Dept. Economic Analysis

Research Seminars

Dear all,   The following  virtual seminar will take place next week. Department of Economic Analysis & ICAE Research Seminars: WEDNESDAY, January 17th, 2021, 13:00 h M. Socorro Puy (U Málaga) Title:  Constitutions, Federalism and National Integration (joint with Stephen Ansolabehere, Harvard) Abstract: A constitution defines a vertical and horizontal division of power. The vertical division is the power that regions transfer to the national government; the horizontal division is the relative power of each region in the national legislature. We explore what combinations of vertical and horizontal division of power arise when forming a nation or a union, and which combinations reduce the risk of dissolution. We present a new model of political bargaining among heterogeneous regions that design a common constitution. We show that scale economies translate into higher centralized systems, whereas cultural and political heterogeneity translate into more decentralized federal systems. Interestingly, the constitutions that minimize the risk of secession compensate with proportionally more power in¡ the national legislature those regions that have less to gain economically from national integration. Such division of power contrasts with other widely used that assign equal power to each region or power in proportion to population size. Our results suggest that compensations in the constitutional process need not be accomplished through direct transfers; it can be accomplished through the legislative process. You can join the  seminar through Google Hangout Meets at the following link:   JOIN WEBINAR_   @ucm accounts are granted immediate access to the webinar. External accounts require explicit approval by the moderators. You can find the recording of the talk  as well as previous sessions, papers, and the schedule of upcoming seminars at the seminar’s webpage Hope to see you all there. Best, Jimenez-Martin, Juan-Ángel  Rodríguez Álvarez, Carmelo  Rodríguez Hernández, Juan Gabriel