1) University of Copenhagen

2) Aarhus University

3) Harvard University

We hope to see the top three return next year to defend their ranking in this world wide competion in econometrics. Congratulations to the top three and the seven other finalist with their great achievement. The Econometric Game is growing and reaching the top ten in our competitive list of participants, consisting of thirty teams, is impressive on its own.

For the list of participating universities click the link below:

Participating universities

Congratulations to the participating universities, we look forward to welcome your teams in Amsterdam next April. If your university has not been selected for this year´s Econometric Game, we hope that your enthusiasm isn’t tempered by this fact and your university will apply again for the 2013 edition.

The selection made was based on several criteria from which the following ones were the most important:

• University ranking in econometrics on http://ideas.repec.org/top/top.ecm.html

• Past achievements during the Econometric Game

• Adding geographical diversity to the Econometric Game

These criteria have been chosen in consultation with the Head of the Department of Quantitative Economics of the University of Amsterdam, Prof. Cars Hommes.

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The Econometric Game started off on a beautiful Tuesday in the Duif, a former church in the city centre of Amsterdam. Over 200 students in econometrics gathered to attend the official opening of the Econometic Game 2011. Presentations of Gisella van Vollenhoven (ING) and Dymph van den Boom (rector magnifica UvA) introduced the subject after which the Professor Windmeijer announced the case.
After the introduction, 125 talented students in 25 teams from all over the world settled down to start solving the case. The Duif, transformed into blue and white, was the workplace during the first two days. Wearing their Econometric-Game-sweaters the players were spread over the tables with their books, notes, laptops, cables, calculators, energy-drinks and more so they could achieve the best result. During the first day, the players got the opportunity to orientate on the case with articles which were provided by the committee and material they found on their own. At the end of the day the teams could relax with some drinks and a diner and were able to socialize with each other and with employees of ING and NN.

After a day of introduction and orientation on the subject the competition really started on the second day. The teams received the datasets to start their real analyses. They had to find a solution and come up with a report before the end of the day. Despite the enormous time pressure, the jury kept to the record: at exactly 4.00PM the reports had to be handed in. After that it was waiting for the results. At 23:00 the expert jury, containing renowned professors, had checked all the rapports and decided which ten teams were good enough to continue to day 3 of the Econometric Game. Frank Windmeijer announced the finalists and the room was a mix of cheering and disappointment. The upside for the eliminated teams was that they could enjoy another drink in the bar of the Hotel Arena.

On the final day the finalists were working on a second case in the Academical Medical Centre (AMC). The other participants could enjoy themselves on a canal cruise through Amsterdam. After some sightseeing, the Econometric Game Congress 2011 took place. More than 200 attendees, including the eliminated teams and interested students from the University of Amsterdam and the Free University of Amsterdam, watched different professors speak about their specialism. Meanwhile, the finalists finished the case in the AMC, after which they presented their findings for the second case at the congress.
Around midnight the moment of truth for the finalist had come: the announcement of the winning team. The jury had decided which team was best in solving the case and presenting it over some drinks in a local bar. Top executive Ricardo Sookdeo (ING) and chairman of the jury Frank Windmeijer had the honor to present the winner: Maastricht University. The room applauded while they opened the champagne bottle and received the Cup. The partying started and went on till the early hours. It was a successful ending of a successful event.

To download the cases that have been resolved in the edition of 2011:

Econometric-Game-2011-Case-A
Econometric-Game-2011-Case-B

Participating universities in the Econometric Game 2011:

1. Aarhus University
2. Universitá Commerciale Luigi Bocconi
3. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
4. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
5. Leibniz Universität Hannover
6. University of Rome Tor Vergata
7. London School of Economics
8. Maastricht University (Winner 2011)
9. Monash University (Winner 2010)
10. Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration
11. Tilburg University
12. Trinity College Dublin
13. Carlos III University of Madrid (Winner 2009)
14. Université Catholique de Louvain
15. University of Amsterdam
16. University of Antwerp
17. University of Bristol
18. University of Cambridge (Winner 2008)
19. University of Groningen
20. University of Copenhagen
21. University of Economics, Prague
22. University of Orléans
23. University of Oxford
24. University of Warsaw
25. Uppsala University

The jury was impressed by their full and complete analysis. The team of Maastricht University consisted of the following members: Thomas Götz (captain), Sarah Dahmann, Daniel Pollmann, Marc Schröder and Lei Wan. The Econometric Game Committee 2011 hopes that they will be back again in Amsterdam next year to defend their title.

The complete top-three of the Econometric Game 2011 is as follows:

1. Maastricht University
2. University of Oxford
3. University of Cambridge

Mendelian Randomisation is the term used to describe the random allocation of genes from parents to offspring. Recent advances in genotyping have made it possible to obtain genetic information more easily and economists are increasingly interested in the use of genetic variants as instrumental variables to identify the effect of a modifiable non-genetic risk factor on the outcomes of interest. Of course, there may be various reasons why a genetic marker may not be a valid instrument. Also, a genetic marker may only be weakly associated with the risk factor.

In the case of the Econometric Game 2011 we will contribute to the long and ongoing debate about whether alcohol consumption by the mother during pregnancy has a beneficial or detrimental effect on the development of the foetus. The data set that will be analysed contains information about the mother’s alcohol intake during pregnancy and the children’s school test scores at age 14. A simple regression analysis may not identify the causal effect of alcohol intake due to unobserved factors that affect both maternal alcohol intake and the human capital formation of the child. We have information for the mother on the presence
of a genetic marker which has been shown to be associated with alcohol consumption and may therefore be a good candidate for use as an instrumental variable. This genetic marker may thus enable us to identify/estimate a causal effect of maternal alcohol consumption on the child’s cognitive ability by means of instrumental variables estimation techniques.

All those interested are welcome at the congress. It will take place at De Duif (Prinsengracht 756, Amsterdam) and will start at 13:00. Around 16:30 the finalists will present their solutions to the jury. The congress will end around 18:30 with a festive drink.
To register for the congress, or if you have any questions, please contact the organizing committee at eg@vsae or (+31) 020 5254134.

1. Aarhus University
2. Bocconi University
3. Humboldt University of Berlin
4. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
5. Leibniz University of Hannover
6. London School of Economics
7. Maastricht University
8. Monash University
9. Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration
10. Tilburg University
11. Trinity College Dublin
12. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
13. Université Catholique de Louvain
14. University of Amsterdam
15. University of Antwerp
16. University of Bristol
17. University of Cambridge
18. University of Copenhagen
19. University of Economics, Prague
20. University of Groningen
21. University of Orléans
22. University of Oxford
23. University of Rome Tor Vergata
24. University of Warsaw
25. Uppsala University