<html dir="ltr">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<style type="text/css" id="owaParaStyle"></style>
</head>
<body style="zoom: 1;" fpstyle="1" ocsi="0">
<div style="direction: ltr;font-family: Times New Roman;color: #000000;font-size: 12pt;">
<div style="font-family:Tahoma; font-size:13px">
<div style="font-family:Tahoma; font-size:13px">
<div style="font-family:Tahoma"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Tahoma">
<h3 class="pfblock-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin: 0px 0px 60px; font-size: 13px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: center;">
THE COMPUTATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE WORKSHOP PRESENTS</h3>
<h1 class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 40px; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 5px; padding: 0em; text-align: center;">
ALI HORTAÇSU</h1>
<h3 class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 13px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 0em; text-align: center;">
RALPH AND MARY OTIS ISHAM PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS</h3>
<h3 class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 13px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 0em; text-align: center;">
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO</h3>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</p>
<p class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0em; text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
The <a href="https://macss.uchicago.edu/content/computation-workshop" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.125s ease-in-out 0s;">Computational Social Science Workshop </a>at the University of Chicago
cordially invites you to attend this week’s talk:</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</p>
<div class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0em; text-align: center; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<h2 class="pfblock-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin: 0px 0px 60px; font-size: 30px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 5px;">
<a href="https://github.com/uchicago-computation-workshop/ali_hortacsu/blob/master/2018__hortacsu__trade_merchants_and_lost_cities.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.125s ease-in-out 0s;">TRADE,
MERCHANTS, AND THE LOST CITIES OF THE BRONZE AGE</a></h2>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</p>
</div>
<p class="footertext2" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Abstract:</span> We analyze a large dataset of commercial records produced by Assyrian merchants in the 19th Century BCE. Using the information collected from these records, we estimate a structural gravity
model of long-distance trade in the Bronze Age. We use our structural gravity model to locate lost ancient cities. In many instances, our structural estimates confirm the conjectures of historians who follow different methodologies. In some instances, our
estimates confirm one conjecture against others. Confronting our structural estimates for ancient city sizes to modern data on population, income, and regional trade, we document persistent patterns in the distribution of city sizes across four millennia,
even after controlling for time-invariant geographic attributes such as agricultural suitability. Finally, we offer evidence in support of the hypothesis that large cities tend to emerge at the intersections of natural transport routes, as dictated by topography.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</p>
<h4 class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 0em; text-align: center;">
THURSDAY, 1/11/2018</h4>
<h4 class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 0em; text-align: center;">
11:00AM-12:20PM</h4>
<h4 class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 0em; text-align: center;">
KENT 120</h4>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</p>
<p class="pfblock-header3" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0em; text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
A light lunch will be provided by Pizza Capri.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</p>
<p class="footertext2" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Dr. Hortaçsu’s</span> work is focused on empirically assessing the efficiency of markets, utilizing detailed micro-level data from the markets he studies to estimate preference and technology parameters
that rationalize individual behavior and then use the estimated preferences and technological parameters to construct (constrained) “efficient” benchmarks and assess how far observed market outcomes are from efficiency. This framework has been applied to many
market settings, including financial markets, energy markets, and the Internet, and a variety of market clearing mechanisms, including auctions, matching, and costly search. His current research interests include: Industrial organization; auctions; search
and matching models; production and financial networks; applications in finance, energy markets and the internet. For more information, visit his homepage.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br style="box-sizing: border-box;">
</p>
<hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<p class="footertext" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 10.5px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif;">
The 2017-2018 <a href="https://macss.uchicago.edu/content/computation-workshop" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.125s ease-in-out 0s;">Computational Social Science Workshop </a>meets each Thursday
from 11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. in Kent 120. All interested faculty and graduate students are welcome.</p>
<p class="footertext" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 10.5px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif;">
Students in the Masters of Computational Social Science program are expected to attend and join the discussion by posting a comment on the <a href="https://github.com/uchicago-computation-workshop/ali_hortacsu/issues" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.125s ease-in-out 0s;">issues
page </a>of the <a href="https://github.com/uchicago-computation-workshop/ali_hortacsu" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.125s ease-in-out 0s;">workshop’s public repository on GitHub.</a> Further
instructions are documented in the Computational Social Science Workshop’s <a href="https://github.com/uchicago-computation-workshop/README" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.125s ease-in-out 0s;">README
on Github.</a></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>