NEW! First Regional Job Market Reports are out and available for free download:
USA & Canada Latin America Australia & New Zealand
INOMICS Releases Economics Job Market Report 2013 (Worldwide Overview)
Key findings include: The highest salaries for Professorship positions are offered in Australia and the US. On average, salaries offered in European Universities are 30% lower PhD holders in Economics are in high demand and have on average double the income of those with Master’s degrees only The US offers the highest salaries to Master’s graduates in economics, among the countries surveyed Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK and Switzerland host the highest number of foreign professionals and students. In general, the economics job market is highly international and mobile: 35% of economists work or study outside their home countries and the majority of recruiters have no preference over nationality of the candidates Competition for entry-level Professorship positions can be up to 400 candidates per position. PhD openings have the lowest competition with 15 applications per available position The most desired employer types for economics graduates include Universities, Think Tanks and International Organizations/NGOs. Only 6% of graduates would like to work in Private Companies. Communications skills of economists are valued higher than quantitative skills by recruiters The full report with detailed findings and empirical evidence is available for free download here: http://www.inomics.com/reports The focus of the report is on the academic job market with the majority of respondents representing universities, research institutes or think tanks and possessing high academic qualifications. Other findings include salary breakdowns by countries, positions and seniority, skills and specializations most in demand, candidates’ preferences, types of selection process and geographical factors. Later this year, regional reports for the following regions and countries will be published: North America (United States & Canada), Australia & New Zealand, UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Latin America.
The Report is based on a survey between April and June 2013, in which 2,380 professionals and recruiters in the academic job market for economists answered questions about salaries, international professional mobility, the value of different levels of academic degree, and other issues related to economics and finance careers.
Salaries of Economists in Latin America: Where Do Economists Earn the Most?
The decision to move to a new country requires detailed information to justify such a drastic life change, where potential income level plays a central role. For economists who are considering work in a different country in Latin America or just for professionals interested in labor mobility, we have compiled a brief regional comparison of wages by academic degree for Latin American economists in academic jobs. This short summary is based on our latest report. As is seen in the global trend, the graph above indicates that income level of economists rises as they advance in their professional development. Generally economists with doctoral degrees have better chances of achieving high salary ranges, with the exception of Mexico, where salaries of PhD holders were reported not to exceed those of Master’s holders. Brazil can be identified as the country that offers the best salaries in the region. Analysts, economists and researchers with a PhD title in Brazil receive salaries up to 30% greater than those professions in countries such as Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. However, in the case of professionals with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, Mexico achieves equal salaries or surpasses the offers made by Brazil. Please note: the wages shown in the graph are not adjusted to real income; the cost of living is not included in the analysis, so it is important to consider other factors in further judgements. To see a detailed methodology and profile of the respondents, please see the Economics Job Market Report 2013 (Latin America), which is available for free download. The report contains valuable information about wages, employment preferences, international mobility and education, the value of academic qualifications and work experience when looking for a new job, and other matters related to professional development.
As previously mentioned in our articles about Spanish professionals moving to South America and Brazil as a new destination for skilled migration, Latin America is becoming ever more attractive in terms of professional development for people from all over the world. Latin American migration trends are undoubtedly connected to demographic and economic indicators for the region. In some cases, countries like Brazil stand out thanks to promising conditions for foreign employees, or increasing living standards and wages for the higher-educated workforce.
How Much Econ Professors Earn? Salaries in Academia by Country
Even though salary was not mentioned by economists among the top factors for a job choice, potential earnings do inevitably affect decisions about future career paths. More than that, given the high mobility of the academic job market, where institutions compete for top talent globally, it is natural for candidates to weight their financial gains before relocating to a different country. The highest salaries were reported by Economics Professors who are employed in universities in Australia & New Zealand (105,000 $US on average), followed by US-based Professors (102,000 $US on average). In Europe, UK Professors earn the most, whereas wages in Italian Universities are on average 40% lower than their British counterparts. The numbers presented in the graph above represent the average income of Full Professors from a given country, based on the responses from our survey, without any adjustments. Of course, when comparing salaries in different countries, a lot of factors should be taken into consideration, including living costs, social security and salary differentials. Nevertheless, these numbers serve as a fair indication of the wage level for academics in each given country. In the following weeks INOMICS will release a series of Regional Economics Job Market Reports, which will include more detailed information about salaries for different positions and career levels. You can subscribe to receive a notification when reports are released on INOMICS. Information in the graphs is based on the Economics Job Market Report 2013 (Worldwide Overview). To see more information about methodology download the full report here.
Yesterday INOMICS released the Economics Job Market Report 2013 (Worldwide Overview). The report contains insights about the academic job market, compiled from answers from almost 2,500 economists and recruiters from all over the world who completed a survey earlier this year. The findings of the report include salaries, recruiters’ and candidates’ employment preferences, regional disparities, skills & specializations most in demand and other general trends in the economics job market.
