Economic Rockstar

Connecting Brilliant Minds in Economics and Finance

103: Brian Mills on the Labor Market in Baseball, the Umpire Strikes Back and R

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103: Brian Mills on the Labor Market in Baseball, the Umpire Strikes Back and R

Brian Mills is an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida within the Department of Tourism, brian-mills-economic-rockstarRecreation, and Sport Management specializing in Managerial Sports Economics.

Professor Mills is also Associate Research Faculty within the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute (EFTI).

Brian’s research interests encompass topics such as the sports labor market, industrial organization and sports league policy, public policy and economic development related to sport, and advanced analytics in the sports business. He is especially interested in applying economic lessons and quantitative analysis to problems that sport managers face in their everyday decision making.

Dr. Mills has also worked on consulting projects for professional sports teams and municipalities both in the U.S. and Canada.

Before arriving at Florida, Brian received his PhD and MA in Sport Management from the University of Michigan.  During that time, he also completed MA degrees in Statistics and in Applied Economics.  Brian earned his BA in Psychology in 2006 from St. Mary’s College of Maryland where he played NCAA Division III baseball.

Brian’s work and research interests can be found at brianmmills.com and at princeofslides.blogspot

Brian is now offering a new course called Exploring Pitch Data with R over at www.datacamp.com.

Check it out. You’ll have lots of fun learning basic data manipulation, summarization, and visualization in R using Statcast data.

Economics:

In this episode, Brian discusses and mentions: sports economics, labor market, externalities, incentives, wages, allocation of time, R, population, GDP and incomes.

Economists:

In this episode, Brian discusses and mentions: Rodney Fort, Stefan Szymanski, Lawrence Kahn and Bill Gerrard.

Links:

Brian Mills’ Writing Tips:

  1. Always be reading and writing.
  2. Give or receive feedback and re-write.
  3. Develop a habit of note-taking.
  4. Turn your idea into a good story.

Resources:

Artilces:

Scoring in Baseball Is Down. Blame the Umpires: A Study Found That Umpires Have Expanded Their Strike Zone in Recent Years in The Wall Street Journal

Books:

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043: Herbert Gintis on Game Theory and the Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding Human Behavior

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043: Herbert Gintis on Game Theory and the Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding Human Behavior

Herbert Gintis is Emeritus Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts and visiting Professor at Central European University.Herbert Gintis

He is known for his theoretical contributions to sociobiology, especially altruism, cooperation, epistemic game theory and gene-culture co-evolution.

Herbert has a B.A and M.A in Mathematics but switched his PhD program at Harvard from mathematics to economics.

Professor Gintis was part of a group of economists who developed their ideas on a new economics which encompassed issues of alienation of labor, racism, sexism, and imperialism.

Herbert has worked extensively with economist Samuel Bowles, writing their landmark book, Schooling in Capitalist America.

One of Herbert’s latest books The Bounds of Reason emphasises the unification of economic theory with sociobiology and other behavioral sciences which, in the words of Nobel Prize-winning economist, Vernon L. Smith, “is firmly in the revolutionary tradition of David Hume (Convention) and Adam Smith (Sympathy)”.

In the episode you will learn:

  • about the importance of trans-disciplinary research and the importance of collaboration with other disciplines.
  • why economics is not the only social science that explains human behavior.
  • how biology, economics and sociology explain the behaviour of humans in different ways and which discipline is correct?
  • about the Ultimatum Game and how it shows the cooperative and non-cooperative behaviour of humans.
  • about the morality of humans and how we reciprocate kindness with kindness and unkindness with unkindness.
  • why reciprocity makes humans so successful as a species.
  • why some species have a symbiotic relationship with other species which is not the same as reciprocity.
  • how we can fit all the human feelings together to form a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding human behavior.
  • why we always need a system to punish free-riders and non-cooperators.
  • how the future structure of the University can be seen at Arizona State University today.
  • why we need a new generation of thinkers and research centres who are trans-disciplinary.
  • what projects Professor Herbert Gintis is working on right now.
  • why morality controls politics and your vote will not make a difference.
  • how Herbert gets things done in terms of writing books and journal articles.
  • why Herbert did not like The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
  • about Herbert’s disagreement with Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
  • why Herbert believes that macroeconomics is wrong and is in agreement with Taleb on that issue.
  • the goal of economic policy is not to predict but to put in place economic and social policies that prevent really bad outcomes.

