Oleksii Hamaniuk

About

Welcome! I am a 6th year PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Bonn. I am going to start working with the Kyiv School of Economics Institute in the field of policy research.

My research interests are in applied microeconomics, public economics, urban economics, and energy economics.

You can contact me via email ohamaniuk@uni-bonn.de.

CV

My CV

Working Papers

Why Decentralised Governance Works: Evidence from Heating Consumption in Ukraine

Abstract This paper investigates empirically whether decentralised institutions are more efficient than centralised systems, using a database of heating consumption from 8,839 multi-apartment buildings in Kyiv. The empirical analysis reveals that buildings switching to homeowner associations (HOAs) reduce their heating consumption compared to those that remain externally governed by municipal or private companies. The efficiency gain is mostly observed in the warmer months of the heating season. The first channel for the heating consumption reduction operates through mitigating the principal-agent problem, allowing HOAs to regulate heating more flexibly during warmer months. The second channel involves investments made through co-financing programmes in which HOAs participate. Such investments significantly reduce heating consumption, unlike unconditional investments financed from the city budget. The estimation results align with the theory of governing the commons, suggesting that the formation of local institutions is an approach to resolving the tragedy of the commons.

Work in Progress

Go local - get tax compliance and local growth? | with Benedikt Herrmann, Felix Rösel | Draft available upon request

Abstract This paper analyses the local economic and fiscal returns of decentralisation. We analyse the staggered decentralisation of powers and tax revenues to municipal governments in Ukraine between 2015 and 2020. Most importantly, decentralised authorities retain 60% of the personal income tax collected within their jurisdiction. We collect expert‐survey data on regional government support as a plausibly exogenous determinant of selection into decentralisation and use difference‐in‐differences and event‐study estimations. Our results show that decentralisation stimulates economic growth and generates additional tax revenues for local governments. Moreover, the elasticity of tax revenues rises significantly after decentralisation, suggesting higher levels of tax compliance when taxes are used locally. These findings underscore the importance of embedding incentives within systems of fiscal federalism.


When Mediation Matters: Cooperation in Experimental Militarisation Games | with Ryan Swan

Abstract This paper studies experimentally how mediation affects people’s decisions towards cooperation in militarisation games. Specifically, we examine how the presence and nature of a mediator influence the likelihood of cooperative outcomes. We compare the theoretical predictions derived from game-theoretic equilibrium strategies with the actual behaviour observed in our experiments. Our findings reveal that the presence of a mediator that does not affect the equilibrium structure of the game still significantly increases the rate of cooperation among participants by 34 percentage points. At the same time, people who value privacy are less likely to prefer being mediated in the setting where the mediator observes their type and are more likely to prefer the mediator who does not have any information about their type.

Teaching

2025-2026 Research Module (Master) | University of Bonn

2025 Current Topics in Economics (Bachelor) | University of Bonn

2024-2025 Research Module (Group Mentor, Master) | University of Bonn

2017-2018 Econometrics (Teaching Assistant, Master) | Kyiv School of Economics

Policy Research (selected)

Trade Potential Assessment of Value Chains in The Eastern Ukrainian Economy | with Pavlo Iavorskyi | Kyiv School of Economics, 2020

Ukraine’s integration into the EU’s digital single market: Potential Economic Benefits | with Pavlo Iavorskyi, Svitlana Taran, Oleksandr Shepotylo | Kyiv School of Economics, 2020

Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement: Patterns and Tendencies | with Pavlo Iavorskyi , Maryna Khorunzha, Olga Nikolaieva, Svitlana Taran | Kyiv School of Economics, 2020

How to make road maintenance more cost-efficient? Lessons from Slovakia | with Oksana Zatvornytska | Centre for Economic Strategy, 2019

Subvention for socio-economic development: how to stop public funds allocation according to political preferences | Centre for Economic Strategy, 2018

Are the state owned enterprises less profitable than the private ones? | with Dmytro Yablonovskyy | Centre for Economic Strategy, 2018

Oleksii Hamaniuk

About

Welcome! I am a 6th year PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Bonn. I am going to start working with the Kyiv School of Economics Institute in the field of policy research.

