Freeman, Bertola and Zimmermann cutting the "birthday cake"
In April 2007, the IZA European Summer School in Labor Economics took place for the 10th time – an occasion for a ceremony that added a festive atmosphere to this year’s event. There is indeed good reason for celebration: The IZA Summer School has established an outstanding reputation as one of the most influential forums for interaction between renowned and up-and-coming junior labor economists. Over the years, a total of 340 Ph.D. students – with females making up a remarkable share of 44% – have undergone the tough selection process to participate in the Summer School, for which 21 top representatives of the state-of-the-art in labor research have served as lecturers. Participants representing over 40 nationalities and universities located in over 20 countries made for a colorful and productive blend. The Alumni of the IZA Summer School now succeed in careers in academia and international organizations, with over two thirds of those who are no longer students currently working as professors or researchers at universities and other research centers.
For the past four years, the Summer School has been funded by the European Union under the "Sixth Framework Programme, Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses." In addition, four major scientific associations in Europe support the event through an Advisory Committee: the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), the European Economic Association (EEA), the European Association of Labor Economists (EALE), and the European Society for Population Economics (ESPE).
The 10th IZA European Summer School in Labor Economics took place on April 23-29, 2007, as always at the conference center of Deutsche Post World Net at the Ammersee Lake (near Munich) in Bavaria, Germany. This year, 34 students from nineteen different nationalities attended the event, which featured lectures by Giuseppe Bertola (University of Turin) and Richard B. Freeman (Harvard University and London School of Economics). While Bertola's subject was "Labor Markets and Economic Integration: Imperfections, Regulations, and Reform," Freeman taught on "Schizophrenic Economics," contrasting the traditional concept of the homo oeconomicus with recent research on behavioral economics. Counseled by the communications expert Rachel Hardy (Warwick University) on "How to Prepare and Present Your Poster," the students presented their work either giving a talk or hosting a poster session.
IZA Director Klaus F. Zimmermann, who attended the event along with advisory committee member Peter Jensen (Aarhus School of Business) representing ESPE, underscored IZA's continued commitment to promoting the future elite in labor economics: "From the very beginning of IZA, the Summer School has been an integral part of our efforts to reap the synergies of fruitful interaction between junior researchers and well-established labor economists. This success story is set to continue."
Vasileios Tselios (London School of Economics) "Educational and income inequalities in the regions of the European Union: geographical spillovers under welfare state restrictions"
Chair: Juan Miguel Gallego Acevedo (Université de Toulouse 1 (MPSE))
14:00
-
14:35
Christian Merkl (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and IZA), Alessio Brown (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), Dennis Snower (Kiel Institute for the World Economy)
