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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Today, on July 1st, Canadian-born Mark Carney is to assume governorship of the Bank of England.  In a show of professional meritocracy, the BOE is the first central bank to hire a foreign economist as its director. Carney is the first non-Briton to be appointed to direct the BOE since Bank’s establishment in 1694.

Following my last post listing our favourite economics blogs, I have looked a little closer at the blogging community and who the potential contenders are for THE coveted position of top economics blog.

In recent months the INOMICS blog has featured a series of posts about rankings of departments and universities. Traditionally, ranking has practically been an academic discipline in itself, with big names like QS, the Times Newspaper and in Economics the citation listings compiled by REPEC, dominating the field. However a trend towards a kind of “crowd-sourcing” of ranking has started to appear. The Shanghai ARWU was one of the earliest major ranking bodies to introduce this, but others are following.

Econometrics is something towards which many people have mixed feelings: both fear and respect. If you want to get a degree in economics, however, there is no way you can get away without studying econometrics on some level; and if you want to become a great economist you will have to master it: to build models, run regressions and (hopefully) predict the future. The economics profession has been blamed for failing to predict the global financial crisis, but as econometrics is considered to be one of the core disciplines to help prevent a recurrence in the future, we have collected a number of useful links for online learning and self-improvement in this field.

The literature research students need to rely on throughout all of their thesis writing is diverse. Broadly categorized there are three types of literature useful for PhD students: research/topic literature, methods literature, and ‘how to do your PhD’ literature. A somewhat similar classification of PhD materials can, for example, be found in Chris Hart’s Doing a Literature Search: A Comprehensive Guide for the Social Sciences (2010, Sage, p.2), which I recommend immensely.

Less than a decade ago student relied on word of mouth and the information available in their universities when choosing a Masters Program. Today, internet-based searching is the foremost source of advice when it comes to exploring opportunities for postgraduate education. Students who are interested in studying abroad in particular turn to search engines and course-listing platforms in their search, and often make their decisions based on the information presented online. Using our own and published data about online behavior, it is possible to identify the key trends in how people search for study programs. Understanding these trends is vital for universities to stay competitive in the global educational market.

The application deadline for the winter semester in many Latin American universities is approaching. To help those considering further education or work in this region we are sharing a list of top Economics Departments in Latin America. If you are interested in universities in other regions, check out our previous posts on the Top 10 Economics Departments in Europe and Top 10 Economics Institutions in Asia. The following list is based on the QS Latin American University Rankings for Economics and Econometrics.

At INOMICS we strive to offer the best resources for economists to support them in their careers. Besides providing information on jobs, courses and conferences in the economics field, in partnership with RePEc we’ve been working on making economics research more accessible to our users. As a means of support in promoting economics research, in April 2013

According to our study last year, 35% of economists are working outside their home countries.  The majority of economists go to work to the US, Germany and France (11% of the respondents respectively), followed by Switzerland (8%), Italy, Netherlands and the UK (6% respectively).

For the last couple of years we have been hearing repeated, if sporadic ‘rumours’ about the soon-to-be recovery. Different economists have different views on this, and below you can find a list of up-to-date comments about the prospects for the near future, and conferences which are open for registration if you have ideas on this topic to tell the world about.