10/11/2026 - 12:45 - LECL 61

Rajesh Ramachandran

(Monash Univeristy Malaysia)

will give a presentation on 

Can Changing Identity Overcome Inherited Disadvantage? Evidence from Religious Conversion in India

Abstract: 

Can individuals overcome economic disadvantages associated with identities they inherit by changing how they identify? While social identities shape access to economic opportunities, individuals sometimes attempt to escape inherited stigma by adopting alternative identities. Whether such changes improve economic outcomes, and under what conditions, remains poorly understood. We study this question through religious conversion among historically disadvantaged castes in India, where conversion offered a means of rejecting caste-based exclusion but also altered access to religious and state institutions. Using three nationally representative datasets spanning nearly three decades, we exploit variation in religious affiliation within narrowly defined caste (jāti) groups to examine differences in education, occupation, assets, and exposure to stigma. We find substantial heterogeneity in economic outcomes across adopted religious identities. Scheduled Caste Christians and Buddhists/Sikhs exhibit higher educational attainment and asset ownership than their Hindu counterparts, whereas Scheduled Caste Muslims fare worse economically despite reporting lower exposure to untouchability. To address selection into religious affiliation, we exploit B. R. Ambedkar’s 1956 mass conversion movement among the Mahar caste, instrumenting Buddhist affiliation with distance from Nagpur, the site of the movement. Instrumental-variable estimates indicate substantial gains in schooling among Buddhist Mahars. Together, the findings suggest that identity reformulation can weaken the persistence of inherited disadvantage, but that escaping social stigma does not necessarily translate into economic mobility. The returns to identity change appear to depend on the institutional opportunities and constraints associated with the adopted identity.

(Joint work with Ashwini Deshpande)

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17/11/2026 - 12:45 - LECL61

Sonia Giurumescu

(UCLouvain, LIDAM, CORE)

will give a presentation on 

TBA

Abstract

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19/11/2026 - 12:45 - LECL 62

Daniel Lewis

(University College London)

will give a presentation on 

TBA

Abstract

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24/11/2026 - 12:45 -LECL 61

Gianmarco Luu

(UCLouvain, LIDAM, CORE)

will give a presentation on 

TBA

Abstract

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26/11/2026 - 12:45 LECL 62

Myra Mohnen

(University of Ottawa)

will give a presenation on 

TBA

Abstract

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January 18-19, 2027

Theme and Scope

Current geopolitical tensions have renewed attention to the enduring legacy of the Soviet Union in shaping contemporary patterns of political conflict, economic integration, state capacity, and environmental vulnerability across Eurasia and beyond. By bringing historical and geoeconomic perspectives into dialogue with current policy debates, the workshop aims to deepen our understanding of how Soviet-era institutions, infrastructures, and political dynamics continue to influence present-day economic, environmental, and geopolitical outcomes.

This event aims to bring together leading and early-career researchers working on the economic, environmental and political legacy of the Soviet Union, with a particular emphasis on political economy, international, and environmental economics. We welcome contributions from empirical, theoretical, and policy perspectives.

Programme

Monday, 18 January

8:30 Registration and coffee

9:30 Welcome by the organizers

Session 1: State Repression and the Hidden Costs of Soviet Authoritarianism

Chair: Alexey Makarin

09:15 - 09:55 Viktor Veterinarov (Sciences Po)
Under Soviet State Repression: The Lasting Impact on Inventive Output
Discussant: Nikita Zakharov (University of Freiburg)

09:55 - 10:35 Kampui Tsang (Hong Kong Baptist University)
Hidden Soviet Military-Industrial Contamination Shaped Long-Run Health Outcomes
Discussant: Olga Shemyakina (Georgia Institute of Technology)

10:35 - 10:55 - Coffee Break

10:55 - 11:55 Keynote: Volha Charnysh (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Title to be announced
Chair: Alexey Makarin

11:55 - 13:00 - Lunch

Session 2: Beliefs and Values: Legacies of Repression and Transition

Chair: Jean-François Maystadt

13:00 - 13:40 Daniil Starikov (University of Chicago, Harris School) 
The Threat of Faith: The Determinants and Legacies of Soviet Anti-Religious Repression
Discussant: Amma Panin (UCLouvain)

13:40 - 14:20 William Pyle (Middlebury College)
Russian Society, Democratic Values, and the Legacy of the Early-1990s Economic Shock
Discussant: Natalya Naumenko (GMU)

14:20 - 14:40 - Coffee Break

Session 3: Institutions and State-Building after the Soviet Collapse

Chair: Natalya Naumenko

14:40 - 15:20 Leonid Polishchuk (Indiana University)
Post- Communist Transition as Critical Juncture: Theory and Empirical Evidence
Discussant: William Pyle (Middlebury College)

15:20 - 16:00 Berkeren Büyükeren (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) 
Remaking the State from Below: Local Government Formation in Ukraine
Discussant: Anders Olofsgård (Stockholm School of Economics, SITE)

16:00 - 16:20 - Coffee Break

Session 4: Conflict: National Identity and the Economic Costs of War

Chair: Jean-François Maystadt

16:20 - 17:00 Serhii Abramenko (Rome Economics Doctorate)
 War and Nation-Building: Evidence from Ukraine
 Discussant: Roya Talibova (Harvard Kennedy School)

17:00 - 17:40 Timo Wochner (KOF, ETH Zurich)
 Economic Development in the Shadow of War
Discussant: Andrey Tkachenko (Nazarbayev University)

19:00 - Workshop dinner (Table L) - (Upon invitation)

TUESDAY, 19 JANUARY 2027

09:00 - 09:20 - coffee

Session 5: Media, Propaganda and Disinformation

Chair: Jean-François Maystadt

09:20 -10:00 Yaroslav Prokhorskoy (ESSEC Business School)
Transmitting Terror: Radio and Repression in Stalin’s Soviet Union
Discussant: Maria Petrova (Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona School of Economics)

10:00 - 10:40 Anders Olofsgård (Stockholm School of Economics, SITE)
Countering Disinformation in a Geopolitical Battleground: Experimental Evidence on Information, Civic Appeals, and Source Credibility in Moldova
Discussant: Alexey Makarin (MIT)

10:40 - 11:00 - Coffee Break

11:00 - 12:00 Keynote: Maria Petrova (Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona School of Economics)
Title to beannounced
Chair: Natalya Naumenko

12:00 - 13:00 - Lunch

Session 6: Aggression, Sanctions and Geoeconomic Tools

Chair: Alexey Makarin

13:00 - 13:40 Alena Gorbuntsova (University of Chicago)
The Domestic Political Economy of War: Evidence from Russia
Discussant: Lorenzo Trimarchi (University of Namur)

13:40 - 14:20 Andrey Tkachenko (Nazarbayev University)
 Speaking the Aggressor’s Language: Identity and Sanctions Evasion
Discussant: Konstantin Egorov (University of Antwerp)

14:20 - 14:30 - Closing remarks

Organizing Committee

• Alexey Makarin (MIT), 
• Jean-François Maystadt (UCLouvain)
• Natalya Naumenko (GMU)

With the support of the MIT-Belgium International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) Global seeds Funds

   Download the PDF version of the programme