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Harvard international economics essay competition, description.

The 2023 Harvard International Economics Essay Contest is sponsored by the Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA) in conjunction with the Harvard College Economics Review (HCER). This essay competition is open to high school students of any year and is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate an accomplished level of writing and understanding of economic theory. Through the contest, student competitors hone their academic and professional skills and exhibit their knowledge to future employers and academic programs.  Competitors must construct a convincing argument using economic theory and real-world examples.  Winning essays will be published in the Harvard Economics Review and will be available for the greater Harvard community to read. Essays should focus on argumentation supported with facts and references, although data-based support is also welcome.

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Harvard Economics Challenge (HPEC) - 10 Tips to Help You Win

For high schoolers keen on testing and demonstrating their knowledge of certain subjects, pre-collegiate challenges are an increasingly popular option to pursue.

They’re particularly useful if you’re looking to use your participation (or victory!) to signal to admissions officials and future HRs that you know your stuff, and this comes in handy when you’re applying to highly competitive universities or employment roles.

With that in mind, in this blog, we take a deep dive into the Harvard Pre-Collegiate Economics Challenge (HPEC).

What is the Harvard Pre-Collegiate Economics Challenge?

The HPEC is an international economics competition organized by the Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA) . The HUEA is the primary undergraduate economics group at Harvard, run purely by students. They organize both the HPEC as well the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest.

The HPEC tests students on Advanced Placement Microeconomics and Macroeconomics levels, along with economic news, history, and recent research . HUEA has been hosting the HPEC since 2011, with teams from around the world participating to test their skills, interact with professors and peers, and learn about the wider world of economics.

Is the HPEC prestigious?

While the HPEC started in 2011, it has not been hosted every single year since then, however, it has seen at least 8 iterations. It has also seen participation from anywhere between 20 and 40 teams of students from the US, England, Canada, and more, with many past participants going on to study at Ivy League institutions. This plus its association with a reputed university like Harvard lends it a certain degree of prestige, however, at the end of the day it is still a student-run competition with only moderate investment from the Harvard faculty. HUEA does make efforts to involve the faculty and also bring in notable economists and researchers to discussions that participants can attend. We would say that the challenge is only somewhat prestigious, being limited in not being endorsed and operated by the Harvard faculty directly.

Who is eligible for the HPEC?

To participate in HPEC, you must:

Be enrolled in a high school or equivalent institution. You can be located in any country.

Form teams of 1-4 members. While there’s no mandate, HEUA recommends having at least 3 members in your team.

Each school is allowed to register 1-2 teams and indicate interest in sending a 3rd. The number finally allowed will depend on space availability and registration.

Have a team coach . This may be a teacher in your school, or it may even be a parent if your teacher is not able to attend the competition.

Registration process

For 2023, the registration deadline was March 10, 2023, 11:59 EST. However, HEUA recommends that you apply as early as possible due to the challenge being subject to space constraints. You will need to pay a $125 fee to register .

The challenge itself took place on April 8, 2023. You and your team can choose to compete either virtually from anywhere around the world or in person on Harvard's campus .

How is the HPEC structured?

The competition is divided into two parts:

1. Written Exam

This will be a 90-minute, 60 multiple choice question individual exam to be completed by each participant.

You will not be allowed to communicate with your teammates or your coach and will have no access to calculators, notes, or external aids of any kind.

If you’re participating virtually , you’ll have a 48-hour window to access the website and take the exam. Once begun, you’ll have the same 90 minutes to complete it.

The exam syllabus is 40% macroeconomics, 40% microeconomics, and 20% current events .

2. Quiz Bowl Rounds

These will follow a round-robin structure.

Each round will be 15 minutes long with 15 questions each, except for elimination rounds which will have 18 questions each.

After the moderator reads the question, any team may buzz in to get 10 seconds to answer. If they fail, the other team also gets 10 seconds to answer.

Virtually participating teams and in-person teams will have separate quiz bowl pools - you will only be competing in your respective bracket.

The quiz bowl syllabus is more varied and detailed:

25% Microeconomics

25% Macroeconomics

20% Economic History

15% Current Events

10% Potpourri

5% Modern Research Topics

You should thoroughly go over the manual to understand the structure and scoring.

Prizes on offer

The highest-scoring team and the two highest individual-scoring students will receive trophies. There is no cash prize on offer.

Pros and Cons of Participating

The challenge is highly accessible - the combination of the low registration fees and the virtual-only option ensures that this is one of the most accessible economic challenges available for any high schooler. Regardless of where in the world you live, and almost regardless of your access to funds, you’ll be able to participate in the HPEC.

You can make the best out of robust networking opportunities - whether you participate in-person or virtually, the round-robin nature of the quiz bowl will allow you to interact with peers across the world, to say nothing of working with your teammates and coach. HUEA also organizes panel discussions that you will be able to attend to maximize this further.

It serves as a solid prep for college - the topics that you will be tested on over the course of the HPEC are all Advanced Placement level subjects in economics. This means that all your prep for HPEC will come in handy if you’re already considering pursuing economics in college or maybe even prepping for another economics challenge!

The challenge is not particularly prestigious - at the end of the day, the HPEC is a student-run competition, which makes its association with the prestige of Harvard tenuous at best. If you’re specifically looking to use this challenge to boost your profile, then you may be better off looking elsewhere.

It is not competitive enough - as a consequence of the previous point, not a lot of teams end up participating in the HPEC. Our research tells us that the number of participating teams varies from 20 to 40, which means about 100-150 students participate in any given year. This means that the competitive value of the HPEC goes down compared to many other national-level competitions, much less international ones.

There is no meaningful prize pool - possibly as a consequence of the above two points, the prize pool for the competition is also not significant. While this does not detract from the academic value of participation, it is also not a particularly motivating factor.

Tips to win

After weighing the pros and cons, if you’ve decided to participate in the challenge, then we’ve got some tips to help you win:

Deep dive into economic concepts: Ensure you have a strong grasp of both micro and macroeconomic principles. Familiarize yourself with key concepts such as supply and demand, market structures, fiscal policies, and international trade.

Stay updated with current events: A good chunk of both the written exam and quiz bowl is dedicated to questions concerning current economic events and updates. Regularly read reputable economic journals, newspapers, and magazines to stay informed about global economic trends and events. Investopedia is a good place to check out for this.

Practice, practice, practice: Review previous challenge questions and solutions - the Harvard Economic Challenge website has a very helpful compilation of these at the very bottom. This will give you an idea of the format and the type of questions to expect while also helping you fill out any gaps in your understanding of the core economic concepts.

Participate in group discussions: A lot of the learning you can extract from such challenges is peer learning. Engage in discussions with peers or join an economics club at your school, which you may need to do anyway to build a team! Exchanging ideas and debating on economic topics can provide diverse perspectives and deepen your understanding.

Seek solid mentorship: If possible, find a mentor who is well-versed in economics. They can provide guidance, share their experiences, and offer valuable insights that can help you prepare.

Enhance your analytical skills: Economics isn't just about memorizing concepts; it's about analyzing data and drawing conclusions. Work on improving your analytical and critical thinking skills.

Practice graphical analysis: Many economic concepts are best understood and represented graphically. Ensure you can both interpret and sketch graphs accurately. While this will not directly assist you in the competition, it will greatly enhance your own learning and help you understand key economic concepts and even convey ideas better.

Manage your time well: During the challenge, allocate your time wisely. Prioritize questions you are confident in and then tackle the more challenging ones.

Stay cool during the competition: It's natural to feel nervous, but staying calm will help you think more clearly. If you come across a difficult question, take a deep breath, and approach it methodically. There is no point deduction for leaving a question, only for incorrect answers. The correct approach is to either be sure you’re right or to skip.

