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BSE Summer Schools 2009
The 2009 BSE Summer Schools will begin on June 29 at the School’s Ciutadella campus. This year, the School is offering three programs: the Barcelona Banking Summer School (BBSS), the Barcelona Microeconometrics Summer School (BMiSS), and the Zvi Griliches Research Summer School, which has a research focus on science and innovation.
The BSE Summer Schools are taught by renowned academics and leading practictioners. Among the students are professionals in areas such as public administration, finance, monetary policy, and commercial banking. Other participants are researchers and graduate students in a variety of fields.
The international nature of the student body is quite evident, with attendees coming from more than 50 different countries. Italy and Germany lead the European countries in attendance; other countries represented include Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Iran.
New for ’09: Revised Course Schedule and Call for Papers
The BBSS, now in its third year, and the BMiSS, being offered for the second time, are both two weeks long and consist of one-week courses. The BBSS is directed by Prof. Xavier Freixas (UPF-GSE) and Prof. Moshe Kim (University of Haifa, Visiting Professor at the UPF). The courses cover recent developments in different areas of banking, including theoretical and empirical aspects of banking, banking regulation and supervision, financial markets and payments systems.
The BMiSS is directed by Prof. Sergi Jiménez-Martín (UPF-GSE). The school is designed to teach professionals and academics the latest techniques in data handling in response to the significant growth in the number of academic jobs of an empirical nature as well as the increasing number of studies commissioned by public and private institutions.
In a change from last year, the course schedule has been revamped to allow students the flexibility to mix and match courses from both summer schools. Attendees can also choose to take courses individually.
Another new feature this year is a call for papers from students who wish to present their work. The papers that have been selected for presentation will address topics such as competition, IPOs, bank fragility, and market discipline.
Prof. Xavier Freixas (UPF-GSE) returns for a third year as director of the Banking Summer School (BBSS). Prof. Moshe Kim is co-directing the 2009 program.
BBSS/BMiSS alums come back for more
Economist Jens Eisenschmidt of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt attended last year’s BBSS and is returning again this year to present his paper, “Liquidity risk premia in unsecured interbank money markets” (co-authored with Jens Tapking). He will take advantage of the new schedule to pair one course in the BBSS, Risk Management and Regulation of Banks with Prof. Hans Degryse, and one in the BMiSS, Dynamic Panel Models and Non-linear Panel Data Models with Prof. Sergi Jiménez-Martín.
In addition to its relevance to his work, Mr. Eisenschmidt cited the quality of the GSE Summer School faculty and the opportunity to present his own research as key attractions for his return for the 2009 session.
“Last year, I attended the BBSS because I wanted a quick refresher of developments in my field from people in academia who are familiar with current research issues,” Mr. Eisenschmidt said. “The courses were taught by Professors Freixas and Rochet, who are as good as it gets in Europe for that. This year, it came in pretty handy that a dynamic panel methods course was on offer – I am currently using exactly this type of econometric models in my work. Additionally, I appreciate the possibility to present a topical research paper during the summer school session. All in all, I am looking forward to an intense and stimulating week in Barcelona!”
Mr. Eisenschmidt is not the only GSE Summer School student returning for a second year. In total, 12 students who attended previous GSE summer schools will return to take additional courses this year.
In addition to its relevance to his work, European Central Bank Economist Jens Eisenschmidt cited the quality of the GSE Summer School faculty and the opportunity to present his own research as key attractions for his return for the 2009 session.
Zvi Griliches Research Summer School
From July 13-15, 2009, the BSE is organizing the Zvi Griliches Research Summer School in the Economics of Innovation. The program’s directors are Prof. Walter Garcia-Fontes (UPF-GSE) and Prof. Elena Huergo (Universidad Complutense de Madrid). This program promotes interactions between academic researchers, innovation policy practitioners, statistical office analysts and PhD students with a general interest in analyzing technological innovation from an economic point of view. This is achieved through the combination of compelling keynote speakers and the presentation of a selection of leading research papers.
The keynote speakers will be: Prof. Otto Toivanen, director of the Helsinki Center of Economic Research (HECER) at the University of Helsinki; Prof. Chiara Criscuolo, Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics; and Dr. Dominique Guellec, senior economist in the Economic Analysis and Statistics Division of the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry of the OECD.
The selection process for research papers was very competitive, with only 17 of the 40 submitted papers being accepted for presentation. Accepted papers will be presented by the submitting author, and will be discussed first by a discussant designated by the scientific committee and then by the general audience.
The Zvi Griliches Research Summer School will take place at the Casa Convalescència, one of the premiere examples of Catalan Modernist architecture in Barcelona. The program is sponsored by Cotec and the Spanish Science and Technology Foundation (FECYT).
Other Summer Schools at the UPF-Ciutadella Campus
CREI (Center for Research in International Economics) is offering the eleventh edition of the Barcelona Macroeconomics Summer School (BMSS) from June 22-July 10, 2009. CREI is one of BSE's founding academic bodies. This summer school offered courses on topics including DSGE models, labor market frictions, and fiscal policy under uncertainty.
The UPF, another founding academic body of the BSE, offered its third annual Laboratory for Experimental Economics (Leex), an experimental summer school in macroeconomics, from June 15-19, 2009. The five-day intensive program teaches experimental methods of macroeconomics research. This year’s program focused on laboratory studies relevant to the current global financial crisis.
CREI's Macroeconomics Summer School (BMSS) kicked off the summer school season at the Ciutadella campus. The GSE's summer schools begin June 29, 2009.
Prof. Fabio Canova teaching his course, "DSGE Models: Methods and Problems" in the BMSS this week at CREI.