Institute for Social and Economic Research

The Challenges of Hyperparameter Tuning for Accurate Causal Effect Estimation

Abstract ML is playing an increasingly crucial role in estimating causal effects of treatments on outcomes from observational data. Many ML methods (‘causal estimators’) have been proposed for this task. All of these methods, as with any ML approach, require extensive hyperparame...

Script Reform, Human Capital and Social Change: Evidence From Uzbekistan's Latin Alphabet Transition

ABSTRACT Script reforms are common nation‐building tools, yet rigorous evidence on their effects is scarce. This paper examines Uzbekistan's transition from Cyrillic to Latin script, mandated in 1993 and implemented in schools from 1996. I study heterogeneous effects across initi...

Structural determinants of gender gaps in financial inclusion in Ghana: evidence from Fairlie decomposition analysis

Purpose This study examines what drives gender gaps in financial inclusion in Ghana across four financial services, namely formal accounts, savings, credit and insurance, and tests whether mobile money or structural factors are the primary drivers. Design/methodology/approach A r...

Artificial Intelligence in Education and Research: Transforming Teaching and Learning in Economics

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in education and research, fundamentally reshaping teaching methodologies, learning experiences, and knowledge production in economics. This paper examines the role of AI in enhancing pedagogical practices, improv...

Artificial Intelligence in Education and Research: Transforming Teaching and Learning in Economics

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in education and research, fundamentally reshaping teaching methodologies, learning experiences, and knowledge production in economics. This paper examines the role of AI in enhancing pedagogical practices, improv...

Affect labeling down-regulates amygdala only in a dominant native language

A successful strategy to down-regulate emotions is to simply label them (e.g., saying “I’m sad” when feeling sad). It however remains unresolved which mechanism is responsible for the efficacy of this approach known as affect labeling. Here, we constrain the proposed mechanisms o...

A dynamic analysis of tenure status in Africa’s urban housing markets

There is a widespread narrative on the global housing crisis. To contribute to our collective understanding, this paper analyses housing outcomes in four urban centres in Ghana and Tanzania. We consider how outcomes change across five age cohorts differentiated by gender. We show...

Longitudinal Evaluation of Public Health Surveillance Methodologies in Nigeria: A Time-Series Forecasting Model for Risk Reduction, 2000–2026

{ "background": "Public health surveillance systems in Nigeria have historically relied on lagged, aggregate data, limiting proactive risk management. A critical methodological gap exists in evaluating these systems' predictive performance for forecasting disease burdens and meas...

Longitudinal Evaluation of Public Health Surveillance Methodologies in Nigeria: A Time-Series Forecasting Model for Risk Reduction, 2000–2026

{ "background": "Public health surveillance systems in Nigeria have historically relied on lagged, aggregate data, limiting proactive risk management. A critical methodological gap exists in evaluating these systems' predictive performance for forecasting disease burdens and meas...

SOCIETAL AGEING: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MALAYSIA AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE

Abstract Malaysia is a rapidly ageing country. Relative to the United Kingdom, its social protection systems are underdeveloped. What is more, its political structure and social practices are different from those of the United Kingdom. Accordingly, the political economy of ageing...