Review and double-check your answers: Since the competition penalizes wrong answers only in both the written exam and quiz bowl, the most important thing for you and your team to focus on is accuracy. Put in as much work in reviewing and cross-checking your answers as you do in formulating them.

While the Harvard Pre-Collegiate Economics Challenge is neither a particularly large nor highly prestigious opportunity, it is nonetheless a highly accessible one that offers great learning if you’re passionate about economics. Succeeding in it will still require dedication, preparation, and a deep understanding of economics, and all of the efforts you put into it will assist you greatly in preparing for future competitions or college applications. Some other competitions you should strongly consider if economics is your thing are the National Economics Challenge and the International Economics Olympiad , both large-scale, prestigious, and intense tests of knowledge.

In the meantime, if you have an interest and are ready to put in the effort, make sure to apply for HPEC 2024!

Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you’re looking for the opportunity to do in-depth research on various topics in economics, you could also consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs , selective online high school programs for students I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.

Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.

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Harvard International Economics Essay Contest (HIEEC)

• Last modified 2023-12-01
• Published on 2021-05-14

Competition Details

Introduction : The Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA) is organizing its flagship Harvard International Economics Essay Contest with the collaboration of the Harvard College Economics Review. We jointly organize the Essay competition with HUEA, and we also publish the top three essays in our online publications. HIEEC provides students the opportunity to demonstrate an accomplished level of writing and understanding of economic theory. Through the contest, students hone their academic and professional skills and exhibit their knowledge.

2023-2024 Harvard International Economics Essay Contest Topic:

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to affect growth, inequality, productivity, innovation, and employment. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in particular, has greatly increased public awareness about the significance of AI and its implications for the future. What impact will the development of AI have on economic inequality, the composition of the workforce, and economic output as a whole? How can nations prepare for the micro and macroeconomic changes brought about by AI?

Measuring national and global economic activity allows us to understand how economies change in size and structure—how they grow and contract. In addition to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), government budgets, and the money supply, alternatives like the Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross National Income (GNI) are used to assess economic progress. What are the advantages of our current economic indices, including GDP, HDI, GNI, government budgets, and the money supply, and in what areas are they lacking? Which of these indices do you find most helpful, and how can we enhance or combine them to improve our understanding of economic measurement?

Proponents of income redistribution support the idea that redistribution policies will increase economic stability and give more opportunities to the less wealthy. Others, however, are more skeptical and believe it could have negative consequences for economic growth. Current methods of redistribution include taxation, welfare, public services, and other monetary policies. What strategies for income redistribution should the U.S. adopt from other countries? What economic impacts could a wealth tax or super millionaire tax have? What type of redistribution is most effective and feasible? What would be the impacts of the U.S. enacting universal basic income? Discuss the implications of any of these issues and feel free to expand on other areas of economic redistribution.

As the United States weighs the impacts of China’s rise to global prominence, economics and national security have become increasingly intertwined. As a result, the United States government has imposed both tariffs and investment restrictions on China to limit the nation’s access to both US markets and intellectual property (specifically in sensitive industries such as semiconductors). What are the economic implications of these policies for United States firms, consumers, and workers? Discuss the most important perspectives of the US-China trade war and provide suggestions on how both countries can manage the prospect of a changing economic order.

Contest Rule: The word limit of 1500 must be strictly adhered to. Any words past the limit will be truncated. This limit excludes references, footnotes, titles, headers, and footers.

Competition Website : For more information about the competition, click here .

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Harvard International Economics Essay Contest

Resource details.

Essay Contest | Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (thehuea.org)   Questions provides students the opportunity to demonstrate an accomplished level of writing and understanding of economic theory. Through the contest, students hone their academic and professional skills and exhibit their knowledge. Finalists’ essays are judged by Nobel prize-winning Economist Oliver Hart!

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How To Prepare For the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest

By Eric Eng

What is the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest?

The Harvard International Economics Essay Contest (HIEEC) is an annual competition organized by the Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA).

The essay competition is open to high school students of any year, providing a fantastic opportunity for them to demonstrate an accomplished level of writing and understanding of economic theory. Through the contest, student competitors hone their academic and professional skills, exhibiting their knowledge to future employers and academic programs.

Competitors must construct a convincing argument using economic theory and real-world examples. Winning essays will be published on their website and available for the greater Harvard community to read. Essays should focus on argumentation supported with facts and references, although data-based support is also welcome.

How do you participate in the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest?

Choose one of the four prompts and write your response within a 1500-word limit. Submit your essay through the HUEA website—only your first submission will be considered. Each essay submission requires a $20 reading fee, payable upon submission. If this fee is a significant financial burden for your family, email the organizers for assistance. The submission deadline is 11:59 PM EST on January 5th, 2024.

The board of the HUEA will evaluate the essays. The top 10 submissions will then be reviewed by distinguished Harvard professor and 2016 Economics Nobel Prize winner, Oliver Hart.

• Eligibility: Grades 9 to 12 students can participate
• Cost: $20 reading fee (financial aid is available on a case-to-case basis)
• Prize: The top three winning essays will be published on the website with the authors’ permission. A list of finalists will be posted online and reviewed by 2016 Economics Nobel Prize winner, Oliver Hart. The names of those receiving the “Highly Commended” distinction will also be published online.

Important Dates

Contest Rules and Regulations

Please take note of the following terms and conditions as they will be adhered to strictly by the organizing committee:

• The word limit of 1500 must be strictly followed, with any excess words being truncated. This limit excludes references, footnotes, titles, headers, and footers.
• Essays must be solely written by the entrant, and any outside assistance must be declared at the beginning or end of the essay.
• Only the first submission will be accepted; additional submissions will not be read.
• References are required, and any plagiarism will result in disqualification. References must follow either Chicago or APA format.
• Submissions must be in PDF format only. Other formats will not be accepted, and no refunds will be provided for non-compliance with this rule.
• No refunds will be granted under any circumstances.
• The essay must not be submitted to any other competition or published elsewhere.
• Individual feedback on essays will not be provided.
• Decisions made by the HUEA in the final round of adjudication are final.
• All winners consent to having their names published on the HUEA website.

Harvard International Economics Essay Contest 2023 Prompts

The HUEA is looking for an essay that not only embodies and discusses the following prompts but also applies economic policies and concepts to the essay.

• Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to affect growth, inequality, productivity, innovation, and employment. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in particular, has greatly increased public awareness about the significance of AI and its implications for the future. What impact will the development of AI have on economic inequality, the composition of the workforce, and economic output as a whole? How can nations prepare for the micro and macroeconomic changes brought about by AI?
• Measuring national and global economic activity allows us to understand how economies change in size and structure—how they grow and contract. In addition to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), government budgets, and the money supply, alternatives like the Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross National Income (GNI) are used to assess economic progress. What are the advantages of our current economic indices, including GDP, HDI, GNI, government budgets, and the money supply, and in what areas are they lacking? Which of these indices do you find most helpful, and how can we enhance or combine them to improve our understanding of economic measurement?
• Proponents of income redistribution support the idea that redistribution policies will increase economic stability and give more opportunities to the less wealthy. Others, however, are more skeptical and believe it could have negative consequences for economic growth. Current methods of redistribution include taxation, welfare, public services, and other monetary policies. What strategies for income redistribution should the U.S. adopt from other countries? What economic impacts could a wealth tax or super millionaire tax have? What type of redistribution is most effective and feasible? What would be the impacts of the U.S. enacting universal basic income? Discuss the implications of any of these issues and feel free to expand on other areas of economic redistribution.
• As the United States weighs the impacts of China’s rise to global prominence, economics and national security have become increasingly intertwined. As a result, the United States government has imposed both tariffs and investment restrictions on China to limit the nation’s access to both US markets and intellectual property (specifically in sensitive industries such as semiconductors). What are the economic implications of these policies for United States firms, consumers, and workers? Discuss the most important perspectives of the US-China trade war and provide suggestions on how both countries can manage the prospect of a changing economic order.

