We spoke with Dr. Dolan about his crossover interests in Russian literature and economics (and how he made that combination work to his advantage), his experience working in Moscow during the last years of the Soviet Union and why he recommends the MBA degree, among other topics.

Globalization has changed the panorama of the education, giving more options to students to choose the place where they want to study next. Nowadays, students from all over the world can enroll in a program in destinations they had never imagined. Moreover, high quality of education, career options and discovering of new cultures encourage young people to increase the percentage of foreign students at prestigious universities around the globe.

In a post about the Olympics this past winter, we mentioned research linking the economic development of a country to its chances of taking home a large number medals in the Games. While it might seem reasonable to extend this logic to the World Cup, in-depth econometric and statistical analysis indicates otherwise. So how can we best predict who will come out on top in this year’s World Cup?

In a 2012 post on Top Apps for Economists, we noted that the word “app” was becoming integrated into our daily lives. Two years later, I’d say it’s achieved a solid place in contemporary vocabulary. Yet, while you may not think twice about using an app to check a train schedule, buy a movie ticket or peruse Facebook, you still might not be aware of the plethora of great academic and professional apps available as well.

While everyone knows how important a good spot in the major rankings lists can be for recruiting top-notch students, another type of ranking is gaining in momentum that deserves widespread recognition as well. In the digital era we find ourselves in, it’s only appropriate that cyber rankings be given weight within a school’s overall reputation. To do well on this scale means more than just having a flashy website, however; it means creating a user-friendly, active and interactive online presence for your institution, while retaining staff who publish widely and share their work and ideas with the public via online platforms.

Last year, we conducted a global survey of nearly 800 academics, asking questions about budget cuts at their respective institutions for fiscal year 2013, and their expectations for 2014. We wanted to get a sense of the climate around the world in terms of who is still being affected by the economic downturn, and to what extent, in order to better grasp the daily reality for both employers and job seekers.

Although students and young professionals know that internships can be a great way to gain experience and help fill up their CVs, sometimes employers might not realize that hiring interns can be equally important for them and their organization. In order to highlight the ways in which internships can be mutually beneficial, we’d like to focus on three key reasons why hiring interns is advantageous for any organization.

While we of course hope you find our own blog to be a great and engaging resource, we recognize that there are copious noteworthy blogs out there focusing specifically on the world of finance. For this post, we’ve gathered a list of 50 Finance related blogs for you to peruse.

This April 1st, we figured we’d spare you another bogus announcement or unfortunate attempt at a corporate joke and instead delve into the murky place where economics and humor intersect. If all you’re hoping for is a few economist jokes, (like the classic “Three Economists Go Hunting” jab we highlighted in a previous entry), then don’t worry, you’ll find some of those at the end of the post.

While today might just be another Monday for most of us around the world, for the nearly 37 million claiming Irish ancestry (more than 8 times the current population of Ireland), for many living on the Emerald Isle and for those who might just be interested in donning some green and downing a Guinness, St. Patrick’s Day is a beloved holiday. Following in the vein of such posts as Christmas Economics and Halloween Economics, we wanted to get in on the St. Paddy’s fun, but of course with an economics twist.

As of 2011, significantly more women than men completed secondary education in an astounding 32 of the 34 OECD member countries, according to a study by OECD researchers. On average, women accounted for 58% of graduates overall, though the range between countries is quite great. Moreover, the numbers vary tremendously across disciplines, with the areas of health & welfare and arts & humanities still heavily female, while math & science remain overwhelmingly male.

Following up on last year’s Valentine’s Day post Would you Date an Economist?, this year we’ll tackle the next step: how to predict the potential success of your relationship – using game theory. Once again, we’ve compiled a list of authors, researchers and scholars who have attempted to crack the code of love using numbers and logic.

In this report, which was just released on the INOMICS website, we offer a detailed look at the interests and experiences of economists in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. With the participation of over 300 economists from these three countries, we gathered a broad range of data in response to questions regarding fields of specialization, international mobility, job market preferences, top employers and many other issues. While nearly a third of survey respondents were PhD candidates, researchers made up another significant portion of participants (20%) and other respondents included professors, consultants, analysts, lecturers and others.

As the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi enter their second week, the talk of who is bringing home the gold centers not just on the athletes, but also on the cities, countries and corporations who have invested in these games. In this post we’d like to focus on the economics of the Olympics, this year and in general.

There are a number of disciplines one cannot avoid when purusing a degree in economics. In earlier articles we have looked at resources for econometrics, statistics and other quantitative subjects, so now it is high time to cover fields related to microeconomics. Below we have gathered a list of useful links and resources for those interested in game theory – the starting point for students focusing on auctions, organization theory, strategic management and so on.

The annual American Economic Association Meeting is a well-known event bringing together some of the brightest minds in economics and probably counting as one of the largest gatherings of young academics in one place. Here at INOMICS we are delighted to have been a part of this annual gathering for the second year in a row, as besides attendance of exceptional academic sessions, it is also a rare opportunity to meet and greet our users and readers personally.

At times it is hard to believe how fast time flies – yet another year is over! 2013 was an exciting year for the INOMICS blog: in 12 months, the number of readers quadrupled, the blog was launched in 3 additional languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese), and we got ever more inspiration to share interesting and useful resources, research and stories with the academic community.

Even though many (especially young and less experienced) job candidates attend interviews with an anticipation of being assessed, in reality the assessment always happens in both directions. And the more that a talented applicant has to offer, the pickier he or she can be when making a final decision.

 There are many reasons why institutions and individuals engage in conference organization, be it an international congress or a local workshop on a specific area of economics or finance. In academia, it is a great way to publicize your research work, to educate a wider public about a certain issue or simply to bring together experts from the same field and share the state of research. In business, it is the ultimate way to expand a network, market your company and often pave the way to future clients. Regardless of the type of institution, all conference organizers face the same challenges, especially when organizing an event for the first time.

USA & Canada Latin America Australia & New Zealand

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.

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”.

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 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.

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.