Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network: Economic Policy in Complex Environments (EPOC)

How can we improve methods for analysing complex dynamic patterns in a globalized world and for making good economic decisions in such complex environments?

EPOC aims at developing and applying such methods relying on a productive combination of approaches from different research areas, in particular data science, network theory and agent-based simulation. These methods will be applied for economic policy analysis with particular focus on policies governing processes of technological change and addressing the challenges of climate change.

EPOC combines a structured, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral training programme with cutting-edge research projects in these areas.-

KEY RESEARCH AIMS

• Provide suitable approaches for sound statistical inference and change-point detection from high-dimensional time-series with complex dependence structure.
• Develop advanced approaches for a rigorous empirical foundation and estimation of rich heterogeneous agent models incorporating local interaction as well as global dynamics.
• Construct agent-based models to address pressing questions regarding climate policy as well as innovation policy, taking into account effects of social networks and bounded rationality of firms and consumers.
• Gain a better understanding of the interplay of policy measures with social influence processes, like the diffusion of information and lifestyles, for the success of new (notably low-carbon) technologies.
• Explore how economic linkages and production networks contribute to the propagation of economic and environmental risks.
• Improve our perception of the role of active public policy and market regulation in steering the direction and sustainability of technological change.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

• Provide the necessary interdisciplinary background and perfect environment to advance the state-of-the-art and the applicability of computationally intensive methods for decision and policy analysis in complex environments.
• Application and use these methods in order to address concrete policy issues related to climate change and innovation policy.
• Complement the focussed training in the key areas of EPOC with a solid general graduate education in Economics.
• Facilitate the early development of an own research profile as well as the ability for critical reflection on own and others’ research.
• Foster the interaction with different research environments as well as with non-academic environments and integrate the doctoral fellows in the relevant international communities.
• Provide a basis of a successful career in the academic or non-academic sector or to launch an own company supported by a variety of soft skill training.
• Facilitate female career perspectives by regular meetings and discussions on challenging questions for female researchers