Everything You Need to Know on How to Apply to a Summer School
Perhaps you’re unsure of how to choose a program that’s right for you, or more importantly, how to get into a summer school at all. In order to keep the application process from being another item on your list of winter woes, we’ve put together a basic guide on how to apply for summer schools in either economics and finance or business and management. Here are some key things to consider: 1. Timing Courses taking place earlier in the summer often have correspondingly earlier application deadlines, so think about when is best for you and scan through offers that work with your schedule. 2. Specialization What are you hoping to get out of summer school? If you know precisely which course/s you need, then searching for a program based on its strengths in that area is your best option. As you peruse possible schools, you will notice a wide range of offerings, from advanced modeling to chinese economy to economics education. Knowing where you’d like to focus will help you find the best fit for you, and making your motivation clear in your application will help secure your spot. 3. Location and reputation If you’re not looking for a specific course but rather a boost to your CV or your academic repertoire, choosing a program based on location or reputation might be more appropriate. If it’s a top school you’re seeking, a quick look through various rankings from around the world can help hone your list of choices. Be sure to plan ahead though, as programs at schools such as Harvard, LSE or Cambridge are guaranteed to fill up quickly. 4. Cost and funding When it comes to cost, summer schools often come with a hefty price tag. If your home institution can’t offer you funding, there are many possibilities for securing outside stipends. For North Americans, here’s a list of options put together by the American Economic Association. For those looking to take courses in Europe, the many scholarships offered through sources such as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) or Erasmus can be quite helpful. Otherwise, don’t forget to look outside your own department for institutional grants or scholarships offered university wide. 5. The application itself When it comes to tackling the application itself, first think about what you want from the program, then what you can offer them. Treat each application individually, making sure to avoid any silly copy and paste mistakes. Be clear, concise and don’t hesitate to talk yourself up. Familiarize yourself with the professors or theorists you’d like to work with, and show how well your work fits with theirs, and how you can mutually benefit from your attendance in their program. Finally, if you feel you need a reminder about why you’re slogging through the summer school application process in the first place, head to The Thesis Whisperer for a post on how summer school can boost productivity, offer unique opportunities for interdisciplinary crossover and stimulate great discussion.
There are many great summer programs our there, but wading through the sea of options might leave you feeling a little overwhelmed.
How Economists [in Academia] Use Facebook
When Facebook started its rapid invasion into the everyday lives of millions of people all over the globe, the social network was often seen as a form of entertainment and a time-eater, rather than a potentially helpful tool for educational and professional purposes. However, over the past years this trend has changed: with new social networks popping up every year, users have started realizing the benefits of these digital tools, as have many professionals in academia. Last year we surveyed 340 economists, most of whom were employed in academia or doing advanced studies. We asked which social networks [not created specifically for academics] they prefer to use and for which purposes: Facebook proved to be used by the majority of economists (75 %), with 60 % of those respondents using it exclusively for personal purposes, and 40% for both private and professional purposes. However, watching the dynamics of users’ behavior on Facebook shows that there is a thin line between a professional and personal life online, especially for academics, where research interests occupy ones thoughts outside office hours too. To illustrate with a real-life case, drawing examples of users’ behavior from our company Facebook page: Currently, the INOMICS Facebook page has a growing pool of almost 8,000 fans. The majority of our followers are professionals and students in economics aged between 18 and 54 years old. As INOMICS conveys mostly professionally related information, if one assumes that Facebook is a social, non-professional platform, one wouldn’t expect much interaction from users. However, this is not the case. In fact, the reality shows the opposite: social media content is all about sharing. Within minutes of going online, conferences, jobs and courses get shared by the Facebook economics community, very often accompanied by comments and sometimes developing into topic-related discussions. Additionally, regional economics associations, research institutes and even professors use their own Facebook pages to communicate interesting information to their members, followers or students. One of the main challenges of using social networks like Facebook for official institutions is finding a relevant audience. While it doesn’t take a lot of effort to build a trusted group of friends or employees within a research project, it is not always easy to expand into a broader network of the professional community, and the potential of global networks stays untapped. Professional, niche-oriented networks could solve this problem, but whether this turns out to be the case can only be tested with time.
We asked 340 economists [in academia] which social networks they prefer to use and how. Based on our observations and years of experience with social media, we outline how institutions can use social networks for better communication.
Social Media for Conference Organizers: a Handbook
Here we would like to share several tips on the best use of social media by conference organizers. We believe that their use can contribute to the overall success of your event. Before the conference: - Set up a Twitter account and use it to tell future attendees about you news, including reminders about relevant deadlines - Use your twitter account to answer the questions of delegates – it will save you time dealing with emails later! - Set up a Google+ profile to be found on google and let participants follow your updates - Create a Facebook group for delegates to interact with each other, prior to the event - Similarly to Twitter, use your Facebook group for “customer” support – it will make it possible for delegates to see answers to the similar questions that they have - Use Quora to answer the most commonly asked questions and make it visible for all participants - Make a simple blog page (for example on Blogspot or Tumblr) to share important announcements. Make sure that interested professionals can subscribe and receive your updates in their inbox. - Use LinkedIn groups to share information about your conference During the conference: - Use a #hashtag for your conference on Twitter and encourage all participants to do so. It will make it easier for delegates to interact with each other or find tweets about your conference, and for organizers to answer questions and gather feedback - Use Twitter for live streaming of the conference events - Use Flickr, Pinterest or Instragram to share photos with participants and invite everyone to do the same. This will provide you with a source of valuable material for the promotion of future events. - Record key speeches and presentations using video and audio recordings when possible After the conference: - Gather and analyse feedback from participants on the social media channels that you used, including searching #hashtags on Twitter - Setup a YouTube profile and share videos of sessions and speakers - Share audio recordings as podcasts on your blog page - Initiate post-conference discussions on your Facebook and LinkedIn groups - Engage the audience that was built during the conference on your social media channels in discussions and information sharing. They will be the main ambassadors for your future events. - Use the information collected smartly, to inform your marketing decisions for your next conference!
