The Tragedy of the Commons is similar to the Prisoner’s Dilemma. In both scenarios, individuals could be made better off if they cooperated. However, private incentives prevent them from doing so, because each player’s dominant strategy is not to cooperate. In both cases, this results in a non-cooperative Nash Equilibrium. One key difference between the two is that Prisoner’s Dilemma scenarios usually refer to situations where participants face an all-or-nothing decision, know their “opponent”, and strategize accordingly. Meanwhile, Tragedy of the Commons scenarios usually refer to collective action problems where individuals may not know each other. Further, these participants usually have a much harder time understanding or measuring how their actions affect others. Tragedy of the Commons scenarios also tend to entail longer time periods and include more participants than Prisoner’s Dilemma examples. An example of a Tragedy of the Commons scenario is fishing in the ocean. The ocean is a vast resource that many nations in the world have access to. It holds an abundant but finite supply of fish. Crucially, nobody owns the ocean, and it is very difficult for one nation to prevent another one from fishing. Each (coastal) nation’s fishing industry can freely access the ocean and send out fishing boats, where the only costs it must pay are the cost of its own fishing equipment and labor. Then, if this nation maximizes its profit function from ocean fishing, it will choose a privately optimal level qi. But, if every nation chooses to fish its own qi, the supply of fish in the ocean will be reduced below the replacement level (the point at which the supply of fish in the ocean will naturally replenish itself). This leaves fewer and fewer fish left in the ocean each year, making everyone worse off. Let’s assume in this example that the replacement level is also the socially optimal level of fishing qo. Then, the sum of all qi, q1 + q2 + … + qN > qo, which means that society is overfishing. Each year, the amount of fish in the ocean will be less than the previous year, lowering the utility of all fishing nations. Without an agreement, nations will eventually reduce the stock of fish to near-zero. This will cause the fishing industry to disappear, lowering economic output and reducing the well-being of all nations. But by cooperating, nations can divide qo by a fair amount that ensures the fishing industry will survive (call it qfair). In the long run, this outcome is better for all participants. Unfortunately, each individual nation has an incentive to fish qi > qfair, since that is their private utility-maximizing level of production. Thus each nation has an incentive to cheat, and it is difficult to ensure cooperation. By agreeing to fish only qfair, each nation is making a privately suboptimal choice compared to qi since the profit realized from fishing qfair is less than that realized from fishing qi (as qi > qfair). So, each nation is individually better off not cooperating and hoping that other nations will step up and maintain the oceans on their own. In economics, this tendency to “slack off” is known as a free-rider problem. This situation is similar to the problem of negative externalities in a market. Indeed, in this case, the privately optimal solution for each nation qi fails to take into account the negative externality of overfishing on the nation’s neighbors. If the “cost” of a reduced fish stock was paid for by each nation when it overfished, each nation would be properly incentivized to fish the socially optimal amount. Then, the Tragedy of the Commons problem would disappear. When factoring in the difficulty of tracking how much each nation is fishing, having every nation agree to a fair quota, and then enforcing the quotas, it’s easy to see how a Tragedy of the Commons situation can remain unsolved. Good to Know The Tragedy of the Commons is usually used to describe scenarios where many parties have access to the same rival, non-excludable resource. Rival means that the good in question is made less abundant or enjoyable for others when an individual uses it. Non-excludable means that others cannot be prevented from using the resource. This creates a scenario where each individual is incentivized to consume as much as they can without regard to others. Other common examples of a Tragedy of the Commons scenario include greenhouse gas emissions, usage of public parks, and even community areas like kitchens that are shared between roommates. However, all is not lost in a Tragedy of the Commons scenario. One shining example of such a problem that was overcome: the closing of the hole in the Earth’s ozone layer that was discovered in 1985 by Jonathan Shanklin. Nations of the world, alarmed by this discovery, cooperated and moved to quickly ban the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that were causing the problem. The ozone layer has been steadily recovering since.
In economics, the Tragedy of the Commons is a scenario in game theory. It’s a situation where a commonly shared resource is over-exploited because the users of the resource do not have a private incentive to maintain it. But, if nobody maintains the resource, everyone is made worse off than if it had been maintained.
Public Economics & Economic Policy (JEL H)
30 Top Twitter Feeds in Economics and Finance
On economics Twitter, anyone can challenge big name economists whom they otherwise wouldn’t have access to, promoting discussion. Many early-career researchers use the platform to share their job market papers, get in front of would-be employers, and advertise conference panels they are attending. Importantly, Twitter has also been a forum to call out abusive behavior against female economists with #EconMeToo. Although Twitter’s issues since Elon Musk took ownership of the platform have been widely publicized, no platform has yet achieved its level of reach and usability. Mastodon is one alternative that is becoming more popular, especially within well-defined niches like economics, but lacks the scale of Twitter. Whether you’ve been Tweeting since the site began or you’ve never sent a tweet, this list of thirty top economics and finance Twitter feeds includes many economists and organizations whose insight might be interesting for you. It includes institutions, individuals and groups from across the political and academic spectrum. In addition to this list (which is offered in no particular order), we of course encourage you to stay up to date with us @INOMICS. 1. @jenniferdoleac - Jennifer Doleac is an economics professor at Texas A&M University, host of the Probable Causation Podcast, and has been at the forefront of documenting #EconMeToo and pushing for meaningful action to stop the wide-scale abuse of female faculty and students. 2. @Mylovanov - Tymofiy Mylovanov is the President of the Kyiv School of Economics and Tweets of his daily experiences of running the school during the war and the daily threat of rocket attacks. 3. @Wootenomics - Econ Educator & UG Director at Virginia Tech who is the author of Parks and Recreation and Economics, which explains the foundations of economics through NBC’s hit TV show Parks and Recreation. 4. @rethinkecon - This Twitter handle shows students coming together to challenge their economic curricula and demand for better in society and in the classrooms. 5. @adam_tooze - Economic Historian Adam Tooze is an economic historian renowned internationally for his insights into the global economy. Read our exclusive interview with Adam Tooze. 6. @Nouriel Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics at NYU Stern School and former advisor to both the US Treasury and the White House, who is credited with predicting the 2008 financial crisis before it happened despite widespread belief that the collapse wasn't coming. 7. @izakaminska Izabella Kaminska, Financial Times Alphaville reporter on energy, central banks, markets and more. 8. @EconomicsinTen - Twitter account for the 'Economics in Ten' Podcast - Voted PodBible's 'OH. MY. POD. Independent Podcast of 2019' & named one of the top 25 Economics Podcasts by the Intelligent Economist. 9. @umairh Umair Haque, economist and contributor to Harvard Business Review. 10. @KhoaVuUmn - Heading out onto the job market in 2022/23, Khoa Vu made a name for themselves Tweeting while a PhD Candidate at U of Minnesota. 11. @RBReich Robert Reich, economist, Berkeley professor and former US Secretary of Labor. 12. @JosephEStiglitz - Joseph Stiglitz is a renowned Nobel laureate based in Columbia University and former chief economist at the World Bank. 13. @katie_martin_FX Katie Martin, Dow Jones currencies editor, and Wall Street Journal contributor. 14. @akibritcioglu - For our Turkish-speaking readers, be sure to follow Aykut Kibritçioğlu. 15. @qmuleconomics - An example of how to run an engaging Twitter profile as an Economics school, check out the feed of the School of Economics & Finance at Queen Mary, London. 16. @economistmeg Megan Greene, Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council, Chief Economist at Maverick Intelligence with focus on Europe. 17. @JustinWolfers Justin Wolfers, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at University of Michigan. 18. @DSchindlerEcon - Associate Professor of Economics at Tilburg University in the Netherlands who regularly posts about issues affecting the economics job market. 19. @delong J. Bradford DeLong, Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley, and blogger. 20. @lindayueh Linda Yueh, BBC Chief Business Correspondent, economist, and professor. 21. @benbernanke Ben Bernanke, former chair of the US Federal Reserve and co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Economics. 22. @UnlearnEcon a behavioral economist who also runs a YouTube channel about economics. 23. @MargRev Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, economics professors at George Mason University run a well-known blog for economists at marginalrevolution.com. 24. @Austan_Goolsbee Austan Goolsbee, Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth School of Business. 25. @agaviriau Alejandro Gaviria, economist and current Minister of National Education of Colombia (Twitter feed is in Spanish). 26. @ModeledBehavior Adam Ozimek, economist and blogger. 27. @MatinaStevis Matina Stevis, Wall Street Journal economics reporter in Europe. 28. @cullenroche Cullen Roche, Orcam Financial Group and Pragmatic Capitalism. 29. @garyseconomics - Former trader turned inequality economist gives a critical and alternative perspective on the economy and how it's rigged in the favor of the rich. 30. @BrianCAlbrecht - Applied economic theorist on competition and information with active Twitter feed and a newsletter. Did we mention that INOMICS is also on Twitter? Follow us to get updates about the latest opportunities in economics, as well as news and insights. Happy scrolling! Header image picture credit: Naturelady on Pixabay (Free for use under the Pixabay Content License)
Over the years, Twitter has become a useful and prominent tool within the social media fabric, particularly for professionals looking to network and make connections. Many renowned economists use Twitter, and economics researchers often post research updates using the #EconTwitter hashtag.
In an earlier post we showed which countries spend the most and on what. This article will concentrate more on the economic arguments for and against the Christmas season. Without further ado, read on for our list of interesting economics articles and arguments about Christmas. 1. The paper “Present values: The Economics of Christmas” by Frontier Economics describes how game theoretical concepts such as signalling, sequencing and reciprocity can be applied to Christmas and what deadweight loss is caused while buying presents. 2. “Commerce Claus” tells the reader how Christmas gift-giving helps commit a major sin in economic theory – destroying value. Nevertheless, we’ve compiled our list of gift ideas for the economist in your life; ‘tis the season, after all! 3. Learn about fake vs. real Christmas trees and the whole industry behind it in the Economist’s article “Christmas tree wars: Making fir fly”. 4. “The economics of Christmas presents” describes how one can model the utility function of agents giving and getting gifts. It argues that gift-giving is not a waste by accounting for the surprise factor and how different people react to receiving gifts. 5. Chris Snowdon from the Adam Smith Institute gives an opposite opinion on the above topic in his post “The economics of Christmas”. He suggests that market failure in gift-giving can not be avoided due to asymmetric information. 6. The “goods” and the “bads” of consumer spending are covered in the musical Christmas economics video “Deck the Halls with Macro Follies“ by EconStories. Made at the end of 2012, this delightful video presents the ideas of several renowned economists about savings, spending and growth. 7. Marginal Revolution University has posted their own take on the Christmas gifts debate in an informative and light-hearted video. They eventually settle on giving cash to charity as an efficient gift that also supports the holiday spirit of giving. You can watch it on their channel here. 8. The consulting firm Deloitte frequently conducts a United States-focused holiday spending survey, to project economic outcomes from holiday shopping. For the 2022 holiday season, they have published a report that includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday trends, the effect of inflation on holiday shopping, travel expectations, and more. 9. David Kyle Johnson writes in the London School of Economics blog, attempting to debunk the myth that Christmas spending is good for the economy. He argues that consumer spending at Christmas time, while healthy for the economy, is probably only being shifted from other times of the year. That is, Christmas merely concentrates consumer spending at the end of the year, and doesn’t create additional spending on its own. Give the article a read at LSE’s blog. 10. For a balanced article that discusses the positive and negative sides of the economics of Christmas gift-giving, check out Wired’s “Economists want you to have the most boring Christmas possible”. This article details the deadweight loss argument for why gift giving is inefficient, as well as the counter-arguments for why that idea is too narrow-minded – including the fact that 54% of surveyed economists disagreed that gift giving during the holidays is inefficient. 11. Finally, for a semi-academic look at the economics of Christmas, see Laura Birg and Anna Goeddeke’s spirited article “Christmas economics: a sleigh ride”. In it, they find insufficient evidence to support the welfare gain or loss theories of Christmas. But, they do discuss the pre-holiday effect, gas prices, employment, the Christmas tree market, and more – all from the perspective of Santa and his reindeer. Plus, they even provide a holiday soundtrack to accompany your reading! No matter which theory appeals to you and what attitude you have about Christmas presents, we wish you happy holidays and best of luck with all your shopping and celebrating endeavors! Header image picture credit: Pexels via Pixabay (Free to use under the Pixabay content license)
Christmas is approaching. For many people this is a magical season, filled with songs and decorations, when you hope that all your wishes come true. Others consider Christmas to be a stressful time when you need to rush around to get presents for all your friends and family.
