So while my family and friends are overseas/living vacation like a vacation, I'm here at YIH Starbucks working through papers after papers to get the preliminaries done for my thesis.
The very same time last year, I was looking forward to my Europe trip with much anticipation. Christmas in Ryekjavik, New Year in Prague, cozy times in Copenhagen, it all feels so distant now. A different year, a different relationship, a different learning process. On this nostalgic afternoon, I wonder how have you been? All the best with your last semester too :)
Life has changed so much since the last Christmas. No Christmas market this year, no amusement park, no mountains and glaciers, no medieval town with great Klobasa. There's only thesis, research work, dance practices and the simple happiness of waking up to the familiar warmth in my arms.
On the topic of thesis, unlike many who chose do empirical analysis, I've taken up the challenge to do a theoretical paper. The modeling process is crazy. The number of related papers that you have to go through to know what has been done, what are the pros and cons of each model, and how to interpret all the mathematics with economic intuition. Every time you think you got a brilliant idea, you realized someone has done it 10-20 years ago. Well, of course I'm not expecting to develop an entirely new, revolutionary model. Thousands of academics are trying to do that over the world, and they are taking years to do it. I don't have the luxury of time with an honours thesis. So what I'm trying to do is to synthesize a few existing model into a framework of analysis and modify some underlying assumptions and processes. That being said, I'm already a little worried about the pace of progress.
I'm currently working on the theme of intergenerational transmission of human/physical capital, most likely to be supervise by Prof. Zhang Jie. Initially I wanted to work with Prof. Albert Tsui but he recommended that I also talk to academics specializing in macroeconomics as I would definitely need guidance in that area. Prof. Zhang Jie has been very helpful and quick to respond to many of my emails regarding continuous/discrete-time macroeconomics, structure of health and education sectors, modeling the ability variable and most importantly, on the motivation of my paper. His guidance has already proved to be invaluable even though I haven't officially started the thesis writing process.
The first main topic is on genetic endowment. I intend to model the genetic evolution process with endogenous education/health choices to examine the dynamics of intergenerational equilibrium income. The second topic works on modeling the structure of health and education sector to examine the joint impact of these sector on economic growth. Both topics revolve around health, education and intergenerational impacts. I'd also like to extend such analysis to public policies such as compulsory schooling model, private vs public provision of health and education, fertility policies. Further research could be extended to open economy analysis. How does comparative advantage affects government spending on public goods etc. There are so many possibilities and that's what I love about research. Modeling is about crafting logical, mathematical arguments to capture stylized facts we observed, and then examine how well this model fits the data. Well, of course most models aren't that awesome when it comes to data, but it's the process that is fruitful, and with the accumulation of economic intuitions, someone might one day develop a model that matches empirical observations.
I urge my fellow undergraduates to look beyond lecture notes and textbooks, and be humbled by the vast accumulation of knowledge out there. There is a lot of math in advanced economics: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Topology, Functional Analysis, Mathematical Programming, Numerical Analysis, Measure Theory, Probability Theory, Mathematical Statistics, Game Theory etc. Whatever we learn in 3000 or 4000 modules barely scratch the surface of modern economic research. However, it is also important to realize they are just tools. It's necessary to be familiar with these tools, but that is not enough, we have to look across to other fields like psychology, sociology and biology. Sometimes, it is other fields that give us the epiphany moment. Look at psychology and you see irrationality in human behaviour or the effect of childhood education and environment on adult productivity. Look into sociology and you see network effects build on kinship and personal relationships in business and politics. Look into biology and you find population dynamics, predator-prey relationships, or the role of genetics in learning and adapting. The same applies even if you don't wish to pursue a research career. I've always believe that learning beyond the scope is (only) the first step to achieving anything beyond average.
The very same time last year, I was looking forward to my Europe trip with much anticipation. Christmas in Ryekjavik, New Year in Prague, cozy times in Copenhagen, it all feels so distant now. A different year, a different relationship, a different learning process. On this nostalgic afternoon, I wonder how have you been? All the best with your last semester too :)
Life has changed so much since the last Christmas. No Christmas market this year, no amusement park, no mountains and glaciers, no medieval town with great Klobasa. There's only thesis, research work, dance practices and the simple happiness of waking up to the familiar warmth in my arms.
On the topic of thesis, unlike many who chose do empirical analysis, I've taken up the challenge to do a theoretical paper. The modeling process is crazy. The number of related papers that you have to go through to know what has been done, what are the pros and cons of each model, and how to interpret all the mathematics with economic intuition. Every time you think you got a brilliant idea, you realized someone has done it 10-20 years ago. Well, of course I'm not expecting to develop an entirely new, revolutionary model. Thousands of academics are trying to do that over the world, and they are taking years to do it. I don't have the luxury of time with an honours thesis. So what I'm trying to do is to synthesize a few existing model into a framework of analysis and modify some underlying assumptions and processes. That being said, I'm already a little worried about the pace of progress.
I'm currently working on the theme of intergenerational transmission of human/physical capital, most likely to be supervise by Prof. Zhang Jie. Initially I wanted to work with Prof. Albert Tsui but he recommended that I also talk to academics specializing in macroeconomics as I would definitely need guidance in that area. Prof. Zhang Jie has been very helpful and quick to respond to many of my emails regarding continuous/discrete-time macroeconomics, structure of health and education sectors, modeling the ability variable and most importantly, on the motivation of my paper. His guidance has already proved to be invaluable even though I haven't officially started the thesis writing process.
The first main topic is on genetic endowment. I intend to model the genetic evolution process with endogenous education/health choices to examine the dynamics of intergenerational equilibrium income. The second topic works on modeling the structure of health and education sector to examine the joint impact of these sector on economic growth. Both topics revolve around health, education and intergenerational impacts. I'd also like to extend such analysis to public policies such as compulsory schooling model, private vs public provision of health and education, fertility policies. Further research could be extended to open economy analysis. How does comparative advantage affects government spending on public goods etc. There are so many possibilities and that's what I love about research. Modeling is about crafting logical, mathematical arguments to capture stylized facts we observed, and then examine how well this model fits the data. Well, of course most models aren't that awesome when it comes to data, but it's the process that is fruitful, and with the accumulation of economic intuitions, someone might one day develop a model that matches empirical observations.
I urge my fellow undergraduates to look beyond lecture notes and textbooks, and be humbled by the vast accumulation of knowledge out there. There is a lot of math in advanced economics: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Topology, Functional Analysis, Mathematical Programming, Numerical Analysis, Measure Theory, Probability Theory, Mathematical Statistics, Game Theory etc. Whatever we learn in 3000 or 4000 modules barely scratch the surface of modern economic research. However, it is also important to realize they are just tools. It's necessary to be familiar with these tools, but that is not enough, we have to look across to other fields like psychology, sociology and biology. Sometimes, it is other fields that give us the epiphany moment. Look at psychology and you see irrationality in human behaviour or the effect of childhood education and environment on adult productivity. Look into sociology and you see network effects build on kinship and personal relationships in business and politics. Look into biology and you find population dynamics, predator-prey relationships, or the role of genetics in learning and adapting. The same applies even if you don't wish to pursue a research career. I've always believe that learning beyond the scope is (only) the first step to achieving anything beyond average.