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Jan Hanousek Jr. - Young Economist of the Year

2 February, 2023

The Czech Economic Society awarded "Young Economist of the Year" to economists under the age of 30 who submitted their original professional work to the competition.

First place winner of the Czech Economic Society's Young Economist of the Year Award 2022 went to Jan Hanousek jr. for his paper on"Social Networks and Strategic Behavior.”

Jan Hanousek jr. is a graduate of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University and CERGE-EI (MA). He recently completed his PhD studies at the University of South Florida.

The paper examines U.S. Senators’ stock trades, in particular whether politicians share inside information with each other for greater profits in the capital markets. Manually collected data are used to identify the relationships between senators, covering a range of social ties including seating arrangements in the House, membership on government committees, and individual donations between politicians. Politicians who are more prominent or have connections with more prominent politicians are more likely to trade before announcing important new legislation, which can lead to larger gains. During the dissemination of this information among politicians, information is leaked to third parties and thus reaches the wider public.