What are the criteria for judging in the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest?

The Harvard International Economics Essay Contest (HIEEC) typically evaluates submissions based on a set of comprehensive criteria to ensure a fair and thorough assessment of each essay. While the specific criteria may vary slightly each year and the organizing team team does not typically publish the criteria for judging,  the following are common judging criteria for such contests:

• Understanding of Economic Theory: Depth of understanding and application of economic concepts and theories relevant to the chosen topic. Accurate use of economic terminology and principles.
• Clarity and Coherence: Clear and logical structure, with well-organized arguments. Coherence in presenting ideas, ensuring that each part of the essay contributes to the overall argument.
• Originality and Creativity: Innovative approach to the topic and unique perspective. Originality in argumentation and insights.
• Use of Evidence and Examples: Effective use of real-world examples and data to support arguments. Integration of relevant research, statistics, and case studies.
• Analytical Skills: Depth of analysis and critical thinking. Ability to evaluate different viewpoints and present a balanced argument.
• Writing Style and Presentation: Clear, concise, and engaging writing style Proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Referencing and Citations: Correct and consistent use of citations (Chicago or APA format). Inclusion of a well-formatted bibliography or reference list.
• Adherence to Guidelines: Compliance with the word limit and formatting requirements. Submission of the essay in the correct format (PDF).
• Impact and Persuasiveness: Overall persuasiveness of the essay . Ability to make a compelling case and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

These criteria ensure essays are judged fairly and thoroughly, recognizing your intellectual capacity and creativity.

How can you write a captivating essay that will stand out in the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest?

1. Introduction

Objective: Grab the reader’s attention and introduce the main argument or thesis.

Start with a Hook: Begin with a startling fact, a question, a quote, or an anecdote related to your topic. This engages the reader right away.

Example: “Imagine a world where economic decisions are made without considering human behavior—this is the reality we risk without incorporating behavioral economics into policy making.”

Introduce the Topic: Clearly state what the essay will discuss.

Example: “This essay explores the importance of behavioral economics in shaping effective public policy.”

Present the Thesis Statement: Clearly state your main argument or position.

Example: “Behavioral economics provides crucial insights that traditional economic theories often overlook, making it essential for effective policy making.”

Excerpt from HIEEC 2022 Top 3 Finalist

“The duty of a central bank is to pursue monetary stability — customarily defined by low inflation and steady output growth. Recent inflation levels have run larger than ever in the last half-decade (Desilver, 2022). In response, central banks across the world are synchronously hiking interest rates without consulting each other (Moschella et al., 2022). This raises the question: what is the most effective way for Western central banks to tame inflation while limiting recessionary forces globally?”

Ashwin Telang, Inflation and Monetary Policy Cooperation 

“…While the numbers are frightening, the reason remains ambiguous. Some blame insufficient supply stemming from the Great Recession and social movements such as NIMBY for fueling high prices. Others posit that recent inflation and soaring mortgage rates of 7% have hindered buyers’ ability to afford a down payment and mortgage. What is the origin of this affordability crisis? Why is unaffordability inexorable in the current housing market? How should governments and people respond?”

Nanxi Jiang, Affordability Crisis: A Mirror of Inequality

Objective: Develop your argument with supporting evidence and analysis.

Structure with Clear Paragraphs: Each paragraph should focus on a single point supporting your thesis.

Example: “One key aspect of behavioral economics is the concept of ‘bounded rationality.’ Unlike traditional models that assume perfect rationality, bounded rationality recognizes the limitations of human decision-making.”

Use Evidence and Examples: Support your arguments with data, research findings, and real-world examples.

Example: “Studies have shown that policies incorporating behavioral insights, such as ‘nudge theory,’ have significantly increased retirement savings rates.”

Analyze the Evidence: Explain how the evidence supports your thesis.

Example: “This increase in savings rates demonstrates the practical benefits of understanding and leveraging human behavior in economic policies.”

Address Counterarguments: Consider and refute opposing views to strengthen your position.

Example: “While some argue that behavioral economics is too focused on individual behavior, it actually complements traditional theories by addressing their blind spots.”

“Loss of biodiversity is another impact of climate change, as certain species are unable to adapt to increased temperatures and changing conditions (IPCC, 2014). Williams et al. (2007) posit that a 2°C increase in global temperature could lead to the extinction of up to 18% of plant and animal species. Since biodiversity plays a key role in supporting ecosystems such as pollination and water purification, and industries like tourism, the loss of biodiversity incurs heavy costs in the economy (IPCC, 2012).”

“Overall, there are a variety of abatement policies that governments can enact to protect the environment whilst minimizing the impact on economic efficiency. Mckinsey (2009) estimated the carbon potential (ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere) and the cost of aggressively pursuing various abatement schemes compared to a ‘business-as-usual’ case and compiled them into a marginal abatement cost curve (MACC).”

Duncan Wong, On Carbon and the Economy

3. Conclusion

Objective: Summarize the main points and reinforce the thesis, leaving a lasting impression.

Restate the Thesis: Summarize the main argument without simply repeating it.

Example: “In conclusion, the integration of behavioral economics into public policy is not just beneficial but necessary.”

Summarize Key Points: Briefly recap the main arguments discussed in the body.

Example: “By acknowledging human limitations and utilizing insights like ‘nudge theory,’ policymakers can design more effective and realistic economic policies.”

End with a Strong Closing Statement: Leave the reader with a thought-provoking idea or call to action.

Example: “As we move forward, embracing the complexities of human behavior will be key to crafting policies that truly work for society.”

“Local and state governments should prioritize loosening zoning restrictions to accommodate duplexes, triplexes, and apartments in diverse neighborhoods. This would lower the cost of separate housing units, ensuring prices are more attainable for renters. The local government could also modify property taxes on additional homes. Assigning a higher assessment rate on additional homes increases property tax, lowering the incentive for wealthier people to occupy multiple homes while reducing the tax for single-property owners.

Individuals have little power to influence market realities, but homebuyers should save early to purchase sooner. Most homeowners will rationally continue capitalizing on housing as it generates personal wealth. However, rethinking how they can support positive change in ways that affect them minimally—lowering rent increases for rental properties, supporting more inclusive zoning, and becoming educated on the situation—can initiate a small impact locally. While housing affordability is far from superficial, balancing housing inequality at all levels bolsters overall social equality, which fosters housing affordability in return.”

“DICE has shown that unsustainable economic growth is inconsistent with a healthy environment; MACC analysis shows that it is imperative to pursue abatement and innovation in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. Internationally, a successful solution to the climate problem requires countries to be less mercenary as national incentives often conflict with global interests. And while consumption often leads to higher levels of social welfare, a wise economist would take a step back and take care of the lifeblood humanity so desperately relies on.”

Improving Your Essays

• Be Clear and Concise: Avoid unnecessary jargon and ensure your writing is easy to follow.
• Show Originality: Offer unique insights or perspectives on the topic.
• Maintain a Logical Flow: Ensure that each paragraph naturally leads to the next, creating a cohesive argument.
• Proofread: Check for grammatical errors and ensure all references are correctly formatted.

By following these guidelines, you can craft an essay that not only stands out but also effectively communicates your understanding and analysis of economic topics. For more specific examples and detailed analysis, we recommend reviewing past winning essays from the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest, which you can usually find on their official website.