For conference organizers, the benefits of a smart use of social media channels stretches far beyond just the promotion of their event. The challenge of tight budgets for (especially) academic events is well-known, and the process of building proper online platforms and hiring additional administrative staff is often difficult to afford. By allowing some strategic thought and investing a little time, however, social media can become an extremely cost- and time-effective way to build online presence, ease the registration process, communicate with participants, gather feedback, attract speakers and sponsors and collect and store digital materials for future use.
Due to the high level of interest from our readers, we decided to continue sharing information about the Top Economics Departments in individual countries, starting with Spain, which will hopefully be useful for students and economists who are interested in education, research or advancement of their academic career in a Spanish institution. The following list of universities is based on RePEc: No. Department/University Score 1 Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE) 1 2 Department of economics and business Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE) 2,38 3 Department of Economics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 4,07 4 Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitat de Barcelona 7,45 5 Department of Economics and Economic History Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE) 8,37 6 IESE Business School, Universidad de Navarra 9,55 7 Faculty of Economics, Universidad de València 10,08 8 Faculty of Economics and Management, Universidad del País Vasco – Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea 10,38 9 Faculty of Economics and Business, Universidad Complutense de Madrid 12,61 10 Faculty of Economics and Management, Universidade de Vigo 16 The Top 25% Institutions and Economists in Spain is part of the collection of rankings calculated from the RePEc database. The classification criteria are focused on the number of authors, citations and popularity ratings of the institutions in the database, with data updated monthly. This overview is not a 100% complete due to the limitation in the number of institutions belonging to RePEc. For this reason, we recommend comparing other lists of Spanish universities in addition. The I-UGR Rankings of Spanish Universities according to Scientific Disciplines present a list of public and private universities, based on research published in international journals of high impact and visibility. If you are interested in getting information about the strengths and weaknesses of Spanish universities from a scientific perspective, you can access its fourth edition 2013 in the discipline of economics. To get a good overview of Spanish universities from the point of view of their web presence and impact, the web ranking of universities in Spain provides a useful tool based on online indicators such as number of webpages, quality of pages, and research output. Finally, to complement the range of options, the ranking of Spanish universities of the BBVA Foundation. The BBVA Foundation invites users to collect and share information about other rankings of universities in Spain in the comments to this article.
In recent months we have published a series of articles about the best economics departments in Europe, Asia and Latin America. After covering the methodologies of ranking for universities in Latin America, we wrote about the best economics institutions in Chile, Colombia and Brazil.
Nobel Prize Winners in Economics 2013 and Their Work
Fama proved that markets were only efficient in the short run and that share prices were very difficult to predict. That conclusion led to the development of stock-index funds, which reflect the assets market. Shiller found that markets’ short-term efficiency was less enduring over longer periods and that stock prices fluctuate much more than corporate dividends. His research also showed that investors can be irrational and that any assets, ranging from stocks to housing, can develop into bubbles. Hansen was working on questions about market predictability and developed the Generalized Method of Moments – an econometric/statistical tool to test theories on asset pricing that is applicable in different fields of economics and not just financial markets. All three economists examine asset pricing from different points of view and their conclusions could be said in many ways to be contrasting. The famous economist Robert Solow, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1987, said in his interview that this year’s Nobel laureates are “a very interesting collection because Fama is the founder of the efficient-market theory and Shiller at least is one of the critics of it… What it suggests is there really isn’t a settled doctrine” in finance. To read more about the research done by Fama, Hansen and Schiller check out “Trendspotting in asset markets” (popular science background by nobelprize.org). To remind yourself about last year’s winners have a look at our article about the Nobel Prize Winners in Economics in 2012: Alvin A. Roth, Lloyd S. Shapley, who were recognized for their work in the field of market design. Image Credit: Wikimedia
This Monday, October 14th, Eugene F. Fama and Lars Peter Hansen (University of Chicago, USA) and Robert J. Shiller ( Yale University, USA) won the Nobel Prize in Economics. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded them “for their empirical analysis of asset prices”.
Jobs for Foreigners in Brazil: A New Destination for Skilled Migration?
