Applied Industrial Organisation and Quantitative Methods

Description

Researchers in the Applied IO and Quantitative Methods research group apply the most recent econometric techniques to analyse IO topics, and contrast well established economic theories.

Our current research has focused on how the digitization of society in general and of production processes in particular is becoming a global reality. The transition from the Third Industrial Revolution (driven by information and communication technologies, ICT), still incipient in many cases, toward the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 (a combination of existing technologies through new and smart technologies based on data processing) will require companies to be highly flexible in adapting their production processes and business strategies. This includes reorganizing their management and production model, reviewing their approach to customers and markets, realigning their innovation strategies and, more generally, a new understanding of the relationship between capital and labor.

The enormous challenge posed by this digital and technological transformation, we aim to answer two relevant questions: Are Spanish companies prepared for this transformation?, and  What are the main changes that the new technologies are bringing to the companies that have already started the transformation? To answer these questions,  we will focus on a series of research objectives that can be summarised as follows. First, we will seek to identify: 1) leadership trends in new technologies to analyze how they depend on firms previous innovations; 2) economic determinants of new technology adoption, with particular attention to the impact of financial constraints; 3) gender-gaps in industrial firms and the adoption of new technologies; and 4) the nature of labor contracts and labor regulation that can best meet the needs of firms trying to adopt the new technologies. On the other hand, in relation to the changes that firms experience as a result of the adoption of new technologies, we will analyze: 5) the impact of digitization on the way firms compete in the market and, derived from this, on firms innovation strategies; 6) the impact on firms productivity and markups, spillovers, and firms resilience; and 7) the changes on firms’ internationalization strategies and their participation in global value chains.