MaxMinOptimum

a lot has been said about why Levine and Azariadis left UCLA. some people have been speculating and thrashing the dept all the time. read the following if you want some clarifications on what's going on there (and what isn't): http://www.senate.ucla.edu/programreview/documents/SelfReview-Economics.pdf

OK. I get it.... But did you maybe have a look at PCG's website, where he is saying half of the incoming class is from US (admittedly, the rest is almost entirely from Asia)? I also don't think the government/taxpayers really care what the structure of particular departments is, they look at the overall picture (having the structure of the entire university in mind) - if at all... Well, at least that's my 2 cents (I do appreciate your remark, as it shows a bigger picture. but on the other hand, Toulouse is a public uni too, and as far as I know funding is hard to come by)

Hm... Would you please be so kind and explain what you had in mind with "this has not gone unnoticed"? Are you saying this is a good/bad thing? English is not my first language, so maybe I missed the irony or sarcasm of your remark - sorry about that!

OK, sorry for the misunderstanding - you're right, with the likes of Martimort and company, contract theory is very well represented in Toulouse. What I had in mind was empirical contract theory, something in line with what Chiappori (was that spellt correctly?) or Salanie are doing. So, asianecon, given that you've been in Toulouse, I'd be more than happy if you could compare these two places (in terms of let's say "IO-ness" and in general). I hope you can do that, especially since there is not much information (except for the MPSE/TSE website) one could find on the M2 program in Toulouse (I know we've got rankings, but as mentioned in an earlier post, I don't think they are very informative). As far as I know, you're also interested in IO and metrics, and judging by your TM activity, you seem very knowledgeable about different departments, so I'd really appreciate if you could elaborate on that... So, might I ask you what would you choose if you were choosing between these 2 schools? PS-Ahem, could you also just tell me what B&P stands for? :blush:

Guys, thanks for your opinions! Golden Rule: Yes, I do have a strong preference for empirical IO. Theory is OK but I guess I'm not THAT interested in it, whereas the structural IO thing (Pakes & Co.) is what I would really like to do in the future. So I guess I won't be looking for a theory job in 5 years, although more senior faculty in this (sub-)field would be nice... On the other hand, I don't really think I can do much empirical IO in France, at least looking at their roster! (am I wrong?) I agree with you on the US vs. Europe debate. I believe if I do my PhD at UCLA I can either stay in US or come back, but a PhD from Toulouse will make it much harder to go to US (although that's not impossible, don't get me wrong!) so I'm pretty much stuck in Europe afterwards... I spoke with Prof. Ackerberg and while we had a really nice conversation, I guess he cannot really tell me if he is or will be going away in a while. He said they don't have many people doing IO in LA, but that IO is one of the fields they're trying to strengthen (hiring many junior faculty etc.). Overall, the impression I got was good... AT: Thanks for pointing this out - I did consider that you can at least be supervised by somebody from Anderson (if not take courses there) and I think that's a great plus. As far as I know, Toulouse doesn't have a similar B-school. And Anderson's proximity also means there are more interesting seminars you can attend, which translates into greater exposure to recent research, which I guess should be taken into account too!!! I'd love to hear some more feedback, so others please feel welcome to post!

Hey guys and gals, this is my first post here on TM, although I have been often lurking around for the past half a year. A lot of what has been discussed here proved to be REALLY useful when selecting the schools and later applying to them. I truly hope you can give me an advice in how to act in my situation... I want to do IO and maybe contract theory, especially the empirical stuff (structural IO/micrometrics!). I was already offered a place in Toulouse M2 (Ecomath), i.e. their second year of Masters. I also applied to some universities in US that I found "interesting" (not just in terms of rankings, but also in terms of campus, weather, social life, etc.). I was admitted to UCLA and now don't really know what to do, as I basically have to decide whether to go to Toulouse or LA (money is not really a problem here). Living-wise, UCLA is a no brainer, but I'm having some second thoughts about its faculty and program. A lot of you commented on its recent problems (yes, I've read everything there is on TM on UCLA!), plus IO is not really considered their strength (and I'm really really not in macro or international finance!). Still, I haven't found many people doing empirical IO or contract theory in Toulouse either, whereas UCLA has Ackerberg and Matzkin. So, Toulouse seems to be REALLY big in IO theory, while UCLA is somehow good in empirical IO but weak in theoretical stuff (at least when it comes to senior faculty)... I'm just worried I'll be one of the few students doing IO at UCLA whereas everybody else around me will be doing macro, which isn't very stimulating and motivating at all (this implies fewer seminars, etc.). Plus I'm a bit worried of Ackerberg leaving (he is a kind of a star, mind you)... I definitely want to stay in academia, so good performance on JM is kind of essential - in this respect, UCLA had some good placements this year, although they're all macro-related (but this still signals that it is a good department overall). As I don't really trust the rankings (not informative enough, imho), I'd be delighted if you could please give me some advice on what to do and shed some light on all of this. I would really appreciate if some IO people could speak up, especially if somebody has any personal experience with any of these 2 schools (asianecon, etc.??). Thanks to all of you, MMO PS-I know my interests might change (and probably will to some extent), although I wouldn't count on this too much (I'm quite old and have seen enough to know what I really like).