OREANDA-NEWS. The 2013 Eesti Pank doctoral studies research award of 2300 euros went to Anne Lauringson for her work on how unemployment benefits affected labour market outcomes in Estonia in the economic crisis. The master's studies research award of 1300 euros went to Kaspar Ojasoo for his work on long-term value investments in falling stock markets.

Anne Lauringson's paper The impact of the generosity of unemployment benefits on Estonian labour market outcomes in a period of crisis looks at how the level of unemployment benefits and how long they were paid for affected labour market outcomes during the deep crisis in Estonia in 2008-2010. Ms Lauringson was awarded a doctorate in economics by the University of Tartu in 2012.

Kaspar Ojasoo provided a fundamental analysis of value investment in the stock markets of Central and Eastern Europe during the recession of 2007-2009 in his research paper. He was awarded a master's degree in economics by the University of Tartu in 2012.

The Eesti Pank research awards will be handed to the winners on 13 December at the international financial conference Nordic-Baltic Financial Linkages and Challenges in Tallinn.

The Eesti Pank research award in memory of Urmas Sepp is being granted for the 11th time in 2013. The research competition is designed to promote research in economics, recognise outstanding research work and enhance studies for academic degrees. Since 2011 the award has been granted in two categories, one for research leading to a PhD thesis or done as part of doctoral studies, and the other for research leading to a master's dissertation or done as part of a master's course.