Dating in academia is riddled with potholes, the most immediate of which is do not stray far from your academic discipline. Curious indeed considering that the academic world is meant to be populated by an abundance of young and energetic minds from a variety of different cultures, races and ethnicities, all of whom are hungry for new information and experiences. One would think that such an environment would provide the perfect dating terrain, right? Wrong!

If you're thinking about directions for your research career, one possibility is to become a professor, teaching and researching in a university context. This is one of the most desirable jobs among young academics, and something that people often strive for. But what are the pros and cons of working as a college professor? Browse our college professor jobs listings

Esther Duflo is something of a rarity in her field, and not just for being the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, or the second only female winner. Her pioneering research also sets her apart. Eschewing the grand theory model favoured by her contemporaries, Duflo has carved out her own academic path, pursuing a rigorous analysis of - in her own words - ‘the pieces that comprise the whole’.

Everyone knows about the hard skills you need to be able to succeed in economics or in academia in general: excellent writing and proofreading skills, the ability to extract information from what are often dense scientific texts, and being able to evaluate and analyse data effectively, among other things. But they aren’t the only skills you need to have. There are, of course, the dreaded soft skills – a slippery term that can mean anything from being able to clearly communicate your ideas to another human being to more abstract concepts like emotional intelligence.

Whether you are applying to a structured program like those typically found in the United States, an independent research PhD like those in much of Europe and elsewhere or a hybrid of the two, the first step is to gather your thoughts (and paperwork) in an effort to convince the admissions board that you are the most qualified and motivated candidate for the position.

In 2018 INOMICS released another of its Salary Reports which provides an overview of a survey conducted of 2175 people in 2017 and contains insights into the job market. Respondents came from 117 countries, 17 more than the year previously, and the figure of those asked represented an increase of 11% on the previous year.

Elasticity refers, in its most basic form, to how much an individual, a business, a producer or a consumer changes its demand, or amount of goods supplied, as a result of price and income fluctuation. It is a core economic concept and provides answers to some central questions, such as how much more or less a product will sell if the price is raised or lowered or how much these price changes will affect the sales of other products.

This subdiscipline of economics studies how the economic decisions made by individuals and institutions are influenced by psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural, and social factors. Specifically, it busies itself with looking at rational decision making - and its boundaries - in contrast to how decision making is seen in classical economics.

Game theory refers to the study of the choices actors make which produce outcomes based on their preferences. In short, it's a way of predicting how economic agents are going to act, which has real-world application, meaning the results of releasing products or competing in business can be more accurately predicted. It is assumed in game theory that actors act rationally, that is, that they act in order to maximise benefits to themselves.

Also known as consumer choice, this term refers to the study of how and why people spend their money based on their preferences, and how they maximise the utility of their purchases while working within budget restraints. Some of the basic ideas of consumer theory state firstly that people try to make rational decisions which bring them the greatest utility; secondly, that people will always make multiple shopping trips, one not sufficing; and thirdly, that the more you use a product, the less you want it.

Having the comparative advantage (if, for example, you are a business) means that you can produce a good or service at a relatively lower cost than that of your competitors. Having the comparative advantage means you will be able to sell your goods for a lower cost than your competitors and potentially perform better.

An asset is ANY resource that produces positive economic value for its owner - its owner being its owner as a result of a past event, most likely a transaction. There are two classes of assets, tangible and intangible, which are themselves made up of subclasses. Of the tangible variety, most commonly you’ll hear about current and fixed assets. Current assets refer to things that can be consumed, exhausted or sold, such as cash, stock, and marketable securities.

Standing in contrast to macroeconomics, microeconomics looks at the choices made by economic actors - be they people, firms, or whole industries -  and how they affect the allocation of scarce resources. Primarily, this involves investigation into why goods and services assume different values and understanding how changing economic conditions can alter the decision-making of economic actors. 

Well, capital is a catch-all term that refers to a person’s assets, which means something useful a person has which can create wealth - and it can be extremely broad and be interpreted in many ways. On the face of it, capital is one of if not the most important thing in an economic system. The financing and investing of capital helps to define if and how the economy grows and also how people experience their returns on investment. To this end, capital is a good measurement of wealth, and also a means of creating wealth through the investment of capital.

