Innovative Training Network ‘Expectations and Social Influence Dynamics in Economics’ (ExSIDE)

Expectations play a crucial role in Economics…

How will the stock market develop? Will I get a pay rise next year? When will the Central Bank change its interest rate policies? Expectations influence the behavior of many economic decision makers. The recent financial and economic crisis has highlighted again the importance of expectation dynamics for economic development as well as for the success of firm strategies and public policies. However, many aspects of the formation and implication expectations in Economics are still not well understood. The Innovative Training Network ExSIDE aims at improving our understanding of the role of expectation formation and social influence for economic dynamics and for the optimal design of economic policy.

We need new skills to study the formation and the impact of expectations…

ExSIDE combines an interdisciplinary research agenda with an innovative European joint doctoral training program, which provides doctoral fellows with a broad range of expertise and skills needed for a thorough analysis of expectation formation processes and their role in Economics. Both the research projects and the training activities will combine work in Behavioral Economics, Psychoanalysis, Opinion Formation, Network Theory, Agent-based Simulation and Economic Modelling in different areas. The academic training will be complemented by extensive Transferable Skills Training Measures, intersectoral Training Measures, provided by non-academic partners, and Career Development Training. Interaction with stakeholders, policy makers and the general public will play an important role in pursuing the ExSIDE agenda and disseminating the results.

Combining academic and non-academic excellence throughout Europe…

The ExSIDE consortium consists of eight leading European universities and nine non-academic partners. Each of the 15 ExSIDE doctoral fellows is hosted by two universities, has a secondment with a non-academic partner and will graduate with a joint or double degree. The research and training in ExSIDE ensures world-wide employability of the ExSIDE graduates inside and outside academia and also contributes to the ability of European institutions and companies to develop efficient policies and strategies. ExSIDE is the largest European consortium offering a structured joint doctoral program awarding joint degrees in Economics.