Econometrics students tackle malnutrition in 2023 Econometric Game

The University of Amsterdam welcomes econometricians from around the world for the 24th edition of the Econometric Game! In this competition, teams from top universities will compete for the trophy from 19 to 21 April. The Econometric Game is an initiative of UvA EB’s Study Association for Econometrics (VSAE).

Students teams will work to solve a challenging but relevant case using the latest advancements in Econometrics and Data Science. There was a long list of potential cases this year. In the end, the casemaker, Chintan Amrit, an associate professor with the Amsterdam Business School’s Business Analytics section, decided to bring students’ attention to the pressing matter of malnutrition in Africa.

This year’s case

This year, the case will revolve around wasting, a form of malnutrition, in the Sahel region of Africa. According to the UN, in the last year alone, wasting will have impacted the lives of approximately 6.3 million children under the age of 5 in 6 countries across the region. The challenge is even more relevant given the 27 percent increase in cases in 2022 compared to the previous year. The students will be expected to provide a predictive algorithm using their technical, econometric and creative skills.

About the Econometric Game

The Econometric Game usually brings together around 30 teams consisting of 4 postgraduate students with a maximum of 2 PhD students per team. While many of these students specialise in Econometrics, Mathematics and Data Science students participate as well. The 3-day competition is held in Amsterdam’s Zuiderkerk. The event starts with announcing the case topic to the students for the first time. Next, the teams spend the first 2 days working on the case. After careful evaluation by the jury, only 10 finalists remain to solve the last and most challenging part of the case on the third day. The winner of the Econometric Game will be announced during the last evening and the winning team takes the trophy home.

Lund University wins the Econometric Game 2021

Last week, the Econometric Game 2021 took place. In this extraordinary event, 30 teams from 30 different universities competed. They participated in a case about the impact of AirBnB on the housing market in Amsterdam created by Martijn Dröes and data was provided by Brainbay.

The housing costs in Amsterdam have increased significantly in recent years. It is a compact city with a limited stock of housing, but the popularity makes the prices go up. There are many other factors as well, but one that stands out for people is the AirBnB rent, which is a short-term renting service. This effect has attracted many people (also internationally) to invest in the city, which allegedly pushed up prices.

The jury, Martijn Dröes, Fonger Ypma, and Hans Koster, announced the top 3 on the 9th of April 2021.

  1. Lund University
  2. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  3. University of Cambridge

On behalf of the committee of the Econometric Game 2021, we congratulate Lund University.

 


The winning LUSEM team. Photo: David Dahlgren

The winning team consisted of the master’s students Ester Trutwin and Natalie Irmert, and the doctoral students Devon Spika and Matthew Collins. Lund University organised a small interview with the winners of this year. You can read the interview here.

Watch the opening and/or final presentations of the Econometric Game!

This year, the Econometric Game is a fully online event. Even though we as a committee would rather meet everyone in person in Amsterdam, an online event does bring one advantage with it. It is now possible for friends and family of the participants and also other people who are taking an interest in the Econometric Game, to watch the opening, the presentations of the finalists and the announcement of the winner by the jury.

The schedule is as follows:

  • Thursday 8th of April 2021, 8:45 – 10:30
    Opening of the Econometric Game 2021. There will be some presentations from one of the organisers, the sponsors and the case where the participants will be working on will be explained.
  • Thursday 8th of April 2021, 20:50 – 22:00
    There is a walk-in until 21:00. There will be some short presentations and the jury will announce which teams will compete in the finale.
  • Friday 9th of April 2021,  17:00 – 18:15
    All the teams in the finale will give a presentation about their findings in case 2.
  • Friday 9th of April 2021, 20:55 – 21:55
    It is time for the announcement of the winner!

To be able to follow this extraordinary and insightful event, you can register through the following link.

See you ‘virtually’ there!

Note: Endtimes indicated in the schedule might be different.

Sponsor: Da Vinci Derivatives

We hereby introduce Da Vinci Derivatives to you. One of the sponsors of the Econometric Game 2021! As the Econometric Game committee, we are super excited that Da Vinci Derivatives is taking an interest in the Econometric Game. Keep on reading to find out more about Da Vinci Derivatives and their activities.

Da Vinci Derivatives:

Da Vinci Derivatives was founded in 2015 by a group of young trading professionals and has since been growing successfully. With our own capital and sound risk awareness, we trade listed derivatives on markets globally. We identify opportunities and trade based on in-house developed strategies, and we provide liquidity and efficiency to the markets.

Our philosophy towards work is best captured by the saying “Be good, work hard and great things will happen”. We are meritocratic by nature and believe that empowering talent in our organization is the only way forward. We aim at attracting the most qualified people in the industry, train them, provide them with all the required tools, continuously challenge them and allow them to grow both professionally and personally. Our business is highly innovative, IT-driven and entrepreneurial by nature. Our goal is to become the best trading company in the world!

