The 19th annual European Conference of the Econom[etr]ics Community, (EC)2, Euroconference Series in Quantitative Economics and Econometrics will be held in Rome, Italy December 14-15, 2008 at the Hotel Giglio Dell’Opera, Via Principe Amedeo, 14.

This year’s focus is structural microeconometrics, chaired by Jean-Marc Robin, of the Université Paris 1, France. Each year since 1990, members of (EC)2 gather to conserve and proffer a suitable environment for both secondary and primary European scholars, academics, scientists, and other researchers to meet and discuss the progress and results of their work. The organization meets each year in mid-December, and the conference typically lasts between 2 and 3 days. The (EC)2 conference is relatively small, bringing together typically fewer than 100 participants, but is very concentrated in substance and subject. In years past, the group’s keynote speakers included leading quantitative economists and econometricians, as well as individuals who submitted high quality papers that the chair and supporting board approved as appropriate for the conference. This ensures that those speaking at the event are relevant to the field in its current form and are of the utmost preeminence in regards to the quality of their work and contributions to the field. Also featured during (EC)2 conferences are more distinguished individuals in the field to act as discussants and moderators for the assorted discussions, forums, and round-tables held during the event.

This year, just as in years past, the (EC)2 organizers have scheduled mini-sessions in between the major events throughout the entire conference, most with computer presentations and interactive discussions. Also as in years past, there will be no parallel sessions; this is so that all attendees have the opportunity to receive the full benefit of all conference offerings, and to allow our speakers and presenters to participate in more than a single event during the symposium. For further details of this year’s conference, please refer to our detailed schedule for the entire event below.

(EC)2 is committed to protecting the integrity of the conference, the topics discussed, and the advancement of the field of microeconometrics.

The 19th Annual European Conference of the Econom[etr]ics Community Euroconference Series in Quantitative Economics and Econometrics. Rome, Italy December 14-15, 2008 at Palazzo Koch, the Hotel Giglio Dell’Opera, Via Principe Amedeo, 14.

This year’s featured keynote speakers include:

• Jean-Marc Robin, Professor of Economics at the Department of Economic Sciences Po, Université Paris 1, and University College London, and this year’s program chair. Mr. Robin has published his work in The Econometrics Journal in preparation for this year’s event. His other published works include, “Microeconometric Search‐Matching Models and Matched Employer‐Employee Data,” (with Postel-Vinay) in The Proceedings of the 9th World Congress of the Econometric Society, edited by Richard Blundell, Whitney Newey, and Torsten Persson, Cambridge University Press.

• Costas Meghir, of University College London. Mr. Meghir’s credentials include Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow of the Econometric Society, co-editor of Econometrica, co-Director ESRC Research Centre at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. His published works include “Dynamic models of employment using firm level data”, (with Machin and Manning), IFS Discussion Paper 91/10, in J.C. van Ours, G. Pfann and G. Ridder (eds.) Labour Demand and Equilibrium Wage Formation. (North Holland).

• Jean-Pierre Florens, of University Toulouse I. Mr. Florens’ accomplishments include 2002 Senior Member of Institut Universitaire de France. His published works include “Approximation of Bayesian Nash Equilibrium”, Journal of Applied Econometrics, vol. 23, n. 7, November 2008, p. 965-981. doi:10.1002/jae.1040. (with Olivier Armantier and Jean-François Richard).

• Zvi Eckstein, of Tel Aviv University. Mr. Eckstein’s awards include the Walras-Bowely Lecture, The Econometric Society North America Summer Meetings, Pittsburgh, US, June 19, 2008. His published works include “Labor Mobility of Immigrants: Training, Experience, Language and Opportunities”, International Economic Review, Vol. 49, No. 3, August 2008, pp. 837-872.

• Elie Tamer of Northwestern University. Mr. Tamer’s accomplishments include the Zellner Thesis Award, 2000, Best Ph.D. Thesis in Econometrics for the years 1998 – 1999 awarded by the Business and Economic Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association. His published works include, “Estimation and Confidence Regions for Parameter Sets in Econometric Models,” with V. Chernozhukov and H. Hong, Econometrica, Vol 75. No. 5, 2007, pp. 1243-1284.

Conference Schedule

(please note all events take place in the main conference hall)

Sunday, December 14, 2008:

7:00 Meet and greet in main conference hall (breakfast will be provided)

8:00 Opening Comments from Jean-Marc Robin, Professor of Economics at the Department of Economic Sciences Po, Université Paris 1, and University College London; also this year’s Program Chair

9:00 Fr´ed´erique F`eve and Jean-Pierre Florens (Toulouse School of Economics), Simple Structural Econometrics of Price Elasticity

10:00 Break

10:15 Franco Peracchi, “Height and economic development in Italy, 1730-1980” (round table discussion)

11:00 Costas Meghir (University College London), Education and Wages in Brazil

12:00 Break for Lunch

1:30 Ivana Komunjer and Andres Santos (University of California, San Diego), Semiparametric Estimation of Nonseparable Models: A Minimum Distance from Independence Approach

2:30 Paper Presentation, TBA

3:00 Stefano Siviero, “A Policy-Sensible Core-Inflation Measure for the Euro Area” (forum)

4:00 Anne Vanhems (Toulouse School of Economics), “Nonparametric Estimation of Exact Consumer Surplus with Endogeneity” (refereed forum)

5:00 Jean-Marc Robin, Closing Remarks

Monday, December 15, 2008:

7:00 Meet and greet in main conference hall (breakfast will be provided)

8:00 Jerome Adda, “Behavior towards Health Risks: An Empirical Study Using the ‘Mad Cow’ Crisis as an Experiment” (presentation)

9:00 Zvi Eckstein (Tel Aviv University), Labor Mobility of Immigrants: Training, Experience, Language and Opportunities

10:00 Break

10:15 Paper Presentation, TBA

11:00 Jaap Abbring, “Mixed hitting-time models” (forum)

12:00 Break for Lunch

1:30 Elie Tamer (Northwestern University), The Identification Power of Equilibrium in Simple Games

2:30 Stephane Bonhomme, “Consistent Noisy Independent Component Analysis” (round table discussion)

3:00 Leandro Maschietto Magnusson (Tulane University), Implementing Weak Instrument Robust Tests for a General Class of Instrumental Variables Models

4:00 Peter Haan (DIW Berlin) and Victoria Prowse (University of Oxford), A Structural Approach to Estimating the Effect of Taxation on the Labor Market Dynamics of Older Workers

5:00 Jean-Marc Robin, Closing Remarks