The Department of Econometrics and Operations Research consists of a group of around 40 academics in the fields of Econometrics, Mathematical Economics and Operations Research. The mission of the Department is to be an internationally competitive institute for research and education in Econometrics, Mathematical Economics and Operations Research. Our teaching has a rigorous academic as well as a practical component. Our research aims to be theoretically innovative and targeted towards relevant problems in society. We work with mathematics and statistics to contribute to challenging problems in economics and business. Our research work includes the modeling and forecasting of time series using advanced statistical methods, interactive decision making with game theoretical tools, combinatorial and stochastic optimization, and performance modeling.
The Department is responsible for the Bachelor and Master programmes in Econometrics and Operations Research (EOR). It goes without saying that a good foundation in mathematics is required. In the first year of the Bachelor programme the department offers courses in mathematics with an emphasis on linear algebra, analysis, probability and statistics. Since our students will need to work with advanced computer programs and add to such programs, also computer programming and modeling courses form part of the curriculum. In the second and third years the Department offers courses in Econometrics, Mathematical Economics and Operations Research. In addition, the Department offers quantitative courses (Introductory Mathematics, Applied Statistics and Quantitative Methods) for the Bachelor programmes of Economics and (International) Business Administration (I)BA. We also participate in the Bachelor programme of Business Analytics of the Faculty of Exact Sciences (FEW). The Department also participates in the M.Phil programme in Economics of the Tinbergen Institute and the Amsterdam Business Research Institute (ABRI) and of the MSc and PhD programmes of the Netherlands Network for OR (LNMB).
The research within the department takes place in three research programmes. The Econometrics programme ‘Time Series Econometrics: methods, computations and applications’ is mainly concerned with the development of classical and Bayesian methods for the analysis of time series and related topics. The theoretical and methodological developments are typically integrated in empirical studies for volatility modeling in financial markets, analyses of dynamics in credit ratings and default data, measuring the business cycle and economic growth, indicators of financial systemic risk, relations between economic policy and crime, and forecasting of volatility, inflation and interest rates. The Mathematical Economics programme ‘Strategic and Cooperative Decision Making’ focuses on economic situations involving interactive decision making. Applications include auction theory, strategic voting, collective behavior, interaction networks, negotiations on international treaties, allocation of bankruptcy deficits, optimal assignment problems, water distribution problems and matching opportunities. The OR-programme ‘Combinatorial and Stochastic Optimization’ is concerned with the design and analysis of algoririthms for optimization for better decision making. It covers decision making in virtually any domain, like finance, health care, communication technology, electronic commerce, and bioinformatics, and applications reach from classical route planning in complex networks to control and optimization of systems with high degrees of uncertainties and competition. All three programs are internationally highly competitive, both in terms of research ambitions and research output. The department aims to publish in international top journals.
The department is located on the eleventh floor in the A-wing of the VU Amsterdam main building.
Contact:
Department of Econometrics and Operations Research,
School of Business and Economics,
VU Amsterdam,
De Boelelaan 1105, Floor 11, A-wing,
1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Tel.: +3120 5986010
email:secretariaateconometrie.sbe@vu.nl
