Gregor Zens

Gregor Zens

Research Scholar
IIASA

Gregor Zens

I am a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), where I am part of the Population and Just Societies (POPJUS) program. Previously, I worked at the Bocconi Institute for Data Science and Analytics (BIDSA) with Daniele Durante and at the Institute for Statistics and Mathematics at WU Vienna with Sylvia Frühwirth-Schnatter. I obtained my PhD in economics with a focus on Bayesian econometrics at WU Vienna, under the supervision of Jésus Crespo Cuaresma and Sylvia Frühwirth-Schnatter and have also served as a statistical consultant for the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation within the World Bank Group.


Research Focus

My research focus is on developing empirical models to analyze social science phenomena, often using Bayesian methods. I predominantly collaborate with economists, statisticians, climate researchers and demographers, preferably focusing on applications connected to human development. Methodologically, my main interest lies in econometrics and statistics, with an emphasis on applied probabilistic modeling and computational methods. See below for some on-going and past projects.


Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals

  1. Ultimate Pólya Gamma Samplers - Efficient MCMC for possibly imbalanced binary and categorical data. [link, pre-print]
    Journal of the American Statistical Association, in press.
    with Sylvia Frühwirth-Schnatter (WU Vienna) and Helga Wagner (JKU Linz).

  2. The heterogeneous impact of monetary policy on the US labor market. [link]
    Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 2020.
    with Maximilian Böck (WU Vienna) and Thomas Zörner (WU Vienna).

  3. Land and Poverty: The Role of Soil Fertility and Vegetation Quality in Poverty Reduction. [link]
    Environment and Development Economics, 2020.
    with Martin Heger (World Bank) and Mook Bangalore (London School of Economics).

  4. Bayesian Shrinkage in Mixture-of-Experts Models: Identifying Robust Determinants of Class Membership.
    Advances in Data Analysis and Classification, 2019.
    Master’s Thesis.


Selected Work in Progress

  • The Short-Term Dynamics of Conflict-Driven Displacement: Bayesian Modeling of Disaggregated Data from Somalia. [WP]
    with Lisa Thalheimer (Princeton University, United Nations University)

  • Bayesian Modeling of Demographic Data in Many Subpopulations. [arXiv]

  • Hidden in Plain Sight: Influential sets in linear regression models. [updated pdf, WP]
    with Nikolas Kuschnig (WU Vienna) and Jésus Crespo Cuaresma (WU Vienna).

  • Subnational Variations in the Quality of Population Health Data: A Geospatial Analysis of Household Surveys in Africa. [WP]
    with Andrew Tatem (University of Southampton, WorldPop), Patrick Webb (Tufts University), Amelia Finaret (Allegheny College), Valentin Seidler (WU Vienna) and more
    (In Revision)

  • Bayesian Network Modeling of Crime Data.
    with Daniele Durante (Bocconi University), Eleonora Patacchini (Cornell University) and Carlos Díaz (Universidad Católica del Uruguay)
    (Draft available upon request)

  • Addressing Model Uncertainty in Latent Variable Count Models.
    with Mark Steel (University of Warwick)
    (Draft available upon request)


Awards, Fellowships, Travel Grants


Software

  • R Package ‘UPG’ for efficient Bayesian logistic regression, currently in v0.3.4.
    [link, vignette]


Newspapers, Blogs, General Audience

(In German only, sorry!)

  1. Ausserirdische Ökonomische Daten.
    On satellite-based economic research. derStandard.at, January 2020.

  2. Wie wir unbewusst dabei helfen, die Zukunft vorherzusagen.
    On internet-based data sources. derStandard.at, December 2019.

  3. Soziale Leiter: Können Arme reich und Reiche arm werden?.
    On social mobility perceptions. derStandard.at, July 2019.


Presentations at Conferences, Seminars and Workshops


Academic Visits


Teaching & Thesis Supervision

I have taught several B.Sc. level courses on basic econometrics and linear modeling, on economic development, economic growth and on macroeconomic theory. I have also held M.Sc. level lectures on macroeconometric methods with a focus on Bayesian computation. In addition, I have supervised a number of bachelor’s and master’s theses from the realm of empirical economics; topics included for instance The importance of digitized government-to-person (G2P) payments for women’s financial inclusion in developing countries and Nowcasting GDP growth in Austria via the construction of a daily economic sentiment index using Google Trends.


Contact

zens [at] iiasa.ac.at
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg