The European Regional Science Association (ERSA) is the supranational grouping of national regional science associations across Europe. Members are academics, policy professionals and researchers interested in spatial economics and planning, regional and local development and related issues. They are drawn largely from the disciplines of economics, geography and urban planning. INOMICS is proud to provide ERSA members with information about career opportunities, conferences and workshops relevant to them. Additionally, INOMICS is working with member associations of ERSA to help them promote their own events and opportunities to a wider, international field of economists and professionals in related fields. We are looking forward to a productive partnership into 2013 with ERSA, as well as our other existing and future partners. If you are interested in close cooperation with INOMICS, please contact us to discuss how we could work together.
INOMICS continues and expands its working partnership with the European Regional Scienc Association (ERSA) into 2013.
As Android devices are dominating in the global market, we decided to start drafting a list of economics apps available for the Android operating system. We will cover apps for economists available for Apple devices in a later blog post. The main distribution platforms for apps are App store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and BlackBerry App World. It is interesting to have a look at Google Play to see which apps for economists are currently available on the market. 1) Best Opencourse Video collects videos from the top universities around the world and allows you to access classes in a variety of subjects, including Economics, on your phone for free. 2) If you like to follow international news, you might like The Economist’s app and The Economic Times. They give free access to the editor’s highlights and allow you to stay updated with unrivalled coverage of markets, business and economy news as it happens. More than half a million people use these apps. 3) In a previous blog post we already talked about podcasts for economists available online. The NPR Money Economy Podcaster app collects together the best of NPR podcasts dedicated to business, the economy, and all kinds of money matters. Bloomberg Radio gives you access to in-depth interviews and insightful analysis from the most influential names in Finance, Business, Economics and Investment. ​4) FRED Economic Data is the perfect app for students, financial market professionals, academics and anyone else interested in economic data. It offers full access to over 40,000 economic data series from 37 regional, national and international sources. To have access to business, economic, and financial indicators use Indicators Online, while if you are interested in key economic indicators for the U.S., try America’s Economy for Phone, the app created by the U.S. Census Bureau. 5) Economics Study Aid and Quiz reinforces key economic concepts and improves your memory through interactive multiple-choice quizzes, flashcards, and glossaries. There are 4 units and the first one is free. If you are studying for the Advanced Placement (AP) Economics Exam, the 400 Economic Flashcards & Quiz can help you. 6) The Economics Classroom App is designed for students who want to have access to a variety of resources for learning economics, such as video lectures, practice activities, and an economics dictionary. 7) For trivia games lovers, Economics Quiz by MaksimApps has four different game modes: 10 Questions, 25 Questions, 50 Questions and 5 Errors – Out. If you want to test your knowledge of Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, monetary policy, and the history of economics in the United States try Economics Quiz by Brett Plummer. 8) Economic Growth gives you broken-down information regarding how economies grow, including some real case scenarios. 9) If you want to impress your friends, colleagues or students, use the Economist Quotes app to have access to quotes by the most famous international economists. 10) Economic Dictionary is a newbie app that is growing fast. It is the place to find information on general economic terms as well as information on specialized fields. If you know a great App for Android devices that we haven’t featured in this article, please let us know in the comments and we will be happy to add it.
Apps (already “Word of the Year” in 2010), have become an integral part of our everyday lives, bringing to our phones not only entertainment, but also helpful tools to be used for educational and professional purposes. Downloadable for free or for a price, there are a number of handy apps created especially for economists, which come in the form of data sets, quizzes, educational videos, podcasts or simply mobile versions of media.
We are currently sitting a month and a half out from one of, if not the largest economics conferences. The AEA/ASSA Annual Meeting 2013 is taking place from January 4-6, 2013 in San Diego, California with over 10,000 academics to gather, present, discuss, and socialize over the weekend. This meeting marks an important point in the lives of the hundreds of graduating PhD students in the field of economics. It is where they are likely to meet their future employers in the form of first round interviews for academic positions at many North American and international institutions. Starting today, Job Market Signalling is open on the AEA website and will remain open until November 29 for PhD graduates hoping to meet with top choice employers at ASSA. This momentous occasion is something that aspiring academic economists need to prepare for. Noah Smith over at Noahpinion has a great post on how he tackled the ‘Job Market’ last year, landing him a position as an Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University this year. Alternatively, there is extensive guide from 2003 written by John Cawley outlining what can be expected during all stages (there are three!) and where best to position yourself. To see where you fit in the global market, you can also read through the INOMICS Job Market Report 2012, which outlines preferences and trends from the perspectives of both economists and employers. One point to be taken out of these guides is that timing and organization are everything. There are far fewer academic positions available than people who want them, making the experience a competitive one. If you haven’t started your preparation and you intend on having a job next year, you might consider getting a move on or looking at alternatives to the traditional Job Market path. There are countless alternatives to taking up an immediate position as a full time lecturer or professor at a university. A couple of options include: taking a postdoctoral research position, gaining practical experience at research institutes, think tanks, banks, or private companies, or consider a visiting professorship or lectureship abroad. We would love to read about more first hand examples of economics Job Market experiences from both US domestics (those who completed or are completing their PhD at North American university) and internationals (those who completed or are completing their degrees at a university outside of North America). We are very interested in stories that follow the status quo as well as those who ‘took the road less travelled’ in their quest for post-PhD employment.
