“Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”
– Confucius –
Welcome to my personal webpage.
I am an Associate Professor at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki-Greece, and a research associate at the University of Luxembourg.
My academic journey has taken me from theorizing on economic growth to exploring the multifaceted impacts of corruption, culture, and innovation on economies and societies. Through my tenure, including a pivotal period as a visiting fellow at Brown University, my research expanded to empirical investigations into the long-run determinants of economic growth, delving into how cultural dynamics influence modern economic outcomes and societal structures.
My post-doctoral work at the University of Luxembourg further enriched my exploration into the cultural implications of aging, alongside studies on trust, political trust, family ties, religion, and the societal responses to war and conflict.
Currently, my focus is on advancing our understanding of how cultural and economic forces shape our world. I'm particularly interested in how cultural factors influence economic growth and societal change. My recent work involves exploring these themes through both theory and empirical research, aiming to uncover insights that can help address some of the most pressing challenges of our times.
News and Updates
-Following the recent solar eclipse and the enthusiasm it raised around the world, here comes a coverage of our recent research paper accepted for publication at the Economic Journal, joint work with Eric Roca Fernández (Université Clermont Auvergne, CERDI), on the role of these astronomical events on human curiosity and #economicgrowth. I would like to particularly thank Bree Iskandar for her meticulous work and time devoted to our reserach. Much appreciated and very exicted about the coverage of our work at Inverse.com. Link here https://lnkd.in/dbCb2Tms
Our paper "Split Personalities? Behavioral Effects of Temperature on Financial Decision-Making" with Despoina Gavresi and Chris Makridis, is now forthcoming at Kyklos.
-Grateful to have participated in this amazing event organized by the Univeristy of Luxembourg. An exploration of "Gender and the Brain" in a Video Podcast, streaming exclusively at genderdayunilu.org Featured panelists Anja Leist, Anastasia Litina, Cat Bohannon and keynote Daphna Joel. and the talented moderator and BBC journalist Tanya Beckett . A big thanks to the organizers of the event! Link and more info here.
-Always happy to be part of this exciting group (Summer School in Law and Economics-Hamburg Univeristy), to visit academic friends and the beautiful city of Hamburg. Consider applying! Link here.
-Happy to be part of the organizing team for the following conferences:
a. 2nd DEM Workshop on Culture and Comparative Development. Link here. Keynote Spearkers: Prof. Dr. Jörg Baten, Prof. Dr. Axel Dreher and we are now happy to welcome Prof. Ruben Enikolopov.
b. 3rd Workshop on Gender and Economics. Keynote Spearkers: James Fenske (Warwick) and Libertad González (Pompeu Fabra). Link here.
-Honored to have been invited to give a lecture at the"Summer Module on Economics and Institutions". Confirmed group of speakers:
➢ Paul Dragos Aligica – Pittsburgh University (USA)
➢ Christian Bjørnskov – Aarhus University (DK)
➢ Sara M. Constantino – Northeastern University (USA)
➢ Nadia von Jacobi – University of Trento (IT)
➢ Anastasia Litina – University of Macedonia-Thessaloniki (GR)
➢ Stefan Voigt – University of Hamburg (GER) Link here.
-Grateful to have obtained an HFRI (Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation) grant as a PI for the Project “Macroeconomic Shocks and Inclusive Societies”. I am also glad that I will collaborate with an amazing team of eight people. New positions to open soon.
-I have just been promoted to an Associate Professor and got tenure. And the academic journey continues.
-After a long journey, our work with Eric Roca Fernandez on "Solar Eclipses and the Origins of Critical Thinking and Complexity" has found a nice home in the Economic Journal. So happy and proud about the outcome.
-Our work with Theodore Palivos on "Corruption, Tax Evasion and Social Values: An Immigrant-Based Analysis" is now forthcoming at the Handbook of Informal Economy, Editor: Ceyhun Elgin. Routledge.
- Dissemination of our workshop and research project on COVID-CULT can be found here. Our article on THE OPINION.
-Our research on the economic complexity of cities, with A. Lapatinas and K. Poulios has been featured in the report of J.P. Morgan, "New York, Just Like I Pictured It". Links here and here.
-The website for our research programm “COVID-CULT:The Cultural Determinants of the Spread of COVID-19”, a 20-month funded program supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the 4th Call for Action “Science and Society”-Emblematic Action– “Interventions to address the economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic” (Project Number: 4890). is now available here.
-Excited to be invited to present jointly with Despoina Gavresi at the"Research Seminar Network - DG ECFIN, European Commission in Brussels, for our research on shocks, populism and EU identity. Hoping it will be useful policy-wise!
