Professors Think That Academic Publications Are Much More Relevant For Their Employability Than Their Teaching Skills
The INOMICS Salary Survey asked Assistant, Associate and Full Professors for their opinions as to what they thought were the most relevant academic characteristics that justified a higher salary in academia. The Survey has attempted to answer the general question often posed by potential academic job applicants, as to which skills, qualities and achievements will justify and bring about a higher salary. One’s educational level was seen as most important in Asia and North America, suggesting a more rigid, defined and traditional university and academic hierarchy in these regions. Further, Asia placed last in terms of the importance it gave to academic publications whilst placing the most importance of the group sampled, on language ability. This may be an indicator that Asian Professors view their roles perhaps, as much more instructional and indicative of status, rather than as a practical tool for the furtherance of development in a given field. Interestingly, across all levels of Professors, student evaluation is not considered to play an instrumental role in the justification of higher salaries. The competence of Professors based on academic publications is seen to be the main justification for higher salaries. This suggests that for Professors, research ability is far more important than pedagogical skills. The INOMICS Salary Report also includes skills and experiences justifying higher salaries in the private sector, answered by senior and mid-level respondents. To learn more about worldwide salary by gender and region, please visit this page to download the full report for free. Information in the graph is based on the INOMICS Salary Report 2016. The report reflects job market and salary trends for economists, ranging from those just starting their Master’s to those working as senior professors or researchers in academia and the private sector. Key findings include: ✓ Professors consider research publications more relevant for their employability than teaching skills. ✓ The gender pay-gap for economics professors at North American universities seems to have narrowed to the point of non-existence. If anything, female academics seem to earn slightly more than their male counterparts. ✓ Salary is not a primary motivator, although it has a demotivating effect if too low. ✓ A higher salary is considered as more important in some regions, for example in Asia, especially among people working outside of academia.
The world of academia is constantly changing, so much so that the importance to Professors, of different academic and career achievements, is shifting in ways that may be somewhat unexpected.
Top 10 Christmas Gifts For Economics University Teachers
INOMICS and our parent company 11 Academia Networks are Amazon Associates, meaning we are a part of their affiliate program. This article contains affiliate links from them and other partners, which means we may earn money through any qualifying purchases made after you click through. However, this is not a sponsored post. 1. Monopoly The absolute classic gift for an economist is the Monopoly board game, which was designed to explain trades and property acquisition to children. Who doesn't love a good board game? Just don't blame use if it causes drama over Christmas... 2. GDP: keep it real magnets Give these magnets to your teacher so they can show off their nerdy sense of humour. With the formula for GDP written right there, they can refer to a nation's GDP every time they open their fridge. 3. Can You Outsmart an Economist? - Puzzle Book Do you know an economics teacher who can't resist a challenge (i.e. probably any economist). Then give them this econ-flavoured puzzle book. 4. One year's access to The Economist digital archive The Economist is a beloved publication which is known for some of the best coverage of business, finance, and politics. But its historical archives are a wealth of fascinating information too. Gift your favourite teacher with a year's access to The Economist's digital archive and they'll have interesting material to read all year long. 5. First class economics teacher mug Of all the economics teachers you could have ended up with, you got one who's really great, right? That's why you want to buy them a gift! So show your appreciation with any one of these witty economics teacher mugs. 6. Trust me, I'm an economist apron In times of uncertainty and doubt, who should you turn to? An economist, of course! That's the basis of this “Trust me, I'm an economist” shirt. 7. Macroeconomics reference guide poster For a slightly more sensible present which would be practical and useful for an economics teacher, this laminated poster lays out the basic principles of macroeconomics and would make a great addition to any economics classroom. 8. Supply and demand throw pillow For something on the more fun and silly end of the presents scale, here's a pillow which helpfully charts out the relationship between supply and demand – so you can learn about basic economics principles while lying on the couch! 9. The Economist 2017 mini diary Another genuinely useful gift is this 2017 mini diary from The Economist. With special content like information on world populations, international dialling codes, and world hotels, it's the perfect gift for the economics professor who travels a lot. 10. Cold, hard cash You'll have to watch out with this one, lest your economics teacher thinks that you're offering them a bribe! But according to economics experts, by far the most efficient gift is cold, hard cash. It's not very festive though... If you're after more content for economists, like tips for economics students, careers advice, or notifications about the latest jobs and conferences in the field, then head to our website for all your economics needs!
Christmas is coming up soon, and you know what that means – it's time for Christmas shopping! If you're thinking about getting a present for your economics teacher at university, here are our suggestions for top gifts for them.