Student Debt Relief Applications Now Available for US Citizens
To qualify for the debt relief, applicants must have an annual income less than $125,000. Borrowers who received a Pell Grant are additionally eligible for another $10,000, for a total possible relief amount of $20,000 (Pell Grants are a type of need-based aid reserved for low-income students in the US). The applications are available in English and Spanish, and are notably simple and easy to complete. The information required to apply for the forgiveness is mainly simple demographic information, and takes only a few minutes. Applicants will not have to dig up obscure documents, find original certificates, or even provide banking information. As such, we recommend that any readers from the United States with outstanding student loan debt complete the application. It can be found at the US Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid office’s website (StudentAid.gov), until applications close on December 31, 2023. Eligible borrowers living abroad have reported difficulty submitting the application, as the official government website appears to deny access to the application on devices outside the United States. If you are experiencing similar issues, using a VPN to submit the application appears to work. Alternatively, the application is simple enough to allow a friend or relative in the US to submit the application in your stead, though you must provide valid contact information. Student loan repayments were originally suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the economic uncertainty that the pandemic wrought. This suspension has been repeatedly extended by the federal government in the time since. It is unclear if the debt relief will be available for borrowers by the time payments are scheduled to resume. Arguments for and against the debt relief Sentiments about the student loan forgiveness are mixed. Proponents of the plan say that it is a step in the right direction to alleviate the massive amounts of federal student loan debt that plague US consumers. According to Forbes, there is roughly $1.75 trillion in outstanding US student loan debt, of which 92% is from federal loan sources. The average amount of debt stands at $28,950. Thus, Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan would alleviate much of the burden on individuals. Supporters of the plan argue that this relief will allow consumers to spend their money on items that can boost the economy. Meanwhile, critics of Biden’s plan argue that the relief will damage the economy by worsening the inflationary pressures that already exist. Many also argue that the debt relief is unfair to those who already paid off their loans, and people who did not take out loans to finance their education. Ultimately, the debt relief burden will be on the shoulders of taxpayers, and people may be unhappy with their tax dollars being used to reduce others’ debt instead of serving the public more broadly. Legal Status of the Student Loan Debt Forgiveness as of November 24th, 2022 After the announcement of Biden’s forgiveness plan, a lawsuit filed jointly by six state legislatures (those of Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa and South Carolina) stymied the progress of the debt relief. On November 14th, 2022, a federal court extended the decision to block the US Department of Education from erasing the debt. However, this ruling came after the US Supreme Court declined to accept a separate legal challenge regarding the debt relief on November 4th, so it is unclear whether or not the plan will be blocked permanently. Other similar legal challenges have been filed, mostly by right-wing politicians who claim that the relief is unconstitutional or would harm the economy. Although these legal challenges have pushed back the initial release of the application and have left the fate of the debt relief uncertain, the Biden administration still recommends that borrowers submit the application. Header image credit: QuinceCreative on Pixabay (Free for use under the Pixabay content license).
In late August 2022, US President Joe Biden fulfilled a campaign promise by announcing that the government would be providing US citizens with student loan debt-relief. US citizens can apply for up to $10,000 in debt cancellation via this loan forgiveness program. On October 17th, 2022, the US Department of Education opened up applications on StudentAid.gov.
How to improve diversity in an economics department - a reflection
It is important to have a diverse classroom in economics, because it brings richness in intellectual exchange, and because economics deals with contemporary policy issues that affect everyone – not just the visible majority. In the economics department at St. Lawrence University, a small liberal arts college in upstate New York, we considered ways to increase the diversity of our majors while improving the professional climate in our department. We developed our diversity plan in the academic year 2021-2022 and immediately started work on implementation. This brief reflection on our comprehensive approach to diversity offers some advice to academic departments who are looking to make a difference. 1. Acknowledge the problem but highlight existing strengths Before investing in diversity initiatives, it is important to conduct an honest assessment of the status quo. Using institutional data from 2011 to 2015 curated by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, we took a critical look at the demographics of our majors and found that women tend to major in economics at lower rates, both at St. Lawrence and in our “New York 6” liberal arts college peer group. However, 21.7% of African American men at St. Lawrence major in economics, more than twice the rate of any other school in the peer group. St. Lawrence also has much higher rates for Asian American men (31.3%) and Asian American women (14.8%) than similar schools. While women remain underrepresented among our majors (5.6% of white women and 3.9% of minority women study economics at St. Lawrence), racial minorities tend to choose economics as their major at relatively higher rates and this is something to be recognized. Economics is a global profession. According to the 2020 NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates, 56.6% of US doctoral recipients in economics were temporary visa holders. Likewise, our department contains economics professors from six different countries. To capitalize on this strength, we developed a learning goal centered around understanding inequities in both the United States and abroad, a focus that will expose students to international perspectives on economic issues. We also found that faculty in our department teach diversity or equity content in 10 regularly offered courses, including topics related to discrimination, income inequality, and how macroeconomic policy impacts different demographic groups. This provides a strong starting point for integrating these issues more broadly into our curriculum. 2. Start small The lack of diversity in economics can seem overwhelming, but starting small helped our department build momentum. We first focused on things we could do right away, such as updating our website imagery and building a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion tab that provides our department’s diversity statement and resources for both faculty and students. We also expanded our elective course offerings to include the economics of gender, immigration, and the Chinese economy to attract students from a variety of backgrounds and better utilize faculty expertise. Further, by using our existing research seminar series, we invited a speaker to discuss gender pay disparities. We were also able to support the founding of the Women in Economics Club, a student organization that focuses on professional development, financial literacy, and creating an inclusive environment for students of all genders. These simple efforts garnered support from across the university, encouraging us to continue working towards larger aspirations. 3. Approach the issues from different angles Diversity issues that impact our students are inherently linked with issues that affect faculty, and vice versa. In recent years, the economics profession has faced a reckoning in response to a long-standing culture of bias and discrimination. We recognize that these issues in the broader profession affect all departments and understand the importance of proactively maintaining an environment that is welcoming to all. Specifically, we considered the challenges faced by international faculty and are exploring ways to improve tenure-track faculty mentoring across diverse cultural backgrounds. In fact, foreign-born faculty in our department may play an important role in improving the diversity of our undergraduate majors as they include both women and people of color. Recent research suggests that students are more likely to select economics as their major if they learn from a faculty member who looks like them. Therefore, fostering an inclusive environment for existing diverse faculty can also improve student outcomes, especially for students from underrepresented backgrounds. 4. Expect challenges There are many challenges with promoting diversity initiatives. We learned to expect resistance and to respond, not with discouragement, but with careful reflection and improved communication. Resource limitations can be difficult to overcome, and that is why it is useful to take advantage of outside programs. We developed a relationship with the University of Chicago’s Expanding Diversity in Economics Summer Institute, a workshop for undergraduate students aimed at increasing diversity in the profession. Last summer, two St. Lawrence students participated in this competitive and prestigious opportunity, where they engaged in skill developing coursework taught by top scholars in the field. Diversity and inclusion work also includes taking risks, because not every effort will be effective. For example, a recent study indicates that “light-touch” interventions or “nudges” such as e-mail messages with basic information on the economics major do not increase the probability that female students will go on to study economics. Our knowledge about what works continues to evolve, but if we expand our efforts across many dimensions, we are more likely to be successful. 5. Document your efforts We found it important to outline our diversity initiatives in writing to encourage commitment, to foster transparency, and to think tangibly about our efforts. We developed a comprehensive strategic plan that contains concrete steps, responsibilities, and timelines for putting the department’s goals into practice. Documenting efforts can also make it easier to apply for external funding or to prioritize existing resources. It also helps ensure that goals are feasible, assessable, and forward-looking. Importantly, we should recognize and codify diversity work as a valued service in the economics profession. We have already observed student interest in diversity issues in response to our plan of action. A course on the economics of gender, offered in spring 2022, filled on the second day of registration with several students requesting a spot on the waitlist. At our university’s student activities fair, 80 students signed up to receive information about our Women in Economics Club. While this is promising, it will take time for the benefits of our efforts to be fully realized. We need to be comfortable with the fact that diversity work will be ongoing and requires persistence, resilience, and pragmatic solutions. Header image picture credit: Pixabay.com
Economics is a popular major in the US, but relatively few women and historically underrepresented minority students choose it as their field of study. This reality is reflected in stagnant US graduation trends; women earn approximately 30% of bachelor’s degrees in economics, and Black, Hispanic, and Native American students earn less than 15%.