Further readings to prepare for HIEEC

To prepare effectively for the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest (HIEEC) and increase your chances of winning, you should explore a range of resources that will deepen your understanding of economics and enhance your essay-writing skills. Here are six recommended resources:

Books and Ebooks

• “Freakonomics” by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner: This book explores economic theory applied to various real-world scenarios in an engaging and thought-provoking way.
• “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith: A foundational text in economics that provides deep insights into classical economic theory and principles.

Marginal Revolution: A popular economics blog run by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok that covers a wide range of economic topics and current events.

EconLog: This blog features posts by various economists who discuss contemporary economic issues and theory.

YouTube Channels

• CrashCourse Economics : A YouTube series that offers comprehensive and engaging lessons on various economic concepts, theories, and real-world applications.
• Economics Explained: A YouTube channel that breaks down complex economic topics and current events simply and understandably.
• Planet Money by NPR : A podcast that explores the complexities of economics through stories, interviews, and insightful discussions.

Other Supplemental Materials

• Khan Academy Economics and Finance: An extensive collection of free online courses and tutorials that cover the fundamentals of economics and finance.

Is the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest prestigious? Should I do it?

The Harvard International Economics Essay Contest (HIEEC) is prestigious, organized by the Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA), and attracts talented high school students from around the world. Participating in this contest can enhance your academic profile, showcasing your analytical and writing skills to top universities and future employers. It also provides an excellent opportunity to deepen your understanding of economics and engage with complex economic issues.

Participating in the Harvard International Economics Essay Contest (HIEEC) can significantly boost your college application by showcasing your passion for economics and ability to engage with complex topics. Winning or even just participating in this prestigious contest demonstrates to admissions committees that you possess strong analytical and writing skills . Researching and writing your essay also develops critical thinking abilities essential for college-level coursework. Publication and recognition from the contest further highlight your accomplishments, setting you apart from other applicants. All of these qualities are highly in demand in the college admissions setting.

If you’re passionate about economics and enjoy writing, participating in the HIEEC is a valuable and rewarding experience.

Want to assess your chances of admission? Take our FREE chances calculator today!

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HIR Academic Writing Contest Summer 2022 Medal Winners

The Harvard International Review is a quarterly magazine offering insight on international affairs from the perspectives of scholars, leaders, and policymakers. Since our founding in 1979, we've set out to bridge the worlds of academia and policy through outstanding writing and editorial selection.

The quality of our content is unparalleled. Each issue of the Harvard International Review includes exclusive interviews and editorials by leading international figures along with expert staff analysis of critical international issues. We have featured commentary by 43 Presidents and Prime Ministers, 4 Secretaries-General, 4 Nobel Economics Prize laureates, and 7 Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Inspired by our growing high school readership around the world, we created the Harvard International Review Academic Writing Contest to encourage and highlight outstanding high school writing on topics related to international affairs.

Congratulations to all Summer 2022 medal winners on the quality of your submissions!

Qiran Sun . Nanjing Foreign Language School. “ Why the Visit? A Case Study of the Semiconductor Supply Chain in East Asia, Arena of Potential Sino-US Conflict”

May Tong. International School of Beijing. “ The Rise of Shrimp: A Holistic Look at Shrimp Farming in Southeast Asia”

Yirui Cui. Mannahouse Christian Academy. “ Children’s Education in Ethiopia: Problems, Reasons and Solutions”

Siyu Liu. Shenzhen College of International Education. “ Local Teachers Are the Key to Tackle Chad's Educational Challenges”

Nianjia Yang. Beijing 101 High School. “ Behind Ashes of War: Elderly Women in Ukraine and Their Future”

Siwen Cui. Kent School. “ Re-enchanting the Disenchanted: Weaving a New Environmental Scheme with Indigenous Wisdom”

Yinglin Fang. Shenzhen College International Education. “ The Other Pandemic: How Sexual Slavery is Spreading in the Age of Globalization”

Guohao Lv . Basis International School Park Lane Harbour. “ China's Three-child Policy, an Effective Solution for an Upcoming Labor Crisis or a Problem-solution Mismatch”

Haoyang Wu . BASIS International School Hangzhou. “ Sri Lanka: Cautionary Tale for Developing Agricultural Economies”

Huirong Yang . Overseas School of Colombo. “ Sri Lanka’s Food Shortage: The Surprising Role of Organic Farming”

Ella (Jiyeon) Seo . Trafalgar Castle School. “The Inconvenient Truth Behind ‘Gangnam Style’: The Flooding of South Korea’s Most Expensive District”

Luyu Yue . BASIS International School Park Lane Harbour. “ Building a Better Future: Sustainable Materials in Construction”

Silver Medal

Taiyang Zhang . Institute Le Rosey. “ The Dark Horse, Cause of Carbon Emissions in the Global Agriculture Industry”

Alphonsus Koong. St. Andrew's Junior College. “ Beneath the Surface: The Hidden Cost of Competition in the South China Sea”

Yuanyin Luo. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “ Ethiopia’s Food Crisis: at the Crux of Political and Natural Disasters”

Fabiha Afifa. Maple Leaf International School. “ Continued Arctic Exploration: Possible Route to the Second Cold War, Definite Threat to the Planet”

Jiale Yang . Fountain Valley School of Colorado. “ Japan’s Discharge of Radioactive Seawater: A Disruption to Earth’s Ecological Balance and International Law”

Congyun Liao. The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. “ Peru Oil Spills: The Le Chatelier Principle of Environment and Economy

Kevin Wang. Concordia International School Shanghai. “ Why Russia, not Turkey, Won the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War”

Zhihao Chen . Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “ The Faults in Our Star(link)s: The Environmental Complications of SpaceX’s Starlink Program”

Emma He . Wuhan Yangtze International School. “ Rewriting History: Analyzing the Legality of Detaining Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang Internment Camps”

Kongyang Zhu. UWC Changshu. "My Country and I": Investigating Xenophobia in Chinese Patriotic Education Campaigns

Coco Cai. Orange County American High School. “ Ocean Dead Zones: Why a Small Town in England is the Latest Victim of a Global Catastrophe”

Ziang Lu . Shanghai High School International Division. “ The Chinese Student Crisis”

Yiyi Xu . Shanghai United International School Gubei Campus. “ Sex, Class, and Caste: A Look at Gender Quotas in India”

Yuqing Hua . Rutgers Preparatory School. “ Woods, Water, and Wildlife: Forgotten Casualties of the Russia-Ukraine War”

Sixing Qian. Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School. “ A Bluer Ocean: How the Relationship Between China and Norway is Influencing Sustainable Salmon Aquaculture”

Yuetong Zhou,Zihao Pan .Shenzhen College of International Education. “ Is Ukraine being robbed of its soul?”

Vaasav Gupta . Watchung Hills Regional High School. “ The Environmental and Economic Counterproductivity of the US-China Solar Trade War”

Zaizai Wang. Hangzhou foreign language school. “ Stigma Crisis in the Context of the COVID-19 Epidemic”

Ashir Rao . Los Gatos High School. “ South Asian Economic Union: Path to Regional Sustainability”

Qiuqiu Bao. Ross School. “ The Global Chip Shortage and Sustainable Growth Across Industries”

Amy Mao. Lauriston Girls' School. “ GMO FARMING: Is It Our Salvation or Annihilation?”