Conversely, from the 1980s Brazilians from various economic levels started to emigrate to other countries in search of new economic opportunities and career development. High inflation, low economic growth, and unsuccessful economic policies were some of the main reasons why highly skilled Brazilians preferred to emigrate to countries where their income was significantly higher, despite in many cases a lower skill requirement for the job they ended up doing abroad. In recent years, due to the euro crisis and a reshaping of the world economy, together with other emerging economies Brazil has been increasingly seen as an attractive destination for those seeking better job opportunities. It is not only educated people from Europe, affected by the tough economic situation, who see Brazil as an option; Brazilian authorities and economists recognize the economy’s need for highly skilled workers and increasingly tend to portray Brazil as “an island of prosperity in the world”. Despite the rising number of graduates in Brazil, the economy of the country is growing faster and it needs skilled people to sustain its growth. The Federal Public and Labor Ministries of Brazil are developing new policies to attract highly-educated employees to the country. They seek people who can bring skills, knowledge and technology to contribute to the booming process of the economy. Similar to the governmental policies, private investment, infrastructure and business development projects create the need for foreigners with specialized knowledge. Not least in the context of the preparations for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016, Brazil has declared a talent deficit and has opened different opportunities for professionals in the fields of engineering and business. As part of the plans to encourage economic growth in Brazil, the government has taken important steps in the field of investment in education and research. Around $2 billion was invested in the Science without Borders program; resulting in around 100,000 Brazilian students gaining the opportunity to study abroad, in addition to the 100 scholarships that are offered each year to students. Moreover, incentives related to postgraduate scholarships for citizens of Latin American countries have been included in the large portfolio of investments made by the government. As a result of all government policies, business investment and demographic changes, the economy and socio-demographic structure of Brazil will change. Right now the aim is to reduce the level of non-skilled immigrants in order to give priority to those with more specialist skills. However, this situation could easily result in a similar excess of educated people as experienced in many parts of Europe or the USA. Despite well-designed policies, it is a matter of time to determine how the Brazilian job market will develop in the next 10 years. Meanwhile, there are thousands of economists, engineers, IT and business professionals who are contributing to the flow of brains to the South American country, each of them seeking career opportunities and a better quality of life for themselves and their families. Photo Credit: International Real Estate Listings
Since its foundation by Portuguese colonists, Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, has experienced an important immigrant flow. Over time, the Brazilian government has influenced this flow by implementing policies that support the needs of the economy. If during the first half of the 20th century governmental policies targeted low-skilled immigrants for work in the agricultural sector, in the last quarter of the century the government aimed to attract highly skilled immigrants to the country. The new trend was marked by the adoption of a new immigration law in 1981, which introduced new processes for visas and work permits and created a number of obstacles for low skilled migration.
Statistics & Data Analysis: Free Online Courses
After providing you with a selection of resources for online courses in Econometrics and Mathematics, today we have compiled for you a list of free and open, online courses in Statistics including data analysis and probability. All courses listed below are in English. While some are open tutorials available at any time of the year, others have opening and closing dates for participation. Introduction to Statistics: Inference Course Provider: Edx Duration: 6 weeks Background needed: High school arithmetic Introduction to Statistics: Probability Course Provider: Edx Duration: 5 weeks Background needed: Basic knowledge of statistics needed (normal curves, histograms etc) Statistics: The Science of Decisions Course Provider: Udacity Duration: Self-paced Background needed: Elementary math like fractions, basic algebra needed Introduction to Statistics Course Provider: Udacity Duration: Self-paced Background needed: No special background needed Statistics One Course Provider: Coursera Duration: 12 weeks Background needed: No special background needed Data Analysis Course Provider: Coursera Duration: 8 weeks Background needed: Proficieny in R is helpful Computational Methods for Data Analysis Course Provider: Coursera Duration: 10 weeks Background needed: An advanced course needing solid background in ODEs and familiarity with PDEs and MATLAB Unpredictable? Randomness, Chance and Free Will Course Provider: Coursera Duration: 8 weeks Background needed: No special background needed Passion Driven Statistics Course Provider: Coursera Duration: N/A Background needed: No special background needed Data Management for Clinical Research Course Provider: Coursera Duration: 6 weeks Background needed: An intermediate course needing general interest and background in medical research Statistical Reasoning Course Provider: Carnegie Mellon University Duration: Self-paced Background needed: No special background needed Probability & Statistics Course Provider: Carnegie Mellon University Duration: Self Paced Background needed: No special background needed With the Khan Academy´s open tutorials, you can get access to / revise some fundamental concepts in Statistics like dependent and independent variables, random variables and probability distributions, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and regression. Please feel free to share any other online portals you use to learn Statistics, by commenting below this post. Image Credit: John-Morgan
Anyone working as an economist, mathematician, management consultant or researcher is likely to be dealing with numbers on a regular basis. Whether to refute claims, inform decisions or to build evidence to support one’s case, a good command of figures is essential for many professions. In other words, one cannot escape learning and using statistics!
Econometrics, Statistics and Quantitative Methods (JEL C)
What is Wrong with Study Fairs? Effective Student Recruitment
Advantages of Online Advertising as a Student Recruitment Channel - Geo Targeting - Discipline Niche Targeting - Cost-Per-Lead Estimation - Data & Tracking Tools - Follow-Up Automation - Overall Costs - Overall Reach - Reputation Management - Segmentation of Target Audience - Alumni Engagement - Emperical Channel Evaluation Without a doubt, online advertisement is a broad term and a concrete marketing channel choice as well as its proper use is crucial. But if you understand how to make the best use of these channels, study fair attendance might just move down the priorities when setting next year’s budget.