Causes of a Recession Recessions are natural phases of the business cycle that can “cause” significant economic damage (the underlying cause of any given recession is what affects economic outcomes, not the label “recession” itself). Almost always during a recession, productivity and employment fall. Lower output and lower employment translate to lower economic growth and less overall utility. Usually, consumer spending falls as well, especially as demand for non-essential goods and services declines. Recessions are often caused by a mixture of exogenous and endogenous factors. When different factors in an economy create a negative feedback loop, these factors may feed into each other and lead to a full-blown recession. In this case, the causes are endogenous, because they occur due to interactions of market forces and market participants. An example is the Great Recession of 2008, which began due to moral hazard-induced risky lending behavior (among other market-related factors). In short, banks packaged high-risk loans together and sold them, leading to a market with over-valued assets. Once people began to default on their loans, many of these assets were revealed as worthless as the housing bubble burst. This led to a series of bank crises that crashed the world economy. Other times, a recession can be prompted by an external, or exogenous, event that isn’t caused by market forces – like a drought. These events can cripple the economy’s ability to function normally, and are often depicted in economic models as negative shifts of aggregate demand or supply. Regardless of its cause, the welfare impact of a recession is not evenly distributed. People who lose their jobs due to a recession will find their well-being severely reduced, while some individuals may even benefit. For example, wealthy individuals can sometimes utilize a recession to buy property or capital at cheaper rates than during normal economic times. Identifying a Recession One often-touted method to identify a recession is the idea that two consecutive quarters of reduced economic activity signals one. However, this is not an official definition. It is merely a rule of thumb. In practice, an official government body may declare when a recession is or has occurred. For example, in the United States, this is the National Bureau of Economic Research’s “Business Cycle Dating Committee”. Other times, a recession may be recognized when a majority of economists believe the time period qualifies as one. Regardless of who recognizes them, most recessions are not labeled immediately. Macroeconomic variables used to detect recessions, such as the unemployment rate, take some time to be measured. For this reason, policy responses to recessions tend to lag behind as well. One useful tool to help identify a likely recession is the yield curve. The yield curve is a graph that shows the relationship between time to maturity and the yield (i.e., payout) for various debt instruments like government bonds. This tool is one of few that can be used in an up-to-date fashion, because debt instruments for sale on the market can be measured now. But, yields are still in anticipation of the future, so this curve still relies on the market’s predictions about the future and as such is not perfectly accurate. During ordinary times, the yield curve is upward-sloping, i.e. yield increases for bonds with longer time-to-maturity. But during a recession this yield curve often becomes inverted, meaning that short-term bonds have higher rates of return than long-term bonds. This happens when the risk of default in the short term is high, so rates of return must be increased to make those investments attractive. Alternatively, this might signal that lenders expect interest rates to fall in the future. This is one indication that the economy is performing poorly at present and can help identify a recessionary period, though it is not a foolproof method. Despite the uncertainty, some telltale signs of a recession include increasing unemployment and falling productivity (perhaps as measured by GDP or GDP growth). Further Reading COVID-19 is one example of an exogenous shock that caused a recession in recent times. In his 2021 book, Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy, Adam Tooze recounts the tumultuous year 2020. He examines the pandemic through the lenses of finance, business, and politics to explain how the exogenous shock caused the world’s economy to fracture, and reveals the vulnerabilities in the ways people typically conduct commerce. Good to Know Although we hear about recessions often in the news and in politics, the IMF has estimated that the countries of the world from 1960-2007 were only in recession 10% of the time. Moreover, they find that recessions lasted about one year on average and decreased GDP by 2% on average. A recession that is severe enough may be labeled a depression instead. Economic depressions are extreme recessions that damage the economy more and last longer than a recession, like the Great Depression that began in 1929. In comparison to the rule of thumb for labeling a recession, economists usually label one a depression when there is at least a 10% drop in GDP. Unlike recessions, depressions usually last for multiple years1. Sources: 1: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/recess.htm
In economics, a recession is a period of time with a prolonged or significant decline in economic activity. This can involve high levels of unemployment and inflation, and cause many people to experience economic distress. Although this term is used by politicians and laypeople frequently, economists may disagree about when a recession is occurring.
Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics (JEL E)
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While all Announcement levels from Basic up include your logo, Standard additionally allows an image gallery, and Featured/Premium Announcements are displayed with a header image behind the logo on the page, and in search results. This really helps your Announcement to stand out and means that your institution’s branding is communicated too. Learn more about how to publish an Announcement on INOMICS. Can I add specific add-ons to increase exposure? If you know a certain type of promotion will work for your Announcement, we can work with you to build a custom campaign with additional visibility. For example you can add banners to appear on the INOMICS website, book additional email alert inclusions or custom emails that we send on your behalf to a section of our audience. We can level up your social media exposure with targeted mentions on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, or a mixture via our Multi-Channel Promotion. 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Studying in Europe - a US American Student's Experience in Berlin, Germany
1) What is your degree in/what are you studying? Masters of Science in Business Administration. I will write my thesis with the Management chair. 2) What has been your favorite economics course and why? I have a couple favorite economics courses; namely, Game Theory, European Economic History 1 and 2, and Geography and Growth. What I like about all these courses is that they are challenging and relate directly to human behavior. All of these courses provide one with a new lens to view and understand the world. I particularly liked the European Economic History courses, because it helped me to understand how we came to our current (European) world. This is particularly interesting for a native US-American, as I grew up with history focused around the USA. Meaning, I had a basic knowledge of European history, and of other continents for that matter. It is interesting to learn about history from not only another continent/country’s perspective, but also from an economic perspective. <11an>limit:3;categories:Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> 3) Were you surprised by anything? What was unexpected about studying in Germany or Europe? Naturally, there are differences between studying in Germany (or Europe) compared to the USA. However, I am always curious and open to experiencing something new; so I seldom feel surprised, rather fascinated, when I am met with a new experience. I guess, besides the differences in tuition, I was most intrigued to experience the difference in how universities are organized. In the USA, every student is assigned an advisor who recommends classes based on your interests and who emails you reminders for class enrollment deadlines. In Germany, perhaps because tuition is less expensive and, therefore, may have fewer resources to provide such extra assistance, every student is in charge of their own studies. I love it. Every student takes on the responsibility of choosing their own classes, finding out their own deadlines, etc. There is a feeling of more freedom in choosing the direction of your program here. Plus, this creates a community (or during the Covid shutdowns, a WhatsApp group) in which students are very willing to help each other out in navigating university structure and sharing experiences of different classes and professors. 4) What were the cultural differences you experienced (in schooling and academic life)? How is education different here? Failing. In Germany, students are typically allotted three attempts to pass an exam. This is unheard of in the USA university system. Further, my personal attitude about failing has changed since arriving in Germany. Rather than viewing failure of an exam as being synonymous with unintelligence or inability, I view failing as simply meaning that one has not learned the required material yet. Nothing more. Additionally, in Germany, professors usually do not provide students with a clear-cut catalog of which material will be on an exam. In the USA, I often had professors who would tell us to ignore certain chapters and to focus on others for the exams; whereas the professors in Germany seldom give such hints. I think this ties into students having more responsibility, and being expected to acquire the skills to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information, and how to prioritize certain topics. 5) What cultural differences did you experience in non-academic life? There are many cultural differences between the USA and Germany that I don’t think are easy to spot on the surface. The countries can seem similar but they can differ in the smallest of details that I still notice with time. I have listed a few more obvious cultural differences, because I find it hard to explain the smaller ones without writing what sounds like a generalization. I think generalizations are difficult, especially, since these small differences could simply be differences between me and a German friend, rather than a larger trend within Germany. Recycling & Pfand - trash must be separated into the appropriate bins, whereas in the US all trash usually goes into the same bin. Pfand incentivizes recycling by adding a “tax” to plastic and glass bottles that individuals receive back upon recycling the bottle. Germany is incredibly well-organized and efficient (but sometimes the bureaucracy also takes longer than expected). Even the smallest process is made to be efficient, such as registering to take a Covid-19 rapid test with a QR-code or finding available doctors in all of Berlin via DoctoLib. When people move apartments/homes in Germany, they uninstall and move the entire kitchen and all the light fixtures. Sometimes even the flooring. That rarely, if ever, happens in the USA Small talk and smiling to strangers on the street happens less often in Germany compared to the Midwest USA Public transport is widespread, relatively cheap, and reliable in Germany, whereas I rarely utilized public transportation in the midwest USA. There are student discounts for many, many things and stores in Germany Traditional dancing – I have the feeling most people take ballroom dance classes as children/teenagers in Germany; whereas in the USA, I hardly know anyone in my age group who can do a traditional dance 6) What was the process for applying to school and moving to Germany like? For me, I bought a one-way ticket to Germany without much planning. After that decision, I started contacting German companies while I was still in the US to organize internship interviews. I regularly ran into the problem that my German language level wasn’t high enough yet (A1 at the time) or that I didn’t have student status. However, there were companies that were interested and set up interviews with me. As backup, I had organized interviews with families for Au Pairing. My intention was to find an internship in order to get some work experience leading up to applying and then attending a Master’s program here in Germany. However, COVID-19 started just a week after my arrival, subsequently delaying my internship and, at the time, potentially canceling it. Therefore, the immigration office gave me a “Fiktionsbeschieinigung” (translating as a “fictional certificate”, a kind of temporary residence permit) to allow me to stay while attending the online intensive language courses at the Goethe Institut. When it was clear that my internship would still take place, the immigration office attached “Arbeitserlaubnis” (work permit) to my visa, meaning I was allowed to work. My initial situation was rather unique given the circumstances, but the rest of the process for obtaining a student visa was standard. I assume many other international students will have to complete these following steps as well. First, I required an address in order to get my visa and that added a bit of stress. When one does find an apartment in Germany, it’s important to ensure that “Anmeldung” is permitted. Anmeldung means that one registers themselves with the local government at a specified address. I needed this address to get a visa. Further, for the first year of studying in Germany, one will need to prove financial stability, or rather, the ability to finance one’s stay for a whole year. This can be done by showing historical financial statements or by setting up a “Sperrkonto”. A Sperrkonto is a type of bank account where one must deposit a substantial amount of money up front and then, like a monthly allowance, this bank account makes a fraction of the original deposit available to the person every month. It’s to ensure that one can afford their first year's stay and can be a bit overwhelming for students as it’s typically over €10.000. While the process entails many steps, it was straightforward. The Ausländerbehörde (department for foreign residents) website clearly outlined what one needs to prepare and bring to an appointment. I would suggest making the appointment ASAP, as they are typically booked quite far in advance. Also, in my experience, all of the application documents were in German. Back then, I required help from a friend to translate both the documents and the conversation at my appointments. Lastly, paying for the visa requires one to pay in cash, although this may hopefully change as card payments are becoming increasingly accepted. 7) What were the best resources to help you in your econ courses? Other students. Making friends with other students is important simply for the social factor of having friends, but also for learning. I, personally, find it much easier to grasp a concept when I am discussing or trying to explain it to someone else. Plus, the camaraderie helps the pre-exam stress. 8) What other advice do you have for Americans who might want to study in Germany or Europe? DO IT. I say, try it out and if you don’t like it, you can always change it. We all only have one life, and we have the ability to change it drastically. If you do officially decide to study and/or move to Germany/Europe, then I suggest stressing less about the move in the last weeks before your flight and enjoy the time with your friends and family. I moved to Germany just weeks before the COVID-19 shut down and I was very grateful that I had dedicated my last month in the USA to spending quality time with my friends and family, even though it meant I sent fewer job/internship applications. Everything works out how it should. 9) What are your plans after graduation? I will find a job and stay in Germany long term. Since I am open to settling down in a variety of German cities, I will determine where I go next based on where I find a job. To work in Germany, I will need a work visa, meaning I’ll need to find a company willing to sponsor me. As a graduate from a German university, I can apply for a job-seeker type visa directly after graduation that would provide me time to find a company that I really like. This interview was conducted remotely by Sean McClung for INOMICS in October 2022. All picture credits: Alexis - with kind permission. Are you a student of economics, econometrics, or related fields, or have you studied abroad for at least one year? Would you like to share your advice with other curious students? You can contact us at submissions@inomics.com and we may be able to interview you as well.
INOMICS has had the opportunity to interview several international students and learn about their experiences studying abroad. For this article, we interviewed Alexis. She's from the US-Midwest and moved to Germany in February 2020. She is currently finishing up her Master’s program in business administration at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, and will then be looking for a job to stay in the country. Below we’ll share her advice for other international students, experiences about studying in Germany, and more! If you’re from the US - or anywhere else - and curious what it’s like to study in Europe, read on.