Haolin Duan. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “ The Turbulent Present and Future of the Global Semiconductor Industry”

Yangxi Gao . The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. “ Education in Rural China: The Link between Gender Gap and Son Preference”

Jiayi Wu. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “ There And (Not) Back Again: Human Rights For Displaced Workers Under China’s Belt and Road Initiative Program”

Zimeng Huang. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “ Protect the Hwamei: How Chinese Traditions Have Endangered the Bird Species”

Aidana Maidanova . Abbey College Cambridge. “ Singing on Q: The role of contemporary Kazakh language music in national identity building among Kazakhstani youth”

Hanjiang Ye .Jianlan Middle School. “ Cuba’s Solitary Battle: The Unseen Isolation of US Sanctions”

Kwong Yu Sun . Chiway Repton School Xiamen. “ Updates on GMO Dialogue Developments in the US and Europe”

Xinran Cao . The Stony Brook School. “ The Hidden Dilemma: Disabled Women’s Healthcare Challenges in the United States”

Kunyang Liu. The Experimental high school attached to Beijing Normal University. “ Artificial Intelligence: Assessing the Risks”

Boren Zhang . Shenzhen Foreign Language School. “ The Mapuche Conflict: Shedding Light on the Global Struggle for Indigenous Rights”

Bronze Medal

Songying Li. Zhengzhou Foreign Language School. “ Sustainable Living, Corporate Interests”

Zihan Yang. China World Academy. “ The Positive impacts of the Refugee Crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine”

Yuchang Hu . Shanghai Pinghe School. “ Cutting the Pipeline: Dismantling Juvenile Delinquency and Achieving Sustainable Personal and Societal Development”

Zixuan Zhang. International Department, The Affiliated High School of SCNU. “ New Way of Communist China's Propaganda”

Cunyan Ma. Shanghai High School International Division. “ Gender Violence in Tangshan: Fear, Antagonism, and Solutions”

Manyi Ma. North Cedar Academy. “ Dissipated or Dispersed? Re-examining China’s Carbon Footprint”

Yuxuan Xie. Shenzhen Middle School. “ Strict Plastic Bans: A Shaky Step Towards Sustainability”

Liyu Chen. Living Word Shanghai. "200 Meters Deep" and the Earth

Sunny Wu. Keystone Academy. “ Food Crisis’s Implications on Egypt Women Under the Gender Discrimination: Solutions Respond”

Zi Xuan, Wang (Chloe) . Beijing Saint Paul American School. “ Gun Violence: A Significant Obstacle between Racial Minorities and Fair Education in the United States”

Yuanhao Yang. Beijing National Day School. “ The Democracy in Africa: Unfit Models and Misplaced Help”

Zengxi Huang . Beijing Luhe International Academy. Xi Yang . High School affiliated to Shaanxi Normal University. “ Lessons from Sri Lanka's bankruptcy —— Emerging markets are in a crisis of neglect.”

Selina Tang . Boston Latin School. “ Environmental Law: Filling the Emissions and Political Gap”

Max Guan . Phillips Academy. “ The California EV Mandate: A Glimpse of the New Norm”

Yuxin Yang . Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “ Beyond E-Learning: How Education Programs Harness the Power of Technology”

Yuanle Zhu . UWC Changshu China. “ Lingering Nationalism Among New Generations in China and South Korea”

Angela Yuhan Zhang, Lucy Lu . Shanghai High School International Division. “ Perpetuated Problems in the Forgotten Corner: Economic and Representational Aftermaths of the Rwandan Genocide”

Jiatong Shen . United World College Changshu China. “ The Predicament of Ethnic Minorities During COVID-19: A Glance at Hmong Americans”

Xinyu Yuan . Shanghai Guanghua Cambridge international School. “ Short-Term Solution or Long-Term Problem? The Quiet Growth of New Oil Drilling”

Cecilia Lu. Shanghai Pinghe Bilingual School. “ Aging and Health”

Chengze Lyu . Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School. “ Star Power: Solving the World's Energy Demands with Fusion”

Hanfei Zhao. Singapore American School. “ Teaching Harmony to Combat Nationalism”

Eason Yang . Trinity College School. “ Pitch-Black Teeth: A Wicked Curse and A Harbinger of Change”

Felicity Wong . Milton Academy. Emma Chen. Hangzhou International School. “ Exterminating Invasive Starfish: a Multilateral and Multidisciplinary Approach to Saving Life Below and Above Water”

Jian Liu . Nansha College Preparatory Academy. “ Is selling air becoming a real business?”

Ruinan Mao . Basis International School Hangzhou. “ Another Group Without A Voice: Children Face Inhabitable Earth”

Benjamin Luo. Middlesex School. “ The New Cold War”

Liangyu Sun. The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University. “ Reimagining the Silk Road: The “Digiscape” of Culture and Commerce”

Hengrui Zhu . Basis International School Park Lane Harbour. “ How Biodegradable Packaging Saves the Day”

Xinyue Yao. Shenzhen College of International Education. “ History Repeats Itself: Monkeypox and the Stigma Risks in the United States”

Funing Fan . Beijing 101 High School. “ The Impact of China’s Zero-COVID Policy on Environment”

Zhilin Zhai. The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University. “ Community Supported Agriculture: A Novel Method for Addressing Food Production and Transportation Limitations”

Jiamin Song . The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. “ China’s Vocational Schools: Local Policies with Global Implications”

Wanwen Huang . International Department (HFI), Affiliated High School of South China Normal University. “ Urban Slums in the Global South-Guangzhou Urban Village”

Chang Zhou . Sandy Spring Friends School. “ Burned by Poverty: The Unequal Impact of Climate Change”

Su Liu .Shenzhen College of International Education. “ Fighting Illegal Deforestation in the Amazon”

Jing Liu . Nansha College Preparatory Academy. “ Rural STEAM Education: A Pathway to an Innovative Economy”

Ruipeng Zhuang. Basis International School Parklane Harbour. “ Illuminating the Darkest Corner: Stopping Human Trafficking through Education”

Zitong Xia. Desheng School (International). “ Conflict Headed Trade Crisis: The Russia-Ukraine Conflict Threatens A Fragile Recovery In Global Trade”

Ziao Wang . Beijing World Youth Academy. “ IMF in Pakistan: Sucess or Faliure?”

Bingcheng Hu. Basis International School Park Lane Harbor. “ Future Energy Trend”

XiangShen Yin. ZWIE World Academy. “ What zero-Tolerance Policy Does To Global Travel Industry”

Muhammad Alvin Ibnu Raffy, Nasya Nisrina Zahira. MAN 2 Kota Malang. “ Palm Oil Diplomacy Spectacle: Potentials, Concerns, and Disputes”

• Summer Program
• CEMC Test Information

Essay Contest

Harvard international economics essay contest (hieec).

Eligibility

✓ Must be a student enrolled at a secondary school ✓ Must be a logical, profound and effective communicator in the written and spoken English language 

The Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA) and the Harvard College Economics Review (HCER) jointly host an annual essay contest so-called “HUEA/HCER International Essay Competition.” Utilization of real-world examples in corroborating economic theories is the key to success of this contest. Moreover, a summary-based rather than research-based essay format is highly encouraged. Four questions are provided, and only one of them should be answered and submitted accordingly. The submitted essays will be evaluated by the boards of the organizations as well as Oliver Hart, the 2016 Economics Nobel Prize winner.  

Any high school student at any level from any country and any school is eligible to take part in the contest. The essay should be no longer than 1500 words. 1st prize winner receives $1000; 2nd prize winner receives $250; and 3rd prize winner receives $100. 

Engineer Girl Writing Contest

Eligibility  

 ✓ The contest is open to individual girls and boys in the following three competition categories: 

Elementary School Students (grades 3-5)

Middle School Students  (grades 6-8) High School Students (grades 9-12)

Sustainable development is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs.  It’s a way of thinking that will help make life is as good or better in the future as it is today.

To accomplish this, the world needs solutions that not only fix problems, but also support social and political change. Engineering and people with engineering skills are essential to making this happen.

The United Nations created the Sustainable Development Goals to identify 17 areas where urgent action is required on all levels – from international institutions to individual households.  The aim is to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people have equal opportunities to enjoy peace and prosperity.

John Locke Institute

National history day (nhd).