In the light of global demographic changes, universities increasingly have to look for lead sources from abroad. Traditionally, exhibiting at study fairs has been the most common way to attract students internationally. However, technology is moving fast and in recent years a number of effective marketing channels for universities have developed online. Some course marketers still argue that study fairs are the only way to establish personal contact with the students, but a comparison of the benefits of both channels gives the best illustration of their effectiveness.
In economics, as in any other discipline, the impact of a professor on students and their future choices is enormous: in many cases it is the professor who inspires you to dig dipper into the subject, to question existing models, to do your own research, and later on to push yourself to gain recognition in the field, or to make a career as a successful economic policy-maker in government. As a teacher, to achieve this type of inspiration can be challenging, especially among students who grew up in a digital age: simple lecturing with a series of slides may no longer be enough to involve students and keep them attentive throughout the class. This post aims to provide you, as a teacher of economics, interesting resources to consider when planning your course. 1) The short article Teaching Methods in Economics gives an introduction to new formats of teaching: debates, learning games and writing assignments. 2) The resource Games Economists Play: Non-Computerized Classroom-Games for College Economics provides a collection of 180 games on Micro- and Macroeconomics to include in lectures. 3) Teaching with the Case Method gives a brief introduction on how to teach with cases and provides some useful examples. 4) Integrating music videos and clips from movies into lectures can be a good idea too, as it gives students a comprehensive explanation of difficult economic concepts. This database from Econ Stories with its amusing Keynes vs Hayek videos is a good starting point. 5) In today’s world it is difficult to avoid social media, even in teaching. Hence the Must-Have Facebook Guidelines For Educators is a helpful resource to browse through. 6) Education 2.0: Teaching Economics Using Digital Tools shares some insights about general use of digital tools available and how professors and lecturers can make the most out of them. 7) An exploration of Robert Frank’s ‘The Economic Naturalist’ in the classroom describes a pedagogical method in which students pose an interesting question based on an event they have personally observed, then use economic principles to solve the question in no more than 500 words—free of algebra, graphs and complex jargon. 8) The paper The Art of Teaching Economics by David Colander considers the ‘new paradigm of teaching’ for those doing their research on economics education. Image Credit: cybrarian77
Teaching, whether at school or university level, is generally and rightly considered a worthy occupation. As supported by some Professor Ratings, however, unfortunately not every high school, college or university can boast perfect ratings for their academic staff, and many individual lecturers and professors have room for improvement, at least in the views of the students.
1) Broaden your reach outside your own institution to bring diversity and different perspectives to your department or team 2) If possible, do not narrow down your pool of candidates to local applicants only, and make it clear in your advertisement that you welcome international applications – there is a lot of talent worldwide you will otherwise miss out on 3) Start advertising the position in a timely manner – at least 30 days in advance 4) Broaden your job description: even though academic and research jobs usually have very specific requirements, at least in the first stage leave the door open for candidates who, while meeting the basic needs of the position, offer slightly different professional backgrounds 5) Do not limit your recruitment advertising only to the webpage of your institution – consult with colleagues in your network for recommendations about their current and former co-workers or students, and explore online services and social media channels 6) Market your department as well as the individual position: the working environment is an increasingly important consideration for candidates 7) Use online job posting services and mailing lists to extend your pool. If you are a public university you can do this with special sponsored rates on INOMICS and through our email alert services 8) Advertise your vacant position in places that address your target audience, avoiding more generic job platforms 9) Make sure you can measure the effectiveness of the channels you employ to advertise your position and use what you learn to help make informed decisions for your future recruitment needs 10) Take care when using automatic screening processes – they may screen out candidates who, while less conventional, are no less qualified for your position 11) Even for academic positions, consider applications from candidates with less academic backgrounds, especially those with extensive industry experience 12) If possible, have at least two members of the search committee to review applications at the initial stage
In September the recruiting season gathers pace, a fact that candidates today know well. Last year, the number of people visiting the INOMICS job listing pages increased by 28% in the eight weeks from the start of July to late September. The rush increased even more in October, with a rise of 20% in just one month. Every institution has their own policies and guidelines for faculty hiring, but still there is a set of best practices which in many cases is applicable regardless. We explored examples of best practice for academic recruiting (before the interview stage) and put together a list of them to help INOMICS customers find the best match for their positions.
Master and PhD Programs: Search Season Kick Off
Many strong students start their applications in early autumn to ensure their eligibility for financial support, and many are likely to go for the first offer they receive. Competition for the best students is always high so the optimal time for universities and colleges to start marketing their programs is just as the number of people searching for courses reaches its peak. For institutions looking for students on the INOMICS platform, we recommend starting your recruiting process, where possible, in September. This will help you get ahead of the main scramble for candidates later in the autumn, and to pick out the best talent before they get snapped up by someone else! To optimize your marketing strategy for your courses, check out our previous articles How Students Look For and Choose Masters Courses, and How to Advertise your Doctoral Programs in Economics If you would like a free consultation about online course marketing, send us a short email to info@inomics.com
With the summer vacation period drawing to a close, many graduates are now exploring their options for further education. Users on the INOMICS platform at this time of year are actively seeking graduate opportunities, whether Master's Programs, PhD positions or supplementary courses for the coming academic year.