2022 Nobel Prize in Economics - The Winners
This article gives an overview of the work that won these economists the Prize, and a brief bio for each economist. You can read more about the reasoning behind the awarding of the Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ press release page. The Research that Won This Year’s Prize Diamond and Dybvig conducted research that illuminated the role of banks as intermediaries. Their groundbreaking paper published in the Journal of Political Economy in 1983 develops the Diamond-Dybvig model, which is widely cited and still in use today. Banks have a unique role in the economy; consumers save their money in banks for safekeeping, and to grow their wealth. At the same time, borrowers want to use this money to build, invest, and otherwise fuel their economic activity. Banks use consumers’ savings to become lenders to these borrowers. Diamond and Dybvig’s research showed that banks are the optimal way for the economy to carefully balance the needs of savers (or lenders) and borrowers. Diamond additionally argued that this position makes banks the best entity in the economy to assess creditworthiness of borrowers, and thus to make decisions about which investments are good enough to invest society’s money into. Problems for a bank can arise when savings are demanded back by the lenders who need their money for an unexpected circumstance; banks do not actually hold all of their reserves in liquid form. A bank run occurs when too many consumers demand their money back from the bank than it is currently holding. This can cause a bank to fail. Ben Bernanke, in his analysis of the Great Depression of the 1930s, showed that bank runs were an important reason that the Depression grew so severe. One key reason for this is that when banks fail, the information they contain about consumers’ creditworthiness can be lost. This information loss makes it more difficult for society to allocate savings to the best investment opportunities, limiting opportunities for economic growth. Although not a reason why he was selected for this award, Bernanke additionally served as the Chairman for the United States Federal Reserve during the financial crisis and Great Recession in 2006 - 2010. INOMICS has previously assessed how economists lost clout for failing to recognize the danger to the financial system, and how the discipline’s reputation has been recovering. Tore Ellingsen, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, notes that “The laureates’ insights have improved our ability to avoid both serious crises and expensive bailouts.” This is one of the key reasons for awarding this year’s Prize to these economists. Ben S. Bernanke: Bio Ben Bernanke was born in the state of Georgia in the United States. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1975 from Harvard and his PhD in economics in 1979 from MIT. In 1985, Bernanke was made a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. He later became the chair of the Economics Department at Princeton from 1996 to 2002. Bernanke became a member of the Board of Governors at the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2002, and later the Chairman in 2006. As chairman, Bernanke led the Federal Reserve’s response to the financial crisis and Great Recession of 2006 to 2010. During this time, Bernanke led the Federal Reserve to take unprecedented action, including the implementation of quantitative easing. This is a process where the central bank purchases securities and long-term treasuries on the open market to stimulate economic growth. Bernanke also began holding quarterly press conferences to explain the decisions of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee, which helped improve the organization’s transparency. Bernanke is the author of several books and textbooks, and has also published articles on monetary policy, macroeconomics, and other economic issues. His other accolades include holding a Guggenheim and Sloan Fellowship, being a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society, and serving as the director of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee. Douglas W. Diamond: Bio Douglas Diamond is an expert specializing in the study of financial intermediaries and financial crises who grew up in Chicago in the United States. He earned his economics bachelor's degree in 1975 from Brown University. He later earned his Master's degrees in 1976 and 1977, and went on to earn a PhD in economics from Yale University in 1980. He has won numerous awards, including the Morgan Stanley-American Finance Association Award for Excellence in Finance in 2012. In 2013 he received an honorary degree, Doctor Honoris Causa, from the University of Zurich. In 2016 he received the CME Group- Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications. Diamond is the Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago. He has additionally taught at Yale, and was a visiting professor at MIT, the University of Bonn in Germany, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a National Bureau of Economic Research research associate, a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, president of the American Finance Association and the Western Finance Association, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Diamond is also a fellow of the Econometric Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Finance Association. Philip H. Dybvig: Bio Philip Dybvig grew up in Dayton, Ohio. He received a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from Indiana University, and his PhD in economics from Yale University in 1979. He taught at Princeton University and then later Yale in 1981. Dybvig left Yale in 1989 to join the faculty of Washington University, where he became the Boatmens Bancshares Professor of Banking and Finance. He served as President of the Western Finance Association in 2002-2003, on Washington University's Investments Committee, and on the National Endowment Survey Advisory Committee of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Dybvig has earned several awards in China, including Changjiang Scholar, Thousand-person plan, Chengdu Jinsha Friendship Award, Sichuan Golden Pinnacle Award, and the Chinese Central Government Friendship Award. He runs a research program each summer in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, where he is the Director of the Institute of Financial Studies at the Southwest University of Finance and Economics. You can read the full Prize in Economic Sciences press release at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ webpage. Header image picture credit: Pixabay.com References 1: https://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/ben-s-bernanke 2: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/directory/d/douglas-w-diamond 3: https://dybfin.wustl.edu/misc/about.html 4: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2022/press-release/ 5: The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2022. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Thu. 13 Oct 2022. <https: 2022="" economic-sciences="" prizes="" summary="" www.nobelprize.org=""></https:>
The prestigious 2022 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, better known as the Nobel Prize for Economics, has been awarded to three American economists: Ben S. Bernanke, Douglas W. Diamond, and Philip H. Dybvig. The prize, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was given to these economists for their contributions to “research on banks and financial crises”. The Prize notes that these three economists laid the groundwork for this research in the early 1980s.
Studying in the USA - Two (European) Student Experiences in Charlotte, North Carolina
If you want to know what it’s like to study in the US - in terms of academic structure, culture, and life in general - then read on. 1) What is your degree? Why did you choose to study in the US? Lenka: I am pursuing a Master's degree in Data Science and Business Analytics. I always wanted to study abroad, and the US seemed like a good opportunity. I decided based on language (I wanted to go to an English speaking country) and major (I wanted to study Data Science; a similar program was opened in the Czech Republic at that time, but I wanted to study a program that already had some tradition). The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) was a good fit for all my requirements. Adam: MA in communication - it was not a decision about going to the USA or not going to the USA, it was more about going anywhere, about studying abroad. The USA won against other countries because of the student-athlete opportunities, and the work experiences you can get there. <11an>limit:3;disciplines:Economics;countries:United States</11an> 2) What were the cultural differences you experienced in schooling? How is education different in the US vs. back home? Lenka: Cultural Differences Students are not helping each other - in the US they do not speak with each other in the classes. I was really surprised by this. Another cultural difference was in clothing - many students wear clothes similar to pajamas in class. Back at home, people dress more business casual at universities. Also in the USA, university campuses are bigger and nicer compared to in the Czech Republic and student life in the USA is better. Education Differences Grading is more strict in the Czech Republic compared to the USA (only a few students from classes get an A, and the rest get B or C). Because of that, nobody cares about GPA in Czechia - students only try to pass exams. There we do not have many assignments during the school year. If so, we have only a few. The main focus is on midterms and the final exam. The final exam is around 80% of the grade, and it covers material from the whole school semester and is closed book. Here at UNCC, classes are more practical, whereas back at home in Czechia, classes are mainly about theory and memorizing. In the Czech Republic after the regular semester ends, we have one month of exam period - it is up to students to choose when they are going to take exams (students pick from dates that are published by professors). I studied approximately one week for each exam. We have to be very respectful towards professors - we CAN NOT say “hi” or “hey” to them. Moreover, we have to use their highest achieved title when we address them (this may be very tricky - some professors have four different titles, and you have to pick the correct one, otherwise, it is a faux pas. As a quick test for you, this is the example of the real professor’s name with titles from my Czech University - prof. RNDr. Ing. Petr Fiala, CSc., MBA. So, how would you address him?* Adam: When speaking about schooling, there are many differences - for example, here in the US you usually call your teacher by their name and say “hi” not “hello”. In the Czech Republic, you have to say “Hello” and always say, “ma'am” or “mister”. I would say that there are fewer classes in the US, and there are no oral exams. I also think that in the US there is a focus on applying what you have learned to your real-life scenarios. Back in the Czech Republic, the schooling is more about theories, diving deep into the “academic” field, and understanding the topic from the academic perspective. Here in the US, the stress is on applying some general information, and sometimes not knowing the “behind scenes” of it. 3) What was the process for applying and moving over like? Was it difficult to pay for tuition or other necessary school expenses? Lenka: The process of applying was stressful. In the beginning, I selected a few universities based on my requirements, tuition, etc. Then I started the application process - I needed 3 recommendations, a GRE score, an English exam score (TOEFL, Duolingo), a motivation letter, GPA (in Czech we have the opposite scale to the USA, 1 is the best and 4 the worst), a transcript of all courses taken, and a CV. The worst thing was that I was getting all these necessary papers during the covid time. All institutions had delays or were canceling appointments. Or I was in lockdown in my city. The application fee was not that bad, though the tuition is really high. As an international student, I am paying twice more than local USA students (plus I can not apply for FAFSA, and UNCC is offering only one scholarship for international graduate students). On-campus job opportunities are helping me reduce school expenses (I am able to get back ⅓ of tuition per semester). Adam: I sent around 150 emails for scholarships - I received 15 responses, 5 positive, and 10 negative. After that, it was easy to choose from these schools. The high tuition was expected, however, the insurance I have to pay at Queens University is the biggest expense - the biggest issue I would say. 4) Were you surprised by anything? What was unexpected about studying in the US? Lenka: I did not expect that I would be very busy during the semester. Generally, I think that it is better to practice to have more assignments (continuously learning) compared to a one-month exam period (one moment of memorizing). Also, I was surprised by the number of regulations for international students. Adam: I think I was surprised with how few classes you need to take - in my program at Queens they recommend that you take 2 classes per semester. Back home, you can take 8, 9 or even 12 classes if you want. 5) What were the main cultural differences you experienced in non-academic life? Lenka: Car culture (without a car you are nobody in the USA) Very poor recycling knowledge; nobody recycles! And if you really want to, you do not have a place to go do it. Insufficient public transportation, at least in Charlotte! The “How are you doing” question (at the beginning, I thought that people cared how I was feeling!). Tipping a lot. Working culture (you have to spend a lot of time at work). University culture - how you are part of the university, and they have sports teams, clubs, etc. that you can be a part of.....I love this about US universities. Networking - I hate this, but it is important to network and have contacts here. Adam: Tipping in the restaurants, and basically everywhere. 6) Is there anything you wish you had known about studying in the US, or the US in general, before you got there? Lenka: I would have appreciated any guidance about buying a car! More seriously… if US students are describing what they have achieved - it almost always sounds better than it is. If you realize this, you do not have to feel guilty that you are not enough. Plus, you have to speak highly about yourself. Otherwise, you will get nowhere. And finally: you have to be careful with picking teammates in group projects. Adam: That not everything is always as people promise or say, and that you have to really fight for the things you want. For example: if someone promises that you can have an internship, ask them a few more times and tell them all the information about your status in the US, otherwise, you could end up like me without an opportunity to work outside the campus. 7) What other advice do you have for European students looking to study in the US? Lenka: Do your research properly (mainly with immigration stuff)! Much information is described on the web pages, discussion forums, blogs… Be prepared that things for immigrants are harder. But, remember that the USA is a country of opportunities and you can achieve your dreams. Life in the USA is more expensive than in Europe. And the last valuable message is that people here are very friendly - approach them and become friends with them! Adam: Email all universities by yourself, email everyone, and then choose the best option. Do not close your doors by saying “I will go only to California” - in Europe we know about New York, California, etc. However, the US is bigger and there are many great opportunities. You can get a better scholarship and better work opportunities (for example) when you go to a smaller city like Charlotte. *The correct answer to Lenka's "quiz": prof. Petr Fiala. But, this can get very complicated very quickly when the highest title isn't obvious! This interview was conducted remotely by Sean McClung for INOMICS in October 2022. All picture credits: Lenka and Adam. Are you a student of economics, econometrics, or related fields, or have you studied abroad for at least one year? Would you like to share your advice with other curious students? You can contact us at submissions@inomics.com and we may be able to interview you as well.
Ever thought about studying abroad in the US? INOMICS has had the opportunity to interview two international students at two US universities and learn about their experiences doing just that. For this article, we interviewed Adam at Queens University and Lenka at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, two students from the Czech Republic who moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in the US to study their Master’s degrees. Below we’ll share their advice for other international students, experiences about studying in the US, and more!