There was a time when engineers and social scientists thought their fields were too different to combine their research (Black et al., 2010). Not that many years ago doctors and health researchers thought economists could not help them improve medical services; and of course which economist would have dared to claim that something they were working on could directly save people’s lives? (See for example: Jones, 1994; Philipson, 2001). Likewise, most neuroscientists never thought that their work could be used to explain consumer behaviour (Camerer et al., 2005), and mathematicians never thought that psychology could ever be related to their discipline (Ma and De la Torre, 2016). Now those times are gone and interdisciplinary research is highly recognised as a means to achieving successful and rich research outputs (HEFCE, 2015). This is reflected in the number of research centres that continue to release funding opportunities with a particular attention on interdisciplinary outputs within and across disciplines. To mention some examples: The National Science Foundation (NSF), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy (CREATe), or the European Union (EU) research and innovation programme Horizon 2020. These funding opportunities and the final recognition of interdisciplinary research in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF), which is so important to rank the research quality of UK institutions, have clearly increased collaboration across disciplines, not just in the academic environment but also in other institutions such as hospitals or government centres (Graph 1). In general, European countries have the highest percentage of international collaborative publications (HEFCE, 2015). A world with interdisciplinary collaboration may look easy and simple, but this is far from reality. Combining disciplines is risky and difficult. How can, for example, health researchers and economists work together? How can they understand one another when talking about numbers or diseases? For this understanding to happen they need a common instrument to work with, an easy and friendly tool that both disciplines can interpret, and one which can combine, in this example, disease information and data to draw conclusions in a manageable yet sophisticated format at the same time, and so satisfy both sides. One key breakthrough has been the development of statistical software and tools such as Stata, Eviews and GAUSS, to name but a few, which in recent years have enabled statisticians, economists and mathematicians to translate and present their work in a way which is understandable and useful for researchers in other disciplines. Such tools have been developed to the stage that they can be accessible enough and easy enough to learn that researchers and professionals without advanced statistical training can learn to use them with relatively little training, as a useful complement to their existing research tools. Research papers such as: Archer and Lemeshow, 2006; Norton et al., 2004; or Ho and Pennington-Cross, 2006 have shown that Stata is currently the most popular of such tools, and for many researchers acts as a language which different disciplines in effect use to communicate with each other (many more articles can be found as examples). Stata emerged in 1985 and since then has cemented its place in the market as a fast, accurate, and user-friendly statistical package which covers the necessities of a wide range of disciplines. From the simplest statistical analysis and graphs, to the most advanced econometric analysis, Stata is widely use in the areas of economics, political science, sociology, health, finance, etc. (https://www.stata.com). Tools like Stata have contributed to a major shift in the academic landscape in Europe and around the world, helping researchers in all disciplines to benefit from solid statistical analysis and supporting researchers in economics, statistics and mathematics to cooperate with professionals in fields that traditionally might have avoided detailed quantitative analysis in research projects. If you have used Stata or other tools in a cross-discipline project, please share your experiences in the comments below. If you have not, then perhaps it is time to try and strengthen your own research through cooperation with your peers in other disciplines! References Archer, K. J., and Lemeshow, S. (2006). “Goodness of fit test for a logistic regression model fitted using survey sample data, Stata Journal, 6(1). Black, D., Clemmensen, N. J., and Skov, M. B. (2010). “Pervasive computing in the supermarket: designing a context aware shopping trolley”, International Journal of Mobile Human Computing Interaction, 2(3). Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., and Prelec, D. (2005). “Neouroeconomics: How neuroscience can inform economics”, Journal of Economic Literature, 43: 9-64. Higher Education Funding Council for England. (2015). “A review of the UK’s interdisciplinary research using a citation-based approach”, ELSEVIER. URL: https://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/HEFCE,2014/Content/Pubs/Independentresearch/2015/Review,of,the,UKs,interdisciplinary,research/2015_interdisc.pdf Ho, G., and Penington-Cross, A. (2006). “The impact of local predatory lending laws on the flow of subprime credit”, Journal of Urban Economics, 60(2): 210-228. Jones, A. M. (1994). Health, addiction, social interaction, and the decision to quit smoking”, Journal of Health Economics, 13(1): 93-110. Ma, W., and De la Torre, J. (2016). “A sequential cognitive diagnosis model for polytomous responses”, British Journal of Mathematica and Statistical Psychology, 69(3): 253-275. Norton, E. C., Wang, H., and Ai, C. (2004). “Computing interactions effects and standard errors in logit and probit models, Stata Journal, 4(2): 154-167. Philipshon, T. (2001). “The world-wide growth in obesity: an economic research agenda”, Health Economics, 10(1): 1-7.
By Sofia Izquierdo-Sanchez University of Huddersfield Timberlake Consultants
Econometrics, Statistics and Quantitative Methods (JEL C)
2016 Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström
This year’s laureates have worked extensively on the construction of a clearly defined and detailed regulatory rubric for determining, among other things, the method of reward for company executives and further analysis of the privatization of public companies or even entire public sectors, whether in whole or in part. The new theoretical tools developed by Hart and Holmström are valuable to understand real-life contracts and institutions as well as potential pitfalls in contract design. Holmström in his work has stressed the nexus between performance and compensation in the context of the employment contract, and the need for these two factors to be directly proportional. Hart’s research has delved into the realm of inchoate contracts and the need to have an open approach to them while maintaining a firm grasp on the rules governing such situations. This illuminates a clear path not to the precise outcome but rather to the method of determining a specific outcome in a general situation, the eventualities of which cannot be ascertained previously. You can access the announcement of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel 2016 here. If you are interested in reading about last year’s winners, take a look at this blog post on the 2015 Nobel Prize recipients and their work. Photo Credit: Flickr <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sol_invictus/5087225271/in/photolist-8KxmQx-qApvcH-8KAq8s-4K47-8R8ZAP-8KAuu5-8Rc7oo-8KAuoN-8KxpdK-8KAsYo-8KAsUh-5caW-8KAs6J-8KAt35-8KxpoK-8KAsvW-8KxnFa-8KAt8h-8KAr2C-dA42aH-69sZYe-8fQtNB-dA42dM-5HL3a3-8KAqyy-8KArkG-99uBDT-8KArfj-8KAqWY-dA42gx-8Kxpjc-8KAuzy-71M4R8-dA42ok-2GMWcW-8KAtxy-dA426P-8Kxojk-dA41Zx-4yRNJ8-dA4244-2jhzcZ-aeNaTE-4RfT-8KAthm-8HZBYC-qecmE-69t4oP-aUhjDc-8KxqBa">@Solis Invicti (published under CC BY 2.0)
This year, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2016 has been awarded to both Oliver Hart, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and Bengt Holmström, Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Nobel Prize in Economics was given to the Professors for their contributions to contract theory, as mentioned by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in their press release.
