Discover 399 opportunities in economics

Yesterday, the 19th of Feb, the economics community lost another famed scholar – Armen Alchian, 98, professor emeritus at the University of California Los Angeles.

Image Credit: Liz FosslienHave you ever considered dating an economist, and if yes, what did you decide? If you are puzzled by this question, there are plenty of resources, which can help you to find an answer. The amount of material on this topic found by searching Google and the number of jokes made clearly indicate that it is indeed a hot topic, even more so on a Valentine’s Day.

Last year we published a list of “The Best Economics Android Apps”, with the intention to follow it up with a post about economics apps for iOS devices later. As promised, here is the list of the apps for economists, who prefer to use Apple products, and which could be useful for both students and professionals in economics.

 The US-based International Association for Energy Economics is the world’s largest organization of Energy Economists with members from over 100 countries. Part of their mandate includes facilitating the mutual association of people interested in energy economics, in order to create a forum for professional discussion and to provide a means of international communication and exchange. Collaboration between INOMICS and IAEE has already benefitted both organizations in terms of consolidating global reach and sharing resources.

Source: National Science Foundation, NSF/NIH/USED/USDA/NEH/NASA, Survey of Earned Doctorates

With ice on the ground and a chill in the air (at least for those living in northern climes), it is nice to think about the summer and all of the welcome things it brings: warmth, flowers, and, of course, new career and training opportunities.

Source: Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (China), The Survey of Earned Doctorates, National Science Foundation (US)

As we reached the end of the year 2012, we decided to compile a list of the top INOMICS blog posts, those that received a record number of visitors throughout the year.  Enjoy your reading and Happy New Year to everyone!

Following our earlier post from November about Economics Conferences in 2013, we have now published a (chronological) list of Conferences in Economics and Statistics taking place in the Asia-Pacific Region. If you know of other interesting, economics-related events in the region, please share these with us in the comments at the end of this post.

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.

It is that time of year again!

Data Source: RePEc

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.

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.

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.

Source: Survey on Research Funding for the Social Sciences in Europe, Ramon Marimon, Igor Guardiancich, Mike Mariathasan, Eva Rossi, European University Institute, 2011

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.

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?

Unemployment For College Majors

Source: Survey of the labor market for new PH.D. hires in economics 2011 – 12, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas:

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.

New Ph.D Hires in Economics: Expected and Actual Offers for the 2010-11 Academic Year

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.

Check here the Summer Schools in Economics taking place in 2015!