Succeeding in the European Job Market for Economists
These institutions include European universities and research institutes in academia, but also many consulting firms, tech companies, think tanks, governments, and government agencies (such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and central banks). The EJME can appear chaotic with applicants and recruiters constantly in a frenzy of interviews, offers, rejections, ambitions, hopes and disappointments. But by coordinating the timing of recruitment activities, there is more opportunity for candidates and institutions to meet each other and to make the most advantageous matches. Finding the right job can be a life-defining moment for individuals, and the performance of institutions depends crucially on the people they employ. Each year, around 1000 candidates and 200 institutions from Europe and beyond join the EJME, devoting enormous amounts of time and energy to get these matches right. The EJME calendar The EJME recruiting season starts in September/October when recruiters advertise their job openings for the next academic year. At the same time, candidates put together their job market ‘packages’ including their CV, research output (usually in the form of a specific job market paper [JMP]), reference letters and, increasingly, a personal website. Candidates apply for (usually many) posts throughout the autumn and, having reviewed their documentation, recruiters invite candidates for first-round interviews. In pre-Covid times, these were face-to-face and took place in a European city, but they have been online over the last couple of years. This will be the case again in 2022. Whether online or face-to-face, the first round of interviews takes place over a few days in mid-December so that there is some coordination in the timing of decisions being made by candidates and recruiters. A typical university department might interview as many as 30-40 candidates in this first round. Around seven or eight of these candidates might then be invited for “fly-outs” where they give seminars in the host institutions, meet with the local faculty in one-to-one conversations and, sometimes, have formal interviews. The fly-outs are nearly always in person and take place between January and March. The final stage of the EJME is often the most stressful. This is when institutions make job offers to their preferred candidate(s) from the fly-outs, while holding others in a ranked reserve list. At this stage, the preferred candidate(s) might already have other job offers in hand and/or might have been invited for a later fly-out elsewhere. Institutions press for an early answer, partly to persuade their first-choice candidate to take their offer and partly so that they can move rapidly to their second-choice candidate if their first choice turns them down. Some institutions are tempted to make “exploding offers” (offers with very short deadlines or deadlines that pre-date the end of scheduled fly-outs) but these create enormous stress on candidates and undermine the purpose of the coordinated market. On the other hand, having devoted considerable time and energy to the EJME process, institutions are faced with the prospect of their reserve list gradually evaporating if their first-choice candidate takes too long negotiating the best deal possible or simply delays making a decision. Relationships between candidates and recruiters can become quite strained at this point and many on both sides of the EJME suffer sleepless nights as bargains are struck and decisions are made. Top tips for EJME candidates Putting your best foot forward. Your job market package should show you in your best light as recruiters are looking at hundreds of candidates. Create a personal webpage that is easy to read and navigate, with links to your CV and JMP, a three-line bio and information on your research interests. Your CV should be easy to read too: take a look at other CVs to get the format right; specify your research interests (primary and secondary); include the abstracts of your papers (including your JMP); include teaching evaluations; and include a list of referees. Post a polished version of your JMP early (but make sure it is polished) and continually update it to improve it. Make sure the whole document is carefully proofread and well formatted, and pay particular attention to the abstract and introduction. Post other papers if you have them (this shows a broader range of interests), but only if they are as polished as the JMP. Take advice from your supervisors on where to apply. Apply for as wide a range of jobs as is practical (since there is a lot of randomness in the job market), but do not go for jobs that you know you would not take. Tell them about yourself. You should be comfortable talking about your research so get in the habit of doing this by practising. Take every opportunity to talk about your work with your fellow PhD students, faculty members and visiting seminar speakers. Present your JMP at every seminar and conference possible. The more often you pitch your paper, the more questions you will have heard and the better prepared you’ll be in an interview. For the first round of EJME interviews, prepare a five minute summary overview of your JMP, stating clearly and concisely its original contribution and importance. Prepare a ten minute extension describing the important elements of the paper. Practice these presentations with your fellow students and supervisors. Prepare two to three minute summaries of any of your other projects. Dress professionally for interviews and find a quiet place with a reliable internet connection if they take place online. Make sure you have looked at the interviewer’s webpages, know who they are (their research centres, areas of expertise, etc.) and prepare a good reason for applying there. The fly-outs. The first round of EJME interviews only exist as the necessary hurdle to reaching the fly-out interviews. This is where the practice of your hour-long seminar comes into its own. Remember that the fly-out seminar is to a generalist audience. A series of short small group or one-to-one interviews can be quite intense – everyone will have seen your seminar presentation and will have an opinion to share. They can also be disorientating, as you try to remember whether you have already said something in this meeting or whether it was in the last meeting ten minutes ago. At this stage, recruiters want to go beyond the JMP, looking to see the range of skills you have, what you will offer in the future (your five year plan), your teaching preferences, and generally how you will fit into the department. Do your homework so that you know the place well before you arrive. You also get an impression of the institution, and should consider questions, including: what is the research environment like (seminar programmes, research centres, research budgets)? What is the teaching like (teaching loads, make-up of the student body, the sort of teaching required)? What is it like to live here? A shrewd institution will know that this is its opportunity to sell itself to you as well as vice versa, so be interested. Making a decision. If you are given an offer, the dynamics of the EJME are turned upside down. This will be one of the few instances where you can have real leverage over your prospective employer. There might be some flexibility on teaching loads, what you are asked to teach, and research funds, so it is worth talking about this. Salaries are not always negotiable if there are rigid pay scales, but there might be flexibility on where you are placed on the scale. There are occasionally ‘golden hellos’ and time-limited or permanent market premia that can be negotiated. Keep institutions informed of your job market position as far as you can – future fly-outs, competitors’ offers, etc. This may enable you to get extensions on decision deadlines. In any case, the recruiter’s reaction tells you something about how keen they are to have you. Having said all this, keep in mind that the recruiter is working hard to land the best people for their institution too. So be fair in driving for a bargain and in making your mind up as quickly as you can. Finding the right match. An institution will often have preferences on the sort of person that they want to recruit, even if they do not specify this in their job adverts. Institutions may be looking broadly for someone to bolster existing research teams, to develop a new area of strength or to fill various teaching needs. Depending on the institution’s existing skills mix, it might have vague preferences for a technical theorist or econometrician or a broad-based applied economist. It is not usually possible to know this from the institution’s webpages. All you can do is present an honest picture of yourself, showcasing your skills and what you can bring to the institution. If you do not get a job offer, you should not take it personally. The 2022/23 EJME The 2022/23 EJME builds from the beginning of September when recruiters begin to advertise jobs on INOMICS, as well as various other outlets. Candidates should upload their job market packages with their applications and pursue opportunities, following the information and instructions for the job application on each job posting carefully as they arise through the autumn. Candidates are encouraged to register early for the EJME as a first step to organising interviews with recruiters and for access to events organised for candidates. Details are available through the EJME website. The EJME offers a further opportunity to enhance your profile by uploading your job market package to the EJME Candidate Directory. This provides another forum through which recruiters can search (both during the regular season and in the post-season clearing market) for candidates who can enter up to three research fields and their PhD-granting institution. For the clearing market, candidates can remove themselves from the directory after they get a job. But, if you are unsuccessful at first, this provides an opportunity for recruiters to see who still is available. The first round of interviews in 2022/23 EJME will be online and are scheduled to take place on 12-14 December. Fly-outs will take place between January and March and recruiters are being encouraged to make offers with deadlines no earlier than 1 February 2023. More advice and further tips are available on the Royal Economic Society website. Good luck with your job search! This article was produced in cooperation with the Economics Network, the largest and longest-established academic organisation devoted to improving the teaching and learning of economics in higher education. Learn more about the Economics Network here. Header and article image credits: WebTechExperts/Joseph Mucira via Pixabay (free for use under the Pixabay Content License)
The European Job Market for Economists (EJME) takes place annually. It aims to ensure that economics students who are about to complete (or have recently completed) their PhD make the best possible job match with institutions recruiting research economists.
The Top Free Online Econometrics Courses
The courses listed here don't require enrollment in an institution, and are all free of charge for at least a limited time. Many of the Coursera courses allow free enrollment, but may require a fee after a certain amount of time has passed. So, no matter where you are (in your home) - at your kitchen table, armchair, or even in bed - you can have econometrics taught to you by some of the top professors, hailing from some of the world's leading universities. The courses here are all econometrics related, though some cover introductory statistics, which is a necessary prerequisite to understand econometrics. All the courses are available in English and are targeted at various different levels of study. So, no matter where you are in your studies, whether you are doing a Bachelor's or a PhD, you should find something of interest. While some are open tutorials available at any time of the year, others have opening and closing dates for participation. 1. Econometrics: Methods and Applications Course Provider: Erasmus University Rotterdam/Coursera Duration: 8 weeks Background needed: The course is suitable for (advanced undergraduate) students in economics, finance, business, engineering, and data analysis, as well as for those who work in these fields. 2. The Classical Linear Regression Model Course Provider: Queen Mary University of London / Coursera Duration: Approx. 22 hours Background needed: Introductory course, no experience required. This is the first in a series of 4 courses: Econometrics of Economists and Finance Practitioners 3. Basic Statistics Course Provider: University of Amsterdam / Coursera Duration: 8 weeks Background needed: None; this is a beginner course that will help students get familiar with statistics. This and its following course are necessary background for econometrics coursework. 4. Inferential Statistics Course Provider: University of Amsterdam / Coursera Duration: 7 weeks Background needed: Basic Statistics, the course listed just above, is the prerequisite for this course. 5. Econometrics Course Provider: MIT Duration: Self Paced Background needed: Completed introductory course to statistics in economics. Students should be familiar with basic concepts in probability theory and statistical inference (courses #3 and #4 on this list can help you get started with that, if you need it!). 6. Econometrics MOOC Course Provider: Econometrics Academy Duration: Self-paced Background needed: Bachelor's-level knowledge of linear regression models and economic statistics will help you get started, as courses begin at a Master’s level. 7. Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis Course Provider: University of California at Santa Cruz / Coursera Duration: 4 weeks Background needed: Basic background in frequentist (i.e., “regular”) statistics, which courses #3 and #4 on this list can help with. 8. Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation Course Provider: Berkeley Duration: 12 weeks Background needed: Knowledge of statistical methods and software such as MATLAB.
Although the shift toward online learning pre-dated the coronavirus, the pandemic caused a great proliferation in the availability and acceptance of online learning. More and more courses can now be found online, allowing students to continue with their studies or even get credit for some courses from the comfort of their own home.
Econometrics, Statistics and Quantitative Methods (JEL C)
Developing a teaching profile: Why and how?
