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Announcements for Friday, May 3, 2013

News

  • Student Affairs honors Hallam and Luvaga

    Department of Economics faculty members Arne Hallam and Ebby Luvaga were recently honored by the Division of Student Affairs at Iowa State University.

    Hallam, associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and a professor of economics, received the Thomas B. Thielen Award. This award is the highest honor the division gives to a faculty member who has been a strong supporter of student success.

    The Thomas B. Thielen Award is named for the man who served as Iowa State University's Vice President for Student Affairs from 1977-1997. Under the twenty years of Dr. Thielen's leadership, the Division of Student Affairs enjoyed national prominence, and ISU students thrived in a tradition of involvement in campus events, issues, and organizations.

    Luvaga, a senior lecturer in economics, coordinator of the agricultural business learning community and leader of numerous study abroad programs, received the Wilbur L. Layton Faculty Recognition Award. Typically this award is given to faculty members who have a sustained relationship with the Division of Student Affairs.

    This award is named for Dr. Wilbur Layton, Iowa State University's first vice president for student affairs, who served in that role from 1967 to 1976. Dr. Layton came to Student Affairs from Psychology, where he had previously served as department chair. The award honors faculty members who have collaborated with us to serve students and who have been strong supporters of student success.

    Moses Bomet, a senior Department of Economics major, was also given an award by the Division of Student Affairs called the Unsung Hero Award for his work with the nonprofit organization Hope 4 Africa.

    Pictured in the photo from left to right is Dr. Thomas Hill, Senior V.P. for Student Affairs, Luvaga, Hallam, and Dr. Thomas B. Thielen.

  • Friday's Department Seminar: Victor Aguirregabiria, University of Toronto

    "Identification and Estimation of Dynamic Games when Players’ Beliefs are Not in Equilibrium," with Victor Aguirregabiria, University of Toronto, Friday, May 3, 368A Heady Hall, 3:40 p.m.-5 PM.

    Victor Aguirregabiria is a professor in the Department of Economics and the University of Toronto and a CEMFI Research Fellow. He is currently associate editor of Journal of Business and Economic Statistics and Journal of Applied Econometrics. Victor's research has made important advances to the econometric estimation of dynamic structural models of economic behavior. His work has appeared in Econometrica, the American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Econometrics, and other influential journals.

    Abstract: This paper deals with the identification and estimation of dynamic games when players’ beliefs about other players’ actions are biased, i.e., beliefs do not represent the probability distribution of the actual behavior of other players conditional on the information available. First, we show that an exclusion restriction, typically used to identify empirical games, provides testable nonparametric restrictions of the null hypothesis of equilibrium beliefs. Second, we prove that this exclusion restriction, together with consistent estimates of beliefs at several points in the support of the special state variable (i.e., the variable involved in the exclusion restriction), is sufficient for nonparametric point-identification of players’ payoff and belief functions. The consistent estimates of beliefs at some points of support may come either from an assumption of unbiased beliefs at these points in the state space, or from available data on elicited beliefs for some values of the state variables. Third, we propose a simple two-step estimation method and a sequential generalization of the method that improves its asymptotic and finite sample properties. We illustrate our model and methods using both Monte Carlo experiments and an empirical application of a dynamic game of store location by retail chains. The key conditions for the identification of beliefs and payoffs in our application are the following: (a) the previous year’s network of stores of the competitor does not have a direct effect on the profit of a firm, but the firm’s own network of stores at previous year does affect its profit because the existence of sunk entry costs and economies of density in these costs; and (b) firms’ beliefs are unbiased in those markets that are close, in a geographic sense, to the opponent’s network of stores, though beliefs are unrestricted, and potentially biased, for unexplored markets which are farther away from the competitors’ network. Our estimates show significant evidence of biased beliefs.

     

     

  • Weekly media contacts for the Department of Economics

    Dave Swenson spoke with Perry Beeman, The Des Moines Register, regarding changes in commuting patterns in the metropolitan area over the course of the recession and recovery.

Funding Opportunities

Job Opportunities

  • Ag and natural resource position at Santa Rosa Junior College
  • Agriculture Economist at Intl School of Economics at Tbilisi State University, Georgia

    The International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET) is pleased to announce a new, grant-funded, instructional and research program in agricultural economics. More information on the program is attached.

    We are seeking to make two appointments: 1) a senior level, part time advisor and 2) a full-time Chair in Agricultural Economics to implement this program. The part-time position should be someone with a distinguished reputation in the field. The full-time chair should hold a PhD and be appropriate for appointment at the Assistant or Associate Professor level at a research-oriented institution. He or she should have an active interest in evidence-based policy advising and be comfortable with significant public visibility.

    Ideally both positions will start on September 1, 2013 although a later starting date may be arranged for the right candidate.

    Agricultural Economics Program to be Launched by the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University

    The International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET), a regional center for research and graduate-level economics education, has received a multi-year grant to build agricultural economics capacity in Georgia.This proposed project will establish a Concentration in Agricultural Economics within ISET’s Master’s Program in Economics and an Agricultural Policy Research Center at the ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI). The Center will develop and communicate relevant research, and conduct on-demand policy evaluation and analysis.

    The goals of the project are as follows:

    • To create a pool of well-trained young economists capable of addressing a wide array of issues related to agricultural and rural development in Georgia and the region
    • To modernize and mainstream agricultural economics curricula at the graduate and undergraduate level
    • To produce high quality research, data and analysis addressing current policy concerns related to agricultural and rural development in Georgia
    • To bring to Georgia international academic and policy expertise including Georgian economists and policy analysts
    • To strengthen ISET-PI’s position as an independent voice in the public policy debate on agricultural economics issues

    Overall leadership for the project will be provided by a part-time Agricultural Policy Advisor and a new Chair in Agricultural Economics (CAE) to be established at ISET. The new Agricultural Policy Research Center at the ISET Policy Institute will hire three research fellows from among ISET graduates. It will also provide fellowships for up to 5 MA-level students a year.

    We are seeking highly qualified applicants for both the part-time senior and the full time position. Salaries will be highly competitive. The full time position will be for a renewable three year appointment.