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Banking, Microeconometrics, and Research Summer Schools 2010
After kicking off with the new Labor Economics Summer School in June, the GSE campus heated up with the return of the Banking, Microeconometrics, and Zvi Griliches Research Summer School in the Economics of Innovation. This year a total of 183 participants from 45 countries attended Summer Schools 2010, many of them mixing and matching courses from more than one track.
Banking and Microeconometrics tracks
A call for papers in the Banking track gave participants the opportunity to present their own research to faculty and peers during the course. Some of the papers presented were:
- "The Effect of Market Power on Banks' Risk Taking in Turkey"
- "Do Firm-Bank 'Odd Couples' Exacerbate Credit Rationing?"
- "The Roles of Relationship Lending and Utilization of Soft Information on Bank Performance in Competitive Local Markets"
The exchange of research and ideas continued outside the classroom as well. "During the short breaks, the professors are very friendly and eager to engage in conversation with the participants, adding much more value to the experience," said Banking participant Kleopatra Nikolaou, who is an economist at the European Central Bank. "For those who cannot get enough, meeting academics and policy makers with similar interests could lead to conversations potentially occupying the largest part of the rest of the day!"
The 2010 Microeconometrics track included a new practical lab course where students worked with four tools for linear regressions which are frequently used in applied research. Each session presented an econometric problem, discussed its theoretical solution, and illustrated its implementation in Stata using real world data.
Professional and academic participants alike found the summer course content relevant and energizing. Prof. Aida Tavares (University of Aveiro) came to Barcelona for Prof. Badi Baltagi's course, Panel Data Linear Analysis, part of the Microeconometrics track. "I revised forgotten Microeconometrics topics, such as difference between fixed and random effects, two-way error component model, and simultaneous equations with Prof. Baltagi, who´s an excellent teacher," said Prof. Tavares.
Zvi Griliches Research Summer School
As in previous years, the beautiful Casa Convalescència was the setting for the Zvi Griliches Research Summer School. Keynote speakers for the Zvi Griliches program included: Dirk Czarnitzki (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), Ivan Hascic (OECD, Environment Directorate), and Bruno Van Pottelsberghe (Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Univerisité Libre de Bruxelles).
In addition to the keynote speakers and participants coming from around the world, a number of recent graduates of the GSE's Economics of Science and Innovation (MESI) master program attended the session. All program fees are waived for MESI graduates.
"It's great that, as students in the MESI program, we have the opportunity to attend the Zvi Griliches conference," said Dr. Fernanda Leal '10. "It shows the GSE's committment to its alumni."
Dr. Leal was in a unique situation as a MESI graduate who also attended some Zvi Griliches last year, before beginning the master program. "The sessions are very intense," Dr. Leal said. "I definitely got more out of the experience now that I have had the training provided by the MESI program."