Top Conferences in Business Economics 2013
Here is the list of some of the most interesting conferences related to business economics taking place in the second half of 2013 around the world (ordered by date). 1. 11th EBES Conference Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation, Sept 12-14 Organized by Eurasia Business and Economics Society, the conference will bring together many distinguished researchers to exchange information and discuss current issues. Qualified papers will be published in the EBES journals (Eurasian Business Review and Eurasian Economic Review) and EBES 2013 Anthology. 2. 2013 International Conference on Applied Business and Economics New York, United States, Oct 2-4 The main goal of the ICABE 2013 is to provide an opportunity for academics and professionals from a variety of fields to meet and exchange ideas and expertise, as well as to provide a place for academics and professionals with inter-disciplinary interests related to business economics to interact with members both in and outside of their particular disciplines. 3. Advances in Business-Related Scientific Research Conference Rome, Italy, Oct 2-4 ABSRC is an important international gathering of business and business-related scientists, scholars and educators. In addition to scientific papers, the focus is on various best practices and solutions, which are important for business-related policies and activities at the individual, organizational, group, network, local, regional, national, international and global level. 4. The 2nd Conference on Sustainable Business and Sustainable Business in Asia Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 4-6 Organized by PRESDA Foundation, this conference offers a platform for scholarly and applied conversations in the fields of sustainable business, production and consumption, corporate social responsibility and global governance of sustainable development. 5. Taxing Multinational Firms Mannheim, Germany, Nov 18-19 This conference aims to foster discussion on the issue of tax avoidance by Multinational Firms. It will bring together various research approaches applicable to the taxation of this group in light of recent events showing that national governments are finding it increasingly difficult to tax profits of these firms appropriately. 6. Innovation, Patents and Standards: Complementarity and Conflicts Tours, France, Nov 19 This workshop – organized by France Business School – will provide the opportunity for specialists – both practitioners and academics – to meet and exchange ideas on original contributions (articles or case studies) and thus help to identify the principle interactions between innovation, research, intellectual protection and standardization process. 7. International Conference on Business Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Engineering 2013 Kangar, Malaysia, Dec 6-8 A fundamental understanding of business, entrepreneurship, technology, and how they fit together, will be a prerequisite for success in the future global economy. ICOBIEE 2013 is designed to provide participants with this essential perspective and to discuss the role of business innovation in enhancing the value added in entrepreneurship. 8. 1st Paris Financial Management Conference Paris, France, Dec 16-17 This conference, hosted by the IPAG Business School, aims to bring together academics, practitioners and policymakers sharing interests in financial management, financial markets, corporate governance, etc. It also provides a forum for presenting new research results as well as discussing current and challenging issues in financial management and related topics. 9. Risk Management Rueschlikon, Switzerland, Jan 13-14, 2014 The Conference is jointly organized by Swiss Re and the European Association for Banking and Financial History and is designed to investigate how today’s corporate risk management approaches came about. Papers cover aspects of the emergence of modern risk management in insurance and banking from the 1950s until today. This is of course not a comprehensive list, but we hope you will find something for your specific area of interest. Image credit: sha3teely.com
Business Economics is a rather broad area of economics covering everything from business organization, management and marketing to the role of entrepreneurs and impact of the government on corporations. It is also assumed to be one of the most applicable research branches within economics: where today’s academic research might result in tomorrow’s industry implementations.
A New Chair for the US Federal Reserve System
Before looking at the top candidates, here is a quick overview of how the Chairperson is appointed and what s/he is responsible for. The whole system is overseen by a 7 Member Board of Governors appointed by the President, each of whom serves for a total of 14 years (non-renewable – unless the member was selected to serve a partial term, in which case they can be reappointed for a full 14 year term). The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson are chosen (once again by the President) from the sitting board members to sit terms of 4 years, which can be renewed – as in the case of Bernanke’s predecessor Alan Greenspan who served as Fed Chair for 18 years. In order to sit on the Board of Governors, the incumbent must relinquish any officership or directorship of, or stock in, any bank, banking institution, trust company, or Federal Reserve Bank. In return, a member of the Board cannot be removed as a result of their policy decisions for the entirety of their term. The Chairperson is tasked with representing the board in all public capacities and is supposed to be ‘apolitical’ in nature. A few months back it was made fairly clear that current Chairman, Ben Bernanke, was not going to be appointed for a third term. The speculation surrounding who would be following him began almost immediately. Although several contenders are in the running for the position, two stand out in media coverage as the most likely to succeed Bernanke: Lawrence (Larry) Summers and Janet Yellen, the latter of whom, if appointed, would be the first woman ever to head the Fed, and among the first women to lead a major central bank, with exceptions in Russia, South Africa and Argentina. An interesting angle to the discussion comes from the very different professional backgrounds of the two top candidates. Summers is considered more the academic type, notably having held the Presidency of Harvard University from 2001-6. He is, however, no stranger to the interaction between his discipline and politics, having held a number of political appointments including the Secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton. Yellen, on the other hand, has been a central banker for 20 years and currently holds the position of Vice Chairperson of the Fed. In addition to this, she has served as a professor at the University of California Berkley since 1980. Both candidates have remarkable resumes, but there are other issues that are also in play. For starters, the elephant in the room: can a woman lead the Fed? For most, this is a no-brainer “yes” and shouldn’t be an issue. Unfortunately, an undertone of sexism is hovering just below surface. See some examples in this article. The issue is exasperated further by accusations against Mr. Summers following comments he made while President of Harvard about the lack of women at the top of the science and engineering departments. The comments and fallout are said to have eventually led to his resignation. The other major field is the political arena. The Chairperson of the Fed will be chosen by the President of the US, Mr. Obama, who will be educated on all the contenders by his own council of economic advisors, many of whom have close ties to one candidate or an other. Mr. Summers, for example, sat as Director of the National Economic Council for most of 2010 and still has many ‘friends in high places,’ while a group of Democratic Senators have come forward urging the President to steer toward Yellen, who was Bernanke’s right hand during the latest financial crisis. Meanwhile, some high profile bloggers have already started waving their flags in favour of one candidate or another. In the Summers camp we have big names including Brad DeLong, Ezra Klein, Tyler Cowen. Rooting for Yellen are big thinkers including Paul Krugman, the NYT Editorial Board, James Hamilton and Alan Blinder. Alternatively, Lars Christenson thinks that the seat should be given to Chuck Norris, he explains his reasoning here! Photo Credit: KJGarbutt (licensed under: CC BY 2.0)
With the upcoming appointment of a new Chair(wo)man for the US Federal Reserve System (the Fed) the blogosphere is abuzz with rumours, recommendations, and revelations about who could be in line for the coveted position ahead of the decision, which will not be made until fall.