Ranking Economics Departments: Number of Top Institutions by Country
Are you still wondering where the best universities to study economics are located? A quick look at the graph above can provide you with the answer. The graph breaks down the location of the Top Economics Departments ranking computed using RePEc data released in September 2012. Quite prominent is that more than half of the institutions featured on the top 100 are located in the USA (54%). The other half is made up of main players in the UK (8%), France (7%), Canada (7%), and Australia (5%). Countries like Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, appear at the bottom of the chart, each having only two institutions mentioned in the top 100. Two other ways to look at the break down are, firstly that more than 70% of the Top 100 Economics Departments are located in English-speaking countries (marked in orange on the graph). Secondly, if we narrow our attention to the first 20 departments, the gap between the US and the rest of the world gets even bigger: 80% of the top 20 being located there. The exceptions are four universities in Europe: one in the UK (5th position), two in France (9th and 12th position), and one in Spain (10th position). For those who think that a global ranking might be too generic, RePEc also provides information about Departments of Economics on each continent. These particular rankings, in addition to others, can be a useful source of information for economists seeking their next academic or professional position. When looking at different rankings, source reliability and the methodology used are always two main concerns when assessing accuracy. The material above is derived from RePec data “based on a limited sample of the research output in Economics and Finance”, taking into consideration only the material catalogued on the RePec website. This ranking is “based on data about authors who have registered with the RePEc Author Service, institutions listed on EDIRC, bibliographic data collected by RePEc, citation analysis performed by CitEc and popularity data compiled by LogEc”. This being said, only the 1822 institutions listed in EDIRC have been taken into consideration in the mentioned ranking.
Data Source: RePEc
In October 2012 INOMICS released the first Global Economics Job Market Report. The data is based on a uniqie set of information, gathered through an online questionnaire placed on the INOMICS platform and so- cial media channels. The aim of the report is to provide valuable insights for recruiters and candidates in the economics job market, including: detailed salaries and salary growth information, recruiter and candidate preferences, the most important factors economists take into consideration when choosing a job, the high-demand fields of specialization, level of mobility between fields of specialization. You can download the full report on the INOMICS website: http://www.inomics.com/reports If you are interested in sponsoring opportunities for the Economics Job Market Report 2013, contact us at media@inomics.com
Based on survey responses from economists and recruiters from over 70 countries, the INOMICS Job Market Report 2012 reveals the latest trends in the academic job market for economists worldwide.
*Social and Behavioral Science include: Economics, economic history, political science, sociology, demography, anthropology (except physical anthropology), ethnology, futurology, psychology, geography (except physical geography), peace and conflict studies, human rights.
Data published on OECD.Stats Extracts gives an overview of the absolute numbers of graduates from tertiary type-A and advanced research programs for all standard fields of education. According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), economics and economic history fall under the category of Social and Behavioral Science (business and related disciplines are not included). The graph presented above includes aggregated data for countries with the largest number of graduates in social and behavioral science* for the year 2010. The number of graduates from the US significantly out numbers graduates from other OECD countries, leading in every other discipline as well. Unfortunately, there is no information available on the exact percentage of economists among the graduates.
