Historical Human Capital in the Age of Big Data

21-22-23 September | Louvain-la-Neuve / Salle du Sénat Académique

Adresse : Bâtiment des Halles universitaires
Place de l'université, 1
1348 LLN
La salle se trouve au 3° étage, aile A-316
 

Plenary Speaker

LIDAM Economics Seminar - Gabriel Burdin

24/09/2026 - LECL 62 - 12:45

Gabriel Burdin

(University of Sienna)

will give a presentation on 

The Impact of Overtime Limits on Firms and Workers: Evidence from Japan's Work Style Reform

Abstract: 

How do limits on working hours affect firms, workers, and households? We study Japan's 2018 Work Style Reform (WSR), which introduced the country's first binding cap on overtime hours. Using establishment payroll data and worker surveys in a difference-in-differences design, we show that the reform reduced monthly overtime by 5 hours (25\%) and compressed its distribution within firms. Total earnings fell by 1.2% because of lower overtime pay, while employment responses remained limited, contrary to the predictions of conventional work-sharing models of overtime regulation. The reform narrowed overtime gaps between standard and nonstandard jobs and reduced gender differences in long working hours. Consistent with a reduced role of extreme overtime as a screening device, women gained greater access to standard (career-track) jobs and mid-level managerial positions, but not to top management. Female workers also experienced improvements in life and leisure satisfaction, whereas men did not. Men instead partly substituted unpaid for paid overtime. Finally, we find suggestive evidence of positive cross-spousal spillovers on women's well-being.

LIDAM Internal Economics Seminar - Giacomo Lo Conte

29/09/2026 - LECL 61 - 12:45

Giacomo Lo Conte

(UCLouvain, LIDAM, IRES)

will give a presentation on 

Exposure to innovation and labor market dynamics: Evidence from the German manufacturing sectors

Abstract: 

This work examines the effects of innovation on wage dynamics among German manufacturing workers. We combine linked employer-employee data with patent data from PatStat to study the causal impact of innovation at the local-industrial level and across workers' occupations. To address endogeneity, we construct an instrument for local-industrial trends in innovation that exploits the network of patent citations. Our estimates show that innovation increases wage inequality, reflecting a differential exposure of routine, manual, and abstract workers to the returns from innovation.

We then present a toy model of how labor market institutions, namely Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), mediate this relationship at the micro level, and test its predictions on our data. We find that abstract workers capture innovation returns directly and are not responsive to the collective bargaining channel, whereas routine and manual workers have greater scope to benefit from innovation depending on the type of bargaining regime (decentralized vs.centralized). Labor market institutions thus represent a fundamental but often overlooked dimension in shaping the relationship between innovation and wage dynamics.

Optimization in the age of AI

02/10/2026 - 14:00 
> Euler building, Room A.002

Our colleague, Yurii Nesterov, was recently awarded the prestigious Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize 2026. 
To celebrate this event, François Glineur and Geovani Grapiglia are organizing a scientific event  entitled "Optimization in the age of AI” that will take place at UCLouvain (Euler building, room A.002) on Friday, October 2nd, from 14:00 to 18:30.

It will feature talks by three distinguished invited speakers, namely Dr. Pavel Dvurechensky, Dr. Sebastian Stich, and Prof. Coralia Cartis, 
as well as a presentation by Prof. Nesterov himself. The afternoon will conclude with a round-table discussion on the future of optimization as a discipline.

Chaire d'excellence Ethias sur les pensions complémentaires 23/10/2026

23/10/2026 - de 10h30 à 12h30 - Foyer Royal ( Aula Magna) Louvain-la-Neuve
 

     Le rapport du CEV.

      Orateurs:   
                    - Baudouin Regout  (Federaal Planbureau)              

                    - Jean Hindriks (UCLouvain/CORE)