CODE was founded to promote research activity in microeconomic theory and its applications to organizations, networks, and decision-making. It serves as a hub for collaboration among researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Barcelona School of Economics, fostering a vibrant environment for seminars, workshops, and joint projects that connect theory with real-world economic challenges.
CODE helps run, together with the Departament d'Economia i Història Econòmica and the Institut d'Anàlisis Econòmica (IAE), several seminar series that take place at the Bellaterra campus of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. These are divided along three main research areas. CODE also gives support to an internal series designed to help PhD students further their projects.
CODE is affiliated to several research networks spanning many different countries and research fields. Often a founding member of these organizations, CODE has long been committed to promoting a vibrant and mobile research community in Barcelona. Each of these research networks holds an annual conference, and Barcelona is often chosen to host these events. As such, CODE has been actively involved in putting together large international conferences for the following research groups.