Bruno T. Rocha
REM/ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, R. Miguel Lúpi 20, 1249-078 Lisboa, Portugal.
Research interests
Economic geography and transport infrastructure; economic growth and development, comparative economics, structural policies; economic history, systemic banking crises; applied econometrics.
Post-PhD positions
Since Nov 2019 Research Fellow, REM/ISEG, University of Lisbon.
Oct 2017 - Oct 2019 Research Fellow, CEGE, Católica Porto Business School.
Oct 2015 - Sep 2017 Economist, Economic Analysis and Forecasting Team, Portuguese Public Finance Council / Conselho das Finanças Públicas.
Oct 2014 - Sep 2015 Robert Solow Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Economics of the University of Cambridge.
Oct 2014 - Sep 2015 Retained Supervisor in Economics, Peterhouse, University of Cambridge.
Oct 2013 - Sep 2014 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Faculty of Economics of the University of Cambridge.
Other affiliations
Since Jan 2019 Adjunct member, CEsA (Research Centre on Africa, Asia and Latin America), ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa.
Education
2013 PhD in Economics, University of Essex.
2009 MSc in Economics, University of Essex.
2006 Master Recherche in Economic Governance, Sciences-Po Paris.
2000 Licenciatura (5-year degree) in Economics, University of Coimbra.
Research output
In progress (selection)
“Motorways and firm relocation” [tentative title] (with Maurício Silva and Patrícia C. Melo).
“Systemic banking crises and economic recoveries” [tentative title] (with S. Solomou).
“Judicial efficiency and firm size: A cross-country cross-sectoral perspective”.
Working papers / complete drafts
“Motorways, urban growth, and suburbanisation: Evidence from three decades of motorway construction in Portugal” (with Patrícia C. Melo, Nuno Afonso, and João Abreu e Silva), REM/ISEG Working Paper No. 174, May 2021, link.
“What drives the allocation of motorways? Evidence from Portugal’s fast-expanding network” (with Nuno Afonso, Patrícia C. Melo, and João Abreu e Silva), submitted.
“Systemic banking crises in the first globalisation era, 1870-1913” (with S. Solomou), revise & resubmit.
“Financial depth, banking sector liberalisation, and capital account openness: The importance of reform complementarity”, revise & resubmit.
“Structural policies as a system: Complementarities between trade openness, capital account liberalisation, and banking sector reform”.
Comment on Bussière et al. (2013), “Estimating trade elasticities: Demand composition and the trade collapse of 2008-2009”, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics.
“The economic effects of natural disasters in developing economies: A Local Projections approach” (with P. Serôdio).
Published
“Reform Design Matters: The Role of Structural Policy Complementarities” (with J. Oliveira Martins). In: Douarin, D. and O. Havrylyshyn (eds.), Palgrave Handbook of Comparative Economics, Palgrave Macmillan, February 2021, pp. 493-516, DOI link.
“The effects of systemic banking crises in the inter-war period” (with S. Solomou), Journal of International Money and Finance, Volume 54, June 2015, pp. 35-49, DOI link.
“Let the markets begin: The interplay between free prices and privatisation in early transition”, Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 43, No. 2, May 2015, pp. 350-370, DOI link.
“Are complementary reforms a ‘luxury’ for developing countries?” (with J. Braga de Macedo and J. Oliveira Martins), Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 42, No. 2, May 2014, pp. 417-435, DOI link.
Policy-oriented papers
“Baixa produtividade: Afetação de recursos e obstáculos ao crescimento das empresas na economia portuguesa”, Notas Económicas, Vol. 47, December 2018, pp. 31-45, DOI link.
Previous version: Ocasional Publication No. 3/2017, Conselho das Finanças Públicas, link.
Media coverage (links): Jornal de Negócios, Jornal i, Renascença, eco.pt, DN, Sol.
“Maximising Mexico’s gains from integration in the world economy” (with D. Haugh and R. Jamin), OECD Economics Department Working Paper No. 657, December 2008, link.
Research presentations
2019 7th UECE Conference on Economic and Financial Adjustments. Annual International Conference of the German Economic Association Research Group on Development Economics (Development Economics and Policy). 15th Internal Conference, Católica Porto Business School.
2018 19th AEEFI Conference (Spanish Association of International Economics and Finance). 12th Internal Conference, Católica Porto Business School.
