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DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20250929T120000
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SUMMARY:Brown Bag Seminar: Laura Schechter
DESCRIPTION:PSC’s Brown Bag seminar series typically convenes Mondays at noon, at ISR Thompson Room 1430, and on Zoom.Laura Schechter from the University of Wisconsin joins us Sept. 29, 2025.Imperfect Competition and Sanitation: Evidence from Randomized Auctions in SenegalAbstract: We study the extent to which collusion can explain the under-provision of clean sanitation technologies in developing countries. Using latrine desludging services in Dakar as a case-study, we document that prices are 40% lower in competitive areas than in areas where prices are coordinated by a trade association. We then develop an experimental just-in-time auction platform with random variation in several design features to formally test for collusive conduct and estimate the welfare costs of imperfect competition. Consistent with the collusion hypothesis, we find that bidders systematically avoid competition by placing round bids and refraining from undercutting rivals. We use a K-means clustering algorithm to classify bidders as competitive, collusive, or na¨ıve and simulate counterfactuals in which non-competitive bidders are replaced with competitive bidders. This would significantly increase take-up of the improved sanitation technology, with back-of-the-envelope calculations suggesting improvements in health of a similar magnitude to those from building improved sewerage systems.Bio: Laura Schechter is Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Before that she was Olav F. and Elsie de Noyer Anderson-Bascom Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UW-Madison. She is associate editor at the Economic Journal. In 2022 she finished a six-year term as co-editor at Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization and In 2019 she finished a three-year term as associate editor at the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Her work has been covered by NPR’s Planet Money and has been funded by the NSF, IFPRI, PEDL, and ATAI among others. Her work has been published in top general interest economics journals such as Econometrica, American Economic Review, and the Economic Journal, as well as in top agricultural economics journals such as American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, and in top development economics journals such as Journal of Development Economics.https://umich.zoom.us/j/95418610585?pwd=Z0cvdkF1T0R2cG1lRDEvVmlnbVdlZz09Meeting ID: 954 1861 0585\nPasscode: 818420\nOne tap mobile\n+13017158592,,95418610585# US (Washington DC)\n+13092053325,,95418610585# USDial by your location\n+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)\n+1 309 205 3325 US\n+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)\n+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)\n+1 646 931 3860 US\n+1 564 217 2000 US\n+1 669 444 9171 US\n+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)\n+1 719 359 4580 US\n+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)\n+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)\n+1 386 347 5053 US\n+1 647 374 4685 Canada\n+1 647 558 0588 Canada\n+1 778 907 2071 Canada\n+1 780 666 0144 Canada\n+1 204 272 7920 Canada\n+1 438 809 7799 Canada\n+1 587 328 1099 Canada\nMeeting ID: 954 1861 0585\nFind your local number: https://umich.zoom.us/u/aCRAyuQaTJoin by SIP\n95418610585@zoomcrc.comJoin by H.323\n162.255.37.11 (US West)\n162.255.36.11 (US East)\n115.114.131.7 (India Mumbai)\n115.114.115.7 (India Hyderabad)\n213.19.144.110 (Amsterdam Netherlands)\n213.244.140.110 (Germany)\n103.122.166.55 (Australia Sydney)\n103.122.167.55 (Australia Melbourne)\n149.137.40.110 (Singapore)\n64.211.144.160 (Brazil)\n149.137.68.253 (Mexico)\n69.174.57.160 (Canada Toronto)\n65.39.152.160 (Canada Vancouver)\n207.226.132.110 (Japan Tokyo)\n149.137.24.110 (Japan Osaka)\nMeeting ID: 954 1861 0585\nPasscode: 818420 \n
URL:https://psc.isr.umich.edu/events/zivin-561-942/
CATEGORIES:Brown Bag
LOCATION:ISR Thompson Room 1430
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