Education 2.0: Teaching Economics Using Digital Tools
The Ecuadorian Journalist Albertina Navas wrote about her experience of teaching economics to non-economics students at the University of the Americas – UDLA (Quito) in the article La economía se hace más divertida con herramientas 2.0 (Economics gets more funny with 2.0 tools) posted on the blog Clases de Periodismo, a virtual school for journalist students from Latin America. To help familiarize her students with complicated economics definitions and formulas and to achieve active learning, she used digital tools such as Twitter, blogs, Pinterest, podcasts, YouTube, Google Docs, and goear, a service to stream and upload MP3s. Leaving space for creativity, students gave proof of enjoying the class and produced some interesting outcomes, like the video El rap de la inflación (The Inflation Rap) about history of economics thought. Dr. Buensuceso from Miriam College (Philippines) also shared his experience and findings in a brilliant presentation about teaching economics using Facebook. Facebook allowed him to create a digital space interlinked with blogs, news, relevant Twitter accounts, studies and lectures available online. Dr. Buensuceso has also been successful at integrating other platforms like YouTube, Slideshare, and edu2.0. The active use of Internet technology has led to positive outcomes: on average students performed and communicated better, there were fewer failures, and absences in class could not be used as an excuse anymore. Thus, to engage students Dr. Buensuceso recommends a blended learning method where face-to-face teaching is integrated with e-Learning and a share culture is promoted. Similar results about the use of the latest in technology and social interaction in teaching economics are mentioned in Twitternomics: Using Tweets to Teach. Professors Cochran and Velikova explain how “instructors of economics who use Twitter will be able to increase student interest in the subject, satisfaction with the course, and comprehension of learning objectives by being able to connect with students on an intellectual as well as emotional level both inside and outside of the classroom.” The authors state that Twitter is a great tool to encourage immediate feedback and motivate students to engage with academics and economists by following them and interacting with them. In spite of increasing communication, collaboration, and student curiosity, some challenges in teaching using digital tools have to be kept in mind. Internet access, connection speed, time commitment and situations requiring a help desk are some of the cases pointed out in Twitternomics. However, if after reading this post you are thinking about updating your class format and introducing some 2.0 tools, have a look at the article 20 Schools Innovating with Digital Tools posted by Tom Vander Ark on the Education Week blog. Here he presents the results from a Twitter survey, which highlighted several examples of U.S. schools that use digital tools in an interesting way for communication, marketing, or learning. About the author: Chiara Polacchini has studied at five different universities in four countries and combined international working experience with her degrees in Foreign Languages and Cultures for Business and Intercultural Business Communications. She is particularly interested in new technologies and their application to higher education. She currently lives and works in Berlin continuing to update her private blog.
Considering the remarkable technological progress and the spread of social media in the last few years, it can be challenging to teach and involve students when using an old-fashioned lecture style. Shelving overhead projectors and boring PowerPoint slides, some professors have converted to “education 2.0”, integrating new tools and applications into their class format.
Economics Degree vs Public Policy Degree: Which Masters to Choose
Browse our PhD listings for more opportunities Public Policy classes are famous for interdisciplinary approaches, which can be seen both in the syllabus and in the backgrounds of students. Our class brought together not only social scientists (including a large number of economists), but also biologists, psychologists and others from more technically oriented programs. Some of us were aiming to enter governmental departments and international organizations, some were focused on the private sector and many of us were thinking about academic and research careers. Any interdisciplinary approach is two-sided: on the one hand, what you can do is incredibly varied and one tends to possess a broad knowledge about a diversity of global issues. On the other hand, you are not a specialist in any specific field, and only relevant work experience might help you to build your professional profile. This was probably the main reason why a large proportion of students with considerable professional experience ended up working in the same field they had worked in before. In contrast, students who had less experience or broader educational background were more flexible in choosing their career path. As I hoped, there was little chance to avoid economics in classes. The good thing was that the majority of theories were considered and taught in the context of the existing research in public policy. It brought a certain balance: students who majored in economics before could test already well-known concepts “in action”; and students who had little knowledge in economics would not completely sink in the theoretical aspect of an unfamiliar subject. While doing all the available introductory econ and stats classes in my first semester, each reminded me that I was not going to be an economist. Don’t get me wrong: I had no expectations that the degree in Public Policy would convert me into an economist. And in some ways, making this clear I was saved from a disappointment. The study program met my expectations: I developed an understanding of economic processes behind global development issues and became more comfortable with quantitative research methods. Unfortunately, the degree created a trap for other students. One of my fellow classmates had already developed a strong interest in economics disciplines during his previous studies, even though he majored in Political Science. His abilities were proved by his outstanding performance in the subjects involving quantitative skills and he considered the Public Policy degree to be a bridge to his future career in Economics. After graduation he applied for numerous research positions for economists, being sure that he possessed the necessary skills and qualifications. It did not go to plan. Rather, he was not even considered for the vast majority of economics positions he applied for, as he didn’t have the right degree on paper, i.e. he didn’t have a degree in Economics. So, which degree to chose: Public Policy of Economics? There are a few things to consider when it comes to the choice of advanced education. One should always remember that any diploma has its strengths and its limitations, and there are numerous other factors that shape your career path. As it happened in my case, you simply might not have that much choice due to application requirements. As it turned out, a Public Policy Degree did the trick for me: I managed to gain qualifications and accrue skills that I had previously lacked - although I was unable to compete with trained economists in the economics job market later. It probably did the trick for some economists as well, by offering a different perspective on already well-known issues and giving a chance for a slight career change. For those undecided, what you choose should depend on qualifications that you already possess, the knowledge you want to acquire, your general expectations from your Master Program and your career aims. Browse our job listings for economics opportunities
When I was about to receive my Bachelor diploma, I was confused. I knew where I wanted to work, but I didn’t know how to get there with a Degree in Law. I also knew that I needed to steer my professional training towards economics, but I didn’t know how. The problem was that I just didn’t have enough credits in any economics-related disciplines to meet the requirements of the majority of study programs available. After having weighed all the options, I made up my mind to apply for an MA in Public Policy and to try to focus on economics-related disciplines.
