Опис
On Friday, November 8 at 1 pm two presentations by John S. Earle, Professor of Public Policy in the Schar School, will take place at Kyiv School of Economics (room 206)
13:00-15:00
Presentation of a new paper “Obfuscating Ownership”, co-authored with KSE alumna Solomiya Shpak, using Ukrainian data on oligarchs and firms.
In this research he examined the decision of wealthy business owners to protect their holdings from expropriation and arbitrary taxation through proxies, shell companies, and offshore firms. This theoretical framework emphasizes the role of political connections in decisions to obfuscate. Linking information from investigative journalists on Ukrainian oligarchs with firm-level administrative data on formal ownership ties, we observe obfuscation among more than two-thirds of oligarch-controlled firms, but such behavior is much less common for connected oligarchs. Further exploiting the abrupt shock to political connections that accompanied the Orange Revolution, we find a sharp rise in obfuscation among previously connected oligarchs.
15:00-16:00
Meeting with students who might be considering a PhD in Public Policy.
Are you thinking about doing a PhD after your KSE MA? Then consider the possibility of a PhD in Public Policy at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. The School is located in the Washington DC area, just 7 minutes by metro from downtown DC, including the White House, World Bank, State Department, etc. The PhD Program in Public Policy allows for a specialization in Economic Policy in the context of a broader education about policy-making and policy analysis. Public policy is an increasingly popular and valued field, leading to careers in academia, government, private analysis firms, NGOs, and international organizations. The Schar School offers full financial support to qualified students, enabling them to participate in research projects and enjoy the rich cultural and political life of Washington DC.
To learn more about this program, and for a broader discussion about public policy and economics PhD programs, come to a meeting with Professor John Earle of the Schar School on Friday, November 8, at 3 pm in Room 206. Professor Earle is director of the Center for Micro-Economic Policy Research at the Schar School and a leading scholar on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union with particular interest in Ukraine. He will be joined over Skype by KSE graduate and current Schar School PhD candidate Solomiya Shpak to provide both faculty and student viewpoints on the public policy PhD.
John S. Earle is a Professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
He is one of the most prominent scholars on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine. His main research interests are in labor, development, transition, and institutions, including topics such as employment policies, financial access, reallocation, productivity, and entrepreneurship. Much of the research uses large firm-level databases from the U.S. and other countries, and he has pioneered cross-country comparative studies of such data.
Earle has published more than 60 articles in refereed scholarly journal ranging across a diverse set of fields: economics, political science, finance, management, and labor studies.
At the Schar School, Earle teaches courses in microeconomics, labor economics, and research methods for PhD students. He directs the Center for Micro-Economic Policy Research (cmepr.gmu.edu), which operates a weekly series of Micro-Economic Policy Seminars (MEPS) drawing participants from several units of Mason. He is particularly active in mentoring PhD students.
John S. Earle’s visit is supported by the Swedish government within the project “Economic and Financial Reform Support in Ukraine”.
