Christoph Walsh - Tilburg University

I am an assistant professor at the Department of Econometrics and Operations Research at Tilburg University. I received my PhD in Economics from Boston University.

My primary field of interest is Empirical Industrial Organization, with applications in Finance, Development and Environmental Economics.

I am a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in the Industrial Organization and Development Economics groups.

As of July 2026 I am academic director of the MSc. Econometrics and Mathematical Economics at Tilburg University.

CV

K504, Warandelaan 2, 5037AB Tilburg, The Netherlands

Publications

Bank Branching Strategies in the 1997 Thai Financial Crisis and Local Access to Credit
(with Marc Rysman and Robert M. Townsend)
Forthcoming in the Journal of the European Economic Association.
Working paper version here. CEPR Discussion Paper DP17869.
VoxDev Article.
Presentations: BU, Tilburg, NEUDC, IIOC, Central Bank of Chile and Inter-American Development Bank workshop on Industrial Organization in Financial Markets, Bristol-Warwick Empirical IO workshop.

The Effects of Policy Interventions to Limit Illegal Money Lending
(with Kaiwen Leong, Huailu Li and Nicola Pavanini)
Journal of Financial Economics, Volume 159, September 2024, 103894.
Working paper version here. CEPR Discussion Paper DP16779.
Presentations: Tilburg, NTU, Purdue, NBER IO Spring Meeting, NUS, Barcelona Summer Forum, EEA-ESEM, Helsinki GSE.

Law Enforcement and Bargaining Over Illicit Drug Prices: Structural Evidence from a Gang's Ledger
(with Kaiwen Leong, Huailu Li and Marc Rysman)
Journal of the European Economic Association, Volume 20, Issue 3, June 2022, Pages 1198–1230.
Working paper version here.
Presentations: Tilburg, CEPR VIOS, BU, Yale, IIOC, EARIE.

Working Papers

Social Impacts of New Radio Markets in Ghana: A Dynamic Structural Analysis
Revise & Resubmit at the RAND Journal of Economics.
Presentations: BU, BC, IIOC, FCC, Tilburg, CREST, Mannheim, QuantCo, Sciences Po, EARIE.

Environmental Impacts of Banning Vehicle Advertising
(with Jiekai Zhang)
CEPR Discussion Paper DP20393.
Presentations: Tilburg, University of Mannheim, University College Dublin, University of Vienna.

Do I Really Want to Buy This? Preference Discovery and Consumer Search
(with Tinghan Zhang and Tobias Klein)
Presentations: EEA (Dublin).

Current Teaching (2024-2025)

230333 General Equilibrium Theory for Research Master in Economics (since 2018).
Course webpage here.
30J211 Statistics 2 for BSc in International Business Administration (since 2019).
Online textbook here.
30J125 Programming and Quantitative Skills for BSc in International Business Administration (since 2023).
Online textbook here.
300366 Programming for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation BSc (since 2024).
Online textbook here.
30M015 Programming for TiSEM Minor Essential Digital Skills (since 2024).
Online textbook here.
390302 Thesis Supervisor for MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics (since 2019).
390320 Thesis Supervisor for MSc in Finance (since 2025).

Previous Teaching

At Tilburg University:

230347 Advanced Panel Data Methods for Research Master in Economics, 2019-2024.
Course webpage here.
35B208 Improving Society Lab for BSc in Econometrics and Operations Research, 2019-2024.
300TET Thesis Supervisor for BSc in Econometrics and Operations Research, 2019-2024.
300831 Thesis Supervisor for Research Master in Economics, 2019-2023.

At Boston University:

EC201 Intermediate Microeconomics, 2016-2017.
Course webpage here.
Teaching Fellow for EC101 Introductory Microeconomic Analysis, 2013-2015.

At Trinity College Dublin:

Teaching Assistant for EC1030 Mathematics and Statistics, 2011-2012.

Current PhD Students

Vishal Pant (co-supervised with Nicola Pavanini).

Past PhD Students and First Placements

Tinghan Zhang (co-supervised with Tobias Klein).
Defended: October 28, 2026.
Dissertation: Essays on Empirical Consumer Search.
First placement: Postdoc at UCLA Anderson.
Hazal Sezer (co-supervised with Burak Uras; promoter: Daan van Soest).
Defended: June 17, 2024 (with cum laude).
Dissertation: Historical and contemporary perspectives on labor.
First placement: Charles River Associates, Brussels.
Xiaoyue Zhang (co-supervised with Jaap Abbring and Jeffrey Campbell).
Defended: September 22, 2023.
Dissertation: Distortions and industrial upgrading in China.
First placement: Postdoc at MIT Sloan before joining DIW Berlin.
Michela Bonani (co-supervised with Florian Schuett; promoter: Tobias Klein).
Defended: June 9, 2023.
Dissertation: Essays on innovation, cooperation, and competition under standardization.
First placement: Postdoc at ESSEC Business School, Cergy, France.