Public Economics & Economic Policy (JEL H)
Whether a contributor to this trend or an outcome, there is also a mass of opportunities for young economists in the form of special sessions and prizes. These may be offered not only as a part of annual conferences, but even by major associations or international research institutes. Here we list some of the prizes for young economists that we have heard about, and think may be interesting to some of the young economists reading this blog. The Institute for World Economy (IFW) in Kiel, Germany, for example, offers four “Excellence Awards” each year to economists aged 35 or under. The prize is one of four Research Fellowships, which consist of an all expenses paid visit to the IFW in Kiel, including access to its library and resources, as well as ongoing research support. The application window runs from July to October each year, so there is still time to submit your work this time around. The World Trade Organization holds an annual essay competition for PhD holders under 30, or economists who completed their PhDs within the last two years. The submission window runs from February to June each year. See details here. The Royal Economic Society (RES) has a number of programmes for young economists, varying from school-level to recent PhD graduates. The first is an essay competition for budding economists in their final year of school (A-Level/IB students). Launched in 2007, the competition now attracts over 750 submissions annually, with the competition starting around April each year. First prize is 1000 pounds, with runners-up receiving prizes of 500 pounds. RES offers two further prizes for recent PhD graduates (within 5 years of completion). The first of these is the Austin Robinson Prize, which is worth 2000 pounds and has been awarded each year since 2007; the second is the newly launched (2011) Dennis Sargan Prize, which is worth 1000 pounds. In the USA, the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP), a section of the AEA, offers a number of awards and prizes for contributions to the advancement of women in the field. Aside from institutional prizes, for young scholars attending conferences there are numerous opportunities and awards related to individual events. For example at the recent European Regional Science Organization (ERSA) conference, the annual Epainos Prizewas won by Lionel Védrine, of INRA-UMR CESEAR in France. His paper on the Allocation of European Structural Funds, as well as being well received by his peers, additionally won him €600. Many major conferences run similar initiatives, for example in Europe the annual International Network for Economic Research (INFER) Conference, or the annual European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (EARIE) event have for several years offered incentives for the highest quality submissions from young academics. For readers in North America, similar event-related opportunities can also be found, for example at the annual International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE) conference, where there are prizes available both for best student paper and for the best poster session by a current student. So if you are an economics students or recent graduate and are feeling increasingly aware of the competition, it is worth looking around for opportunities like these. Not only will they help to improve your profile, they may give a welcome boost to your bank balance too.
After our tour of economics conferences this summer, the INOMICS team was impressed by the number of young economists at these events. Anecdotally, many delegates have the impression that there is a trend towards younger academics at even long-established, annual events, as well as more female delegates than were present in the past. Perhaps the time of economics conferences as the preserve of distinguished, yet silver-haired, bearded men is coming to a close.
Searching and applying for funding opportunities is an ongoing process in any research department. The amount of paper work, complicated grants applications and high time expenditures have even created a demand for professionals who are able to deal with the complex administration procedures. Last year the European University Institute (Academic Careers Observatory of Max Weber Programme) published a Survey on Research Funding for the Social Sciences in Europe. The survey discloses findings about experience and personal perceptions of the respondents concerning research funding sources and procedures. One of the interesting snapshots form from the survey is an the amount of funding received by applicants in 2010. Despite the ongoing critique about the complexity of European grants application procedures, the European Research Council (ERC) as well as the European Commission Framework Programme (EC FP) and the National Public Grants remain the main sources for research funding in economics in Europe. According to the survey, the largest part of annual average research funding in economics came from ERC (186,360 Euros). The second and third main sources of the funding were National Public Grants (72,735 Euros) and EC FP (69,199 Euros). The respondents of the survey obtained 34,656 Euros from their own Institutions, 27,936 Euros from Consultancies, 27,866 Euros from National Private Grants and 23,412 Euros from Public Regional Grants. Prizes and Regional Private Grants account for the least of research funding in economics: 5,551 Euros and 6,992 Euros respectively. To learn more about methodology and other aspects of research funding in social science, you can read the full survey here.