Public Economics & Economic Policy (JEL H)
In our previous post Job Market Scramble for PhD Economists & Useful resources for Academic Job Search we already shared some general information about the academic job market as it applies to economists. This post offers several links that can give an introduction into the academic world of finance and hopefully help you to understand if it is right for you. Should you be actively seeking an academic job in finance, some currently open positions from around the world are also listed for you to take a look at. 1) “Academic Finance as a Career: The Good, The Bad, and the Not-So-Pretty” will tell you everything you need to know about this career path: required training, research and teaching balance, development opportunities and so on. 2) “The Academic Job Market in Finance: A Rookie’s Guide” is intended for current PhD students and offers a comprehensive timeline of what to do in the two years before you enter the market as well as advice on academic conferences, conference interviews and fly-outs. 3) Blog post “Career advice for young economists” will tell you about tradeoffs in different positions PhD graduates can apply for: post-doc or tenure-track; academia or policy land; researcher or administrator; a school of economics or a research institute, etc. 4) The article “What You Need to Know If You’re an Academic” might be interesting as it discusses how having kids might affect your academic career. Once you’ve decided that finance is for you, but an 80-hours per week job in a fancy office doesn’t sound ideal, you will probably turn to an academic job search. Here are some open positions in finance; maybe one of them is just the right thing for you: 1) Postdoctoral Fellow “Financial Markets”, in Frankfurt, Germany Application deadline: Aug 15, 2013 2) Full-time Faculty in Accounting, Banking and Finance in Sussex, UK Application deadline: Aug 29, 2013 3) Post-doc in Empirical Finance in Luxembourg Application deadline: Sep 15, 2013 4) Full Professorship “Finance and Accounting” in Frankfurt, Germany. Application deadline: Aug 29, 2013 5) Head of Department of Economics and Finance, Academic Research and Teaching in Vienna, Austria Application deadline: Oct 15, 2013 Image Credit: Tax Credits
Finance has become a very attractive field for many people in the last decades as it “smells” of money and promises a successful career after obtaining a degree, even though the financial crisis has slowed down this popularity trend. While many fresh Bachelor and Master graduates massively apply for positions in investment banks and consultancies, some decide to pursue a PhD, which is the way to life-long involvement in the academic world.