Professor Jan Oosterhaven to receive The EIB-ERSA Prize 2015
The EIB-ERSA Prize 2015 is awarded to Jan Oosterhaven, professor of Spatial Economics at University of Groningen in the Netherlands, for his lifetime contribution to regional science. The independent jury praises Jan Oosterhaven for his numerous contributions to interregional input-output analysis, regional economic modelling, assessing economic impacts of infrastructure, and the evaluation of regional and urban policies. The EIB - European Prize in Regional Science has been created to acknowledge outstanding regional scientists at the European level and to increase the image of ERSA in the scientific world. The prize is awarded by an independent jury, which consists of six eminent regional scientists, four from Europe, one from the Americas and one from the rest of the world. The awarding ceremony will take place on Friday 28th August 2015 during the closing ceremony of the ERSA Congress 2015 in Lisbon (Portugal). Jan Oosterhaven will give a presentation of a new model for estimating the economic impacts of disasters and trade boycotts. The new model combines the simplicity of an interregional input-output model with the plausibility of a spatial general equilibrium model. Jan Oosterhaven is internationally known for developing new methods to consistently construct interregional input-output tables and applying these to the European Union for the period 1960-1990. He also contributed to the consistent incorporation of supply shocks in the demand driven input-output model and to the correct incorporation of the wider economic impacts of transport infrastructure into social cost-benefit analyses of investments. In the Netherlands, Jan Oosterhaven has been involved in many high policy impact studies including the estimation of the indirect effects of the relocation of the Headquarters of the former PTT from The Hague to Groningen, the evaluation of land reclamation plans for a part of the Wadden Sea, and the operation of high-speed rail lines within the central Randstad region and from the Randstad to the peripheral North (the Zuiderzeelijn).Jan Oosterhaven has been acknowledged for his scientific work with the Fellowship Awards of the International Input-Output Association and the Regional Science Association International and was appointed as an Officer in the Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau by her Majesty the Queen. Guy Clausse, Dean of the European Investment Bank Institute, commented: “Regional policy is an important part of the internal policy of the EU as well as of many Member States; therefore it is all the more important that regional policy be based on a sound scientific base. Professor Oosterhaven clearly contributes to laying such base.” You can download an original press release here. Further information about the EIB-ERSA prize is available here.
ERSA Office Louvain-La-Neuve BELGIUM 25th AUGUST 2015
Gandhi – A Proponent of Well-Rounded Education for All
Yet, what many people might not be aware of is that Gandhi was also a strong proponent of comprehensive education reform, calling for more educational opportunities for everyone. He believed that the only way to fully change Indian society was to start from the bottom up, promoting the integration of hands-on learning alongside skills such as literacy and logic. Gandhi wanted the Indian school system to be self supporting and fully separate from that in England, allowing it to grow in a way that made sense in that specific region. He believed that manual and mental work must complement one another, and that education must nourish the whole person. To describe this view he was quoted as saying: By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in the child and man—body, mind and spirit. At the time this view was quite radical, as it tore through the strict structure of the caste system in India. By promoting the production of handicrafts as a part of comprehensive education, Gandhi was arguing against the class-based specialization of labor that was becoming the global norm. If we look at the reality many people face today, however, we can see that Gandhi’s teachings in this area are still highly relevant. While a formal education is incredibly valuable, it is also important to have a diversity of skills in order to be a well-rounded and successful individual. Furthermore, Gandhi was also quoted stating: Persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness are the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind. This quote underscores Gandhi’s promotion of interactive education and intrinsic interest in a given subject. Such interest is precisely what is required in order to stay motivated at a high level, for instance while pursuing graduate or postdoctoral research. In this realm, the rise of interdisciplinary and international education fits into Gandhi’s ideas of broad-scale learning. Moreover, the proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses(MOOCs) and free online education are also key examples of a contemporary global movement away from classically structured formal education. Thus, while we remember Gandhi today, we should not only think of his achievements in the realms of peace, independence and religious tolerance, but also in the area of open, diverse and well-rounded education.
Today marks the 145th anniversary of the birth of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, born October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. More commonly referred to by the honorific title Mahatma (Sanskrit for “high-souled”), Gandhi is well known for his leading role in the Indian independence movement against British rule in the early to mid-20th century. Gandhi employed nonviolent civil disobedience, promoting religious tolerance and a strongly humanitarian worldview.
Experts Talk: An Interview with Dr. Nancy Folbre
You earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and a Master’s in Latin American Studies prior to getting a PhD in Economics. What inspired the shift to economics for your doctoral studies? It seemed to me that economics was the terrain on which the battles I was most interested in fighting were being fought. I think I was right about this, though I underestimated the scope of the conflict. Do you feel your diverse academic background allowed you more breadth in your work than if you had only studied economics? Yes, though it may have proved a weakness as well as a strength. It’s hard to say without a clear point of comparison. But going broad has, I think, contributed to the sustainability of my intellectual enterprise. I have never been bored. Whenever I have hit a dead end in one direction, I have been able to redirect and reroute my path. Throughout your career, your work has focused primarily on the economics of care. What initially motivated you to examine this largely marginalized subsection of economics? “Care” lies at the intersection of socialist and feminist critiques of the organization of human society. It grows out of concerns about the welfare of others—concerns that traditional economic theory treats as exogenously given. “Care” highlights the central coordination problem of human society: Many selfish strategies that pay off in the short run are not sustainable in the long run. Caring preferences are costly, often putting caregivers at an economic disadvantage relative to those who are unencumbered by concern for others. Yet some level of support for caregiving is crucial to biological and economic sustainability. Much of your research is interdisciplinary, connecting historical analysis with contemporary issues. From your perspective, has the field of economics become more flexible in terms of such crossover research? Yes, in my view, economics has evolved in many positive directions, including greater interdisciplinarity. But it is overconfident in the individual pursuit of self-interest and—relatedly—in the efficiency of market transactions. Both nature and the family are an important source of unpriced resources that not bought and sold. They should not be dismissed as a realm of mere “externalities” because they are far larger in economic value than the goods and services priced in the market. You have also written extensively on education, including in your book Saving State U: Why We Must Fix Public Higher Education. What is your take on the recent Brookings Institution report stating that, “the impact of student loans may not be as dire as many commentators fear”? I think that formulation is pretty vague. How dire is dire? Who, exactly, is too fearful? That study focuses on the average distributional impact, ignoring the uneven consequences for middle-income families in states where legislatures have drastically reduced public support for higher education. You have been an associate editor of the journal Feminist Economics since 1995. How has your (professional) relationship with feminism changed over the years? When we launched that journal, few economists took it seriously. Now it has garnered respect and ranks very high for social science citations. I believe the journal has driven home the point that feminism is not just about women’s rights—it’s about a larger process of rethinking the gendered relationship between rights and obligations. As a leading economist in a field still largely dominated by men, is there particular advice you give to female students entering the discipline? Yes. Recognize that gender is an important dimension of collective identity and action that helps shape perceptions of the way the economy works. But remember that gender is not the only dimension of collective identity and action that does that. I am fond of a quote from the Marxist historian E.P. Thompson that goes something like this: “The facts are there, not to disclose their own meaning, but to be interrogated by minds trained in the discipline of attentive disbelief.” For the past five years you were a weekly blogger for the New York Times Economix. How did writing in this format differ from other blogging or journalistic experience you’ve had? First of all, it was more consistent or, one might say, more relentless in terms of scheduling. Almost of necessity, producing a short essay every week increased my fluency. Second, it engaged me with a very diverse and demanding audience. Often I learned a great deal from the comments posted by readers, but I also saw how easy it is for readers to misunderstand the intent and meaning of an argument. And I received a fair amount of vitriolic hate mail. Your career has included numerous posts as visiting fellow or researcher alongside being a professor. Did you ever think about shifting into policy or advocacy work full-time? I don’t think I have the temperament for full-time policy or advocacy work. I like the freedom to think and write and take chances. If you could be President of the United States for one day and enact change via executive order, what is one of the first issues you would tackle? No idea. That’s an example of why I like being an academic and public intellectual. I’m just not any good at coming up with practical slogans or catchy endings. Photo credit: Nancy Folbre
In the third interview in the Experts Talk series, UMass Amherst Professor Emeritus, New York Times Economix contributor and leading feminist economist Dr. Nancy Folbre discusses the importance of interdisciplinarity, the overconfidence economics has in the individual pursuit of self-interest and what she learned from reading the comments section on her New York Times pieces, among other topics.
