Short Bio

Which are the main areas of societal challenges in which your research aims to address and make significant contributions?

“My primary research in time series econometrics and macroeconometrics aims to develop robust and uniform methods with improved estimation accuracy when identifying and estimating dynamic causal effects in economic models using nonstationary data. In particular, currently my research, which was initiated during my Postdoc at the University of Helsinki, aims to develop identification and estimation techniques for non-Gaussian time series under the presence of near unit roots. Overall, these econometric tools are commonly used by practitioners both in academia and in industry for policy making which emphasizes the importance of this line of research.” Dr. Christis Katsouris, Ph.D.

“Moreover, part of a previous line of research with Dr. Christiana Ierodiakonou who is an Assistant Professor at the University of Cyprus School of Economics and Management has focused on the impact of welfare state regimes across main European economies to the employment trajectories of young people. We found that young participants who belonged to households with high debt burden were more likely to be classified to the group with high volatile employment trajectories, a phenomenon occurred more frequent in liberal and southern countries. These results along with participation to various econometric workshops, motivated my recent research interest in identifying optimal treatment regimes for subpopulations using machine learning methods and novel causal inference techniques.” Dr. Christis Katsouris, Ph.D.    

“Additionally, in another previous research project at UCL, under the supervision of Prof. Gabriella Conti, we investigated the determinants of pregnant women participating into child development programs. Addressing research questions about the causal effects of optimally selected combinations of treatments is of relevance to both practitioners and policy-makers. For example, when treating chronic conditions, it is often necessary to vary the treatment over time according to how the patients respond to the previous treatment. These methods are also useful when identifying optimal treatment effects for cash-transfer programs or as cash-based anticipatory action to forecasted extreme climate events.” Dr. Christis Katsouris, Ph.D.

What impact will your research have to the academic and the non-academic community?

“Research conducted during both my PhD studies at the University of Southampton and Postdoc at the University of Helsinki, contributes towards the development of econometric methods for estimation and inference in regression models with nonstationarities. These settings provide more realistic assumptions when evaluating the impact of economic policies in the presence of spillover effects. 

In addition, along with excellent colleagues across various academic institutions we work collaboratively in order to develop econometric and machine learning methods for 'big data'; as part of the research activities of the newly formed Institute of Econometrics and Data Science that conducts independent and innovative research spanning the areas of study of Econometrics and Data Science.” 

Dr. Christis Katsouris, Ph.D.

What is your opinion about the public debate on retirement age in academia?

“I believe that having a reasonable retirement age in academia is important for many reasons. To provide an objective view, let's consider the following thought experiment: imagine pushing the retirement age for academic researchers from 65 to 70 and then from 70 to 75, and let's quantify the relative changes with respect to the number of openings for young prospective entries in academic ranks in both cases.”

“Moreover, creating high barriers to entry for young PhD graduates can reduce overall quality of research and decelerate the advance of knowledge. Limited opportunities may also discourage talented young researchers contemplating academic careers and reduce the pool of talent for years to come.  A deterioration in the quality of research may have adverse spillovers on the rate of advancement in productivity and technological innovation.”

What are the main challenges faced by workers at the beginning or towards the end of their career?

“Becoming a retiree is probably similar to becoming unemployed; the deeper issues of meaning, relevance and identify that both states can bring to the surface might be more significant to some workers. I mean we spend most of our lives working so we basically end up thinking that what we do, is what we are. This culture encourages workers to think of themselves and their values in terms of their use values. As a result, when workers loose their job status and occupational prestige, it creates an existential issue; one that challenges one's idea of oneself, one's place in the world, and one's usefulness.”  

How would you characterize your teaching & pedagogical philosophy and what are your main contributions to enhancing the student learning experience?

“As an econometrician by training, my teaching & pedagogical philosophy, after receiving formal skills-based training on best practices in teaching and learning, is build around the pillars of providing opportunities to students for upskilling while respecting learning styles and thinking differences. Specifically, I aim to foster a positive teaching environment which emphasizes the development of quantitative skills - following recent research developments in econometrics with machine learning applications which promote deeper understanding of economic theories. During lectures and teaching sessions, I smoothly integrate state-of-the-art teaching methods with cutting-edge technology to enhance the teaching experience and improve learning outcomes. Lastly, important economic and finance issues are presented and discussed.

Moreover, related teaching practices include encouraging undergraduate and postgraduate learners to ask questions and to engage during teaching sessions which improves the understanding of the class participants - creating this way a smoother discussion on economic issues and related quantitative methods. Obviously, possessing advanced, subject-specific knowledge although a necessary condition it might not be a sufficient one for being an effective educator. On the other hand, caring about how humans learn, interact and understand, it facilitates better teaching while at the same time provides perspectives for novel approaches. Therefore, these teaching practices are research driven and are tailored  especially with respect to delivering evidence-based analyses on modern economic and finance theories, within the broader context of our global communities and the scope of the sustainable development goals.  

Take for example the case of neurodivergent students (although not the self-diagnosed ones), who are very often being misunderstood at school, work and in life. These individuals spend a lot of energy trying to fit in, and thus they expect from us to avoid any forms of biases altogether. In fact, a recent study by Chiarenza, G. A., et al. (2018), found out that individuals who were diagnosed as 'Adhd_c plus ODD' had even significantly higher levels of novelty seeking than those who were diagnosed as only 'Adhd_c'. Another study by Van Dessel et al. (2022) has shown the following remarkable fact: Adhd diagnosed individuals are no more (or less) sensitive to negative outcomes (such as future monetary losses) than controls. This finding illustrates that in fact neurodivergent individuals are simply well-aware of "usual" neurotypical behavioural patterns and thus negative reinforcement attitudes towards them could be making more harm than good. In practice, the condition can be also thought as a variable attention stimulus trait which describes unique cognitive abilities rather than focusing on deficits or dysfunction. Lastly, closely related studies explored how neurodivergent traits influence exploration behaviour and learning outcomes. Shifting the focus from what individuals can do to what they are motivated to do, these authors show how learning abilities change across different degrees of autistic traits. Applying suitable teaching and pedagogical practices which allow learners to reach their full potential regardless of perceived differences fosters a positive learning environment.” 

Dr. Christis Katsouris, Ph.D.

How do you think the values of equality, fairness and belonging impact the workplace environment and the effective functioning of multicultural organisations?

“These considerations should indeed be part of our recruitment and retention procedures, as turns out to be more important elements than we previously thought. An alternative strategy to planning different arrangements for neurodivergent individuals, is to plan how inclusive actions can be incorporated in procedures and tasks in order to ensure an inclusive and sustainable economy. In fact, related studies from the management literature have shown that it might not only be the structure of an organisation but also the mix between different worker types within an organisation, that affects this 'balance of happiness'. Moreover, creating workplace and learning environments where there is enough 'natural variation' such that richness of experiences, perspectives and ideas can flourish - similar to how ecosystems function and evolve, is another important success factor for both students and academic staff. Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, to retain talented scientists in academia, there is a clear need for structural reform, especially towards effective postdoctoral mentorship such as mentorship training for both postdocs and their mentors.” 

Dr. Christis Katsouris, Ph.D.