theory model in the fields of international trade and industrial organization but unfortunately , I cannot speculate more on this as it is rather new ; I even have not yet dealt with the paperwork to seal the deal off .
When did you decide to pursue an academic career in Economics ?
I was a second -year undergraduate student when it appeared to me that an academic career in Economics should be the career path to follo w . I must have been fully captivated by the idea that I would earn my bread and butter by acquiring , improving , and disseminating kno wledge , especially in a way that would provide me with some degree of freedo m , or rather great flexibility !
After having completed your undergraduate studies , you were admitted to the ( old integrated ) PhD Program at the Middle East Technical University and also , around the same time , you were hired a s a research assistant at Hacettepe University . What was your favorite subject at that time ?
As might be expected , by that time , I was already lured into the fields of microeconomics , game theory , industrial organization , and international trade .
Towards the completion of your PhD , in 2009 , you worked as a lecturer at the University of Otago , and after your PhD , in 2010 , you moved to Germany and worked as an Assistant Professor , first at the University of Würzburg , then at the University of Tübingen . What w ere the main academic gains of this experience ?
Given the vibrant academic environment at Otago , I had a soft landing in the academic workforce . I was given full academic freedom both in New Zealand and Germany , and received great support fro m the more experienced colleagues . I certainly enjoyed seeing serious and successful academics around me . Also I greatly benefited from regular academic research seminars . I had easy access to all resources and very generous financial support for attending academic conf erences and workshops , which most certainly helped me not only build my research portfolio , but also expand my network of co -authors and colleagues .
If you compare the academic life in New Zealand , Germany and Turkey . What are the most significant differences ?
While New Zealand provides you with a very laid-back academic environment , Germany offers a great deal of order and mostly a more demanding academic environment with fierce competition . I would place Turkey in between these two ( extreme ) cases . I think the main difference among these three cases is the sort of academic incentives conveyed by the system . Although academic environments are qualitatively different in New Zealand and in Germany , both countries encourage and greatly appreciate acade mic success as measured by excellence in research and teaching . They both have been pretty successful in promoting academic excellence simply by correctly aligning academic needs and incentives . I believe we have lots to learn from them .
If you were to give the next Nobel Prize in Economics , who would that person be , and why ?
This is a very tricky question as I reckon there is no fair answer to this question . As far as different sub -disciplines are concerned , there are several academic economists , who have already been very influential in Economics and yet have not been awarded the Nobel Prize . If I were to name a few , I most certainly would pick the names from the fields of research that I am interested in – just to stay in my comfort zone - but that would not be fair to other great names in other research fields . Though I can assure you that I am not in the radar , at least not yet ...
I kno w that your wife is a political scientist . Do you use your economics kno wledge in your routine daily life , especially when it comes to some economic decisions of the family , or is your wife mainly responsible from economic decisions ?
So long as you are a well -trained economist , I believe you cannot avoid your economics kno wledge influencing any decision you make in life . At the end of the day , your long years of training is all about trying to make sense of economic agents ' behavior , or rather anything that is related to humans . To put a cherry on top , you subconsciously ( and voluntarily ) surrender yourself to this . It goes without saying that your training can help also to achieve a mutually - beneficial cooperative equilibrium , especially in repeated games such as ones in a marriage . I
Department of Economics Newsletter 7