Portrait of Young Researcher from HSE in Perm

Evgeniy Ozhegov, Senior Lecturer at the School of Economics and Finance, Junior Research Fellow at the Group for Applied Markets and Enterprises Studies (AMES), and member of the HSE Group of Young Academic Professionals, has recently defended his Candidate of Sciences’ thesis in economics. He teaches econometrics, microeconometrics, game theory, and consumer behavior theory for students of HSE in Perm, and advises them on how to write better graduation papers. In addition to that, Evgeniy heads a student club in econometrics, organizes AMES seminars, and takes part in academic and applied research.

As a student, Evgeniy started working at an IT company, and this gave him the opportunity to choose what was more attractive, business or research. And his interest in research won out. Evgeniy started teaching and doing research at HSE.

‘If you are really interested in the field you’re teaching, the students can see this, and the return is better. Teaching and research are closely connected. We try to transmit everything that we know to the students,’ Evgeniy Ozhegov said, ‘My first project was a study of mortgage loans, and as a result, I defended my thesis on this topic. Now my students are getting me interested in some new spheres, such as the real estate market, the cultural product market, and consumer behavior research in various markets.’

In addition to econometrics and consumer behavior theory, Evgeniy Ozhegov teaches game theory and conducts a seminar in Empirical Economics for third-year students. Game theory attracts him because it studies the problems of agents’ rational behavior, and can be applied to a lot of tasks, such as behavior theory in terms of consumption. He is also developing some new tools for consumer behavior research.

‘As part of consumer behavior studies, together with my colleague Yulia Papushina, Associate Professor at the School of Management, I’m looking at the Perm Theatre of Opera and Ballet from various sides,’ Evgeniy said, ‘She studies it in terms of the audience profile, she looks at who visits the theatre and why. And my students and I study the demand, how people react to the theatre’s pricing policy in terms of different performances, how they switch between price zones, how ready they are to buy tickets for more expensive or cheaper seats, if their favourite areas are sold out’.

Evgeniy Ozhegov is working on a research project in economics of culture together with Denis Orlov, graduate of HSE in Perm, who is now studying at HSE ICEF. The study is focused on the effectiveness of film sequels. A working paper has already been published in the Journal of Cultural Economics.

Evgeniy Ozhegov is full of enthusiasm and devotion to science and the HSE campus in Perm. He has a lot of plans, and they include opening a master’s programme in economics at HSE in Perm in order to train experts who will work in local businesses.