Teaching related metrics have also gained prominence. The annual National Student Survey of final year undergraduate students’ views of their programmes and universities; the greater attention paid to various national and international university rankings and the more recent Teaching Excellence Framework exercises have led to more attention being given to teaching and learning. Possibly reflecting this, there has also been a noticeable shift in the academic composition of many UK university economics departments. While historically departments recruited colleagues on research and teaching contracts, there are a growing number of departments that are recruiting academics with a greater emphasis on teaching (and administration) in their contracts. Regardless of the type of contract an academic is on, they increasingly need to demonstrate teaching effectiveness to ensure permanent contracts and promotions. In addition, a greater number of universities are also placing value on (and in some cases insisting upon) academics getting Advance HE teaching recognition in the form of Fellowship, Senior Fellowship or Principal Fellowship qualifications. As a result, academics are being asked to produce teaching profiles, teaching- focused CVs and evidence of their effectiveness as an educator. This article provides advice on how to approach writing these teaching profiles, including suggestions for the evidence to collate and include. How to evidence teaching effectiveness Academics should be consistently collecting evidence to demonstrate the quality and impact of their teaching. This information will be crucial if and when you are required to present a teaching profile, and can also be useful as a source of information (selected and probably in abbreviated form) for a teaching-focused CV. Most obviously, we should keep a record of the modules we teach each year, noting whether we take on the role of module leader, lecturer, or tutor, as well as the approximate number of students that we teach on each module. Keeping a record of the administrative/management roles undertaken that relate to teaching, learning, and assessment within a department and/or faculty is also important. We should similarly record the number of undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations supervised, and if we take on the role of PhD supervisor, we should also keep a record of the students’ names, thesis title, year of completion, and, if relevant, their job post-graduation. Record any professional qualifications related to teaching, such as from Advance HE including the date of any award, i.e., Associate Fellow; Fellow; Senior Fellow and Principal Fellow. Also keep a note of any teaching prizes at departmental, university or national levels. In the UK, National Teaching Fellowships are the most prestigious, as each university can only nominate three individuals per year across the entire institution for these. We should save module evaluation results, not only scores and response rates but also any particularly insightful comments. There is much debate around the validity of module evaluation results but universities still often consider these at least an imperfect indicator of teaching quality. Saving module evaluation comments that say ‘Professor X is amazing’ may be nice for our egos but more valuable are the comments from students that explain why a particular lecturer or tutor is effective as an educator. Teaching observation feedback from others is helpful. While it is fine to keep complimentary feedback, saving details of how we’ve responded to suggestions from observers is also valued. Also record information on any teaching observations you have conducted and ask colleagues to let you know if they make any changes to their teaching as a result of the feedback you have provided them. This allows us to demonstrate the impact we have had on others’ teaching. Similarly, keep a record of colleagues that you have mentored and any changes that they’ve made to their teaching and assessments stemming from mentoring advice offered. Noting the teaching and assessment technologies we adopt and why we use them is important. While using PowerPoint / LaTeX slides can be taken for granted, we should save information on additional technologies we use, for example online polling technologies or technologies used to make asynchronous lecture films and so on. Always save details of teaching / learning / assessment / pedagogy presentations made to colleagues and at conferences etc. In addition, publications make up an important part of any teaching profile. These may take the form of pedagogy research articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals, such as the International Review of Economics Education and the Journal of Economic Education, as well as more general pedagogy academic journals. However, there are many other possible, more informal outlets, including INOMICS Teach (of course); the Economics Network; the Economics Observatory; The Conversation; the Economic Review A-level magazine etc. There is also scope to write blogs, book chapters and texts, and to create podcasts. Check whether data on the number of views / citations are available and record this information too as this can give another indication of the impact of your scholarly activities beyond your immediate colleagues and department. Record all external examiner appointments including the dates of the role, and similarly note any external assessor appointments. All degree programmes / departments across the UK need to be reviewed periodically, with input from external academic reviewers. Finally, keep a record of any continuing professional development (CPD) courses attended. It can be helpful in promotion applications to be able to demonstrate that a conscientious approach to CPD has been taken. Demonstration of CPD is also essential for any Advance HE qualification applications. This could take the form of an internal training course or a workshop with an organisation like the Economics Network or Advance HE. Efficient use of teaching profile materials The above list of teaching related information may seem odious to maintain. However, once we get into a habit of collecting and collating these details it becomes easier, and it also saves time when we come to having to write an application. The above are only suggestions of information to keep. The key is to always collect details not only on roles and duties, but also on the impacts we have. Fortunately, if we collect such information then it can be used for a variety of purposes, including to create a teaching profile document or a teaching -focused CV, as may be needed to support a promotion or academic job application. In addition, the information can be used to enhance Advance HE qualification applications and maybe one day can be used to support a successful National Teaching Fellowship application. This article was produced in cooperation with the Economics Network, the largest and longest-established academic organisation devoted to improving the teaching and learning of economics in higher education. Learn more about the Economics Network here.
The increasing importance of evidencing teaching effectiveness In recent years, the UK higher education environment has noticeably changed. Research Assessment Exercises and then the Research Excellence Framework have highlighted the importance of academics not only being research- active but regularly publishing high quality outputs in internationally recognised academic journals.
Optimise your Recruitment Strategy for Economics PhD Positions
Candidates can find more information in our guide on how to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics. For institutions aiming to find the best international talent for their PhD positions, the most important question is how to reach the right audience, primarily current master’s students. You don’t want to waste all your budget chasing after the wrong candidates. Unlike bachelor or master’s level, the pool of potential PhD candidates is much smaller and they will already know which discipline or disciplines their interests align with. Therefore, it's best to target your recruitment efforts and be as specific as possible. With a strong user base of current students, INOMICS is an excellent platform to publish your PhD position in economics (or a PhD position in another discipline that is open to current economics students). Additionally our active blog and advice articles, not to mention our resources for economics students means that more students find INOMICS every day. To achieve the best results from your Announcement, be sure to consider the following recommendations. Program vs Job Opening One of the main questions faced by people publicizing their PhDs on INOMICS, is whether their advert should be advertised as a program, a scholarship or a job opening. The difference is important as many candidates restrict their search by the type of offer. Programs Students who want to transfer into PhD positions straight from their Master or Diploma degree tend to look first at the program section on INOMICS, being in a “campus mentality”, and aiming to find a structured program. PhD Candidates looking for programs make up the largest audience and generate the most searches. On INOMICS, student recruiters will get the best response by promoting their program through this section. Scholarship Students primarily looking for research funding, so that they can conduct research in pursuit of a PhD at their current university, or at a research institute where they are currently working, often look first at the scholarships section on INOMICS. This section is therefore best suited for PhD funding that is independent of location or institution. Job Opening Students who have either already obtained practical experiences or see their PhD positions as a launch for their academic careers, are more likely to start searching in the jobs section on INOMICS. These candidates are most likely to be interested in paid positions, and consider their PhD to be first and foremost a job with a qualification in parallel. Advertising PhD positions in this way may have the advantage that it attracts the attention of candidates who are not certain whether to continue their studies or apply for a job, and so might decide in favor of a PhD position rather than applying for a job in a different organization. Of course, this option is only possible (and desirable) for those positions with secured funding. If you want to advertise your PhD position for both categories, then please contact our team at info@inomics.com, and we will work out something that meets your needs. Add Keywords to Your Title A generic title like “PhD Program” or “PhD position in the Department of Economics” are too vague. Your title should include key information, like if the PhD position is in a certain subdiscipline (eg. Labor Economics), if there is funding (“Funded” or “Scholarships Available”) and what university is offering the position (eg. London School of Economics). This will make your posting stand out to visitors to INOMICS and more likely to appear in search engine result pages. Use heading to break up information People like to skim web pages. This is true even for information as important as a PhD position they want to apply to. Adding headings between your paragraphs such as “program description”, “funding” and “requirements” makes it easier for candidates to find the information they are looking for. Many candidates want to check they are eligible to apply for a PhD position first before reading the long description. Help people quickly filter out the right opportunities for them by adding headings and making it more likely the right candidates read on. Promote Your Listings Posting your position on your institution’s website and external hubs like INOMICS is only the first step. Remember to share your Announcement on social media via your faculty account and be sure to get your colleagues to post as well. This is a great way to increase the reach of your announcement. INOMICS helps put your Announcement in-front of potential candidates in economics across the web, email and social media, increasing your chances of success. To really increase the number of candidates seeing your announcement, use one of our more advanced promotion options or try our Multi-Channel Promotion. This offers recruiters a blend of content marketing, social media and email advertising to increase the reach of the listing. Be sure to speak to our Sales Team at info@inomics.com to customise the right package for your institution's position, or check out our publish page for our latest pricing. Find Economics PhD Candidates
Every year, October is the peak time for future PhD candidates in economics to start applying for their first-choice positions. For those students who want to stay in their current institutions, the process may be fairly straightforward. However, for candidates seeking opportunities internationally or simply at a different university, the prospect and the process may be somewhat more daunting.
Often, microeconomists are interested in the optimal choice that an economic agent can make using their limited budget. For instance, what is the maximum utility someone can achieve by purchasing some combination of goods? Lagrangian optimization allows us to solve this type of problem in a rather straightforward way. First, it assumes that a budget constraint is binding. This makes sense in a world where we assume the actors are rational consumers. If someone did not use all of their money, they understand that they would become better off by using the rest of their money. A budget constraint will often look similar to q*p ≤ a, where a is the total budget, q is quantity, and p is price. For our problem, we will use the constraint q1*p1 + q2*p2 ≤ a, where q1 and q2 are two different goods each with their own prices. This shows that the total value of goods the consumer purchases must be less than or equal to the money they have. When a budget constraint like this is “binding”, that just means that the inequality becomes an equals sign. Or, in words, the consumer uses all of their money. The next step is to subtract so that the budget constraint is all on the same side of the equation, like so: q1*p1 + q2*p2 - a = 0. Now, we multiply this budget constraint by the Lagrange multiplier λ, which represents the “shadow price”. That is, when this problem is solved, the Lagrange multiplier λ shows us how much the objective function (i.e., the utility function, revenue function, etc.) changes in response to an infinitesimal change in the budget constraint. To finish setting up the problem, simply subtract this modified budget constraint from the original equation. In our case, this means the full Lagrangian optimization problem looks like this: L(q1,q2,p1,p2) = U(q1,q2,p1,p2) - λ(q1*p1 + q2*p2 - a) where L denotes a Lagrangian optimization problem, and U(q1,q2,p1,p2) is the utility function as a function of q and p for both goods. To solve this problem, we take a series of partial derivatives for each variable and set each equal to zero to find the critical points of this function. In this case, we assume that prices and the budget are fixed, which leaves q1, q2 and λ as variables that we should derive the Lagrangian with respect to. This will look like so: \begin{equation*} \frac{\partial{L}}{\partial{q}_1} = \frac{\partial{U}}{\partial{q}_1} - \lambda*\mathit{p}_1 = 0 \end{equation*} \begin{equation*} \frac{\partial{L}}{\partial{q}_2} = \frac{\partial{U}}{\partial{q}_2} - \lambda*\mathit{p}_2 = 0 \end{equation*} \begin{equation*} \frac{\partial{L}}{\partial{\lambda}} = 0 - \mathit{q}_1*\mathit{p}_1 - \mathit{q}_2*\mathit{p}_2 + \textit{a} = 0 \end{equation*} Note that the last partial derivative simplifies to exactly the budget constraint we originally had. These partial derivatives give us a series of equations to solve. In the real world, computer software can help us do this, but in economics courses the relations will be solvable via algebra. The solution yields the optimal amount of both goods for the consumer to purchase to maximize their utility, given their budget and the prices of both goods. These answers can be plugged back into the original utility function to yield the maximum amount of utility this provides. As an example, consider that good 1 is tea (measured in liters), and good 2 are biscuits. Also suppose that the final results of the optimization problem give us q1 = 5 and q2 = 10. These amounts show that for this individual and their budget constraint, they achieve the highest level of utility possible by consuming 5 liters of tea and 10 biscuits. Then, q1 = 5 and q2 = 10 can be inserted back into U(q1,q2,p1,p2) along with the given prices to yield the total utility from this consumption mix for this individual. At this point, λ shows the additional utility this individual could gain if their budget increased by one dollar. As a side note, you may be wondering how savings fits into this picture. People are often encouraged to keep some money set aside to save and not spend. How then can it be best for people to spend all of their money, so that the budget constraint is entirely used up? In our framework with the budget constraint in this problem, “savings” can be thought of as a good just like a banana or a scarf. People choose how much money to “spend” on savings. Thus, the framework of our problem does not change. People are better off making use of their entire budget, where some part of the budget can be used to “purchase” savings. In macroeconomics, savings is usually considered separately from consumption as it is studied more closely than in our simple example here. Good to Know This type of problem can be easily adjusted to account for many different economic scenarios without changing the basic structure of the solution. For example, instead of considering a consumer’s utility function and their budget, we can analyze production decisions for a firm. To do so, we replace the utility function with a revenue function, and the budget becomes the quantity times the cost for each good, rather than the price. The underlying math is not changed. When we plug the optimal amounts into the original revenue function, this yields the total possible revenue the firm can generate given their costs. More advanced microeconomics courses will often return to this type of optimization with minor additions. For example, Bertrand, Cournot, and Stackelberg competition models can be solved using the Lagrange method with slight adjustments to the above formula. Practice using the Lagrange method... Exercises for you <use xlink:href="/themes/custom/venice/images/icons.svg#launch-18px"></use>
Lagrangian optimization is a method for solving optimization problems with constraints. The method makes use of the Lagrange multiplier, which is what gives it its name (this, in turn, being named after mathematician and astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange, born 1736). Many subfields of economics use this technique, and it is covered in most introductory microeconomics courses, so it pays to become familiar with it.