Source: Survey on Research Funding for the Social Sciences in Europe, Ramon Marimon, Igor Guardiancich, Mike Mariathasan, Eva Rossi, European University Institute, 2011
Citing data compiled by the Institute of International Education (IIE) as part of its “Open Doors”, van Fleet notes that contributions from visiting Chinese students alone is currently worth around $5bn per year to the US economy. The total contribution from students from all countries, according to the IIE report is in excess of $20bn. It is perhaps this prize that is encouraging governments around the world, not to mentionindividual universities, to seek out and recruit international students actively. The USA, for example, has an entire government department devoted to encouraging academic and cultural exchange and the British Council runs a comprehensive online portal with a similar purpose. Another attraction for governments could be the medium and long-term “soft power” benefits to a country. In the case of China and the USA, Van Fleet suggests that easier political relations between countries could be one major long-term benefit, for example. However, there are barriers to long-lasting connections from forming in the first place. A soon-to-be-published article in the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication by Elisabeth Gareis of Baruch College, City University of New York, presents the findings of a survey into “intercultural friendships” between international and domestic students in the USA. The article makes for worthwhile reading, both as a piece of research in itself, and for students interested in studying in the USA, as preparation for the type of cultural experience that is likely to await. Highlighting linguistic hurdles and differences in cultural expectations as possible factors, Gareis finds that over a third of international students report having no American friends. She finds that East Asian students, predominantly from China and Japan, have a particularly tough time forming friendships. Among this group of students, difficulties can in part be attributed to doubts about their own ability in terms of language or self-confidence. While she notes significant variation depending, for example, on native language and whether the student is in a large city or small town, the country and culture of origin seems to present the major obstacle to integration and establishment of long-term, meaningful relationships. If this limitation on the integration of the Chinese Haigui into American student life could be overcome, the benefits for both hosts and origin country would be much more rewarding. The goal of attracting students is therefore only half the challenge for governments and universities. The greater one is encouraging an environment where integration between foreign and domestic students can take place, so that long-lasting connections can be fostered between them and the way prepared for strong economic and political ties in the future. Photo Credit: kinouN
The China Economic Review from last month ran an interesting piece by John van Fleet about the 150,000+ Haigui (海归) currently studying in the USA (Haigui, literally “Sea Turtles” is the name given to Chinese students studying abroad). Van Fleet discusses not only the challenges of interaction between international and domestic students, but also the economic impact for both host and origin country.
Graduates in Economics: Statistics (UK example)
According to the survey, which is published annually by the Higher Education Career Services Unit (HECSU) and the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS), in 2010 54.4% of Graduates in Economics in UK were entering employment, 15.4% went for further education or training, 11.7 % were working and studying and 9.5% were unemployed. Among graduates in economics who were employed at the time of the survey, 42.9% were working as business and financial professionals, 15.2% as commercial, industrial and public sector managers, 6.2% as numerical clerks and cashiers and 8.6% had other clerical occupation. 7.1% of respondents were employed as retail, catering, waiting and bar staff. You can download the complete survey, which also includes other disciplines here.
What happens to economics students once they complete their first degree? Here is a snapshot of economics graduates’ activities detailing their occupation six months after graduation.
The discussion encouraged me to look a little closer at the current situation and trends in university/college level economics. POET’s (Prices & Ratings of Economics Textbooks) commentary spells out a 3% p.a. jump in the price of introductory and intermediate textbooks over the last 20 years, stating that today, one is unlikely to find such a book for under the $150 mark. Taking a quick look through some common Intro to Econ textbooks on Amazon, it is immediately apparent that POET’s commentary is quite accurate. Greg Mankiw’s popular textbooks: Macroeconomics (7th Ed.) goes for US$152.12 and Principals of Economics (6th Ed) coming in at $293.95. Other popular textbooks including Paul Krugman’s books Economics or Essentials of Economics come in at $152.32 and $115.41 respectively. Paul Samuelson’s 19th Ed. of Economics is $182.58, while Richard Lipsey’s 12th Ed. Economics, isn’t available on Amazon.com, but on Amazon UK it lists for much less than expected at GBP39.59 (US$62.56). Take these prices and multiply them by, say, 2 books per course, 4 courses a semester, 2 semesters a year, and 4 years and the numbers start rising faster than I care to count. These prices have led to a number of things, including increased student debt and overflowing bookshelves, especially when a prized new version is published shortly after you spent around $150 on the last version which is now ‘out-dated’. This brings us back to