Cristina Sechel
[email protected]
https://sites.google.com/site/sechelc/
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/heru/profiles/cristina.sechel/
University of Aberdeen
Health Economics Research Unit
EDUCATION
2011–2016
2006–2007
2003–2006
Doctor of Philosophy (Economics)
University of York, U.K
Title: Essays on the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being across Countries
Main Supervisor: Prof. Karen Mumford
Thesis Advisory Panel members: Dr. Giacomo De Luca, Dr. Maria Garcia Reyes
Master of Arts (Economics)
McMaster University, Canada
Honours Bachelor of Arts (Economics and English)
McMaster University, Canada
Graduation with Distinction (First Class Standing equivalent)
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Apr 2016 –
Present
Nov 2014 –
Mar 2016
Oct 2011 –
May 2013
Research Fellow
Health Economics Research Unit
University of Aberdeen, U.K.
Research Assistant
Royal Economic Society Women’s Committee
University of York, U.K.
Ellis Hunter Fellowship Teaching Fellow
Department of Economics and Related Studies
University of York, U.K.
Undergraduate modules: Using Mathematics in Economics (1st year), Cost-Benefit
Analysis (2nd year), International Economic Growth and Development (3rd year).
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Apr 2010 –
Mar 2011
Empirical Research Data Lab Manager
Public Economics Data Analysis Laboratory
McMaster University, Canada
May 2006 –
Apr 2010
Research Analyst
Public Economics Data Analysis Laboratory
McMaster University, Canada
Sep 2004 –
Apr 2006
Teaching Assistant
Department of Economics
McMaster University, Canada
Undergraduate modules: Introductory Microeconomics and Macroeconomics (1st
year), Intermediate Macroeconomics (2nd year).
Summer 2007 Policy Analyst (Internship)
Employment and Social Development Canada
Government of Canada, Labor Market Policy research group
Summer 2004 Research Assistant (Internship)
Student Success Centre
McMaster University, Canada
PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
McManus, R., Mumford, K., Sechel, C. (2016). The Selection of Economics Lecturers into the 2014 UK
Research Excellence Framework Exercise.
Royal Economic Society Women’s Committee Report.
Mitka, M., Mumford, K., Sechel, C. (2015). The 10th Royal Economic Society Women’s Committee
Survey: The Gender Balance of Academic Economics in the UK 2014.
Department of Economics and Related Studies Discussion Paper 15/10, University of York.
Sechel, C. (2014). Subjective Well-Being across Countries: A Headcount Aggregate.
Mimeo, University of York (Job Market paper).
Abstract. Despite widespread interest in Subjective Well-Being (SWB), the economic literature
has been largely limited to one single measure of national SWB, namely the mean. This paper
draws attention to the shortcomings of focusing on mean aggregates of SWB and introduces an
alternative headcount-based aggregate, defined as the ‘proportion of the population that is
satisfied with life’. Individuals are identified as ‘satisfied with life’ based on Cognitive
Dissonance Theory using a data-driven approach. This measure is then used to explore the
empirical relationships between national SWB and standard objective measures of well-being.
A Beta-regression approach is employed to account for the special distributional properties of
the proportion measure. The findings reveal differences in the relationship between objective
measures of development and SWB that are not apparent when only mean SWB is used, casting
doubt over conventional development policies which are heavily focused on income growth
and education.
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Cristina Sechel
Sechel, C. (2014). Response Distribution of Life Satisfaction: an individual-level analysis Using
Ordered Response Models.
Mimeo, University of York
Abstract. Much of the Subjective Well-Being (SBW) literature in Economics treats life
satisfaction data as cardinal. While some papers assume ordinality, they do not explicity
consider the relative importance or meaning of different satisfaction points. Data from the
World Values Survey (WVS) and the European Values Survey (EVS) reveal a point of special
interest on the satisfaction scale, a prominent data-cliff between satisfaction levels 4 and 5 (on
a scale of 1-10) with a pile-up of responses at level 5. The meaning and causes of this data-cliff
have not been explored in the literature to date. This paper uses individual-level cross-country
data from the latest EVS wave (2008-2010) to identify the main factors contributing to the
data-cliff in relation to Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT). Standard Ordinal Probit (OP) and
Generelized Ordinal Probit (GOP) models are employed. Both models support CDT, showing
that the pile-up of responses at level 5 is mainly driven by reluctance to report lower levels of
satisfaction in response to negative changes in income, trust, and to some degree health; this
reluctance is not observed with religiousity, marital status, or employment status. The
standard OP model underestimates these effects and offers inferior goodness-of-fit compared
to the GOP model, which suggests that rigorous life satisfaction analysis may require the use of
more advanced econometric methods.
Card, D., Payne, A. A., Sechel, C. (2011). Understanding the Gender Gap in University Participation:
An Exploration of the Application Behavior on Ontario High School Students.
Research report published by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
HONORS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
2014-present PhD Representative on the Royal Economic Society Women’s Committee
2013
2012
2006
Aronson Teaching Prizes for best-designed modules
Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York
• Using Mathematics in Economics (1st year module), International Economic
Growth & Development (3rd year module)
Departmental Teaching Excellence Acknowledgement
Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York
• Using Mathematics in Economics (1st year module)
Departmental Teaching Excellence Acknowledgement
Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York
• Mathematics 1 (1st year module), Cost-Benefit Analysis (2nd year module)
Departmental PhD Studentship
Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York
Graduate (entrance) Scholarship
McMaster University, Canada
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Cristina Sechel
2004
2003
2002
The University (Senate) Scholarship
McMaster University, Canada
(awarded for academic excellence at the undergraduate level)
Aiming for the Top Tuition Scholarship
Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
(awarded for academic excellence at the high school level)
Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust Award
(winner of the first annual Bernard Chrenos Essay Competition)
PRESENTATIONS AND SEMINARS
Jan. 2016
May 2015
June 2014
Nov. 2013
June 2013
March 2013
RES PhD Meetings 2016
Westminster Business School, London, U.K.
18th IZA European Summer School in Labor Economics
Buch, Ammersee, Germany
Wellbeing and Public Policy Conference
Hamilton College, New York State, U.S.
Seminar (Department of Economics and Related Studies)
University of York, York, U.K.
Public Happiness Interdisciplinary Conference
St. Thomas Aquinas University, Rome, Italy
White Rose Doctoral Training Centre PhD Economics Conference
University of York, York, U.K.
RESEARCH INTERESTS: Human Development and Subjective Well-Being, Welfare Economics,
Applied Microeconomics and Microeconometrics, Public Economics.
SOFTWARE EXPERTISE: STATA, Microsoft Excel/Word, LimeSurvey, Qualtrics, EndNote.
LANGUAGES: English (fluent), Romanian (mother tongue).
CITIZENSHIP: dual (EU and Canadian).
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