When the Beeronomics Conference went online on our website, it sparked an enormous interest among the community. Apart from conferences and events on the topic, an increasingly academic approach towards the brewing industry can also be seen elsewhere, with the University of Regina in Canada offering a course on “The Economics of Beer” for the first time in Spring 2013. The reasoning for the course was simple: the product is significant for the economy, it is familiar for the students and, according to the co-instructor Jason Childs “virtually every major economic question can be explored by examining the brewing industry”. Even though I doubt that economists’ interest in beer is purely academic, the important role that the brewing industry plays for the economy is unquestionable, with the significance of the industry stretching far beyond providing thirsty college students with refreshment. Indeed, brewers serve as a major source of taxes and jobs in many countries, not to mention their relevance for the agricultural sector. For instance, according to the British Beer and Pub Association, more than 900,000 jobs in the UK alone are generated as a result of the beer and pub sector, where a high proportion of employees are young workers below the age of 25. In the Czech Republic, a world leading beer producing and consuming economy, the government revenue from beer production and sales accounted for about 1.7% of the national budget in 2010 (see the paper by Gabriela Chmelikova and Mojmir Sabolovic “The Economics of Beer Processing”). Today, beer remains the most consumed alcoholic beverage globally. Interestingly, even the recent recession in many parts of the world has had a positive effect on beer consumption, with wine and spirit drinkers turning to beer in an attempt to switch to cheaper products. In the US, the brewing industry has increasingly become a source of entrepreneurship: between 1980 and 2012, the number of breweries in the country grew from 50 to 2715. Low market-entry barriers and low capital requirements led to a rapid growth of craft breweries. And the level of beer production on a smaller scale seems to be on the up too: this summer Mississippi and Alabama both legalized home brewing, making it now legal to brew beer at home in all 50 states in the US. While Western countries are considered to be the main beer producers and consumers, the effect of the brewing industry on other economies, and especially in local communities, might be overlooked. According to official data presented by Nomura, a financial services company, annual (commercially produced) beer consumption in Africa was estimated at less than 10 liters per person in 2010, compared to over 80 liters per person in North America and 70 liters in Western Europe. However, these numbers typically do not include small-scale producers in local markets, and a recent survey showed that consumption of home-brewed beer in Africa is four times larger than that of commercially produced brews. Although Beeronomics is a fairly new field of specialized research (compared to the economics of wine, for example, which has been an area of academic interest for at least 200 years), there are a good number of interesting resources, including blogs and papers, which are available online for those interested in the topic: Here you can find several presentations from the 2011 symposium “Beeronomics: The Economics of Beer and Brewing”, hosted by the University of California. This presentation explores the types of demand and supply triggers for the craft beer industry in the US. The Beeronomics Blog is written by economics Professor Patrick Emerson from Oregon State University. It has plenty of information not only on the economics side of brewing, but also on any beer-related topic you can imagine. Mostly focused on the US. His Twitter account is also worth checking out if you are interested to learn more on the topic. This Is Why I’m Drunk is another blog, which takes an academic (and sometimes not so academic) approach to beer. Daniel Toro Gonzalez also occasionally writes about Beeronomics and publishes related research and data in his blog. There are an uncountable number of blogs by both professional sommeliers and beer fans alike, but as this blog is, in fact, about economics, I will leave it for our beer-loving readers to take it from here, and further explore the world of beeronomics for themselves.
At this time of year, with the summer heat visibly rising from the Berlin pavement, for many there is nothing more appealing than a cold beer in one of the city’s numerous beer gardens. And perhaps among these Berlin beer lovers, more than a couple of economists might be found as well.
Local University Rankings: Latin America
Rankings are subject to controversy and debate among universities and students regarding usefulness and accuracy. In our previous series of posts we covered international rankings, with no specific regional focus. Among numerous comments concerning the flaws of the ranking systems presented, several readers of this blog expressed their concerns about many countries being underrepresented in the international rankings. In an attempt to fill the information gap about the quality of education in economics departments worldwide, we decided to have a closer look into regional rankings systems, starting with Latin America. As we mentioned in an earlier post, Latin America has become a more interesting destination for Spanish-speaking graduates and young professionals; however, the presence of universities of the region in international rankings is limited. To have a better overview of universities and education quality in South America, you can find the list of the popular rankings of institutions developed for the region: América Economía’s ranking: This magazine publishes rankings about enterprises and institutions in America. Its methodology considers factors like quality of students, quality of teachers, rating of professors by students, research productivity, internationalization, integration with the community, student life quality and the inclusion of students from lower social levels. Ranking Web of Universities – Webometrics: This service is hosted by the Cybermetrics Lab from the Spanish National Research Council, CSIC. Its main purpose is to provide reliable, multidimensional, updated and useful information about the performance of universities based on their impact as demonstrated by their web presence. (The methodology uses a compose indicator conformed by visibility comprising impact of the university, and activity including the presence, openness and excellence of the institutions. *I really don’t understand this sentence… ) QS Latin American Rankings: This ranking uses 7 indicators to measure universities: Academic reputation and employers reputation from global survey, papers written per faculty member and citations per paper from sciverse scopus, faculty to student ratio, proportion of staff with PhD, and the web impact from Webometrics. It gives the possibility to check rankings of specific disciplines like economics and econometrics. Apart from the rankings mentioned above, each country has its own commission or institution in charge of the evaluation of universities. Examples of these include: Ranking Universitário Folha (RUF): A ranking for Brazilian universities based on 4 indicators: quality of research, quality of education, market assessment and indicators of innovation. The indicator of the market assessment and quality of education are developed using interviews with executives and human resources directives from important companies in Brazil. National Commission of Accreditation of the Universities: The ranking for Chilean universities. It is an institution that manages the evaluation and accreditation of universities in the country. In order to get the accreditation, the commission presents obligatory areas and elective ones, for example bachelor´s education, institutional management, research, postgraduate education and impact in the society. Colombian Institution for the Evaluation of the Education ICFES: Carries out the ECAES Tests annually to evaluate the degree of development of the skills of students in undergraduate academic programs offered by institutions of higher education. ECAES constitutes a source of information for the construction of evaluation indicators of public education services in order to facilitate the decisions at all levels of education systems. The results can be seen per region or disciplines. Feel free to share information about other rankings in the comments below! Photo Credit: V.H. Hammer
University rankings are considered to be an important tool, if not the most relevant one, in determining the quality of education at higher education institutions, schools, departments and programs according to a specific set of factors. Rankings are often consulted by both applicants in the university admission process deciding on their next place of study or work, as well as directors of the institutions measured in the rankings as a benchmark against other relevant institutions.