O&M in Paris

6 June 2010 at 5:03 am Peter G. Klein 4 comments

| Peter Klein |

I shot the first of these yesterday at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport, the second near the Panthéon in the 5th Arrondissement (click to enlarge). If the Muppets can take Manhattan, why can’t we take Paris?

More seriously, there are some interesting things happening here in France. Last week was the 9th session of the European School for New Institutional Economics (ESNIE) in Corsica, a week-long summer program for PhD students and junior faculty from around the world. Plenary speakers included Oliver Hart, Francine Lafontaine, John Drobak, Maristella Botticini, me, and several others, and there were research development workshops and student paper sessions as well, along with the all-important networking and socializing. I strongly urge O&M readers to apply or encourage their students to apply next year.

The week after next is a conference on “Contracts, Procurement, and Public-Private Agreements,” 14-15 June in Paris, organized by Stéphane Saussier, one of Europe’s leading specialists in public-private partnerships. It features many great speakers, including keynoter Pablo Spiller (one of my old tennis sparring partners). Anita McGahan, who is doing important work in this area, is presenting a seminar at Paris I this Thursday.

Entry filed under: - Klein -, Conferences.

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4 Comments Add your own

1. Michael E. Marotta | 6 June 2010 at 2:08 pm

PK: “… there were research development workshops and student papers sessions as well, along with the all-important networking and socializing. I strongly urge O&M readers to apply or encourage their students to apply next year.”

How does that come about? Much in academia is learned by apprenticeship. Little is actually documented. Right now, I am looking for work and the only way I know to do that is to go to each college employment site and see if they are hiring anytihing I can do. Yet, few of my professors got their jobs that way. Most were recommended by their advisors who knew people.

My experience is all in business. Even working at government sites, I was a contractor. Business is very democratic and very open. This conference is open to PhDs, post-docs and similar. So, actually, Bill Gates would not be allowed in… or would he? I have published 300 newspaper and magazine articles, but without a doctorate in English, I cannot teach writing. But, then, again, Toni Morrison and Saul Bellow also lack doctorates. A few years ago, I interviewed Thomas Griego for the Albuquerque Business Journal. He invented a green process for microplating electronic components. He was working for a Japanese company when he did that. He negotiated for the patent and brought it all back home to New Mexico where he grew up. He grew up in business. His father owned a hotdog stand and a convenience store and when Thomas Griego was in high school, he opened his own rental company. So, when it came time to negotiate his intellectual property rights with a Japanese MNC, he had some game. But, he would not be welcomed at this conference, would he?
2. Randy | 6 June 2010 at 10:10 pm

Did you do the translation on “fossé”?
3. Peter Klein | 7 June 2010 at 7:28 am

@Michael: regarding networking and jobs, while naturally many placements and other opportunities are realized via word-of-mouth, the major professional academic societies (AEA, AoM, etc.) all have formal placement services. Regarding academic qualifications, you’re right, these events are designed for people who are going through or have gone through the formal credentialing process. I suppose the theory is that it is too difficult to distinguish brilliance from crack-pottery among independent scholars without these credentials. (Again, for this type of summer school only — there are many other conferences and activities, both academic and practitioner-oriented, that welcome the intelligent layperson.)

@Randy: Nicolai is one of those people who is always “digging” for new insights.
4. Thomas Bond | 7 June 2010 at 9:53 am

I’ve done the majority of my business networking on networking sites, such as http://www.stanfordwhoswho.com. Having sites focused on just Networking has allowed me to cut through most of the BS of other sites. It’s much like the local breakfast club networking groups but much better as it is national.