  Eligibility

✓ Must be an 18-year-old (or younger) student   

John Locke Institute, an independent educational organization founded in the spirit of John Locke, an English philosopher primarily renowned for his ideas of political liberalism, annually hosts an essay contest so-called “John Locke Institute Essay Competition (or simply ‘John Locke’).” The competition, co-sponsored by the University of Oxford and Princeton University, is purposefully designed to cultivate students’ independent critical thinking, reasoning and persuasive skills beyond the confines of standardized school curricula. 

There are seven subject categories (excluding Junior Category): Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law. For each subject category, three questions are given from which one can only choose to write on, not exceeding 2000 words. The deadline for submissions is TBD. 

✓ Targeted grade levels:6-12th ✓ Word limit:1500-2500 words ✓ Topic: Any history topic related to an annual theme 

  The 2022 National Contest will be held virtually June 12-16, 2022.  

National History Day (NHD), established in 1974, is a nonprofit education organization based in College Park, Maryland, that is dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of history. NHD provides a yearlong academic program for middle and high school students. Every year, more than 600,000 students around the world conduct original research on historical topics of their choosing and create projects to present their findings. NHD improves history education by providing engaged learning for students and professional development for teachers. Students participate in NHD in classrooms ranging from Social Studies, English/Language Arts, Art, and Drama to Technology and Special Education. NHD provides the organizational structure for students like you to enter NHD contests at the Regional and Affiliate levels, with top entries advancing to the National Contest at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Ocean Awareness Contest

✓ All students enrolled in grade 9-12 within the states.

 The Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Journalism Education Association want to increase high school students' knowledge and understanding of the importance of independent media to our lives. National winners of this essay contest receive scholarship awards. 

This year's essay topic is  

How can student journalists use social media for free speech and amplifying voices, but still ensure ethical and responsible use of the platforms?

Format is 300-500 words double space and due on Feb 19, 2022 11:59pm

The 11th annual Ocean Awareness Contest is a platform for young people to learn about environmental issues through art-making and creative communication, explore their relationship to a changing world, and become advocates for positive change. Students ages 11-18 from around the world are invited to participate.

The Contest deadline is June 13, 2022.

The 2022 Ocean Awareness Contest—THE FUNNY THING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE—challenges students to learn about climate change and its impact on the ocean, and to explore new ways to communicate the urgency of the climate crisis. We are looking for innovative pieces that challenge our expectations for what climate change messaging should look like. How can you talk about climate change in a fresh way? How can you capture attention without sacrificing your message?

summer camp

Stony brook garcia center for polymers at engineered interfaces.

 Each summer, 80 of the world's most accomplished high school students gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the Research Science Institute (RSI). RSI is the first cost-free to students, summer science & engineering program to combine on-campus course work in scientific theory with off-campus work in science and technology research.

Participants experience the entire research cycle from start to finish. They read the most current literature in their field, draft and execute a detailed research plan, and deliver conference-style oral and written reports on their findings.

RSI scholars first participate in a week of intensive STEM classes with accomplished professors. The heart of RSI is the five week research internship where students conduct individual projects under the tutelage of mentors who are experienced scientists and researchers. During the final week of RSI, students prepare written and oral presentations on their research projects.

This is an intensive seven week program for gifted high school students which combines formal instruction with independent research and allows students to design original research projects with guidance from Garcia Center faculty, students, and staff. Students can continue during the academic year in the Mentor Program, which allows them to plan a research schedule with a faculty mentor throughout the year. Pre-arranged transportation and class schedules are coordinated with local school boards to enable students from a large geographical area to enroll in the program. Almost three hundred high school students have participated in the mentor program since its inception.

The students have consistently won recognition for their research through national competitions ( LISEF ,  NYCSEF ,  NYSSEF ,  ISEF ), published in refereed journals, been awarded patents, inducted into the National Young Inventor's Hall of Fame, and been accepted to universities or professional programs of their choice.

SUMaC-Stanford University Mathematics Camp

When you attend Stanford University Mathematics Camp, not only will you engage in deep exploration of mathematics and develop as a mathematician, but you will be immersed in a community of others who share your mathematical talent and curiosity. For three weeks you will participate in online classes, make new friends, and be challenged intellectually. Many participants say the experience changed their lives. 

 SUMaC is for students who are in 10th or 11th grade at the time of application, and who have an exceptional interest and ability in mathematics. 

Dead line is  

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

HSLI -High School Law Institute

 The New York University High School Law Institute (“HSLI”) is a student-run organization that serves talented and motivated high school students throughout New York City. Alongside our sister program at Columbia Law Schoo l, we offer free, yearlong academic programming in constitutional law, criminal law, and speech and debate on Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM.

Ideal HSLI students are those who recognize the impact of the legal system, wish to learn more about how it concretely impacts society, and are preparing themselves to serve and advocate for others. While there is no expectation that our students apply to law school or pursue a legal career, we do expect that they apply themselves diligently to their studies in high school and beyond.

Courses are taught by teams of current NYU Law and undergraduate students. Teachers receive thorough training prior to class and receive ongoing support throughout the year. They are also provided with detailed curricula created by veteran HSLI instructors and board members that are scaffolded to support high school student understanding. Each lesson contains discussion questions, background information, classroom activities, and homework assignments that can be tailored to fit each student’s interests. Our classes are discussion-driven aimed at fostering independent thought. At HSLI, students are encouraged to think well, advocate well, and work collaboratively; they are also taught to evaluate arguments based on analytical rigor and strength of evidence.

Fin Tech Focus

Penn medicine summer program.

FinTech Focus is a four-week immersive program designed for incoming college freshmen with an interest in finance, computer science and technology. Over the course of the program, students learn the principles of computer science, gain exposure to the financial services industry, and get hands-on experience developing real-world applications. Students will have the opportunity to hear from guest speakers, learn the basics of banking and finance, and gain insights into STEM career paths available in college and beyond. The course will take place virtually, with the support and sponsorship of top financial firms. It is open to students who are completing their final year of high school and are enrolled in an accredited university 

   Eligibility  

✓ Age 16-18

✓ June 26, 2022 – July 23, 2022 

✓  Tuition: $9,550 

Spend four weeks experiencing the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine intensive summer program designed for high school juniors and seniors interested in medical careers . Modeled after actual first year Penn Med classes, you’ll gain exposure to the basics of medical training including practical experiences, simulations and live demonstrations. Plus, you’ll live the life of a college student on Penn’s campus, located in University City in Philadelphia, PA .  Experience dorm life, campus living, attend classes, and make life-long friends!

The high-tech, jaw-dropping learning spaces at Penn Medicine are every medical student’s dream. You’ll learn from highly accredited doctors and faculty at Penn Medicine who are involved throughout the program. Students have also had a rare opportunity to observe a surgery. As the doctors share their stories and expose you to the many diverse specialties and opportunities available to pursue in medicine, this program will certainly confirm for you how rewarding it can be when you choose to follow after your passion.

Other MIT Science Camps

Prime Academy

111 North Summit Street, Tenafly, New Jersey 07670, United States

201-266-6011

Copyright © 2023 Prime Academy - All Rights Reserved.

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HUEA is the primary undergraduate economics group at Harvard, founded in 2000. We are an entirely student-run forum for all students concentrating or interested in economics. Our board consists of creative, passionate students committed to serving the economics community at Harvard and beyond. Through lectures, networking opportunities and competitions, we seek to engage the community in meaningful ways.

Executive Board

José Quiroz-Yañez Co-President

Maxwell Booker Co-President

Jeeya Patel Chief of Staff

Katherrin Billordo Social Chair

Competitions.