-The final programme of our 2nd Gender and Economics Workshop that takes place at the university of Luxembourg is available here. A great programme with a great team of co-organizers (Skerdi Zanaj, U. Luxembourg; Luisito Bertinelli, U. Luxmebourg; Eva Sierminska, LISER). Keynote speakers are: Enrico Spolaore, Hiller Rapoport, Conchita D'Ambrosio.
-The final programme for our 4th DEM Workshop on Aging, Culture and Comparative Development is available here. The 4th edition of a long series of workshops, co-organized with Andreas Irmen, with several fascinating papers. Keynote Speaker: Matthias Doepke (LSE).
-I would like to extend my gratitude to SEGE - Greek Association of Women Entrepreneurs for their commendable initiative in supporting women researchers. The intersection of being a woman and a researcher presents numerous challenges, and their efforts in addressing these challenges are truly valuable. I would also like to express my gratitude for being awarded the second prize of Innovator of the Year. This recognition is truly meaningful and motivates me to continue my innovative endeavors. More info here.
-Of all my publications there are two that have a special place in my heart. My very first publication and this one, which is my first publication with my first PhD student Despoina Gavresi. New paper accepted at the Journal of Comparative Economics, entitled "Past exposure to macroeconomic shocks and populist attitudes in Europe". We show that past exposure to economic recessions, has a persistent positive effect on populism. However, the interpay between current and past exposure to a shock, has a mitigating effect on populist attitudes. More details here.
-Our programme for the 2nd Gender and Economics Workshop that I co-organize with Skerdi Zanaj, Eva Sierminska and Luisito Bertinelli is now ready. Looking forward to a fascinating series of papers. More details here.
-My work with P. Kammas (AUEB) and T. Palivos (AUEB), entitled "Public Versus Private Education: Is there a Role for Institutions" is now forthcoming at the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
-My work with Thanasis Lapatinas entitled "Economic complexity of cities and its role for resilience" has just been accepted for publication at PLOS ONE.
-Our review paper entitled "The Implications of Population Aging for Immigrant- and Gender-Related Attitudes" joint work with Andreas Irmen to appear in the Handbook on the Economics of Ageing edited by David E. Bloom, Alfonso Sousa-Poza and Uwe Sunde and published by Routledge. It is a fascinating opportunity to expose our planned work with Andreas on the cultural implications of population aging.
-Our joint work with D. Varvarigos, Family Ties and Corruption, has just been accepted for publication at the B.E Journal of Theoretical Economics
-My paper entitled "Do Product Market Reforms Raise Innovation? Evidence from Micro-data Across 12 Countries" which is a joint work with C. Makridis and G. Tsiachtsiras has just been accepted for publication at the journal Technological Forecasting & Social Change.
-Just received a 15 month funding from ELIDEK for my project "The Cultural Determinants of the Spread of COVID-19?"
-Thrilled to have our paper "A Gravity Analysis of Refugees Mobility Using Mobile Phone Data" with Michel Beine, Luisito Bertinelli, Rana Comertpay and Jean-François Maystadt accepted for publication at the Journal of Development Economics.
-Happy that an early paper of mine, jointy written with Eleftherios Filippiadis just got pubccepted for publication at the journal Economic Change and Restructuring. Title of the paper "A Dynamic Analysis of the Income-Pollution Relationship in a Two-country Setting".
-Excited to have our paper "The Impact of Economic Complexity on the Formation of Environmental Culture" that is a joint work with Athanasios Lapatinas and Skerdi Zanaj accepted for publication in a special issue of "Sustainability" with guest editor Cesar Hidalgo! We argue that higher economic complexity fosters more environment friendly attitudes. Individuals participate more in environmental organizations, are willing to pay more for the environment and are in favor of collective action. Yet, they still prefer growth and are thus in favor of voluntary action, not of action that may hurt growth. Link to the paper, here!
-New version of our paper "A Dynamic Analysis of the Income-Pollution Relationship in a Multicountry Setting", with Eleftherios Filippiadis. Link here.
-Our paper "Population Aging and Inventive Activities" with Andreas Irmen has just been accepted at Macroeconomic Dynamics.
-Our research paper "Intelligence and Economic Sophistication" with Athanasios Lapatinas is selected by Springer Nature as one of 2019's highly downloaded research in Economics and Finance with more than 4900 hits!
-New paper entitled "Corruption and the Cultural Evolution of Family Ties" a joint work with Dimitrios Varvarigos.
