Alumni Newsletter September 2017
New faculty join Western Economics
Roy Allen joined Western Economics as an Assistant Professor on July 1, 2017, from the University of California, San Diego. Bruno Salcedo joined as an Affiliated Researcher this summer, and will start as an Assistant Professor on January 1, 2018. Bruno Salcedo completed his PhD at Pennsylvania State University and is currently completing a post-doc at Cornell University. Recently they both answered a series of questions for this faculty profile about their research, teaching and move to Western.
Roy Allen
1. What areas of economics do you specialize in?
Econometrics, focusing on identification. Roughly, identification is about understanding what empirical questions we can possibly answer with ideal data, and what assumptions we need.
2. What are the practical implications of your work?
Understanding identification is usually a first step for empirical work.
3. What are your first impressions of Western and London?
Both have been great so far.
4. When you are not working, what do you do?
I've gone to Costco an awful lot since I moved here.
5. What's the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Don't be a tricerators -- be a DO-ceratops.
6. So far, who has had the greatest influence on your education and the start of your career path?
Definitely my advisors Ivana Komunjer and Andres Santos, but I've had many great teachers.
Bruno Salcedo
1. What areas of economics do you specialize in?
I specialize in Industrial Organization and Game Theory. In particular, in using game theory to understand how recent technology progress affects the way markets operate. I am also interested in using the increasing availability of data and computational power to test and refine game theoretic models.
2. What are the practical implications of your work?
Some of my work suggests that collusion is hard to avoid in some markets that operate using automated pricing algorithms. Policies that work with collusion might be more effective than policies that try to avoid it. My recent work titled "Fake News" suggests that the low entry cost of online information markets has been highly detrimental, both for people looking for information, and for institutions that waste large amounts of resources trying to control the narrative.
3. What are your first impressions of Western and London?
London appears to be a wonderful place to live in: big enough to have the amenities of big cities, but small enough to have the peace and charm of small towns. I still have to go through a Canadian winter though. The Economics Faculty at Western is a wonderful team. Everybody I have interacted with has been very welcoming and helpful, I am thrilled to become part of it.
4. When you are not working, what do you do?
I enjoy good company, good food, fitness, and beautiful locations. My wife and I spend most our leisure time cooking, riding our bicycles, training for triathlons, dining with friends, and going to the movies.
5. What's the best piece of advice you have ever received?
"Continuous effort---not strength nor intelligence---is the key to unlocking our potential”
6. So far, who has had the greatest influence on your education and the start of your career path?
I took three classes with Tridib Sharma as an undergrad, and he was a big influence in the way I think about economics, and about teaching. Of course, I have also been influenced by many other professors and colleagues who I cherish greatly, like: Ed Green, VIjay Krishna, Levent Ülkü, Bruno Sultanum, Nail Kashaev and Joris Pinkse.
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