Zakarias Erdos Vice President of Competitions

Matthew Allana Vice President of Competitions

Iris Cheng Associate of Competitions 

Emefa Dake Associate of Competitions 

Henry Jackson Associate of Competitions  

Development.

Florian Hippe V ice President of Development

Jocelyn Xu Associate of Development  

Juan Esteban Gallo Associate of Development

Louis Auxenfaus Associate of Development  

Ashmit Singh Associate of Development  

Ikenna Ogbogu Associate of Development  

Joyce Shi Vice President of Marketing  

Silvana Yarrington Senior Associate of Marketing

Oliver Lontay Associate of Marketing

Tirth Dave Vice President of Finance

Jordan Seigel Associate of Finance

Evan Huang Associate of Finance

Lynn Tao Associate of Finance

Max Kainamura Associate of Finance

Mariia Hnatiuk Associate of Finance

Kayla Andrews Associate of Finance

Past presidents, ​ 2022-2023 jacob genualdi, tony huang, ​ 2022 spring ashlan ahmed, julia manso 2021 fall audrey shine, lara ze ng 2020-2021 jack li, michael yin 2019-2020 daniel bodea, matthew miller 2018-2019 shangda xu, amy zhou, 2017-2018 amy zhang, gillian hess 2016-2017 eric yang, nihal gowravaram 2015-2016 richard he, ana carell 2014-2015 george zeng 2013-2014 andrew das sarma, jennifer wu, alumni placement.

HUEA provides its members great opportunities to strengthen analytical skills and build professional networks. Our alumni joined the following companies after graduation: 

• Harvard Economics Review
• Mar 4, 2021

Making Rational Decisions

Clarissa Wern Ting Wong is one of our 2020 winners for the HIEEC.

The economist Keynes once posited that when the quantitative calculation of expected utility can hardly help us make a decision, it is our “animal spirits” – or emotional states – that kick in and urge us into action (Keynes, 1936). This surmise proved prescient. From unbridled optimism that fuels an economic bubble, to stubbornness that undermines policies meant to raise social welfare, many suboptimal decision patterns that repeat themselves throughout history can be attributed to people’s “irrational” sides getting the better of them (Akerlof et al., 2009).

How We Make Suboptimal Decisions

A rational economic agent acting in accordance with expected utility theory is expected to evaluate a set of perfect information using mathematical logic: He calculates the utility he could gain from each option. Then, he chooses the option that maximises his utility within his budget constraints. However, real-life decisions are not informed purely by such mathematical calculations, but also by heuristics, biases and misconceptions which make us imperfect decision-makers.

Heuristics are mental shortcuts that people use to save time and mental effort in decision-making. Using these heuristics sometimes leads to statistically systematic errors in one’s information processing, also known as cognitive biases. For example, people tend to form an impression based on only a few salient examples that come to mind. This leads to the availability bias, whereby a minority of salient information disproportionately influences one’s judgement on the probability of something happening (Thaler, 2009). Resultant distortions in people’s probability judgements can lead them to make suboptimal decisions. For example, influenced by the preceding bull run in Internet stocks and the palpable optimism of fellow investors, investors in the 1990s came to display “irrational exuberance” in their expectations (Greenspan, 1996) and grossly overvalued Internet stocks. Energy consumers, on the other hand, tend to overconsume energy when they are not provided salient information like their level of energy usage (Thaler, 2009). People make suboptimal decisions when they over- or under-estimate an action’s utility: In one instance, important but non-salient information, like energy usage, is ignored; In another instance, salient but unrepresentative information, like overoptimistic expectations, is used to form the big picture.

Other cognitive biases can similarly distort one’s ability to make rational decisions. People tend to feel losses (shown as the red arrow in Figure 1) about twice as hard as gains (shown as the blue arrow) for the same change in wealth from a reference point (Tversky et. al, 2000). This leads them to exhibit loss aversion bias.

Loss aversion bias has been used to explain the endowment effect, where people tend to value goods they own higher than an identical good they do not own (Thaler, 2015). This is because they likely overvalue their loss in utility should they give up what they own. Consequences can be serious: If policymakers exhibit sufficient loss aversion, they may overprotect loss-making sectors, or develop anti-trade biases (Tovar, 2009).

Besides cognitive biases, misconceptions can also influence suboptimal decision making. As shown in Figure 2 below, World Bank development staff were generally shown to have believed that the poor were more suspicious of vaccines that they actually were. If such biases form assumptions in models which are used to predict an audience’s vaccine receptivity, this could lead to suboptimal allocation of resources for health outreach initiatives.

Separately, public health beneficiaries in developing countries can also hold misconceptions that impede policymakers’ efforts. In a South Asian nation, 35-50% of poor, lesser-educated women wrongly perceived the appropriate treatment for diarrhoea to be a reduction of water intake (World Bank, 2015). In fact, rehydration of the body is essential to treat diarrhoea. This caused the beneficiaries to undervalue the utility of the Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) programme, and thus under-consume it. Committing to misconceptions that are prevalent in a certain society can cause people to make suboptimal judgements.

Hitherto, we have discussed how biases, heuristics and misconceptions affect both governor and governed, both buyer and seller. If these factors result in suboptimal decision making, one forgoes the opportunity to choose an alternative option that would have yielded greater utility in the long run – avoiding over-buying inflated stocks, saving energy, bettering trade policies or receiving healthcare treatment.

The prevalence of sub-optimal decision-making implies that the application of traditional economic theory is limited in the real world. General Laws like the Law of Supply and Demand logically optimise resource allocation, but only if one makes rational choices. Influenced by a multitude of biases and heuristics and egged on by the lightning-speed pace of information spread, people inevitably make irrational choices. In the past, news of the Titanic’s sinking took hours to reach news outlets. Today, online tweets and posts make information, both real and fake, available instantaneously. Traders across the globe may be triggered to make knee-jerk, heuristic-influenced trading decisions. This increases the chance that market prices may overshoot their true value.

The prevalence of sub-optimal decision-making also sparks a re-examination of the soundness of traditional economic theory. Strict mathematical logic forms the bedrock of traditional economic tools’ axioms of rationality. It enables human behaviour to be modelled, albeit over-simplified. Expected Utility Functions, for example, model choice under risk, but the choices they model must, among other criteria, be well-defined and transitive (meaning if one prefers A to B and B to C, one prefers A to C) (Starmer, 2000). However, modern-day experiments show people defy these axioms: their preferences reverse when choices are differently framed, (Lichtenstein et. al, 1971) and as low as 8% of consumers’ choices follow transitive logic (Guadalupe et. al, 2020).

Behavioural economics research seemingly undermines the elegance and universality of application that traditional economics ventured to provide. However, it also presents opportunities for markets and policymakers to incorporate realities and mitigate inefficiencies.

Mitigating Inefficiencies

Expectation management

Expectations significantly drive buying and selling in the capital markets, just like how expectations of future food supply, rather than utility, have been shown to influence feeding behaviour in the animal kingdom (McNamara et. al, 2014). In addition to monetary policies such as the tweaking of interest rates, central banks including the US Federal Reserve engage in expectation management to smoothen out market recalibrations, thus reducing market volatility. When the Fed deems market expectations to have overvalued or undervalued a good, they intervene by releasing public statements hinting at interest rate changes. This cost-effective method has successfully readjusted market prices closer to their true value in numerous occasions (El-Erian, 2016).

Bias-checking mechanisms

Instituting bias-checking mechanisms can help policymakers weed out biases in the policy process. For example, the World Bank considered institutionalising “Red Teaming”, whereby an outsider group challenges a policymaking team’s assumptions, forcing policymakers to defend their views and become less prone to fall back on their prior biases (World Bank, 2015). 68% of IT companies that implemented a “Red Teaming” approach to tests of their IT systems achieved more effective tests (Exabeam, 2019).

