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

The Econometric Game 2010 was officially opened by chairman Reinier Joustra. During the opening ceremony, dr. R.H.A. Plasterk (Dutch scientist and politician) and mr. E. Hato (ING) gave presentations, and dr. C.G.H. Diks (case maker and University of Amsterdam teacher) introduced the case topic. The teams spent the rest of the day doing research on the topic.

The second day, the teams were all set at nine in the morning to start working on the first case. Teams were given a dataset on AIDS prevalence and other characteristics in an unspecified African nation. At the end of the survey, each participant was given the choice of whether to have a free blood test for AIDS as well as other illnesses. The first case required an investigation into the modelling of individual’s choices as to whether to take the free test for HIV. All teams had seven hours to complete the case study and write a report. After consideration, the expert jury named ten universities that were allowed to participate during the final day.

The ten finalists spent the third day working on a second case. The analysis focussed, amongst other things, on examining the interdependency of spousal decisions in determining whether the HIV test was taken. While the ten finalists worked hard to hand in a written report and prepare a verbal presentation of their results on time, the other fifteen teams could relax during a canal cruise through the canals of Amsterdam. In the afternoon, they attended the first edition of the Econometric Game Congress, together with the jury, University of Amsterdam students and other interested people. Speakers were prof. D.A. Jaeger (University of Cologne professor), prof. S.J.G. van Wijnbergen (University of Amsterdam professor) and mr. S. Noorda (chairman of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands). At the end of the congress, the ten finalists presented their results. The jury evaluated the written reports over dinner, and the award ceremony took place during a party at Heeren van Aemstel. Chairman Reinier Joustra announced that the third and second place was won by Aarhus University and VU University Amsterdam respectively. But the team that would take home the trophy and was named winner of the Econometric Game 2010 is Monash University!

The cases that have been resolved in the edition of 2010:

Econometric Game 2010 – Case A
Econometric Game 2010 – Case B

Participating universities in the Econometric Game 2010:

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

To start with, the number of participants has never been higher than during the Econometric Game 2009. Among them, ‘old friends’ that have experienced the evolution of the Econometric Game right from the beginning, but also universities that had their first Econometric Game experience! In particular, the debut of New YorkUniversity, BostonUniversity and MonashUniversity made that, for the first time in Econometric Game history, participants from three different continents participated. Therefore, the Econometric Game can rightfully be labeled a global event! In total, there were 27 teams such that 135 highly talented econometricians visited Amsterdam from the 7th until the 9th of April.

For the first time in the history of the Econometric Game, the event lasted for three days. Whereas the first editions only lasted for a single day, most of the previous editions lasted two years. However, due to the increasing number of participating universities, the Econometric Game Committee 2009 decided to introduce a third day. This obviously had implications for the day-to-day schedule of the participants. In particular, the teams were challenged to solve two challenging cases concerning child mortality. Both cases were the result of cooperation between University of Amsterdam professors and UNICEF.

Obviously, the Econometric Game 2009 begun with a formal opening ceremony, presented by Econometric Game 2009 chairman DaniellaBrals. During the ceremony, mr. M. Wijne (UNICEF), mr. H. Nauss (ING) and prof. dr. J. F. Kievit (case maker and University of Amsterdam professor) all gave presentations. To formally introduce the topic, all teams were provided introductory papers during the first day.

On the beginning of the second day, the teams actually started working on the first case, written by dr. J. C. M. van Ophem (University of Amsterdam professor). The case explored the relation between the number of children and the number of deceased children within families in a dataset consisting of Indian demographics. In the late afternoon, all teams handed in their written reports and left them in the hands of an experienced jury. The jury consisted of prof. dr. J. F. Kiviet (University of Amsterdam), dr. J. C. M. van Ophem (University of Amsterdam), prof. J. B. Ramsey (New York University), dr. C. G. H. Diks (University of Amsterdam) and dr. M. P. Pradhan (University of Amsterdam) and prof. dr. T. J. Wansbeek. They argued that the following universities were allowed to participate during the third day (in random order of course): Cambridge University, Maastricht University, Tilburg University, University College London, University of Aarhus, CorvinusUniversity of Budapest, University of Warsaw, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Humboldt University of Berlin, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Consequently, only ten teams started working on the second case, which treated the decline in infant mortality in Brazil. The ten finalists were asked to provide both a written report for the jury as well as a verbal presentation of their results for all the teams, the jury and interested people from the University of Amsterdam. The Econometric Game 2009 was closed with a party at the Heffer during which the award ceremony took place. Chairman DaniellaBrals announced that third and second place was won by Cambridge University and Maastricht University respectively. In the end, however, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid took first place and can righteously be named Winner of the Econometric Game 2009!

Looking back, the Econometric Game 2009 was a great success and a benchmark for future editions!

The cases that have been resolved in the edition of 2009 can be found here soon.

Participating universities at the Econometric Game 2009:

1. Monash University
2. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
3. University of Economics, Prague
4. University of Aarhus
5. University of Copenhagen
6. University of Cambridge
7. University of Oxford
8. New York University
9. Boston University
10. Humboldt University of Berlin
11. University of Dortmund
12. Leibniz University Hannover
13. University of Pireaus
14. Central European University
15. Corvinus University of Budapest
16. Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration
17. University of Warsaw
18. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
19. Comenius University
20. Erasmus University Rotterdam
21. Maastricht University
22. Tilburg University
23. University of Amsterdam
24. London School of Economics
25. University College London
26. University of Exeter