Career building Marie Claire Villeval Tim Cason Yan
Career building Marie Claire Villeval, Tim Cason, Yan Chen, Uri Gneezy with Tanya Rosenblat and Vernon Smith Mentoring luncheon, ESA World Meeting, July 10, 2016
Career building: Overview Marie Claire Villeval University of Lyon Mentoring luncheon, ESA World Meeting, July 10, 2016
Choosing good research topics and publishing - Main steps o Building a research agenda o Getting good ideas o Clean execution of the project o Publishing and having an impact
Building a research agenda - Maintain a portfolio of papers: o Diversify risks: find a balance between working on a hot topic and exploring terra incognita o Avoid overcrowded domains and try to anticipate when the top of the wave has been reached - Be focused o New projects always look nicer: Resist! Put a limit on the number of your ongoing projects o What is the magic number? o Avoid dispersion: try to be identified on one or two topics - Explore your ideas further o One idea for one paper o Push further a line of research (you already know the literature, the contributors, and the missing points) o Do not overexploit the same idea (don’t plagiarize yourself!)
Getting good ideas - Identify good questions: o o o Design new experiments to address important topics in real settings and/or to test new theories Identify original questions at the research frontiers by attending conferences, reading, … Put into question conventional wisdom Anticipate whether addressing this specific question will be useful and make a difference Ambitious projects (the Big Picture) but simple ideas - Identify good co-authors to improve ideas and analysis as a team: o Benefit from skill complementarities: modelling / experimental design / econometrics; intuition / writing / selling o Choose co-authors you trust and enjoy working with o Choose co-authors who also care about your career o Major role of networking and reputation
A clean execution of the project - Management of time o Better to take a few more weeks to fine tune a design than rushing to run the sessions before the Summer break o Also important to have deadlines (e. g. , committing by submitting a paper to ESA conferences!) - Play the devil’s advocate o Within/between subject design? Direct/strategy method? Natural/artificial group identity? o Field/lab? Internal/external validity? - Expose yourself: present your design in brown bag seminars to get feedback - Fundamental role of ethics, good behavior with coauthors - When data disappoint you: o When the idea was good, the model/design clean, try to publish these results o Report also the treatments that failed o Abandon projects that turn out to be bad
Publishing and having an impact - Writing a paper o Keep it short! o Show immediately the Big Picture, the novelty, the contribution, the main findings and their applications o Remain focused and put as many details as possible in a technical Appendix o Circulate the working paper asap and update it o Look at the slides of our last year Mentoring luncheon - Targeting the right journal o Knowledge of journals’ ranking (international classifications, impact factor) o Knowledge of journals’ specificities (evolution of the editorial board, recent issues, mean response time…) o Is it always relevant to target top 5 journals? Ex ante, yes; ex post, certainly not o Publishing in other disciplines: stimulating but perhaps not the best strategy at the beginning of a career
- Having an impact: o Choose a clear and self-contained title o Write an informative but short abstract (about 100 words) o o Ambitious project with many implications: do not speak only to experimental / behavioral economists Simple and relevant idea Matching of a clear theory and a clean/original design Precise, concise, robust econometric analysis o o Frequent presentations in seminars and workshops Grit is crucial Publish in high visibility journals Check your citations
Networking - Maximize opportunities in conferences and on-line: Why? o Better access to information: e. g. , know future job openings, special issues of journals, competitors working on the same idea, … o Send signals to a wider audience when you communicate o Create more opportunities for new joint research projects o Better identification of your contributions o Remember that behavior differs when one interacts with in-groups or with out-groups!
- How? o Attend conference and workshops on a regular basis o Ph. D students: attend summer schools! o Give seminars o Introduce yourself and sell your work § Talk to senior researchers, especially if your work is in a close field § Take appointments with visitors in your department § Ask the help of a mentor (or supervisor) to introduce you o Do not overestimate the memory of people § Do not hesitate to repeat what your research interests are § Assume that the person you are talking with hears about your new project for the first time o On-line networking § Update your CV! § Sign up to mailing lists and on-line group discussions § Contribute by answering colleagues’ questions and posting your own questions § Facebook, Twitter: use them but without excess!