Behavioural Insights

Behavioural insights, as shown below, can be used to optimise monetary policies such as basic needs subsidies. By leveraging on the powerful emotional attraction that a free product elicits, as well as the social norm it conveys that everyone should be using it, subsidising a good to zero cost, instead of low cost, can more than proportionately incentivise the take-up rate of a merit good, as shown in Figure 4 below. The subsidy dollar is thus maximised.

Behavioural insights on cognitive biases, like the Framing Effect, can help decision makers optimise consumer behaviour towards savings policies. Participation rates in US defined contribution savings plan jumped from 65% under an opt-in approach to a more ideal 98% under an automatic enrolment approach (Madrian et. al, 2001). The automatic enrolment approach mitigated workers’ “irrational” inertia in signing up for plans, strategically framing consumer decisions for optimal socio-economic outcomes.

To apply behavioural economics’ insights, policy approach must shift from the process of pure traditional modelling and then applying models: case-specific empirical research must first be done to identify “irrational” quirks undergirding societal behaviour. Additionally, plans must likely be reviewed, with a rigorous feedback loop in place, to evolve with changing consumer behaviour. In Figure 4, multiple data points had to be collected before policymakers could identify a behavioural trend.

Our “animal spirits” may lead us astray from rational choice. Yet, once we recognise them and harness them positively, the very same “animal spirits” can lead our herd to greener pastures, collectively.

Akerlof, G. A., & Shiller, R. J. (2009). Animal spirits: How human psychology drives the economy, and why it matters for global capitalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

El-Erian, M. (2016, May 23). The Fed, the markets and expectation management. The Financial Times. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.ft.com/content/fb033693-82ed-30bd a4ee-0f5851025440

Exabeam. (2019, August 15). More than One-third of Security Professionals’ Defensive Blue Teams Fail to Catch Offensive Red Teams, According to Exabeam Study [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.exabeam.com/pr/more-than-one-third-of-security professionals-defensive-blue-teams-fail-to-catch-offensive-red-teams-according-to exabeam-study/

Greenspan, A. (1996). Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan At the Annual Dinner and Francis Boyer Lecture of The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C. [Transcript]. Retrieved from https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/1996/19961205.htm

Guadalupe-Lanas, J., Cruz-Cárdenas, J., Artola-Jarrín, V., & Palacio-Fierro, A. (2020). Empirical evidence for intransitivity in consumer preferences. Heliyon, 6(3). doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03459

Keynes, John M. (1936). The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. London. Macmillan. pp. 161-162.

Lichtenstein, S., & Slovic, P. (1971). Reversals of preference between bids and choices in gambling decisions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 89(1), 46-55. doi:10.1037/h0031207

Madrian, B. C., & Shea, D. F. (2001). The Power of Suggestion: Inertia in 401(k) Participation and Savings Behavior. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(4), 1149-1225. doi:10.1162/003355301753265543

McNamara, J. M., Trimmer, P. C., & Houston, A. I. (2014). Natural selection can favour ‘irrational’ behaviour. Biology Letters, 10(1), 20130935. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0935

Starmer, C. (2000). Developments in Non-Expected Utility Theory: The Hunt for a Descriptive Theory of Choice under Risk. Journal of Economic Literature, 38(2), 332-382. doi:10.1257/jel.38.2.332

Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2009). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness: Rev. and exp. ed. New York: Penguin. pp. 24-26, 196

Thaler, R. H. (2015). Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 12-19

Tovar, P. (2009). The effects of loss aversion on trade policy: Theory and evidence. Journal of International Economics, 78(1), 154-167. doi:10.1016/j.jinteco.2009.01.012

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (2000). Advances in Prospect Theory: Cumulative Representation of Uncertainty. Choices, Values, and Frames, 44-66. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511803475.004

World Bank. (2015). World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society, and Behavior. Washington, DC: World Bank. doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-0342-0.

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• Could Kamikawa Yoko be Japan’s next prime minister?

She would be the first woman to hold the top role

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W HEN UNNO Fumiko first met Kamikawa Yoko, she was left wondering: “Why would such an earnest person want to go into politics?” Ms Unno was a leader among the green-tea farmers of Shizuoka prefecture; Ms Kamikawa was a think-tank researcher, with no political connections, who wanted to enter parliament to represent the region. Having graduated from the University of Tokyo and Harvard University, Ms Kamikawa “could do anything”, Ms Unno thought. Politics, long the domain of men from political families, seemed “like a waste”. It took Ms Kamikawa seven years and two election cycles to win her first seat in Japan’s lower house, in 2000. Now Japan’s foreign minister, her career has been anything but a waste.

Indeed, she has emerged as one of a handful of serious contenders to win the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s ( LDP ) leadership vote in late September. Aso Taro, a party kingmaker, ignited such speculation by calling her a “rising star” late last year. By this spring, she had soared from relative anonymity to become one of voters’ three most popular choices for prime minister. Though her star has faded slightly, she remains among the top five in most polls. If chosen, she would become Japan’s first-ever female prime minister.

In an interview, Ms Kamikawa is cagey about her own trajectory. She insists that she is “devoting everything to the field of diplomacy” and “not thinking about” her next move. As a member of prime minister Kishida Fumio’s parliamentary faction, she cannot say anything else as long as he remains in the race.

Yet the contest may well open up as the vote approaches. The LDP is still reeling from a financial scandal that dragged its ratings down to their lowest levels in decades. The party has lost a series of crucial by-elections in recent months. Approval of Mr Kishida’s administration has been rock-bottom for much of the year, dipping below 20% in some polls. With a general election deadline looming next year, many in the party are clamouring for new leadership. While the 71-year-old Ms Kamikawa is an uninspiring speaker, she is respected across the party’s disparate wings and could emerge as a compromise candidate.

Despite her decades in politics, her views are little known even within Japan. Who is she? The Japanese words majime , meaning “serious” or “diligent”, and jimi , meaning “low key” or “modest”, come up most often in conversations with those who know her. She credits her time at a private Catholic high school with instilling a sense of responsibility. “The pillar of my education was to serve others to the best of my ability,” she reflects.

But her awakening to politics came later, while studying in America and working as an intern in the office of a senator, Max Baucus. At the time, in the late 1980s, Japan’s economy was booming and its populace was confident. But from afar, Ms Kamikawa grasped that Japan’s inward-looking politics left it “very weak” on the international stage. She resolved to change her country’s politics from within, and wrote one of her term papers at Harvard on her future campaign strategy.

Back home in Shizuoka she built a grassroots support base. With her elite credentials, “at first the farmers found her a bit hard to approach—but now everyone supports her”, Ms Unno says.

Ms Kamikawa made her name as justice minister, serving in the role three times under former prime ministers Abe Shinzo and Suga Yoshihide. Her most consequential decision was signing the execution order for 13 members of Aum Shinrikyo, the doomsday cult responsible for a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. The move left her under lifelong police protection—and earned her the respect of the LDP ’s conservative wing. Her selection as foreign minister was somewhat unexpected, given her domestically focused roles.

Much has changed since her first foray abroad. These days America seems to be “feeling lonely and exhausted as a leader”, she says. Japan’s message, delivered by Mr Kishida during an address to Congress this spring, is that “American leadership remains essential in the international community, and that America does not have to shoulder that responsibility alone”.

Japan’s position has also undergone an inversion of sorts. These days, the mood at home is sombre. “People have the image that Japanese society is diminishing from an economic point of view—the population is declining, the birth rate is falling, the population is ageing,” she says. But abroad, Japan is recognised for its contributions. The image there “is not one of Japan shrinking,” she says. “I hope that people of Japan will know more about our achievements and feel proud.” ■

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Could the future be female?”

Asia August 10th 2024

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