Kippy’s premise that alternatives may be the way of the future. Looking around the web this website from SUNY Oswego lists a number of free online economics textbooks and other web resources in various sub-disciplines ranging from introductory through graduate levels written by professors at various international institutes. Some of the listed resources are full textbooks like this one by Arnold Kling. Others are set of lecture notes like these ones by Ariel Rubinstein. This being said, in the last few years some very prestigious institutes have opened up their courseware to open access initiatives, MIT being one example with MIT Open Courseware. One question to be pondered when discussing free resources is whether or not the same level of quality is maintained. Very few would challenge the notion that Greg Mankiw and Paul Krugman are experts in their fields, which is one of the reasons why their textbooks are so widely used, but if economics 101 courses were to be taught using entirely free e-materials would the quality suffer? Or, can we expect an increase in the quality of e-materials? This is a question that I am going to defer to commenters! An alternative is the booming e-book market, although not necessarily free, often much cheaper than their hardcover, ‘dead tree’ counterparts. Many people are able to access their textbooks on laptops, cell phones and tablets – although the formats can be demanding about which books can be used with which programs. Back to my trusty Amazon search, however, neither of Krugman’s main textbooks are available in Kindle version or, for that matter, in Kobo version – two of the main e-readers. You can, however, find some of his other books for under $15! Same goes for Greg Mankiw, Paul Samuelson and Richard Lipsey. An issue that could be rectified in the future as new versions are published in both paper and digital. A question to the professors and lecturers: Do you use e-materials in your classrooms and lecture halls? Photo Credit: remirofall
A few weeks ago I came across an interview on TechCrunch with Brian Kibby, the president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, discussing his positive outlook on the future of e-books, e-content and generally the future of what he calls ‘super adaptive learning.’ Contrary to what one might expect from a textbook publisher, Kibby explains in the interview that he expects to see a significant increase in the adoption of e-materials within the next year and full adoption within three years. Optimistic?
Statistics is not an easy subject to teach, especially if your students do not have solid quantitative skills. To overcome this hurdle, teachers and professors need to seek out truly innovative ways to make their students understand that statistics is vital for managing information in any field. That said, there is a consensus among professors: to create an excellent class, statistics should be made practical and personal. There are dozens of books and plenty of advice on how to teach statistics (you might like to check “Teaching Statistics: A Bag of Tricks” or some practical examples from FREAKONOMICS). If you have some exciting insights into teaching statistics, please let us know in the comments below!
Just two days ago Time magazine released a list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Among other prominent figures included in the list is Hans Rosling, a doctor and statistician, who became famous after his “TED talk” in 2006. In the video released by BBC four years later, Hans Rosling presented statistical data about 200 years of world development in the most creative and clear way the world had ever seen. The video got over 5 000 000 views on You Tube. A complicated subject, feared among generations of students, was transformed into a mind-blowing show. This video will show you how.
Unemployment & Salaries: Your Major Matters
Earnings For College Majors Source: “Hard Times, College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal“,The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce Earlier this year, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce published a study on unemployment rates and salaries for various college majors. Saying that unemployment among recent graduates with new Bachelor’s degrees is on average 8.9%, it states that “ … as the recovery proceeds and recent college graduates gain access to work, especially in their major fields, their unemployment rates will drop substantially …“ and „ … staying on campus to earn a graduate degree provides safe shelter from the immediate economic storm, and will pay off with greater employability and earnings …“ According to the study, unemployment among recent college graduates in Economics reaches 9.4%, 5.7% for college graduates with work experience and 4.6% for graduate degree holders. Average salaries of graduates in Economics stand at $48,000 for Bachelor’s degrees, $76,000 for college graduates with experience and $101,000 for graduate degrees.
Unemployment For College Majors
Supply and Demand for New Ph.D.s in Economics
179 of the institutions responding to the current survey are expecting to hire 172 new Ph.D.s for the 2011-12 academic year. The greatest demand is for the field of macro/monetary economics at 14.8 percent, followed by general economics at 12.2 percent, and microeconomics at 10.8 percent … Ninety-one of the Ph.D. degree granting institutions responding to the survey report that they will have a total of 520 new Ph.D.s seeking employment for the 2011-12 academic year. About 8.5 percent of the job seekers are holdovers from the 2010-11 market… Job seekers with specialties in macro/monetary economics (18.3 percent) constitute the greatest share of the supply followed by international economic (13.5 percent) and labor and demographic economics (10.6 percent).