8 Qualities Which Will Get You Through Tough Times In Your PhD
1. Creative Thinking When things go wrong during your PhD program – which they surely will! – then you need to find creative solutions. If your initial analysis found no meaningful results for your primary question, did it reveal other interesting insights? If your pilot experiment didn’t work out, can you salvage the data or design a better experiment? Perhaps you couldn’t find the data you were hoping for – would finding a suitable instrumental variable help fill the gap? The process of research is really a process of learning, and if your research is new, it probably generated new knowledge. Even a finding of “no relationship” can be interesting. <11an>limit:3;categories:PhD Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> 2. Adaptability As a PhD candidate, you are an expert in some areas but inexperienced in others. In order to deal with challenges, you'll need to adapt and learn new skills. An attitude of lifelong learning is a good quality for PhD students. So, don't tell yourself that you're “not good with numbers” or “not a good writer” - instead, you'll benefit from accepting that you'll sometimes need to learn new skills or spend more time on certain aspects of your research. Asking your peers for help might be a good way to start, thus at the same time forging connections that will help you support one another through the difficult PhD process. 3. Openness As with adaptability, it's important that you are open-minded to new ideas. Don't get too attached to one idea, method, or approach to your work. It's better to consider different approaches when you're in a bind. For example, perhaps your experimental methodology didn't work out, but there might be a different methodology you could use instead. Learnings from other social sciences, both in theory and in methodology, can be helpful here. Especially if you know peers working in other disciplines, it could be very illuminating to chat with them about your research interests. 4. Ability to accept criticism It's hard to hear criticism – especially when you're tired, worried, or stressed. But when you run into a problem, you need to really listen to criticism from your supervisor or colleagues. They have a wealth of information and ideas to offer you, and your project can greatly benefit from them. If you find this difficult, try writing down the feedback and not responding to it straight away. Take a day to think it over before responding, and you'll find it easier to accept valid criticism. 5. Having (and using) a support network You can't pursue a PhD alone, and you'll need a team who can help you out when things get tough. Fellow PhD candidates, other people in your department, people you meet at conferences and events, family, and friends can all be called on to help. Don't be afraid to ask for support when you need it – whether that support is advice, technical help, proofreading, or just going out with you socially to take your mind off things. 6. Perseverance & determination You're sure to come across some roadblocks in your PhD, like your paper getting rejected from a journal, an experiment which did not work out as planned, or the unavailability of resources that you were relying on for your project. In these times, you need to be able to keep working and not give up. If you're really struggling with a problem, it's okay to take a few days off to think about it. Keep pushing back at your problems and seek help when you need it, and you will likely find a way to overcome them eventually. 7. Stress management Everyone doing a PhD feels overwhelmed with stress sometimes. It's normal to feel that way on occasion, but it'll be very hard if you feel stressed all of the time. In order to keep your stress levels under control, you should find a way to blow off steam that works for you. Some people like to exercise or play a team sport, while others like meditation or relaxation techniques. Some people just like to read or to spend time with friends. Find something that works for you and carve out some time for stress management each week. This will make you much more capable of dealing with problems when they do arise. 8. Resilience All of these qualities go together to help you become more resilient – that is, capable of coping with difficult situations and not giving up when faced with problems. Psychological resilience is a very important quality for a PhD student, and one which many graduates will recognize in hindsight as a trait that they developed during their PhD. In a PhD as in the rest of your life, dealing with stress and adversity will be essential for success. Studies have found that positive emotions are key to coping with negative experiences, so one of the best ways that you can build your resilience is to occasionally take time off in which you indulge in fun activities. It might feel frivolous but it will help you in the long run. Image credit: Naassom Azevedo on Pixabay. (free to use under the Pixabay Content License)
Doing an economics PhD can be full of challenges and difficulties. Here we look at some of the personal qualities that will help you continue making progress when you encounter a problem.
A Post-PhD Career in Research: Jack of all Trades, Master of Some
The importance of writing as communication It is indeed true that researchers like us (post-docs, research fellows, senior researchers, and so on) working in academia or in public/private/non-profit institutes spend a lot of time at their desks: writing articles, among other things. We maybe Doctors of Philosophy, but in reality, we are Masters in Writing and a few other things. This is because the demands of a researcher’s role requires us to be jacks of a lot of trades and masters in some. Writing is intrinsically connected to communication. As researchers we need to be good at communicating our thinking – what we study, why and how, and what we can (and cannot) conclude from the results – to diverse audiences. These include fellow scientists, policymakers, university administrators, and the wider public. It requires us to be as creative as the advertising professional next door. We need to learn how to crisply frame catchy titles so that articles promptly capture the attention of editors. We seek creative answers to questions such as: how do we in 200 words summarize a complex research idea that took us six months to conceptualize, test and execute? What is the next big research idea, and how will it get us a zillion citations in a few months? Developing managerial skills In addition, we also start playing managerial roles. First, we need to hone our skills in people management. Supervising students, research assistants, doctoral scholars, and entry-level post-docs is a daily activity. This throws up new challenges: how do we find a good balance between our research interests and nurturing those of our junior researchers? How do we encourage them to work hard while also ensuring that they do not get burnt out? How do we find research assistants who care as much about our research as we do? How do we incentivize the masters’ students to put in their very best in executing the research plans they have drawn up? Second, we need to develop good project management skills: for instance, we need to ensure that our research assistants set realistic deadlines. However, even well-planned deadlines may sometimes turn out to be unrealistic. In such cases, contingency actions need to be taken to ensure that promises to external stakeholders are kept. Third, budgeting: we need to pay our research assistants at market rates and budget accordingly, while also reserving funds for travel, lab equipment, subcontractor expenses and organization of workshops & other project events. However, research funds are never enough for all the fancy research we aspire to conduct, especially if we recruit a research assistant who is so good that we want to retain them. In such cases, we need answers to an added list of troubling questions: for instance, should we pay them more than the market rates by reallocating funds from some of the other research plans? Research as entrepreneurship Ambitious researchers like us soon encounter our Matrix moment. We soon realize that all that we have been taught during our graduate studies was only partly true. We soon realize that, we are part-researchers and part-entrepreneurs. Organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the US and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) are our private equity firms. In order to entice them to grant us huge bags of research money, we have to tap into our inner entrepreneurial self, polish our managerial skills, hone our creative juices and write up grant proposals. If we are good entrepreneurs, we will be blessed with money, resources, talented PhD students, and hopefully a few well-cited academic articles in high-impact journals. However, being entrepreneurial isn’t enough. We also have to develop organizational skills for planning stakeholder meetings. These stakeholder meetings ensure that our research is grounded: that we are not wasting our hard-earned grant money in proposing arcane theory on obscure topics. Good research takes into account the costs and benefits to all stakeholders who are involved with or affected by the research. Planning such events is a tough job – it requires answering questions such as: how do we make stakeholder meetings truly participatory in nature? How do we develop seating arrangements so that power imbalances between stakeholders don’t impede communication? How do we goad them to open their minds and tell us what they truly think of our research? What kind of catering preparation need to be made? Are the expectations of participants, regarding both catering and other organizational aspects, influenced by country-specific cultural practices? <11an>limit:3;categories:PhD Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> Necessary skills for good researchers And that brings us to the most important and least talked-about role that a researcher has to play: knowledge brokering, with its fine balance of advice and advocacy. Good research is necessary for solving societal challenges, whether in the short term (in the case of the applied sciences) or in the long term (in the case of the fundamental sciences). Societal challenges can be solved only if researchers seek to bridge the gaps that exist across varied scientific disciplines, policy and society. This requires us to be reflexive about our work. It also means that we have to advocate the implications of our research (and its associated uncertainties) with policy makers, grass-roots activists, private firms, funding agencies, students and society in general. In other words, a good researcher is not only a master in research and writing, but also a jack of many other trades. A good researcher is a good manager, a self-motivated entrepreneur, an event planner, a creative communicator and a passionate-but-reflexive advocate of the role of science in solving societal challenges. A doctoral program teaches a prospective researcher to be good at framing research questions, at identifying appropriate research methodology for answering these questions and at implementing research plans using such methodology. Over time researchers also become good at writing. However, many of the other skillsets discussed above are less well-developed during graduate education. This is a missed opportunity. Drawing on our own experiences, we wrote this article to highlight this oversight. This is because we believe that doctoral students need to be equipped with skillsets in management, planning, creative communication and knowledge brokering. Only then can they function as effective solvers of societal challenges. Sanchayan Nath is a post-doctoral researcher at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development (Utrecht University, The Netherlands). Arjan Wardekker is a senior researcher at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and visiting scholar at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (University of Bergen, Norway)
Our favorite caricature of a post-doctoral researcher: a frail man (or woman) with unkempt hair, hunched in front of a computer screen, with a half-filled cup of coffee by his side. As the coffee gets colder and time flies by, he appears oblivious to his surroundings. He is happy spending long hours at his desk conceptualizing arcane theory on obscure topics the real world does not care about. He is in a state of eternal "tapasya" – meditating on his eternal love-affair with knowledge…because life is an eternal quest for knowledge! Or, so the world believes. Once the PhD has been completed, and freshly-minted researchers decide that research is what they would like to do for the rest of their lives, their friends and family might start assuming that a Doctor of Philosophy is just another armchair intellectual.
