RecerCaixa provides funding for two research projects at the UB School of Economics

Two projects led by researchers at the Universitat de Barcelona School of Economics have been awarded funding by the grant programme RecerCaixa, an initiative fostered by Obra Social la Caixa and the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP). Pilar Sorribas-Navarro will conduct research that will focus on political corruption. On the other hand, José García-Quevedo will carry out a project on energy efficiency. This year, RecerCaixa has selected 18 projects out of 205 proposals. Five projects will be developed by research groups at the University of Barcelona, including these two at the UB School of Economics.

Pilar Sorribas-Navarro is associate professor in the Department of Economics and researcher at the Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB). She will lead the project “Limits to political corruption: Mass Media, Political Party Systems, Civil Society and Citizens”. Sorribas-Navarro will work closely with a group made up of Gianmarco Daniele (UB), Albert Falcó (UB), Pablo Fernández (UC3), Jordi Muñoz (UB), Sofía Breitenstein (UAB) and Marc Puigmulé (UB).

The project will examine the role of sociopolitical institutions, such as voters, civil society, mass media and party systems as regards political corruption. Results might have an impact on social and political debate on how to fight corruption. Research is structured around the following goals: collect information about features that increase or reduce citizen tolerance towards corruption; analyse whether social capital has a deterrent effect on corruption; analyse mass media reporting on corruption; study how political parties change candidate nomination patterns after the irruption of corruption scandals; and analyse the geographical distribution of votes after corruption cases.

José García-Quevedo, also an associate professor in the Department of Economics and researcher at the IEB, will lead the project “The Climate Change Challenge: Policy for Energy Transistion”. His team is made up of Maria Teresa Costa (UB), Joan Batalla (UB), Elisa Trujillo (UB), Kinga Tchorzewska (UB) and Xavier Massa (UB). The main goal of this project is to improve our knowledge on barriers that industrial companies need to overcome in order to be energy efficient and to assess the results of policies implemented in Catalonia and Spain to improve energy efficiency of the industrial sector. Evidence collected during the project will allow to put in place new policies that reduce environmental impact of energy use.

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