Reviews Increase Your University's Applicant Interest and Engagement Levels
The answer is very simple and connected with the popular concept of social sharing: Reviews. There is no bigger factor influencing the choices of a potential applicant than other students’ descriptions of how good their experience was at a given university. At INOMICS we recognize how important reviews can be, so we now offer to our customers a complete review section to help maintain engaged potential students, current students and alumni. How does it work? We encourage you to share a link to your institution with your current and past students. In less than 5 minutes they can leave their positive comments about your teaching methods, educational opportunities and more. What about you leaving a review? You can help fellow professionals or students make smart choices for their careers. Share your experiences as an employee or a student on INOMICS - it will just take a minute! Simply enter the name of the institution at which you have studied or worked in the search bar of our website, click "Review" and tell us what you think! If you can't find the right institution just send us a short message at info@inomics.com and we'll make sure it appears on INOMICS! Have you already reviewed your institution? Then spread the word among your colleges and students. Help your institution gain popularity in the web.
Continuing with last month’s topic, it is known that quality information increases student interest in universities. We pointed out the relevance of giving detailed information in the promotion of programs, courses and scholarships. If a prospective student finds quality information and thereby recognizes the value of an institution, he or she is more likely to apply and stay engaged with the university over a lifetime. So how else can universities provide information to their candidates?
First Woman in History to Win the Top Math Prize Fields Medal
Field’s Medal prizes, which are often considered to be the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, are awarded to dedicated academics every four years. Scholars and math communities around the globe were ecstatic when the final decision of the ICM was announced today, as Mirzakhani’s complex works and theories concerning Riemann surfaces and algebraic geometry have been highly valued for many years. Dr. Maryam Mirzakhani was born in Tehran, Iran in 1977 and received her doctoral degree from Harvard University. She was an esteemed Research Fellow of the Clay Mathematics Institute from 2004-2006. Although she dreamed of becoming a writer at a young age, Mirzakhani began to develop a great interest in science and numbers, and eventually made her way to the International Mathematical Olympiads during her high school years. Today, Mirzakhani has made phenomenal contributions to mathematical disciplines concerning dynamical systems, moduli space and geometry. According to Math Union, “She has a strong geometric intuition that allows her to grapple directly with the geometry of moduli space. Fluent in a remarkably diverse range of mathematical techniques and disparate mathematical cultures, she embodies a rare combination of superb technical ability, bold ambition, far-reaching vision, and deep curiosity.” The first woman who won the Field’s Medal has quickly become a bright catalyst for change in the diverse world of mathematics. This landmark event will surely have a humongous impact on scholars and mathematicians for generations to come.
The infamous opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) was held today in Seoul, South Korea where Maryam Mirzakhani was awarded the Fields Medal, the most prestigious and honorable prize in the vast field of mathematics. Mirzakhani, an admired professor from the Departments of Mathematics at Stanford University in California, is the first female winner of the distinguished award that was established in 1936.
Quality Information Increases Student Interest in Universities
On the other side, marketing departments at universities look for the best option to attract students to their programs. Decisions about media channels dominate their strategies – but what about the content? Which information is best to give to students so that they choose the right programs? At INOMICS, we have thought about the best options to connect the needs of these groups by coming up with the new INOMICS platforms for Programs and Scholarships. The new categories give advertisers the possibility to offer prospective students high-quality information about their university and specific programs being offered. Moreover, it gives institutions the chance to include detailed information about courses, funding options and even hints about the percent of international students and class size. It has been proven that well informed students make better decisions and are more engaged with educational opportunities. At the same, it is known that high-quality leads are more valuable than untargeted advertising that results in low commitment from program applicants. Based on such information, our new products seek to give universities an opportunity to fully show their competitive advantage and state clear reasons why students should choose their institution for studying and developing their career. Are you interested in promoting your Master’s and PhDs programs to recruit high quality students? Are you interested in attracting high performing, committed students to your institution? Take a look at the opportunities INOMICS has to offer. Posting a program, posting a scholarship or combining these two options can give a clear boost to the number of applications and can help your university manage and promote its brand.
When a student chooses a program, it’s not only a decision about a subject and place of study, but also a choice regarding future career. Such a choice has a big impact on students’ dreams, plans, budgets and decisions that affect their personal and social life for at least the next 2 or 4 years.