-February 2020: Ranked among top 5% of female economist in IDEAS and ranked among top 8% of male and female economists based on the publications of the last 10 years (here).
-New updated version of our paper entitled "Family Ties and Corruption" a joint work with Dimitrios Varvarigos. Make sure you choose the revised version.
-Our paper "Refugee Mobility: Evidence from Phone Data in Turkey", is featured in the Forced Displacement Literature Review by the Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement.
-We just released our new paper entitled "The Terror of History: Solar Eclipses and the Origins of Social Complexity and Complex Thinking" written jointly with my co-author Eric Roca Fernandez (currently available upon request).
-December 2019: Excited by the programme and the interest attracted by our workshop on Gender and Economics that we organized jointly with my colleague Skerdi Zanaj at the premises of the University of Luxembourg. Fascinating keynote lectures by Eleonora Pattachini and Naci Mocan and fascinating programme (here).
-April 2019: My paper "Occupation-Induced Status, Social Norms, and Economic Growth" with Nikos Kontogiannis and Dimitrios Varvarigos has just been accepted for publication at the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
-January 2019: Ranked among top 8% of female economist in IDEAS.
- The 3rd CREA workshop on Aging, Culture and Comparative Development, organized by Andreas Irmen and Anastasia Litina took place on Decmber, 12, 13 and 14 with Davide Cantoni, Filipe Campante and Klaus Desmet as the keynote speakers.
-The ASREC Europe 2018 Conference, organized by Andreas Irmen, Anastasia Litina and Skerdiljda Zanaj took place on June, 6-8, 2018 with Nathan Nunn (Harvard) and Luigi Guiso (Einaudi) as keynote speakers.
-The ASREC Europe 2018 Graduate Workshop, organized by Andreas Irmen, Anastasia Litina and Skerdiljda Zanaj took place on June, 5, 2018 with Naci Mocan (Louisiana) and Jeanet Betzen Sinding (Copenhagen) as the keynote speakers.
-Ranked among top 9% of female economist in IDEAS.
-A summary of our paper "Population Aging and Inventive Activity" (with Andreas Irmen) was invited for publication at the Harvard Business Review.
More publicity here, here and here.
-The 2nd CREA workshop on Aging, Culture and Comparative Development, organized by Andreas Irmen and Anastasia Litina took place on December, 15 and 16, 2017 with Francesco Caselli (LSE) and Uwe Sunde (Munich) as the keynote speakers.
-The 2017 OLG Days, jointly organized by Andreas Irmen and Anastasia Litina, took place on December 12-14, at the University of Luxembourg.
-The 1st CREA workshop on Aging, Culture and Comparative Development, organized by Andreas Irmen and Anastasia Litina, took place on December, 15 and 16, 2017 with Francesco Caselli (LSE) and Uwe Sunde (Munich) as keynote speakers.
-Our application for the internal project AGECON_C (2014), with Andreas Irmen, was successful enabling us to finance our research on "Aging and Culture".
-The ASREC Europe 2018 Conference, organized by Andreas Irmen, Anastasia Litina and Skerdiljda Zanaj took place on June, 6-8, 2018 with Nathan Nunn (Harvard) and Luigi Guiso (Einaudi) as keynote speakers.
-The ASREC Europe 2018 Conference, organized by Andreas Irmen, Anastasia Litina and Skerdiljda Zanaj took place on June, 6-8, 2018 with Nathan Nunn (Harvard) and Luigi Guiso (Einaudi) as keynote speakers.
-The ASREC Europe 2018 Conference, organized by Andreas Irmen, Anastasia Litina and Skerdiljda Zanaj took place on June, 6-8, 2018 with Nathan Nunn (Harvard) and Luigi Guiso (Einaudi) as keynote speakers.
-The ASREC Europe 2018 Conference, organized by Andreas Irmen, Anastasia Litina and Skerdiljda Zanaj took place on June, 6-8, 2018 with Nathan Nunn (Harvard) and Luigi Guiso (Einaudi) as keynote speakers.
-The ASREC Europe 2018 Conference, organized by Andreas Irmen, Anastasia Litina and Skerdiljda Zanaj took place on June, 6-8, 2018 with Nathan Nunn (Harvard) and Luigi Guiso (Einaudi) as keynote speakers.
-January 2020: Ranked among top 5% of female economist in IDEAS and ranked among top 10% of male and female economists based on the publications of the last 10 years (here).
-January 2020: Ranked among top 5% of female economist in IDEAS and ranked among top 10% of male and female economists based on the publications of the last 10 years (here).