This fall, Matteo Filippi joined the ranks of UBS Center Scholarship holders at the Zurich Graduate School of Economics. His work explores how industrial policy and demand constraints shape the prospects for industrialization in developing countries. By combining theory with newly available administrative data from Africa, Matteo sheds light on which forms of government support can foster firm growth, strengthen value chains, and ultimately promote broader economic development.

Jindi Huang is one of three students, who has been awarded a UBS Center Scholarship at the Zurich Graduate School of Economics. Her research explores the cognitive and emotional processes that shape decision-making, from how individuals recognize comparative advantage to how emotions influence attention and preferences. By combining theory with carefully designed experiments, Jindi aims to refine economic models so they better capture real human behavior.

Lorenzo Maria Casale’s research dives deep into how culture and informal institutions shape economic and political outcomes, using tools from both econometrics and computational methods. From kinship networks in Italian municipalities to the cultural impact of Instagram on youth, Lorenzo investigates the subtle yet powerful ways that social meaning drives behavior and coordination in modern societies. This fall, Lorenzo was awarded one of the three UBS Center Scholarships for 2025 – a recognition given to outstanding doctoral students at the Zurich Graduate School of Economics.