about the Faculty Registrar: bit.ly/3M4aEGN

Exploitation Through Racialization* Abstract. I develop a model of the social construction of race. Racial categories emerge from labor conflict when elites privilege intrinsically irrelevant

Thread: This year, I wrote about 80 articles for @econuoft.bsky.social. The only one that did not reach its intended audience was about Dan McGee's paper entitled Exploitation Through Racialization. academic.oup.com/qje/article/... 1/8

That would actually invalidate the study. The researcher is not the subject, but @sijielin.bsky.social does have plans for working more closely with artists as subjects.

Indian farms are small and unproductive. Broken land markets explain why. Easing the barriers to renting land could boost agricultural productivity by encouraging the most productive farmers to expand.

🆕 Indian farms are small and unproductive. Broken land markets explain why.

Today on VoxDev, Marijn Bolhuis (IMF), Swapnika Rachapalli (UBC) & Diego Restuccia (@econuoft.bsky.social) discuss how easing barriers to renting land could boost agricultural productivity: voxdev.org/topic/agricu...

Professor Robert McCann Wins CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize Professor Robert McCann The Centre de recherches mathématiques, the Fields Institute, and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) have awarded the 2026 CRM-Fields-PIMs Prize to Pro...

Congratulations Professor Robert McCann who won the 2026 CRM-Field-PIMS Prize. newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/professor-ro... @pims.math.ca @fieldsinstitute.bsky.social

Sijie Lin Studies Human Creativity in Prompt Creation with Generative AI What is the value of human work in a world of generative AI? In her paper, Learning to Prompt: Human Adaptation in Production with Generative AI, Economics PhD candidate Sijie Lin investigated the rol...

It takes creativity to generate meaningful art using AI, found @sijielin.bsky.social in her study of Midjourney input and output. #AIart #AIcreativity #EconJobMarket newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/sijie-lin-st...

Space and Cyberspace: Investigating Food Delivery Apps and Restaurant Real Estate with Siyuan Liu Fewer people are waiting to be seated to dine at their favourite restaurants. Instead, they wait at home for delivery services like Uber Eats and Door Dash to bring them a variety of cooked fare. That...

People aren't waiting to be seated. They're waiting at home for their food via delivery apps. Still, Siyuan Liu found the rise of Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc, increased the demand for restaurant real estate. #Fooddelivery #realestate #EconJobMarket newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/space-and-cy...

Sounds like love.

Vanya Georgieva is earning a PhD in trade economics so you don't have to. Tariffs, subsidies and other tools that can be weaponized in a trade war are the focus of her research. #InternationalTrade #tariffdebate #EconJobMarket newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/navigating-i...

Teaching and Learning About Correlation Sensitivity with Pegah Rahmani To explain correlation sensitivity, the Rahmani refers to start up culture. Most people know that most start ups fail within a few years of beginning. They also know about the origins of Amazon and Mi...

Pegah Rahmani dreams of mathematical proofs. Testing them is her day job. The economic theorist created a new model for taking correlation sensitivity into account in decision making. newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/teaching-and... #EconomicTheory #DecisionMaking #EconJobMarket

Learning About the Health Economics Job Market How does networking help students find jobs? What’s the difference between a letter of recommendation and a strong letter of recommendation? In early November, undergraduate students in Assistant Prof...

Student's in Professor Karen Ugarte Bravo's Health Economics class learned about working in the field from professionals Levi Barnett-Zeman, Ana Correa and Young Jung. Read the newsletter to find out what they learned. Bhattarai. newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/learning-abo...

Closing the On-Reserve/Off-Reserve Indigenous Education Gap While Preserving Culture: Noah Spencer For Indigenous K-12 students in Canada, educational outcomes can be very different depending on whether they live on or off reserves. “In my dataset, which covers students graduating between 2007 and...

New research on Indigenous education in Canada: Why do grad rates differ b/ on-reserve and off-reserve students? Noah Spencer digs into the data and finds policy solutions work. Hint: It's funding! newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/closing-the-...
#EconResearch #IndigenousEducation #EconJobMarket