Jobs Posted Over the Summer Get 3x More Applicants
There are several reasons for this phenomenon. First of all, the competition to get our users’ attention is lower. Many institutions promote their new open positions in peak seasons like spring or autumn, so potential applicants are not exposed to that many announcements during summer. This allows them to stay particularly focused on announcements listed on INOMICS. Additionally, summer is the best time to attract the attention of qualified yet “passive” candidates who are driven to the platform to look for other content, such as conferences. The CTR is calculated by taking the ratio of users who click the “Apply now” button to users viewing the announcement page. This ratio indicates how much interest potential candidates have in the announcement, and the probability of such a user submitting an application can be inferred from this data. To share your new positions with INOMICS users, take a look at our advertising options here.
Based on our experience here at INOMICS, as well as by examining site usage statistics, we can confirm that the click through rate (CTR) on Standard jobs advertised in summer is significantly higher than throughout the rest of the year.
Experts Talk: An Interview with Dr. Ed Dolan
Ed Dolan, who writes the popular Ed Dolan’s Econ Blog (which is also hosted on EconoMonitor), is the first expert we interviewed for a new series titled Experts Talk, conducted by INOMICS. We proposed this series as a way to tap into the experiences and ideas of leaders from diverse fields, with economics being the natural place for us to start. We were very pleased to have Dr. Dolan be our first guest in this series. We hope you find his answers as insightful and interesting as we do! Both your Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are in Russian Studies. How did you make the leap from the Russian and East-European Institute at Indiana University to earning a PhD in economics at Yale? When I started studying Russian in college, I concentrated on language and literature. By the time I graduated, I was getting nervous about career prospects as a Russian literature teacher, so I followed the advice of friends who suggested adding some more practical subject—economics in my case. The REEI at Indiana University was a perfect fit. It was a double Master’s degree program, one degree in Soviet area studies (more literature but with politics, geography, history and other subjects added) and simultaneously a Master’s degree in economics. From there, continuing to a PhD at Yale was a natural step. My studies at Yale included the expected broad background in economic theory and econometrics, but I kept up my interest in Russia by writing a dissertation on the early history of economic planning in the Soviet Union. After teaching at multiple American universities, including Dartmouth and the University of Chicago, you moved to Russia in 1990 and began teaching at the State Finance Academy. Can you briefly describe that experience? The “briefly” part is hard. It was quite an adventure. My wife (who is also a graduate of the REEI) and I had always been frustrated that we had never had the opportunity to live and work in Russia for an extended time—long enough to turn our bookish Russian into a real conversational fluency and to get a feel for everyday life in that country. Finally, Gorbachev’s perestroika gave us that chance, so we took the first teaching job we could find. In addition to the State Finance Academy, where I taught, we both taught for a small program, run by a former Soviet dissident now living in the United States, that offered American-style business courses to Russians. When we ran an ad in a Moscow paper for an entrance exam to the program, we were overwhelmed with 1,200 applications for sixty openings. Neither of those teaching jobs paid much, and life in the last two years of the Soviet era was pretty chaotic. We learned more about Russian everyday life than we bargained for—how to buy butter under the old Soviet three-line shopping system, how to make an international telephone call to our kids in college back home (unbelievably difficult), how to survive on a packed trolley bus, and lots of other useful skills. The cleaning woman on the hall where we lived at Moscow State University was convinced that we would starve to death since, with empty stores, the only way you could get food was through “connections.” She used to trade us chicken legs (which she got through a nephew who worked in a butcher shop) for aspirin (which we could buy for hard currency.) It was an interesting time. In 1993 you founded the American Institute of Business and Economics in Moscow. Could you give some insight into building an MBA program in post-Soviet Russia? How did your students compare to those you’d taught in the U.S.? The first thing that made it possible to build an MBA program from scratch, with no sponsoring university on the US side, was the energy and ability of our students. Most of them were graduates of the top institutes for math, physics, and engineering that had fed the Soviet military-industrial complex. They had skills in nuclear weapons design, laser-guidance systems, and the like that suddenly had no demand in Boris Yeltsin’s new Russia. Given their fantastic quantitative skills and strong motivation, it was a professor’s dream to introduce them to finance, economics, and accounting. The second thing that made the program possible was the enthusiastic support of the American and Western European business community in Moscow. Western firms by the dozens were opening offices in Moscow in the early 1990s, and they were hungry for employees who could speak English and understand basic business concepts. Some of them gave small grants, some sponsored students, and most important of all, they hired our graduates. Not that all of our students went to work for Western firms. Some started their own companies and others went to work for Russian companies that wanted to do business with the newly arriving Western firms. Whatever their choice, they were always in demand. The third thing that made building the school possible was the fact that there were no rules to follow and nobody paid any attention to us. In the first few years, while we were getting our feet on the ground, no one insisted that we get a license, no one demanded a bribe, no one at the official level even knew we were there. We never asked official permission to do anything, we just did it. Unfortunately, that blissful situation did not last long. By the late 1990s, more and more of our time went to dealing with fire inspectors, education commissions, and tax police. Hiring “consultants” to deal with these people drained money, energy, and morale. By the time Vladimir Putin arrived on the scene, we knew it was time to move on. Two of our people (one a former student, another a professor) agreed to take over the school, which they continue to run to this day. After eleven years, it was sad to leave Moscow, but in another way, the feeling was a little like what you get when you take off your ski boots at the end of a hard day on the slopes. Since the late 1990s you’ve held teaching positions at universities across Europe. Do you feel your diverse academic background was an asset in helping you along your professional trajectory? It is perhaps generous to call it a “professional trajectory.” That sounds like something planned in advance with a goal in mind. But yes, a diversity of experience helped. In my case, the diversity included not just teaching both in Europe and America, but also stints as a regulatory economist in Washington D.C. and as an adviser to the National Bank of Kazakhstan. After Moscow, teaching jobs in Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia added still more perspectives. Sometimes I open an economics journal and see an article written by a Yale classmate who, I realize, has held the same job for forty years or more. Most of them have professional resumes that are a lot more impressive than mine, but I probably have more experiences to draw on when I stand up in front of a class, and probably I’ve had more fun. Would you advise students interested in working as economists in academia today to pursue a Master’s degree