5 key differences between American- and European-style PhD programs
This piece primarily focuses on the differences and similarities between economics PhD programs on the two sides of the Atlantic. I later discuss how an economics PhD is organized in other parts of the world, as many other countries have modeled their PhD programs on one of these two styles. Program duration The most striking difference between an American and European economics PhD is the expected duration of the program. In the US, universities traditionally offer a five-year degree where the first two years are devoted to training, and the final three years are expected to be spent on independent research. At the end of Year 1, graduate students take core examinations to progress to the second year. These are traditionally in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics. In the second year of an American PhD, students can choose courses that are closer to their research interests, which allows them to specialize in a particular field. In Europe, graduate programs vary significantly in terms of both structure and expected study duration. A standard Economics PhD lasts three to four years. In the first year, graduate students typically follow PhD-level courses offered by their department and develop a research proposal. The next two to three years are spent on independent research. Recently, many top European economics schools have started offering a 5-year PhD program following the American tradition. It is composed of two years of intensive classes delivered ‘in-house’ by the respective department, after which students are typically awarded a degree of a Research Master’s (or MPhil) and progress onto the research stage. Some universities offer a three-year ‘research only’ program for more advanced students, although this is still uncommon. These programs are usually for students that completed a Research Master (or an MPhil) somewhere else or gained extensive research experience prior to their PhD. Master’s degree requirements The second difference between an American and a European PhD is whether one can apply with an undergraduate or a Master’s degree. Most economics departments in the US have a preference for candidates with a completed Master’s degree. However, this is not usually a formal requirement: many successful applicants get in with an undergraduate degree and no or limited prior research experience. To strengthen their portfolio, especially when applying to top schools, some applicants spend a year or two as a predoctoral fellow (“predoc”) at a reputable department. <11an>limit:3;categories:PhD Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> Research flexibility American and European doctoral programs also differ in the degree of flexibility that the students get when choosing their research topic. In the US, a doctoral dissertation is a composition of several (typically, 3-4) research papers that might or might not be interconnected. They can even come from different fields in economics and demonstrate a diversified portfolio for a future PhD holder. A job market paper, which is chosen from the research portfolio and is usually the most promising and advanced piece of research, plays a far greater role for someone who wishes to pursue an academic career. This is because those pursuing an academic career will be required to submit a single paper for presentation at an annual American economics job market event, where recent PhD graduates are matched with academic institutions. The process is highly centralized in the US by the American Economic Association (AEA). European PhD students typically develop an elaborated research proposal prior to commencing an active research stage. The projects (typically 3-4) are expected to be interlinked and within one research field. In striking contrast to the US, many departments in Europe and the UK offer project-based PhD positions. That is, a professor (or a research group) submits a grant proposal on a specific topic to the national or European research council. If the application is successful, the allocated funds are used to cover the compensation of everyone involved: from research assistants and PhDs to postdoctoral researchers and principal investigators. Typically, several PhD students are recruited for one project. As the research topic is predetermined by the project, students have little flexibility to work on something else. This form of doctorate studies is rare in America. Funding opportunities Funding sources and opportunities for PhDs are another striking difference. In America, PhD funding is typically a complex composite. The funds come from various sources: the graduate school, the department, or a dedicated charity or national fund. The form of funding varies, too: from teaching and research assistantships to merit-based scholarships. The final amount might vary from year to year and depends on the student’s individual circumstances. In Europe, a PhD scholarship is usually a fixed amount offered for the duration of the program. Additional funds may come from teaching and exam invigilation activities (the latter being particularly common in the UK). The funds are allocated by the university or the department. For those pursuing a project-based PhD (see the previous section), the funds come from the sponsoring body and are administered by the department. Moreover, in Europe, it is common to do an externally funded PhD: a company or an organization (such as a ministry, a national central bank, or a think tank) sponsors the doctoral degree for their (future) employee to research a very particular topic that is relevant for them. This is usually done in collaboration with a university, but the expenses are covered by the respective stakeholder. Teaching expectations Both American and European PhD programs offer significant exposure to teaching. In America, teaching duties are not only an essential part of economics PhD training but also a source of funding in most cases. Teaching at both undergraduate and Master’s levels is considered a crucial element of a successful academic job market preparation for graduate students. In Europe, the amount of teaching workload depends on the program and institution. In a standard 4-year PhD track, students spend on average 15% of their time on teaching. Project-based and externally funded PhD students are typically not expected to teach any classes, but the department usually provides the opportunity to do so at the student’s will. In the UK, for instance, PhD students can choose how many hours to teach: this work is paid on top of the base PhD scholarship. How it works in other parts of the world Universities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada typically follow the American PhD structure: two years of classes plus three years of independent research. A PhD experience there is comparable to the one in the US. Similar programs (in terms of organization) are offered by top Asian schools in Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea. In other parts of the world, where economics research capacities are less developed, doctoral studies take various forms, such as employment at the national academy of sciences. My experience of choosing a PhD I applied for 7 PhD programs in both the US and Europe and got offers from 4. I personally opted for a Dutch 3-year program. From day one, I have focused on the research project that I started during my Research Master’s degree. The university also offered me the chance to take on teaching and supervision responsibilities from the first year. My choice involved a trade-off, too: as I am not part of an established project and came with my own idea that had been partially carried out elsewhere, I had to accommodate more risks related to my research output. For example, I had to prove that my research idea fit the department’s agenda or that, as a newcomer to the faculty, I would be able to finish the chapters on time. But those concerns were swiftly managed thanks to the collaborative relationship that I built with my supervisors. If you’re in the position that I was, and you already have a Master’s degree, a developed research idea, or some prior research experience, a 3-year or 4-year program in the European style can be an appealing option. But, for those students who don’t yet feel confident in their academic background but are committed to the PhD path, an American-style 5-year program can offer a great starting point. Header image credit: Pam Patterson on Pixabay. (free for use under the Pixabay Content License)
A PhD is a life choice. One of the crucial factors that a potential graduate student should account for is that doing a PhD in the US can be a completely different experience from doing a PhD in Italy, Germany, or elsewhere in Europe.
Time management One of the first skills that you'll pick up in your PhD program is the ability to manage your own time. Unless you have an unusually overbearing supervisor, you will have to be responsible for organizing your own working days and making sure that your work gets done on time. This is excellent training for other roles later in your career in which you will have to allocate time for various tasks to meet deadlines. Browse our PhD program listings for economics Importance of prioritization Related to time management, you will also learn to assess the priorities of various tasks. What needs to be done right now, and what can wait? Is it better to get small tasks out of the way quickly, or should you tackle big, demanding projects first? There are different styles which work for different people, and being responsible for your own research project will teach you which prioritization techniques work for you. How to work with others Although doing a PhD is largely an independent undertaking, you will also need to work with others. Whether working as part of a research group or organizing an event with your fellow PhD students, you will learn to listen to others, to make your own suggestions to a group, and to find compromises. These are all invaluable skills for later in life. How to give an oral presentation At some point in your PhD you will be required to give an oral presentation, such as at a conference, workshop, or as part of your thesis defense. You will get in practice at putting together interesting slides, at speaking clearly to a group, and at conveying information in a comprehensible way. Self-motivation One of the biggest challenges to overcome in your PhD is having to motivate yourself. It's unlikely that anyone else will push you to get your work done, so you have to find ways in which you can encourage yourself, even when you're tired or bored. Being able to push through negative emotions to meet your goals is one of the most broadly useful life skills you can acquire.​ Effective writing and editing Whether you write up your thesis as one large document or as several shorter journal articles, you will learn a lot about making sure that your writing is not only accurate, but also concise and engaging. People who have done postgraduate study will have much more writing experience than most of the public, and this is advantageous for many career paths. <11an>limit:3;categories:PhD Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> Independent creative thought An underrated skill that you will pick up from running your own research project is the ability to think about problems in creative ways and to come up with novel solutions and ideas. Because you will be working on a new and previously uninvestigated topic, you will not always be able to rely on the concepts of others, and will have to find your own approach to issues. The confidence that this gives you will help you when problem solving in future situations, both personal and professional. Learning how to learn Possibly the most useful thing that you'll discover when doing a PhD is what learning methods are effective for you and how to make use of them. You may need to teach yourself skills such as data analysis, programming, or other technical skills. Beyond acquiring the skills themselves, you will also find out about how you learn, and what teaching methods work best for you. Do you like to read a lot of written information? To see someone knowledgeable working in practice? To test and experiment with new tools by yourself? Being able to identify the methods that work for you will mean that you are capable of teaching yourself any skills that you may require in the future, which is helpful whenever you come across a new or unfamiliar situation. Header image credit: Pixabay.
Doing an economics PhD will make you an expert in your research topic, but, beyond that, it will also teach you a number of valuable lessons which are applicable to other jobs and your personal life. Here are some of the most useful lessons that you'll learn from undertaking your own independent research project. If you plan to start your PhD application this autumn, download our free guide "How to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics".
How to balance your PhD and your social life
Treat your PhD like a regular job One of the challenges of adjusting to life as a PhD student is the lack of a firm schedule or a definite structure. Although there are options for structured PhD programs, especially in the US, many PhD programs do not have required coursework or set work times. This can make it hard to know when you should be working, and conversely, when you are allowed to take time off. To help with this, where possible set some regular working hours for yourself and try not to answer emails outside of normal working hours. There can be considerable pressure from your supervisor and others to be available at all times, but waking up in the middle of the night to answer emails is not healthy. And, if you stick to regular working hours – for example, 9 to 6 from Monday to Friday – you'll have less of a need to answer late night emails. This will help to keep your evenings free for social events, both practically and mentally. <11an>limit:3;categories:PhD Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> You need holidays and days off Similar to the advice above, when doing a PhD program there is a feeling like you should be working every spare second that you have. But no one can work 100% of the time. For the sake of your social life and your well being, it's vital that you take weekends and holidays off. Use this time to see friends and family and try not to think too much about work while you do. One good way to take vacation is to add a few days to the end of your trip when you travel to a conference. Conferences are usually held in exciting locations and you'll only need to pay for the extra days at a hotel and your daily expenses. A few days off after a busy conference can be a great way to relax with friends, co-workers, or a partner. Attend social events at your institution If you don't know many other people who are doing a PhD, you might feel very isolated and like no one understands what you're going through. A good way to get to know other people in the same situation as you is to attend grad school events at your institution. It is always helpful to get to know other PhD students, especially those working in your field, so that you can support each other and trade tips on succeeding at a PhD. Taking this time to meet and chat with other PhDs isn't only important socially – it's also a part of professional networking. So don't feel bad about taking a few hours after work to go out with your fellow PhDs. Prioritize events and don't try to do everything On top of your research work, when you do your PhD you'll have lots of other events to attend too: department meetings, grad school events, lectures, workshops, conferences, summer schools, and more. These extra events can absolutely help you in your PhD and you should definitely attend some of them. However, you won't be able to attend everything – and if you tried to then you wouldn't have time for your research, let alone for time off. So prioritize these events – what is necessary, and what is optional? You are allowed to decide not to attend a lecture or other event if you are just too busy. Create a timeframe for finishing your PhD A difficult part of finding a balance with your PhD is that it is such a long-term project; usually it lasts at least three years, but often more. This makes it hard to know what goals you should be hitting when, which in turn means that you don't know when it is reasonable to take time off. A way to deal with this is by drawing up a timeframe of your PhD which plans the dates by which you would like to have achieved certain goals. For example, maybe you would spend three months researching experimental methodologies, another three months designing and implementing your own methodology, six months of data collection, then a year on your data analysis and writing up a paper. Once you have this timeframe, even if it is only approximate, you can feel more confident about your progress through your PhD and feel less guilty about taking time off. Knowing that you are hitting your targets will allow you to take social time more comfortably.
Doing an economics PhD can feel like an all-encompassing task, but it's important for your well-being that you have a social life during this time as well. It can be hard to balance the two, but if you don't, you may find yourself overwhelmed and not able to enjoy your time researching and writing as much. Here are tips on balancing your PhD with your social life.