Check out their website and LinkedIn!

https://davinciderivatives.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/da-vinci-derivatives/

Sponsor: Flow Traders

We hereby introduce Flow Traders to you. One of the sponsors of the Econometric Game 2021! As the Econometric Game committee, we are super excited that Flow Traders is taking an interest in the Econometric Game. Keep on reading to find out more about Flow Traders and their activities.

Flow Traders:

Flow Traders is a principal trading firm founded in 2004. We are a leading global technology-enabled liquidity provider, specialized in Exchange Traded Products (ETPs). Flow Traders is at the intersection of finance, cutting-edge technology and scientific research. We are able to grow our organization further, thereby ensuring that our trading desks in Europe, the Americas and Asia provide liquidity across all major exchanges, globally, 24 hours a day. Financial markets have rapidly shifted from trading in the pit to algorithmic trading, and our business model has made us an entrepreneurial and competitive firm in the FinTech space. We use our principal technology platform to quote bid and ask prices in thousands of ETP listings. We are also active in other asset classes such as bonds, FX, cryptocurrencies and similar financial products. On top of that, we provide liquidity to institutional counterparties off-exchange across all regions!

Flow Traders stays ahead of the competition by focusing on technology and niche competencies in markets where every second counts. This requires access to the best information and the ability to respond instantly. To achieve this, our team of software developers works in partnership with experienced traders to identify and execute tomorrow’s strategies, making Flow a daily pioneer in professional trading.

 

Check out their LinkedIn and website!

https://www.linkedin.com/company/flow-traders/

https://www.flowtraders.com/

Universities participating in the EG 2021

After a cancelled Econometric Game in 2020, we are extra happy that many universities were motivated to join the Econometric Game in 2021. A strict selection left us with 30 universities that will join the coming event in April.
The universities are:

– Aarhus University
– Erasmus University Rotterdam
– Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
– Harvard University
– Keio University
– Lomonosov Moscow State University
– Lund University
– Maastricht University
– Monash University
– New Economic School
– Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration
– Oxford University
– Stellenbosch University
– Tilburg University
– University Carlos III de Madrid
– Université de Lausanne
– Universidad del Rosario
– Universidad Nacional de Colombia
– University of Antwerp
– University of Bristol
– University of Cambridge
– University of Copenhagen
– University of Florence
– University of Melbourne
– University of Orléans
– University of Rome Tor Vergata
– University of St. Gallen
– University of Warsaw
– University of Amsterdam
– VU University Amsterdam

Date reveal Econometric Game 2021

We are proud to announce that the Econometric Game of 2021 will take place on the 8th and 9th of April 2021!

The event in 2021 will be a little bit different compared to usual. After the unfortunate cancellation of the Econometric Game 2020, we want to make sure that this does not happen with the event in 2021. Due to the Coronavirus, times are still uncertain and for this reason, the EG 2021 will turn into a fully online event. This will guarantee that all students that wish to participate have the possibility to do so.

This time the Econometric Game will be held in 2 days. On the 8th of April, the teams will work on the first case and the reports will be handed in. The jury will check the reports and announce the finalists. 10 teams will make it to the final and they will work on the second case on the 9th of April. After the final reports are checked and each team in the final gave a presentation, the winner will be announced.

The Committee of the Econometric Game 2021 is working hard to make the first online Econometric Game possible and we are looking forward to the event. Updates will follow soon.

Update on the Econometric Game (EG) 2018


In the past months the preparations for the 2018 edition have been ongoing. We would like to share some of the progress made during that period.

First off all, we can confirm the dates for the EG 2018, the EG will be held from the 11th until 13th of April. During those days the participants will compete in the Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam, the events main location.

Next to that we are proud to announce that the Amsterdam University Fund (AUF) will be our new partner. The Amsterdam University Fund (Stichting Amsterdams Universiteitsfonds) is a joint initiative of the University of Amsterdam Alumni Association (AUV) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA). They help and support events and initiatives from the UvA. More information on them can be found at auf.nl.

Furthermore, after the applications have been received we picked the 30 participating universities using a mathematical model. The participating teams can be found on the homepage.

We will bring out another update soon.

Committee Econometric Game 2018

Econometric Game 2017 Video

This year the Econometric Game, also known as the World Championships of Econometrics, took place 5, 6 and 7 April. This video gives an impression of what this prestigious event hosted by the VSAE looked like.

During the Econometric Game, top students from the field of econometrics representing world class universities try to solve a challenging socially relevant case. The winner of the 2017 Econometric Game is.. Harvard University!