Research Seminars in Economics at UAM

The research seminars in economics is an initiative at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. 

This series is hosted during term time by the Department of Economic Analysis: Economic Theory and Economic History.

It consists of presentations of leading national and international scholars and it is intended to be a discussion forum focused on current substantive issues and methods in any field of economics.

Upcoming seminars 

03/12/2025 at 1 pm 

Mattia Fracchia 

(IE University, Spain)

"For Honor or for Profit? An Experiment on Recruiting Traditional Health Practitioners for Formal Healthcare"

Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa faces substantial health challenges. While the use of the formal health system is limited, Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) are central to healthcare: they are accessible, entrepreneurial, and share widespread traditional beliefs. We follow a program recruiting THPs to be trained and work as formal health agents. We randomize messages underlining either pro-social (honor) or pro-business (profit) benefits of the program. We find that THPs’ behavioral interest in the program is higher in the pro-business group. This is consistent with THPs’ perceptions about the program and driven by less religious THPs. Higher profits can motivate THPs to approach formal healthcare. 

How to attend the seminar:

The seminar will be on-site in room Módulo 1-301 and streamed. 

To receive the seminar invitation with the streaming link, please send an email to teoriahistoriauam@gmail.com

Organisers: Jorge García Hombrados, Eugenio Zucchelli and Damian Pierri