and/or PhD or an MBA? I am a strong believer in the MBA degree. The interdisciplinary nature of the MBA—technical courses like economics and finance mixed with “soft” courses like leadership and marketing—gives a good basis for flexibility in building a career in business or government. I still think of a PhD in economics as mostly a teaching degree, and I encourage my students to go that route only if they are sure they want an academic life. A masters’ degree in economics seems to me to offer narrower alternatives than an MBA and not quite enough for academia. Having said that, though, I should note that one of my daughters has built a very good career in banking based on a Master’s degree in financial economics, so sometimes it can be just right. Global mobility is highly promoted and ever increasing – what advice can you give to young people studying or working abroad for the first time? First, although Americans probably need this advice more than Europeans, don’t neglect to study the language of the country you’re going to. Even if your working environment is all in English or your home language, just a smattering of the local language can make your living experience much richer. My command of Hungarian never got much beyond being able to ask for a half-kilo of duck liver at the butcher shop, but that was enough at least to get me a smile along with the kacsa maj. Second, keep your eyes open, ride public transport, shop where the locals do and absorb what you can. You’ll be surprised how those things help you in business situations, too. You say on your blog that you want to promote economic literacy. Do you feel you’ve made an impact in this area? Relatedly, how do you feel the public’s engagement with economics has changed in general since you entered the field? By college, if not earlier in their education, people sort themselves into “good with words” or “good with numbers”. The humanities draw mostly from the “good with words” group and economics from “good with numbers.” Because I started out in the humanities and got into economics by the back door of Russian area studies, I’m better with words than the average economist. That gives me a comparative advantage—I am happy to let others do the heavy lifting of econometrics and model building, and then translate their ideas into language that I hope a wider public can understand. I’m glad to say that I’ve had some success with that strategy, first with my textbooks and more recently with my blogging. As far as public engagement with economics—yes, people are engaged, in that they know economic events affect their lives and want to understand them, but at the same time, I think the gap between economics as written in the leading journals and anything a nonprofessional could actually read is wider than ever. In that sense, there is still a niche for translators. What impact has blogging had on your professional and/or personal life? Blogging has been great for me. I’m doing much less classroom teaching now that I was a few years ago, and I’ve never written much for academic journals, so it’s the perfect way for me to keep professionally engaged. I’m happy to say, also, that economics bloggers have a significant impact on public policy debates, especially in shaping what ideas are talked about and how they are framed. Have your views as an economist changed throughout your career? A lot has changed in the economics profession as a whole, of course. When I was in graduate school, the orthodox center was represented by a Keynesian-neoclassical synthesis that was challenged on the left by Marxists and on the right by monetarists. Marxism and monetarism are now just footnotes to the history of economic thought, but that does not mean the Keynesian-neoclassical synthesis of the 1960s has survived unchallenged. Instead, it is challenged from approaches to economics that either did not exist 50 years ago or that got virtually no attention—public choice theory, behavioral economics, Austrian economics, and modern monetary theory are all examples. Gradually over the years, I stopped trying to figure out which single approach represents “the truth” and became more appreciative of the fact that many different approaches offer useful insights. I think my international experience has had a lot to do with how my thinking has evolved. Very likely if I’d spent my whole career teaching in the United States, I would have become much more specialized and had a much narrower perspective. I can remember how disappointed I was when I didn’t get tenure in my first job at Dartmouth, but if I had, I would probably still be there, and I would have missed out on far more than could have foreseen at that time. Photo credit: Ed Dolan
We spoke with Dr. Dolan about his crossover interests in Russian literature and economics (and how he made that combination work to his advantage), his experience working in Moscow during the last years of the Soviet Union and why he recommends the MBA degree, among other topics.
The Benefits of International Students for Universities
Without any doubt, the mobilization of students is a popular topic nowadays among people interested in expanding their knowledge frontiers. However, what does it represent for university marketers? Speaking frankly, marketing departments at universities and other teaching institutes view international students as a gold mine. This is the case not only because of the high rates that they must pay to study in a foreign institution, but also because of the cultural richness have they provided to the academic and cultural environment. The monetary benefit that foreign students represent for their host institutions is well known. With higher universities fees and education taxes, foreigners are committed to paying around 50% more money than a standard national candidate. Recruitment planning and market forecasting make people experts on the topic, yet the potential of international students is still sometimes underestimated. In order to understand the multiple doors foreign students open to institutions, we decided to twist the topic and give it a new focus, emphasizing the benefits of having international students at universities. For instance: * International students enrich the diversity of the university * They enrich the experience of other students on the campus * They promote cultural awareness at the university: events and cultural groups allow students to share and learn from each other’s food and traditions * They promote new languages and cultural adaptability, which benefits both students and university staff. Interacting with people from other countries and continents increases the cultural adaptability of everyone at the university * They offer an opportunity to promote the university and country abroad: happy international students generate word of mouth promotion to their families and friends * They enrich classes with different perspectives on topics and theories: discussions and debates at university will be richer and will compile variety of thoughts * They bring diverse sources to research and discussions by using materials from their home country that peers might not have previously been familiar with There are many more benefits that apply to specific institutions and regions. However, careful thought does need to go into choosing the right international candidates for your university. It is important to watch for high quality applicants in terms of academic and language skills. No benefit is applicable if the new generation of students does not meet the performance of the institution. Finally, mission and vision play a key role. While mission stops marketers from being greedy and recruiting international students solely for profit purposes, vision helps in sketching the future of the university culture and fostering positive diversity.
Globalization has changed the panorama of the education, giving more options to students to choose the place where they want to study next. Nowadays, students from all over the world can enroll in a program in destinations they had never imagined. Moreover, high quality of education, career options and discovering of new cultures encourage young people to increase the percentage of foreign students at prestigious universities around the globe.