Pioneered by Ragnar Frisch, Lawrence Klein and Simon Kuznets, econometrics is the application of statistical models to economic data to develop both new theories and test existing hypotheses - a division which demarcates its two main branches: theoretical and applied. Its aim is the quantitative analysis of economic phenomena; giving empirical content to economic relationships. Or in other words, analysing economic history and making forecasts.

You’ve all heard the term before, countless times no doubt. But what does it really mean? Well, the biggest clue is in the title. MACROeconomics is a branch of economics that looks at the economy as a whole, specifically, at its structure, performance, and behaviour. It does so by considering aggregate changes to phenomena like gross domestic product (GDP), inflation, price indices, national income and unemployment rates. 

Kapitalismus oder Sozialismus? Francis Fukuyamas Ausrufung der liberalen Demokratie zur höchsten Entwicklungsform eines Staatsgebildes hat sich bislang noch nicht eindeutig bestätigt. Die uralte Frage "Kapitalismus oder Sozialismus?" hat wieder an Bedeutung gewonnen. In einem auf der ganzen Welt erkennbaren Muster stehen Politiker vor einer Wahl - eine ungewöhnliche Sache in der modernen Politik -, die man grob so beschreiben kann: Willst du mehr Kapitalismus oder möchtest du ein wenig Sozialismus ausprobieren? Das klingt einfach, aber die Frage ist in der Tat vielschichtig.

Studying abroad: the majority who do it say they love it, that it was a great decision, and that although there were difficulties the experience was an unforgettable one. It makes sense, too, for little can replicate the excitement of moving abroad, embracing a foreign culture, and meeting people you would in other circumstances never have met. The exposure to new ideas, conversations, and ways of life is thrilling, healthy, and a great thing to do while studying.

Capitalism or socialism? With Francis Fukuyama’s proclamations of history ending looking increasingly premature, this age-old question has found renewed salience. In a pattern seen across the world, people are being faced with a distinct choice - an unusual thing in modern politics - which crudely can be reduced to: do you want more capitalism or would you like to try a bit of socialism? Simple sounding it may be, but the question is, in fact, a tough one. One must actually grasp what is meant by each term.

Upon completion of a Master's degree or PhD, the big question arises: what next? Although it seems a natural progression to continue with further research, there are many other careers open to academics: in business, in education, or in communication and journalism, for example. So how do you know if research is the right career choice for you? Read on to find out. Browse our job listings for economics opportunities

It's important to keep your finger on the pulse of the latest updates in your field. Otherwise your knowledge could be out of date and your research won't be be topically informed. The finance journals listed here are some of the best in the English-speaking world, offering the latest insights into finance, economics, accounting and business. If you're studying or working in the field of finance, here's our list of the top finance journals you should be reading.

Economists, so the story goes, had successfully grasped the essence of human behaviour: rational, and, therefore, highly predictable. With this discovery, an age-old question whose answer for millennia had eluded humanity was finally laid to rest. Where philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists had failed, economists had struck gold. They had cracked it. As a result, imperfect theories - as economic theories inherently are - started to be treated as laws of nature, like facts, and confidence among economists erred towards hubris.

Since its inception in the 1970s, microfinance has become the darling of development organisations the world over - the idea with the potential to save the planet’s poor. Pioneered by Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus, it provides the financially marginalized with banking services that, given their impoverishment, would otherwise be out of reach.

What does it take to succeed as a economics student? What qualities do you need to thrive at university, to enjoy your studies, and to get a good job afterwards? These are big questions. To put your mind at ease, we've compiled a set of the top 10 traits, that if you possess, will help you get the best out of your university experience. Not bad!

Halloween is probably one of the best occasions to demonstrate how seriously you take yourself (or not!) and how far your creativity can go to show it. If you think that Halloween is below your intellectual level, well, they say that even Paul Krugman threw one economics-themed party, where “two guests came as Asian tigers, several came as hedge funds, one woman came as capital, dressed as a column..."