Informations, markets and climate

The InMaC project falls within the category of non-oriented research, as its primary objective is to advance the understanding of the complex interconnections between information technologies, markets, and climate change. These are pressing issues that the world is currently facing as expressed in the recent Davos meetings. In 2024, the volume of data that is generated each day is estimated to be of the order of millions of terabytes.

However, much of this data is distorted when shared on social media, it is difficult to process it by the human mind to act upon it, and so much data does not seem to solve the climate problem. The InMaC project examines the theme of information frictions, which persist even in the digital age, often preventing efficient outcomes and leading to misallocation of resources. The three research lines study this topic in different contexts: (1) the role of social media in fostering or impairing efficiency; (2) how market participants behavioural biases related to information processing affect market quality and welfare; (3) how to tackle climate change by choosing between mitigation or adaptation strategies, and what information provision policies are most effective. By examining these issues across different domains from financial markets to climate change -the InMaC project seeks to uncover the sources and consequences of information frictions and explore proposals to minimize their potential negative effects.

InMaC addresses these issues by making valuate scientific contributions to the fields of microeconomics and financial economics, while actively engaging in the global debate and pressing economic and societal issues. Specifically, the project builds upon well-established economic theories such as information aggregation in markets; behavioural equilibrium concepts; and public goods games. Methodologically, the InMac project will address these issues from theoretical (applied theory) and experimental perspectives.

Furthermore, the project will deliver implications which are relevant for policymakers and society at large. The complex interactions of information, markets and public goods are critical, since these raise concerns within the society at large, such as how to regulate social media and information sharing, how to design market institutions that are effective, and how to tackle climate change. Therefore, our goal is to contribute to the academic literature for advancing scientific knowledge on these topics, and derive valuable insights that can inform the design of policies.