Source: Survey of the labor market for new PH.D. hires in economics 2011 – 12, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas:
Finance Job Market: Fewer Positions, Smaller Companies, More Competition
Massive uncertainty pervaded the sector throughout 2011, largely as a result of the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone and a failure to reassure investors. The traditional top players (Barclays Bank, Lloyds of London, RBS, HSBC and the rest) have posted poor results and cut back on staff, both in their UK operations and overseas.Reports last week of further difficulties and job cuts among the major players, for example Lloyds posting record losses, RBS continuing to struggle and cutting posts in Australia, and HSBC scaling back its operations in the Middle East, all add to the impression that short term recovery in the financial sector job market is not going to be driven any time soon by these traditional powerhouses. In addition to cuts throughout the sector, professionals currently in the job market are likely to come up against stiffer competition for fewer openings. There are signs that with more pressure to make efficient hiring choices, large companies are taking longer to fill their vacancies. Efinancial Careers points to a recent senior opening at the Singapore branch of Lazards, which took 18 months to fill, with some analysts pointing to an average lag of between four and six months, compared to half that a year ago. But the stagnation of employment opportunities in companies normally considered to be the top employers is not necessarily reflected elsewhere. For example a report published by Astbury Martin, a London based recruitment specialist, highlights how smaller players are making the most of large layoffs in the city, snapping up unemployed ex-city talent for their own outfits. Mark Cameron, COO of Astbury Martin, describes how “niche firms”, including smaller banks and insurance companies, “see the current market as a good opportunity to build their businesses and expand operations“. The long-term outlook for the UK finance sector is good. In the shorter term though, the situation is less rosy. For those seeking employment in the field, the current turbulence requires flexibility and patience, but looking for opportunities in less obvious, smaller outfits may now, more than ever, prove to be a prudent career choice. Photo Credit: Michael Duxbury
The financial sector in the UK is and will continue to be a major driver of economic growth, and the long term prospects are good both for the sector and for jobseekers. In fact, a recent report from Oxford Economics predicts that the Financial Sector will be the main driver of British economic growth over the next two decades. In the short term, though, stagnation and hesitation among big financial companies is being mirrored by a sense of opportunism in smaller ones. The result is a greater diversity of opportunities in the financial sector, and a different landscape of employment prospects for professionals at all stages of their careers in finance.
his being said, only so many graduates get jobs in this first round and only so many positions get filled. With the number of potential applicants and the number of positions that are trying to be filled, not to mention the level of competition that builds throughout the entire process, by the middle of March there are inevitably people without jobs and vacancies still without the right person to fill them. The process that follows is known affectionately as the ‘Job Market Scramble’ or ‘secondary job market.’ This functions as a miniature version of the traditional Job Market and takes place yearly at the end of March/beginning of April to match those PhDs still on the market and positions yet to be filled. As to be expected in this highly structured system, pay close attention to the following dates if you want to be involved in the Job Scramble: Sign up online: March 21-28, 2012 Visit Scramble Website (only open to registered users): March 30 – April 10 Ends: April 11 For a first hand account check out Noah Smith’s blog post on his experience in the Job Market. Photo Credit: digitalpimp.
A big part of ASSA Annual Meeting (check out our post on 2012 ASSA Annual Meeting held in Chicago) is the role that it plays in the life of a PhD economist searching for their first job. Although some graduates choose less conventional ways of approaching the Job Market, for most graduating PhDs, the meeting is where they meet with potential employers, strut their stuff, present their Job Market Papers (JMP) and hope to the high heavens for a fly-out, and, after that, an offer – preferably at their number one choice. If all goes well this process should be over by early March with a good majority of top 50 schools’ graduates having at least one job offer on the table.
Last month Arkansas University published a survey on the labor market for new Ph.D hires in economics 2011 – 2012. The survey, which was featured in Greg Mankiw’s Blog, offered a comprehensive overview of expected and real salaries for new PH.D. hires, based on a questionnaire response from 191 US academic institutions. According to the responses from 90 institutions, the average expected salary in 2011-2012 is $89,155, which is 1.8 % more than an actual offer in 2010-11. The average expected offer by Ph.D. degree granting institutions is $99,269 and $115,000 by Top 30 institutions, whereas an average expected offer by Bachelor and Master degree granting institutions is $74,520. Based on data from the survey from last year, “ … all doctoral degree granting programs made actual offers 1.6 percent below what was expected, Top 30 institutions made actual offers 4.0 percent above what was expected, and the actual offers of Master and Bachelor degree granting schools were 2.0 percent below average expected values. For all 109 respondents, the average actual offer was below the average expected offer.” Additional Support Some of the institutions that participated in the survey offer additional support to their candidates, often including relocation allowances (90.8 %), housing allowances (7.8 %), TIAA-CREF retirement plan (88.3 %), full vesting (58.3 %), or no-cost life insurance (72.2%). Source: Graphs are based on Survey of the labor market for new PH.D. hires in economics 2011 – 12, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas
