CUNEF Universidad hosts the 8th edition of the Madrid Political Economy Workshop

CUNEF Universidad hosted the 8th edition of the Madrid Political Economy Workshop (MAPE 2025) on 25 and 26 September. During this year’s edition of MAPE, organised by professors Agustín Casas and Antoni-Italo de Moragas, members of the Department of Economics at CUNEF Universidad, Madrid became once again a hub of rigorous debate at the intersection between politics and economics.

The opening session on 25 September featured Horacio Larreguy (ITAM), who addressed polarisation and exposure to discordant media in electoral autocracies, followed by Barton Lee (ETH-MTEC), who presented advances in political economy theory. Later, Santiago Sánchez-Pagés (King's College London) reviewed the Tragic Week of 1909 in Catalonia, highlighting enduring lessons about political violence.

The day closed with the first keynote lecture, by Julia Cagé (Sciences Po). Together with Moritz Hengel and Yuchen Huang, Professor Cagé presented “The Far-Right Donation Gap”, a relevant study that explores the impact of campaign financing on democratic participation and the rise of extremist movements.

26 September began with the second keynote lecture by Georgy Egorov (Northwestern University), who presented a joint study with Daron Acemoglu (MIT, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2025) and Konstantin Sonin (University of Chicago). His paper, “Multidimensional Political Signalling and the Rise of Cultural Politics”, offered fresh insights into how political communication strategies are reshaping democratic competition and increasingly incorporating culture in policymaking.

The programme continued with contributions from Maria Cubel (City, University of London), who explored the cognitive cost of war, and Emanuel Hansen (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), who analysed redistributive preferences through party reform proposals. In the afternoon, Giovanna Invernizzi (Università Bocconi) presented a theory on the evolution of parties, while Silvia Vannutelli (Sciences Po/Northwestern) analysed the political economy of stimulus transfers.

The third keynote lecture was given by Ruben Durante (National University of Singapore/ICREA-UPF), who addressed one of the most pressing challenges we face today: misinformation and the value of credibility. The workshop concluded with a presentation by Vicente Valentim (IE University) on real-world sanctioning of stigmatised political preferences.

MAPE 2025 went well beyond the formal sessions, fostering a rich and dynamic intellectual environment. This edition further confirms CUNEF Universidad as a leading research and discussion hub, while the Madrid Political Economy Workshop continues to grow in reputation and impact, consolidating its place as one of the most dynamic and prestigious events in this field.