Why Internships are Important for All Organizations
1. Diversifying your team Sometimes employers think that it’s not worth it to train someone who will only remain in their organization for a short period. Interns can often fill important gaps, however, and their work can improve the efficiency of any team. Interns should not be hired in place of employees, but rather to boost growing areas or bring in a fresh outlook. Adding a new perspective can create the diversity necessary to prompt innovation and heighten the potential of a given department. 2. Expanding your workforce If you are looking to expand but are unsure about launching a full search for a new employee, beginning by offering internships is a lucrative alternative. In doing so, you can save time and money on a hiring search while also testing out a possible candidate. If you find that an intern fits well with your organization then you already have a loyal employee before they’ve even joined your staff. 3. Boosting your brand Even if you are not looking to expand your permanent staff, hiring interns is a great way to increase brand recognition. By offering a positive experience to a student or young professional, you can heighten the reputation of your organization exponentially. Through word of mouth, social media and other online sites, interns will bring a high level of online traffic to your organization’s site. Moreover, they will help build your reputation as a worthwhile employer, boosting your positive image in future employee’s eyes.
Although students and young professionals know that internships can be a great way to gain experience and help fill up their CVs, sometimes employers might not realize that hiring interns can be equally important for them and their organization. In order to highlight the ways in which internships can be mutually beneficial, we’d like to focus on three key reasons why hiring interns is advantageous for any organization.
But first, we wanted to highlight a few people bold enough to knowingly connect economics and comedy on a regular basis. Yoram Bauman, who earned his PhD in economics at the University of Washington, is the only person out there (as far as we could tell) who works as a Stand-Up Economist. He used to be featured on Comedy Central and can now be seen on the PBS NewsHour in the United States, and he also tours the country spouting economics-related humor on college campuses, in high school auditoriums and on the occasional military base. He uses stand-up comedy to push for issues like education reform and a carbon tax, the latter being something he was part of creating and promoting in British Columbia, Canada. Bauman got into the comedy world in 2003 after publishing a parody of the “ten principles of economics” in a journal focused on science humor called the Annals of Improbable Research. This journal promotes “research that makes people laugh and then think,” which seems like a logical sequence for articles combining science and humor. Improbable Research also hosts live shows, a newspaper column and a blog, all of which cover diverse topics in the realm where science and comedy intersect. Other economists who have expanded their careers into the lighter side of economics include Tim Harford, who goes by the moniker The Undercover Economist. Among his many accomplishments (radio host, weekly columnist, visiting fellow at Oxford), is the publication of a best-selling book also called The Undercover Economist, which delved into “familiar situations in unfamiliar ways.” This book, and much of Harford’s work, act as something of a British counterpart to the work of U.S. economist Steven D. Levitt, who co-authored the book Freakonomics, and now co-writes a blog and co-hosts a podcast, both of the same name. While not strictly related to humorous topics, the many endeavors of both Harford and Levitt push the boundaries of traditional economics to introduce the public to a world where any query can be answered with economic models and any economic model can be made interesting with timely real-world applications. Now to move onto those jokes we promised. These are taken from a few sites purely dedicated to economics humor, namely JokEc, Economics Jokes and Ahajokes, respectively. Q: How has French Revolution affected world economic growth? A: Too early to say. Q: Why did God create economists? A: In order to make weather forecasters look good. A party of economists was climbing in the Alps. After several hours they became hopelessly lost. One of them studied the map for some time, turning it up and down, sighting on distant landmarks, consulting his compass, and finally the sun.Finally he said, ‘OK see that big mountain over there?”Yes’, answered the others eagerly.’Well, according to the map, we’re standing on top of it.’ Comic image credit: xkcd (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License)
This April 1st, we figured we’d spare you another bogus announcement or unfortunate attempt at a corporate joke and instead delve into the murky place where economics and humor intersect. If all you’re hoping for is a few economist jokes, (like the classic “Three Economists Go Hunting” jab we highlighted in a previous entry), then don’t worry, you’ll find some of those at the end of the post.
Organizing a Conference: Most Common Challenges
1. Money: It is no surprise that finances, to a large extent, determine the success of the event – that is why it is vital to start searching for sponsors early. If you have a set budget from your depart- ment – use it wisely. Additionally, don’t forget that a conference fee, when paid in advance, can be a major source of financial means for the event, although it can prevent some qualified candidates from attending 2. Delegate Recruitment: The main take-away participants will have from a conference is their communication and experience exchange with peers. For this reason, qualified and active dele- gates are vital. However finding them, especially in big quantities, is always a challenge. 3. Speakers: The reputation of keynote speakers adds enormously to the reputation of a confe- rence. However, prominent people have busy schedules and usually have dozens of events to choose from. 4. The Right Time and the Right Place: Conferences on every topic have a lot of com- petition – scheduling an event smartly and avoiding an overlap with other major industry events is vital, but might not be easy. The right venue, right timing and right location always contribute to the success of the event. How to cope with these challenges? Even though there is no ultimate remedy for all prob- lems, the challenges mentioned above all require one fundamental thing: timely and smart promotion of the event. If you can bring your message and the value of the event to the right people, be it potential sponsors, delegates or speakers, many of these challenges can be avoided. Sure, there will be thousands of other con- ferences on similar topics, often with bigger resources or more prominent speakers. But if you can communi- cate effectively what makes your conference different, you will find your event can punch above its weight and increase its chance of all-round success. If you need any support presenting your conference in the best way, our team is always happy to support you, just drop us a short enquiry to info@inomics.com.
There are many reasons why institutions and individuals engage in conference organization, be it an international congress or a local workshop on a specific area of economics or finance. In academia, it is a great way to publicize your research work, to educate a wider public about a certain issue or simply to bring together experts from the same field and share the state of research. In business, it is the ultimate way to expand a network, market your company and often pave the way to future clients. Regardless of the type of institution, all conference organizers face the same challenges, especially when organizing an event for the first time.
