Manon Thiercelin Receives ECR Award at RICOMET 2026
PhD student Manon Thiercelin was awarded the ECR Award at RICOMET 2026, the 11th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities in Ionising Radiation Research, for her presentation on the adoption of circular economy practices in NORM management, co-authored with Valerie Cappuyns, Catrinel Turcanu, and Robbe Geysmans.
Lore Vandewalle Featured in VoxDev’s Economics Unpacked
Prof. Lore Vandewalle is featured in the latest episode of Economics Unpacked, a VoxDev series that brings cutting-edge economic research to a wider audience. Together with Rachel Heath of the University of Washington, she discusses whether access to childcare can help increase women’s labour force participation and household incomes, drawing on evidence from Uganda, Kenya, Nicaragua and elsewhere. The episode explores how the effects of childcare can extend beyond women’s employment, as well as the potential of community-provided childcare to expand access in settings where government resources are limited.
Serena Chellini Receives Review of World Economics Young Economists Prize
PhD student Serena Chellini has been awarded the Review of World Economics Young Economists Prize 2026 for her paper "Firms, Trade Shocks, and Global Value Chains Emissions", presented at the 2026 Annual European Trade Study Group (ETSG) Conference at the University of Exeter.
The prize, awarded by the Review of World Economics among papers presented at the annual ETSG Conference, recognises outstanding work by young economists.
Sandra Rousseau Receives AERNA Award for Best Published Paper
Prof. Sandra Rousseau, together with co-authors Francisco J. André and Carmen Arguedas, has been awarded the XII AERNA Award for the Best Published Paper in Environmental and Resource Economics by the Spanish-Portuguese Association of Natural and Environmental Resources Economics, for their article "Strategic pricing, lifespan choices and environmental implications of peer-to-peer sharing", published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.
Discussion Paper Series
We publish a Discussion Paper Series, offering an early look at ongoing research across the department's fields before papers are revised and submitted to peer-reviewed academic journals.
Only the most recently published working papers are listed below. The full series is available at feb.kuleuven.be/dps.
- Overarching Agreements And Separation Of Power From Myopic Politicians
Sareh Vosooghi - Student Performance Following the Conversion of Single-Sex Schools to Coeducation: Evidence from Colombia
Gloria L. Bernal and Kristof De Witte - International Student Mobility and Retention: Evidence from Discrete Choice Experiments
Enzo Peeters and Kristof De Witte
Jad Beyhum Receives Denis Sargan Econometrics Prize
Jad Beyhum, Associate Professor in Economics at KU Leuven, and Elia Lapenta (University of Exeter) have been awarded the 2025 Denis Sargan Econometrics Prize by the Royal Economic Society for their article "One-step smoothing splines instrumental regression".
The prize recognises the best article published in The Econometrics Journal by an author within five years of receiving their doctorate, highlighting outstanding early-career research in econometrics.
Econ Team Day 2026
On June 3, 2026, the Department of Economics spent a day away from the office for its annual team day. The programme included strategic discussions on the future of the department, a nature walk, and a canoeing trip along the Dijle, rounded off with a joint dinner.
A day well spent.
James J. Heckman Visited the Department of Economics
We were honored to welcome Nobel laureate James J. Heckman (University of Chicago) to our department on April 21, 2026. He delivered a seminar titled "Relating Cognitive Skills and Personality Traits to Economic Preferences: A Study of Chinese Children."
Leuven Summer Event 2026
The department organizes the annual Leuven Summer Event, a multi-day program featuring workshops across diverse research fields.
The fifth edition was held from May 26 to May 29, 2026, and featured workshops in Applied Microeconomics, Industrial Organisation, Applied Theory, and Economics of Climate and Energy Transition.
Read recaps of the event on our LinkedIn page.
Publications
We are proud to highlight two recent publications in one of the top journals in economics:
E. Ciscato: “Assessing Racial and Educational Segmentation in Large Marriage Markets”
House C.L., Proebsting C., and Tesar L.L.: “Quantifying the Benefits of Labour Mobility in a Currency Union”
Frank Verboven Appointed Co-Editor of the American Economic Review
Frank Verboven, Professor of Economics at KU Leuven, has been appointed co-editor of the American Economic Review, one of the top five journals in economics. He is the first Belgian to hold this prestigious editorial role.
Earlier this year, Professor Jan De Loecker, was appointed editor of The Review of Economic Studies, another leading journal in the field.
Introducing Our New Professors
We are excited to welcome three outstanding researchers to the department.
- Léa Bignon
- Marleen Marra
- Paul Schaudt
Job market candidates
Meet this year's KU Leuven Econ Job Market candidates at http://feb.kuleuven.be/jobmarket.
The candidates, their references and placement officer Edoardo Ciscato are available to provide more info.
Job talks 2026
The Department of Economics of KU Leuven has a ffull-time academic position in international economics. We are hosting a selection of job market candidates.
Check the overview to see the timing of the talks and the candidates' job market websites.
Vacancy: Two PhD Positions in Environmental and Biodiversity Economics
We're looking for two motivated PhD candidates to carry out doctoral research on the economics of biodiversity and nature restoration, starting October 1, 2026.
The positions are part of ECONATURES, a Horizon Europe project developing a comprehensive modelling framework for assessing the socio-economic impacts of nature restoration across Europe.
The application deadline is July 10, 2026.
For more information, contact Prof. Sandra Rousseau or Prof. Toon Vandyck.
Family Van Eeckhoudt-Ruttens Chair - Growing up in poverty
The new Family Van Eeckhoudt-Ruttens Chair explores how well-designed incentives for individuals and families can help reduce poverty, focusing on breaking the cycle of generational poverty.
