RICE ECON
Fall 2019
News and Views from the Economics Department at Rice
Welcome Back!
In this issue of our Newsletter, we
welcome Prof. George Zodrow back as our
Department Chair – a position that he had
held previously in the late 1990s. In the
attached interview, Prof. Zodrow discusses
his research projects and highlights his
vision for the continued success of our
Department. We introduce a new Assistant
Professor in the Department, Dr. Nina
Bobkova, who explains to students how her
version of Econ 470, Market Design, may
differ from the version previously taught
by Dr. Mallesh Pai. We also congratulate
Dr. Yinghua He for winning the American
Economic Journal – Microeconomics Best
Paper Prize for 2019.The Spotlight on
Faculty section includes an interview with
Prof. Xun Tang, highlighting his recent
research activities, including a new grant
from the National Science Foundation,
and his vision for the econometrics MTEC
capstone course, Econ 497. We highlight
this year’s RISE Nobel Laureate Series
Lecture, by Prof. Peter A. Diamond,
entitled “The Future of Social Security.”
We close the Newsletter by interviewing
MTEC Senior Biz Rasich, who has herself
conducted the interviews with Profs.
Zodrow and Tang, which are included in
this Newsletter. She answers questions
about her educational journey, and
offers some advice for younger students
contemplating degrees and careers in
Economics.
Meet Dr. Nina Bobkova, Our Newest Faculty Member
Nina Bobkova received her PhD from Bonn University in 2018. Before joining Rice University,
she was an Assistant Professor at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Her
research interests are in the area of microeconomic theory, in particular auctions and information
design. She focuses on information choice and disclosure in various strategic environments:
whether to seek or distribute information before
voting, or which information to acquire before an
auction.
This semester, she is excited to be taking over the
course Market Design (ECON 470) previously
taught by Prof. Mallesh Pai, with an increased
emphasis on how to run auctions.
Newsworthy: Dr. Yinghua He
Wins Best Paper Award
Dr. Yinghua He has won the American
Economic Journal (AEJ) Best Paper Award in
Microeconomics for his paper “A Pseudo-Market
Approach to Allocation with Priorities,” which
he co-wrote with Antonio Miralles, Marek Pycia,
and Jianye Yan. The paper is available here on the
American Economic Association website.
RISE Lecture
Nobel Laureate
Peter A. Diamond
Who
Peter Diamond, Institute Professor
Emeritus at MIT and winner of
the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economic
Sciences for his research
analyzing markets with search
frictions
What
“The Future of Social Security”
When
Wednesday, October 30, at 5 p.m.
Where
Shell Auditorium, McNair Hall
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