From 27 to 31 August 2018, everything at the University of Cologne revolved around economics! 1400 economists from all over the world came to Cologne for the EEA-ESEM Congress. This makes the five-day event one of the largest congresses on the topic of economics in the world.

In front of the main building of the University of Cologne, the logo of the congress was clearly visible. The numerous participants cavorted in the Arts and Humanities Building as well as in the main and auditorium building. For five days one could see tense, joyful and interested faces of international participants who were directly recognizable by the conference badges with the names of the respective persons.  

Economists know about the abbreviations "EEA" and "ESEM" used for the name of the congress, for all others here the explanation: EEA - this is the "European Economic Association", ESEM stands for "Econometric Society - European Meeting".

But what exactly was the congress about?

The programme was varied and ranged from topics such as labour, digital and financial markets to the influence of the mass media on politics and the economy:
What impact does the ECB's monetary policy have on the stability of banks and financial markets? What opportunities and challenges arise from the new technical possibilities of large data and digital markets? What significance and influence do the mass media have on politics and the economy? Is Europe an optimal political union? And last but not least, this current question was also addressed: How credible is research?

The Reinhard Selten Institute, which was founded last year by the University of Cologne together with the Bonn economists, set up a lunch session on "New Challenges, New Tools and New Objectives for Market Design and Public Policy", which reflects the topic of the Cluster of Excellence planned by the Universities of Cologne and Bonn.

Conclusions of the organizers

Prof. Dr. Felix Bierbrauer , Chair of Finance at the WiSo Faculty and part of the organizing committee of the congress, is pleased about a successful event:
"It was a great pleasure to host the annual meeting of the European Economic Association and the Econometric Society. More than 1400 congress participants created a lively and inspiring atmosphere at the University of Cologne. Personally, I learned a lot about the opportunities and the challenges that automization and digital change create for the optimal design of tax systems."

Dr. Raphael Flore (Center for Macroeconomic Research and organizer of EEA-ESEM 2018) is also happy that the conference was able to become a wonderful experience thanks to the enthusiastic contributions of the participants and not least with the help of many dedicated helpers:

"The organization of the congress was a huge amount of work and it would not have been possible without the fantastic support from our team of student helpers, to which I am very grateful. But it was worth the effort!" He also found it great that so many researchers from all over the world accepted the invitation to Cologne to present their work and exchange new ideas on economic topics.

We are already looking forward to further exciting events at our university. And of course we are also looking forward to the EEA-ESEM Congress in 2019, which will then take place at the University of Manchester!

Comments from participants

You can find videos of participants of the congress in Cologne, who describe their impressions of the event, on the Twitter account of the event: https://twitter.com/eeaesemcologne