The research adopts a holistic approach to encouraging behavioural change through economic incentives. Simulating policy measures enables analysis of their potential impact at the micro and macroeconomic levels. This evidence-based method supports the development of effective and sustainable anti-poverty strategies.
Christophe Bruneel-Zupanc - Identification with semi-IVs
FEB talk by prof. Christophe Bruneel about Identification with semi-IVs.
What is the effect of education on earnings? What is the effect of job training on earnings? More generally, what is the causal effect of a choice, a treatment, or a policy, on an outcome?
FEBtalks are 2 minute video talks based on recent research by professors of KU Leuven's Faculty of Economics and Business.
Application call for PhD program
The Department of Economics KU Leuven is recruiting motivated students to enter the doctoral program leading to a PhD in Economics.
Deadline to apply for the fully funded positions is January 31, 2026.
Jad Beyhum : Crisis Economics - Tracking Pandemic Impact in Real Time
Jad Beyhum explores how innovative methods in nowcasting improved the accuracy of economic predictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and offer valuable tools for managing future crises.
FEBtalks are 2 minute video talks based on recent research by professors of KU Leuven's Faculty of Economics and Business.
Professor Marleen Marra Awarded ERC Starting Grant for Research on Smarter Market Design
We are pleased to announce that Professor Marleen Marra has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant.
Her project, APCAP, investigates how auction design can improve the allocation of airport slots, with a focus on efficiency, competition, and sustainability in European air travel.
Learn more about the project here
PhD Lectures 2024-2025
In collaboration with our partners within the ECORES network, ULB and UC Louvain, we are delighted to announce the annual series of PhD lectures. Below, you will find key details about each of the seven speakers. For additional information visit https://feb.kuleuven.be/phd-lectures.
- Matt Jackson - Stanford
- Daniel Gottlieb – LSE
- Leander Heldring – Northwestern
- Nathalia Fabra – Carlos III
- Alessandra Voena - Stanford
- Hans-Martin von Gaudecker & Tim Mensinger - Bonn
- Cosmin Ilut - Duke University
Erik Schokkaert - The Economics of dementia care
Video talk by prof. Erik Schokkaert about the economics of dementia care.
FEBtalks is a 2 minute video series by FEB KU Leuven professors based on recent research.
Vacant full-time academic position
The department has a vacant full-time academic position in economics (any field).
We look for a dynamic, motivated and internationally oriented researcher, regardless of field specialization who will conduct research in close collaboration with members of the department of Economics.
Apply up to and including: Wednesday, November 15, 2023.
Edoardo Ciscato - Analyzing matching patterns in marriage
Video talk by prof. Edoardo Ciscato about Analyzing matching patterns in marriage.
FEBtalks are 2 minute video talks based on recent research by professors of KU Leuven's Faculty of Economics and Business.
Florian Schuett - Patent Screening, Innovation, and Welfare
Video talk by prof. Florian Schuett about Patent Screening, Innovation, and Welfare.
FEBtalks are 2 minute video talks based on recent research by professors of KU Leuven's Faculty of Economics and Business.
A new year, a new you? Frederic Vermeulen on within-individual variation in food purchases
Why do we struggle to live up to our NY's resolutions? Watch the great 2 minute talk by Frederic Vermeulen.
Want to know more about this research? Please read the open access European Economic Review article 'A new year, a new you? Within-individual variation in food purchases' by Cherchye, De Rock, Griffith, O’Connell, Smith and Vermeulen.
EVENTS
Upcoming events
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06/10/2026 12:00 - 13:15
ECON Industrial Organization Seminar by David Ridley (Duke University) open_in_new
“Optimal Push, Pull, and Failure Funding for Global Health.” Malaria and tuberculosis kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. Yet there is little incentive to develop treatments for diseases concentrated in low-income countries. Governments and funders primarily use push mechanisms, such as grants, and pull mechanisms, such as prizes, to stimulate investment. We add a third instrument: failure insurance, under which the funder reimburses part of a firm's testing costs only if the product fails. Failure insurance is optimal when markets are large enough to reward success but too small to induce initial investment. We formulate the funder's problem as an infinite-dimensional optimization. We use duality to characterize the optimal mix of push, pull, and failure insurance under adverse selection and moral hazard. We then calibrate optimal funding for 29 diseases by combining development costs with disease-specific social value. This benefit-based calibration yields policy conclusions that differ from current practice. Malaria requires a much larger pull incentive than current mechanisms provide. Tuberculosis can warrant insurance. Most late-stage HIV/AIDS drug development has sufficient commercial incentives. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5266214 -
date_range
08/10/2026 12:00 - 13:15
ECON Industrial Organization Seminar by Shosana Vasserman (Stanford GSB): "Road Pricing under Heterogeneity" open_in_new
Congestion pricing policies are widely debated and critics often argue that toll costs outweigh congestion relief. We show theoretically that welfare gains depend on two forces: the extent of driver heterogeneity—both in preferences and in exposure to highly demanded roads and times of day—and the extent of revenue recycling. We quantify the impact of both forces using data from a large-scale experiment that tracked driving behavior with and without usage-based congestion pricing incentives for nearly 10,000 drivers over two years. Using a model of time-varying traffic equilibrium with heterogeneous drivers and a granular road network, we show that a congestion pricing policy using the experiment’s price schedule would raise welfare by 90% of the value of adding a new lane to every highway and would raise enough revenue to fully compensate losers. Moreover, the extent of driver heterogeneity entails that optimal prices can improve net welfare with only a small fraction of toll revenue. -
date_range
14/10/2026 15:30 - 16:30
ECON International Economics seminar by Marco Matani (Aix-Marseille School of Economics) open_in_new
Reassessing EU Comparative Advantage: The Role of Technology – Further Evidence from a Single Market Perspective with Filippo di Mauro (CompNet) and Gianmarco Ottaviano (Bocconi University)