WORKSHOP ON CAUSAL INFERENCE WITH SPATIAL DATA
Intersection of labor and housing markets
How do housing and labor markets interact?
Date: 10th and 11th September 2026
Organizer: FDZ Ruhr at the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, University of Duisburg-Essen
Location: University of Duisburg-Essen (Campus Essen)
Call for Papers Deadline: 30th April
Full papers or extended abstracts can be submitted at https://umf.li/u136034.
Information on acceptance will be conveyed soon after the call for papers deadline.
About the workshop
Keynotes by:
- Wolfgang Dauth (IAB and University of Bamberg)
- Sebastian Siegloch (University of Cologne)
Labor and housing markets are deeply interlinked: Residential location preferences shape where people search for work, and job opportunities affect where people look for housing. Thus, many current challenges, such as lack of affordable housing in cities, local decarbonization and transformation of the labor market, affect both labor and housing markets. The fourth “Causal Inference with Spatial Data” workshop, organized by FDZ Ruhr at RWI Essen and the University of Duisburg-Essen, will specifically investigate the intersection of those two markets, bringing together early-career and senior researchers working on topics related to housing and labor economics. We especially encourage applications from participants focusing on causal inference problems that leverage spatial or small-scale regional data.
Accommodation and Travel Allowance
We offer accommodation and travel allowance for all accepted presenters.
If you have any questions, our workshop team will be happy to help – feel free to email us at: spatial-workshop@rwi-essen.de.
Information
Contact:
For any inquiries regarding the workshop, please contact us via email at: spatial-workshop@rwi-essen.de
Past Workshops
The third “Causal Inference with Spatial Data” workshop, organized by FDZ Ruhr and held at the RWI-Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Essen, Germany, will bring together young and senior researchers who are working on causal inference problems requiring the use of spatial data. Starting at noon of the 26th September and finishing in the afternoon of the 27th of September, the two-day workshop will host presentations in its three broad focus areas in Housing & Urban Development, Environmental & Health, and Labor & Mobility including a PhD poster session as well as four keynote speaker presentations.
The “Causal Inference with Spatial Data” workshop, organized by FDZ Ruhr and held at the RWI-Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Essen, Germany, on 9th and 10th May 2022 brought together young and senior researchers who are working on causal inference problems requiring the use of spatial data. With its four broad focus areas in Housing Markets, Environment and Energy, Economic History, and Human Capital and Labor, the two-day workshop hosted twelve presentations- three in each session. Additionally, every session had its own keynote speaker.
The keynote speakers for our workshop were:
Gabriel Ahlfeldt, London School of Economics and Political Science, Housing Markets
Anna Alberini, University of Maryland, Environment and Energy
Mariaflavia Harari, University of Pennsylvania, Human Capital and Labor
Erik Hornung, University of Cologne, Economic History
The FDZ Ruhr at the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research hosted the 1st FDZ Ruhr Regional Disparity Workshop in Essen, Germany, September 19th-20th, 2019. It featured a rich program with state-of-the-art research in regional economics: segregation and regional inequality, housing, spatial econometric methods, and related fields. Non-tenured economists like PhD students, young post-docs, and assistant professors were invited to submit an abstract to fdz@rwi-essen.de by 16 June 2019. Accepted participants had the opportunity to interact with invited experts in regional economics.
The workshop thereby brought together an international assembly of both together young and experienced scholars who share a common interest on the topic of regional disparities. Its goal was to promote the exchange of ideas and experience.
The keynote speakers were:
Gabriel Ahlfeldt (London School of Economics, UK)
R. Kelley Pace (Louisiana State University, USA)
What is special for young researcher?
One-on-one mentoring support for young researcher by an experienced scholar
There was no participation fee. Expenses for travel and a one-night accommodation expenses in the conference hotel and a conference dinner on September 19th was covered.
Organizer:
FDZ Ruhr