New Ph.D Hires in Economics: Expected and Actual Offers for the 2010-11 Academic Year
A quick count of this year’s economics and finance conferences brings us to over 400 worldwide conferences everywhere from NYC to Budapest to Pune to Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, which leads to the question: which ones to attend? We have taken the liberty of drawing up a list of some of the most reputable conferences organized by national and international economic and scientific organizations, covering a wide range of topics. So here are some of our top picks (in alphabetical order): ACE 2012 (Australian Conference of Economists) July 8-12, Melbourne, Australia ACE2012 will host a distinguished panel of plenary speakers including two Nobel Laureates Sir James Mirrlees and Professor Christopher Pissarides; several panels; a range of special sessions; an all day Business Symposium; a PhD/Honours job fair and a wide range of refereed contributed papers. AEA (American Economic Association) Annual Meeting January 4-6, 2013, San Francisco, USA The AEA Annual Meeting for 2012 has passed, but the 2013 Meeting in San Francisco has been announced! For the upcoming annual meetings of the regional US Economic Associations check their websites: Southern Economic Association, Eastern Economic Association, Midwest Economics Association. CES (Chinese Economist Society) 2012 Annual Conference June 23-24, Kaifeng, China The theme of the conference is “Development beyond the Middle Income Trap: China in Transition”. The conference consists of keynote and invited talks, roundtable forums and parallel sessions. The list of invited speakers includes Nobel Prize Laureats Dale T. Mortensen (Northwestern University) and James Heckman (University of Chicago). A $1000 US prize will be awarded for the top two papers from junior economists. EEA – ESEM 2012 (European Economic Association and Econometric Society European Meeting) August 27-31, Malaga, Spain The 2012 EEA-ESEM joint meeting will feature the work and findings of the leading scholars in economics, econometrics and related fields, and will provide an excellent opportunity to present your own research results. Speakers will include scholars from the leading American and European Institutions (Princeton, LSE, Columbia, Berkeley). ERSA (European Regional Science Association) 2012 Congress August 21-25, Bratislava, Slovakia The ERSA Congress offers a wide number of sessions on the topic “Regions in Motion – Breaking the Path” hosted by the University of Economics in Bratislava. The program will include special sessions covering such topics like institutional economy, interdependency theory, creativity economy, regional economy etc. Ann Markusen, James P. LeSage, Johannes Bröcker and Peter Nijkamp will be present as Keynote spseakers. ESAM12 (The Econometric Society Australasian Meeting) July 3-6, Melbourne, Australia The program of ESAM12 will consist of keynote speakers (including a 2010 Nobel Prize Winner Dale Mortensen and Professor Dani Rodrik, Harvard), speakers and contributed papers on a wide range of topics including theoretical and applied econometrics, microeconomics and macroeconomics. Scholars from Princeton, Yale, Duke and World Bank are among invited speakers. ISSE (The International Society for Ecological Economics) 2012 Conference June 16-19, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Run by the International Society for Ecological Economics, the topic for this biennial conference is ‘Ecological Economics and Rio+20: Challenges and Contributions for a Green Economy.’ Invited Speakers include Izabella Teixeira, Environment Minister of Brazil, and Yolanda Kakabadse, President of WWF. RES (Royal Economic Society) 2012 Annual Conference March 26-28, Cambridge, UK The Annual Conference aims to bring together economists from government, industry, higher education, the financial sector, and journalism. The conference is open to all those interested in analytical economics and policy problems. Keynote lectures will be presented by Elhman Helpman, Ariel Pakes (Harvard University) and Nancy Stokey (University of Chicago). The plenary panel “Lessons from the European Debt Crisis” will be attended by scholars from Harvard, Columbia, Cambridge and European Central Bank. WEAI (Western Economic Association International) 87th Annual Conference June 29-July 3, San Francisco Conference WEAI’s Annual Conference is held in the summer each year and attracts just over 1,000 attendees from around the world. Features of the Annual Conference include the Presidential Address and Luncheon, the Graduate Student Dissertation Workshop, Professional Development sessions, and participation by several Allied Economic Organizations. 73rd International Atlantic Economic Conference March 28-31, Istanbul, Turkey Economists from all areas of specialization are invited to the 73rd International Atlantic Economic Conference to discuss cutting edge approaches to the challenges of the world economy. Through the Society and its international conferences, economists from over 40 countries have the opportunity to become better acquainted with each other’s work. Papers in all interest areas are eligible. If you think that there are other notable conferences that should be included in this list, leave us a comment with your reason why! (Please note, these are not sponsored listings.) Photo Credit: United Nations Photo
Conferences have been a pillar of academic thought in the western world for almost a century. Organizations including the American Economic Association (AEA) (organized in 1885, incorporated in 1923), the Royal Economic Society (RES) (incorporated in 1902, although their journal The Economic Journal dates back to 1891), the Western Economic Association International (WEAI) (1922) and the International Atlantic Economic Society (IAES) (1973) have lead the way with their annual meetings that draw anywhere from a couple hundred to over 10,000 annual visitors; and these are only the tip of the iceberg.