2017 Aston Business School, Economics, Finance & Entrepreneurship Group.
2015 Durham University, Department of Economics and Finance. King’s College London, Department of Management. King’s College London, Department of Political Economy. SOAS, Department of Economics. UCL, School of East European and Slavonic Studies. Overseas Development Institute, International Economic Development Group. University of Oxford, Economic and Social History Seminar.
2014 University of Cambridge, Keynes Fund for Applied Economics Research Day. University of Reading, Department of Economics.
2013 University of Essex, PhD Research Strategy Seminar (2).
Research pages
ORCID / IDEAS-RePEC / Google Scholar / CiênciaVitae.
Grants and prizes
2014 - 2015 Robert Solow Postdoctoral Fellowship, Cournot Centre, Paris (= EUR 24k). Professor Robert Solow made the final selection of projects. There were 167 applicants and three fellowships were awarded.
2008 - 2012 FCT Doctoral grant, Ministry of Science and Technology of Portugal (≈ EUR 100k).
2001 Prize for the best essay in “Regional Development” (undergraduate module), University of Coimbra.
Teaching
2018 - 2019 Católica Porto Business School. “Macroeconomics” workshops (semester-long undergraduate module).
Nov 2018 Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Porto), Programa Universitário “Mais Saber”. Two-hour lecture on the macroeconomic effects of banking crises, both in our era and historically (link to slides).
2014 - 2015 Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, Retained Supervisor. Paper 3 of Part I, “Quantitative Methods in Economics” (year-long undergraduate module).
2012 - 2013 University of Essex, Teaching Assistant. EC115, “Methods of Economic Analysis” (year-long undergraduate module).
Research supervision Currently co-supervising a Master dissertation at Nova IMS School and an undergraduate final year project at ISEG. Co-supervised a Master dissertation at ISEG (concluded in 2021). Supervised an undergraduate final year dissertation at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Cambridge (2015).
Additional training (selection)
Sep 2016 “Micro-structure of trade: theory and evidence” (three-day course), EABCN Training School, European University Institute. Instructor: Professor Marc Melitz (Harvard University).
Nov 2015 “Financial economics for public policy” (four-day course), Bank of Portugal. Instructor: Professor Deborah Lucas (MIT Sloan School of Management).
Aug 2010 “Pooled time-series cross-sectional analysis” (two-week course), Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis, University of Essex. Instructor: Dr Robert Walker (Washington University in Saint Louis).
References
Professor João Santos Silva (PhD supervisor)
School of Economics of the University of Surrey
Dr Solomos Solomou
Reader, Faculty of Economics of the University of Cambridge
Professor Holger Breinlich
School of Economics of the University of Surrey
Dr Joaquim Oliveira Martins
Former Deputy Head, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities
Advisor at CEPII (Paris)
Pre-PhD experience
May - Aug 2008 Consultant, OECD Structural Economic Statistics Division. Conducted empirical research on the relation between structural reforms and economic growth.
Feb - Dec 2007 Advisor, OECD Portuguese Delegation. Participated in the negotiations of the new funding structure of the OECD. Member of the Budget Committee. Coordinated the EU Portuguese Presidency at the OECD. Drafted several diplomatic cables.
Nov 2006 - Feb 2007 Consultant, OECD Economics Department. Co-drafted two chapters of the OECD Economic Survey of Mexico 2007 on (i) anti-poverty programs and (ii) FDI attraction and non-tariff barriers to trade (link).
Feb - Jul 2005 Francis Vals Program (internship), European Parliament. Drafted technical notes for members of the Financial Perspectives 2007-2013 Temporary Committee. Contributed to the drafting of compromise amendments.
Aug 2003 - Feb 2005 Economist, Institute of Regional and Urban Studies of the University of Coimbra (IERU). Coordinated the Coimbra section of the EU-funded project VALUO on real estate market in historical centres (link). Co-developed a geographic information system with socioeconomic and firm-level data (supervised a four-person team).
Apr 2002 - Apr 2003 Junior Statistician, National Institute of Statistics (Portugal). Participated in the development of large-scale datasets and metadata standards. Drafted several descriptive statistical analyses.
Nov 2000 - Dec 2001 Trainee, Ministry of Economy (AICEP Portugal). Wrote short reports on the Brazilian economy and Brazilian economic policies. Traineeship at the financial reporting unit of Sonae Sierra Brazil (São Paulo).