In this post we have sought out a number of links to explain what Development Economics is, as well as two Master’s courses in this field taking new students in autumn this year. To start us off, here is a short introduction into Development Economics by Duke University Professor Duncan Thomas: https://youtu.be/L2BjgNvE61c Many aspects of the vast field of Development Economics are covered in the post “Economic Development Broadly Defined” by Joe A. Sumners from the Economic & Community Development Institute. This Investopedia article covers the promotion of economic growth in countries with an Emerging Market Economy. Development Economics was also adopted by the United Nations in their Millennium Development goals aimed at reducing extreme poverty and promoting education and sustainable growth. The article Competing Theories of Economic Development introduces the four schools of economic thought that fall under the general rubric of Development Economics (structuralism, the linear-stages-growth model, the neo-Marxist or dependency theory, and the neoclassical revival of the 1980s). One of the key economists currently exploring development-related topics is NYU Professor Debraj Ray. Check out his Notes for a Course in Development Economics to get more advanced insight into this topic. For frequent updates on issues in Development Economics visit Chris Blatman’s (Assistant Professor at Columbia University) blog. Master’s Courses in Development Economics: 1) MA Development Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands 2) MSc in Applied Labour Economics for Development at the International Training Centre of the ILO, Italy
Time and time again we hear economists seeking to answer the questions: “How and why some countries manage to get rich while others stay poor?” and “What can be done to change this fundamentally wrong situation?”. To help tackle these issues we are dedicating a series of blog posts to the field of Development Economics.
Economic Development, Innovation and Growth (JEL O)
His research was primarily in economic history, particularly a subsection thereof known as “Cliometrics,” which is the application of quantitative methods to the study of history. This field was popular as he emerged from his graduate studies and he is often referred to as one of the fathers of the discipline. In his autobiography he describes his motivations behind the study of economics and history as the, “naive belief that by combining the study of history and economics I would quickly discover the fundamental forces that had determined technological and institutional changes over the ages and that such knowledge would point to solutions to the current problems of economic instability and inequity.“ He started his academic journey with a Bachelors Degree in history and economics from Cornell in 1948. After a brief stint with the Communist Party, he returned to university for a Masters (Columbia, 1958) and a PhD (John Hopkins, 1964). Dr. Fogel made his break in the 1960s with his research on the railroad’s economic impact of railroads at the end of the 19th century, which culminated in his 1964 book Railroads and American Economic Growth. After this, he applied a similar model to the economics of slavery in the United States, naturally a very controversial topic. Two books emerged from this research, first, Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery (co-authored by Stanley Engerman) in 1974, followed by Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery in 1989. His Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, together with Douglass North of Washington University St. Louis was awarded for “for having renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods in order to explain economic and institutional change.” His obituary on the University of Chicago website can be found here.
We are sad to share the loss of a great economist yesterday. Robert Fogel, Nobel Laureate (1993, with Douglass North) passed away yesterday at the age of 86. He was a Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Founding Director of the Center for Population Economics.
Here is a list of links to economics blogs that are useful for understanding the concept of inequality and economists’ ideas on the topic; as well as a short list of conferences in the field taking place this summer. Links and resources: 1) This educational “Penny Game” helps clarify the underlying causes of unfair welfare distribution 2) OECD’s report on “Growing risk of inequality and poverty as crisis hits the poor hardest” 3) Post-crisis recovery is important, but it can also be uneven in its benefits and increase wealth inequality even more. Comments on that subject can read in The Wall Street Journal blog post: “Only Richest 7% Saw Wealth Gains From 2009 to 2011” 4) Stiglitz’s point of view is slightly different than the mainstream. His article “Inequality that is Holding Back the Recovery”, outlines his perspective. 5) A little bit old, but still relevant article about the vanishing middle class and the prospects of getting richer by investing in education: “Percentages and inequality: where is the middle class?” Conferences: 1) Inequality, Growth and the Middle-Income Trap in China on July 1-2, 2013 jointly organized by China Center for Economic Research, Peking University and Stockholm China Economic Research Institute, Stockholm School of Economics. 2) Fifth Meeting of the Society for the Study of Economics Inequality (ECINEQ) from July 22 -24, 2013 in Bari, Italy. The conference aims to address a rigorous analysis of inequality, welfare and redistribution issues. Former Image Credit: mSeattle
There exist two sides to every argument; in this one we have on one side a utopian world where everyone is equal and on the other a world where inhabitants don’t want to share what they’ve earned (presumably) by persistence and hard work with others and keep it for themselves. Herein lie the issues of inequality and the question of welfare and income redistribution. There are debates at every level of society, government and especially amongst economists as to where this problem comes from and how to tackle it.
Public Economics & Economic Policy (JEL H)
Christmas Economics: Which Countries Spend the Most and on What?
European consumers are not conservative when it comes to spending on Christmas celebrations either. But in which country are consumers most ready to spend their money on, and on what exactly? According to the survey conducted by Deloitte in 2012, the absolute leader in total Christmas spending in Europe is Ireland, where consumers are ready to spend an average of 966 euros per household, followed by Switzerland (817 euros per household) and Luxembourg (815 euros per household). In the Netherlands consumers are eager to spend the least among the countries surveyed, 287 euros per household, which is almost 4 times lower than in Ireland and even slightly less than spending in Poland (312 euros per household) and Ukraine (332 euros per household). Typically the largest part of the Christmas budget in all countries is allocated to gifts (about 50% of the budget). Additional food is the second major spending, with additional socializing being only the third most important. Consumers in the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine tend to spend the least on gifts, whereas consumers in the UK, US, Finland and France are among the most ready to pay for gifts.* The amount spent on food is the highest in Spain (279 euros), Finland (278 euros) and South Africa (214 euros).* If you want to compare this with spending during other holidays, have a look at our post about Halloween Economics. *(excluding the top spenders: Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland).
Sources: Christmas Spending Survey 2012, Deloitte; NRF’s Holiday Survival Kit (US only); HSBC Christmas Spending Survey 2012 (UK only) The Christmas Season is probably the heaviest burden for family budgets among all the annual holidays, and the best business opportunity for retailers. In the US alone estimations of spending on Christmas-related items hit $586.1 billion in 2012.