Services to the profession - Which services? o o Reviewing papers for journals and grant applications Discussing papers at conferences Supervising Master and Ph. D students and writing reference letters Organizing conferences and workshops o Participating in research/recruitment/selection committees o Organizing seminars
- Why? o Annoying when excessively time-consuming and when others free-ride o But very useful to others: the system cannot work without these contributions to the public goods o Also useful for yourself: § § Learn faster / social learning A way to impose your voice A contribution to your reputation as a “good colleague” and a smart researcher Included in the CV and a criterion for promotion
- How? o Writing referee reports § On time and asap § Brief summary, overall evaluation, detailed comments, minor points § Explain clearly to the authors and to the editor why you recommend a rejection or an acceptance § Remain positive even if you recommend a rejection and be constructive and encouraging § Try to avoid raising new points on a revision that you could have made on the first submission - Discussing papers § Summarize very briefly the paper in a way that will valorize the paper § Raise a few major points that will be useful to the authors but also interesting to the audience § If you find an error, inform the authors in advance § Bring a personal input: compare to another theory, suggest a different design or econometric model
How? (cont. ) o Committee membership § Diversify the committees to build a portfolio of expertise § Don’t accept (managing) leadership positions too early § Accept them only if you are prepared to work much harder to maintain your publication activity at the same level o Supervising students § Do not supervise too many students to avoid congestion! § Meet them very frequently, especially at the modelling and designing stages § Be prepared to write/send many recommendation letters! o There is a limit: you can/must also say NO! § If you are not available to review a paper or a grant application, suggest alternative names
Networking, teaching and tenure Tim Cason Purdue University Mentoring luncheon, ESA World Meeting, July 10, 2016
Networking • More coauthors = greater productivity • So how do you grow your network of coauthors? • Share ideas! Find common interests! Invite collaboration! (look for complementary skills) • Going to conferences is critical • Coffee breaks, informal interactions are very important • Approach strangers after their talks • Send around your (polished) paper drafts, & ask for comments (often won’t get any, but…) • More likely to get comments if you give them • Unsolicited comments also welcomed
Interacting with Journals and Career-Building • Where and what to submit (see last year’s tips) • Rejections can be good. Sometimes they provide the best feedback on your papers • Don’t dawdle. Let lags occur on referees’ desks, not yours • Revisions: Drop everything so that you can do a thorough revision quickly • Referee well and quickly • Editors notice
How to Referee? • It is important: Refereeing provides another way for you to influence research in your field • Follow the golden rule and provide timely reports. Karma • Don’t request more data unless they are needed to address the authors’ own research questions (not your own questions) • Don’t put your recommendation explicitly in your report (give the editor flexibility) • A good record gets you invited onto Editorial Boards (eventually), which is important for…
Tenure Tips • Networking redux. Get to know “seniors” who may be writing your recommendation letters • Invite them to give seminars • Try to get invited to give seminars (your own senior colleagues could help with that) • Did I mention the importance of speed in getting papers submitted? • You can aim higher if your tenure decision is more distant (but also be realistic) • Relatedly, it is nearly always better to delay tenure decision date if possible • (but take advantage of delay (Antecol, Bedard, Stearns, 2016))
Teaching and Career Building • Teach well, but make efficient use of your time • For undergrad courses that change little (e. g. , intermediate micro): • Prepare a clear set of notes and never change them • Don’t waste time writing new & clever exams • Graduate courses focused on research/readings: • I consider such courses as research effort; e. g. , I change my reading list every year to reflect my current research interests
Research ideas: Theory-driven experiments Yan Chen University of Michigan Mentoring luncheon, ESA World Meeting, July 10, 2016
Theory-driven experiments • Pros • • Clear hypotheses Easy to communicate with theorists, including editors and funding agencies Data might give you inspiration to develop new theory … Which might lead to new experiments • Example • Testing incentive-compatible public goods mechanisms • Chen and Plott (1996 JPub. E): did not nail down “why” • Identify the importance of learning and stability • Chen and Tang (1998 JPE): some crisp theoretical results • Chen and Gazzale (2004, AER): better design given new theory
The role of economic theory in experiments • Know the big open questions in theory • How? • Go to theory seminars; • Go to theory conferences: NBER Market Design; NBER Decentralization; • Talk to theorists – lunch/coffee • “Test my theory”: be careful! • Rule-of-thumb: where is theory published? • Take a new advanced theory course from time to time. • Anticipate the next big wave in experiments • Be an early mover
Economic theory & experiments: examples • Example: matching theory in the 1990 s and early 2000 s • • • Many theoretical results Few experiments (Roth, Kagel, Schotter, Mc. Cabe) Lots of low-hanging fruit Huge policy implications Convenience: my next-door neighbor was a matching theorist • Comparison: auctions • Fascinating questions: FCC spectrum auctions • Too crowded: Kagel, Levin, Plott, Holt, Goeree, Milgrom, Ledyard, Smith and more … • Over the peak
Other social science theories & experiments • Lots of interesting insights • Relevant in real-world applications • Easily accessible to economists • Potentially open up new fields of research • When is a good entry point? • Personally, I find it easier if there are some mathematical formalization
Other social science theories & experiments • Example 1: Social identity theory in early 2000 s • • • Large literature from social psychology, sociology, political science Public policy implications – race, gender, immigration, etc. Some formal theory available: e. g. , Akerlof and Kranton (2000) Not a lot of experiments at the time Low entry cost • Example 2: Social network theory • • • Large literature from sociology and physics Public policy implications Big data and social media Some theory available: Jackson and coauthors Growth area
Pros and cons of theory-driven experiments • Pros • • Clear hypotheses Easy to communicate with theorists, including editors and funding agencies Data might give you inspiration to develop new theory … If theory is sufficiently important, you might be able to publish in very good outlets • Cons • Entry barrier might be high • Less competition • Fewer citations • Remedies • think outside the box and try out crazy ideas
Research ideas (Part II) Uri Gneezy UC-San Diego Mentoring luncheon, ESA World Meeting, July 10, 2016
- Slides: 28