My research interests are in applied microeconomics, public economics, urban economics, and energy economics.

You can contact me via email ohamaniuk@uni-bonn.de.

CV

My CV

Working Papers

Why Decentralised Governance Works: Evidence from Heating Consumption in Ukraine

Abstract This paper investigates empirically whether decentralised institutions are more efficient than centralised systems, using a database of heating consumption from 8,839 multi-apartment buildings in Kyiv. The empirical analysis reveals that buildings switching to homeowner associations (HOAs) reduce their heating consumption compared to those that remain externally governed by municipal or private companies. The efficiency gain is mostly observed in the warmer months of the heating season. The first channel for the heating consumption reduction operates through mitigating the principal-agent problem, allowing HOAs to regulate heating more flexibly during warmer months. The second channel involves investments made through co-financing programmes in which HOAs participate. Such investments significantly reduce heating consumption, unlike unconditional investments financed from the city budget. The estimation results align with the theory of governing the commons, suggesting that the formation of local institutions is an approach to resolving the tragedy of the commons.

Work in Progress

Go local - get tax compliance and local growth? | with Benedikt Herrmann, Felix Rösel | Draft available upon request

Abstract This paper analyses the local economic and fiscal returns of decentralisation. We analyse the staggered decentralisation of powers and tax revenues to municipal governments in Ukraine between 2015 and 2020. Most importantly, decentralised authorities retain 60% of the personal income tax collected within their jurisdiction. We collect expert‐survey data on regional government support as a plausibly exogenous determinant of selection into decentralisation and use difference‐in‐differences and event‐study estimations. Our results show that decentralisation stimulates economic growth and generates additional tax revenues for local governments. Moreover, the elasticity of tax revenues rises significantly after decentralisation, suggesting higher levels of tax compliance when taxes are used locally. These findings underscore the importance of embedding incentives within systems of fiscal federalism.


When Mediation Matters: Cooperation in Experimental Militarisation Games | with Ryan Swan

Abstract This paper studies experimentally how mediation affects people’s decisions towards cooperation in militarisation games. Specifically, we examine how the presence and nature of a mediator influence the likelihood of cooperative outcomes. We compare the theoretical predictions derived from game-theoretic equilibrium strategies with the actual behaviour observed in our experiments. Our findings reveal that the presence of a mediator that does not affect the equilibrium structure of the game still significantly increases the rate of cooperation among participants by 34 percentage points. At the same time, people who value privacy are less likely to prefer being mediated in the setting where the mediator observes their type and are more likely to prefer the mediator who does not have any information about their type.

Teaching

2025-2026 Research Module (Master) | University of Bonn

2025 Current Topics in Economics (Bachelor) | University of Bonn

2024-2025 Research Module (Group Mentor, Master) | University of Bonn

2017-2018 Econometrics (Teaching Assistant, Master) | Kyiv School of Economics

Policy Research (selected)

Trade Potential Assessment of Value Chains in The Eastern Ukrainian Economy | with Pavlo Iavorskyi | Kyiv School of Economics, 2020

Ukraine’s integration into the EU’s digital single market: Potential Economic Benefits | with Pavlo Iavorskyi, Svitlana Taran, Oleksandr Shepotylo | Kyiv School of Economics, 2020

Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement: Patterns and Tendencies | with Pavlo Iavorskyi , Maryna Khorunzha, Olga Nikolaieva, Svitlana Taran | Kyiv School of Economics, 2020

How to make road maintenance more cost-efficient? Lessons from Slovakia | with Oksana Zatvornytska | Centre for Economic Strategy, 2019

Subvention for socio-economic development: how to stop public funds allocation according to political preferences | Centre for Economic Strategy, 2018

Are the state owned enterprises less profitable than the private ones? | with Dmytro Yablonovskyy | Centre for Economic Strategy, 2018