Research
PLUS Economy research seminar
The Department of Econonomics of the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS) invites researchers to present and discuss their latest research in economics and management.
Our research seminar is Tuesdays from 17:00–18:30. On-site talks take place in room HS 241 (EBMÖOG2.01). Online talks take place on Zoom. If you want to attend the seminar, please contact Lisa Windsteiger.
| 10.11.2026 (on-site) | Title: Commodity price shocks and inflation expectations: a functional VAR approach (joint with Anja Bauern and Jonas Dovern) Speaker: Maximilian Böck (WU Wien) Abstract: This paper studies how commodity price shocks affect the entire cross-sectional distribution of household inflation expectations. Using monthly German survey data from 2003 to 2025, we estimate a functional vector autoregression that combines macroeconomic variables with the distribution of inflation expectations extracted from repeated cross-sectional micro survey data. We identify oil supply news shocks and natural gas supply shocks and trace their effects on the full expectation density. Oil shocks induce a persistent rightward shift of the distribution, increase disagreement, and cause mean inflation expectations to temporarily overshoot realized inflation. Natural gas shocks generate faster but smaller responses. We further document substantial heterogeneity across demographic groups, highlighting the importance of heterogeneous expectations for macroeconomic transmission. |
| 17.11.2026 (on-site) | Title: Moral Narratives, Stakes and Social Approval (Co-Authors Despoina Alempaki and Xueheng Li) Speaker: Valeria Burdea (LMU München) Abstract: Do moral narratives, the explanations people give for moral and immoral choices, change others’ behavior, and does their influence depend on context? We study this question in sender-receiver deception games involving more than 9,000 senders. Before deciding, senders read peer-written narratives that either argue for honesty or excuse lying, while we vary the receiver’s harm from a lie, the sender’s entitlement to its gains, and whether the lie benefits the receiver. Pro-truth narratives raise truth-telling, and more so when a lie causes greater harm. Excuses for lying have no detectable effect whenever the lie hurts the receiver, even when the harm is small; they increase lying only for a white lie that most people approve of. In that same setting, pro-truth narratives have their largest effect, although concern for the receiver favors lying there. We explain these patterns with a framework in which narratives change how much a known consequence matters for the sender and how the action itself is valued. A two-parameter version of this framework accounts for 80 percent of the variation in the twelve narrative effects. The results suggest that excuses gain traction mainly when the conduct they defend already has social approval. Our research highlights both the limits of moral persuasion and the conditions under which it can succeed. |
| X.12.2026 (on-site) | Title: TBA Speaker: TBA Abstract: TBA |
| 19.1.2027 (ATTENTION different room and time = Europasaal HS 240, 18:15-19:15) | PUBLIC LECTURE – Edmundsburg, Europasaal/HS 240 Title: TBA Speaker: Martin Kocher Abstract: TBA |
Previous research seminars: Summer 2026, Winter 2025, Summer 2025, Winter 2024, Summer 2024, Winter 2023, Summer 2023, Winter 2022, Summer 2022, Winter 2021
Picture: © flickr.com/uni-salzburg