Influencers:

Kenneth Arrow, John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith and Albert Einstein.

Economics:

In this interview, Herbert mentions and discusses: Marx, rationality, game theory, rational actor model, experimental economics, prisoners dilemma, the ultimatum game, labor market, reciprocity and morality.

Economists:

In this interview, Herbert mentions and discusses: Vernon Smith, Samuel Bowles, Ernst Fehr, Kenneth Arrow and Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

On Math Being the Core Link to Multi-Disciplinary Knowledge:

“It’s really hard in the Behavioral Sciences to get too close to any one thinker because they’re all tainted by disciplinarianism. We need a new generation of thinkers who really think in all of these disciplines at the same time. As long as you can do the math. If you can’t do the math, you can’t do economics or you can’t do biology. If you can do the math, and you know statistics, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t know all of the fields. We need a generation of people who do that. The reason it’s possible now is the internet. Now, there’s no reason for disciplinary isolation. I think the next generation of behavioral scientists is going to much more broad”.

Arizona State: The Next Generation University… Today

Arizona State University is organised trans-disciplinarily. They don’t have traditional disciplines. They have subject areas depending on who asks questions and subject areas there from all sorts of disciplines. Herbert Gintis believes that’s what the future is going to be like, where you abandon the disciplines and add new research centres based on asking questions like climate change, cooperation, epidemiology, warfare, political structure, etc. And then you just hire people who can do that and talk to each other. It is exciting. It will happen. But it will take a long time because the whole organisation of the university is in terms of disciplines.

All of the real advances in the Behavioral Sciences fall in between the disciplines. It requires you do it all at the same time. it’s likely that at the forefront of change in the Behavioral Sciences will be funding organisations, governmental organisations like the NFF in the United States and the ESF in Europe. 

Quotes by Professor Gintis in Episode 043 of the Economic Rockstar Podcast:

Disciplines are almost like a feudal fiefdom. So it’s very hard to do trans-disciplinary research but that’s where all the real action is these days. Not only in behavioral science but in natural science – Herbert Gintis.

As far as I’m concerned, all of life is game theory. It’s the interaction of strategic interaction of individuals of all discipline species and types and races. So game theory comes first – Herbert Gintis.

Human success is not based on selfishness. It’s based on our ability to cooperate – Herbert Gintis.

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“The real enemy of understanding humans is the notion that we’re all selfish. It’s just not true – Herbert Gintis

To do creative work, you have to have time. Once you have time, you get a lot of work done – Herbert Gintis.

“What I like to do most in the world is to read and write. That’s what I do” – Herbert Gintis.

“I did not like The Black Swan at all. It made fun of science. It made fun of statistics. It capitalised on a unique event, the financial crisis of 2008, and he used it to say economics is a bunch of crap. I think that’s just a bad mistake and I had some run-ins with him on the web. He thinks that science is about prediction. Now prediction is important but that’s not what science is about. It’s about expectation” – Herbert Gintis.

Projects Herbert Gintis is Working on Right Now:

Non-consequential behaviour in politics: 

“People participate politically even when they don’t make any difference. In all English-speaking countries, no election with more then 40,000 voters has ever been won by one vote. Meaning that no individual has ever made a difference in a political booth. Political structures are moral structures and they don’t necessarily reflect particular self-interest concerns” – Herbert Gintis.

Resources:

  • Herbert created his own word processor and uses LaTex for mathematical equations.
  • The Web.
  • Evernote
  • Scrivener

Recommended Books:

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033: Abdullah Al-Bahrani on the Economy of Oman and How Racial Discrimination Empowered Him to Succeed in Life and in Economics.

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033: Abdullah Al-Bahrani on the Economy of Oman and How Racial Discrimination Empowered Him to Succeed in Life and in Economics.

Dr. Abdullah Al Bahrani is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Northern Kentucky University,Abdullah al Bahrani where he serves as the Principles of Economics Coordinator.

Abdullah’s research interests are in the fields of Industrial Organization and Education of Economics. Currently, his primary focus is on innovative approaches to teaching Economics. In Industrial Organization, his research examines market structure and competition in the banking and real estate industries.

Prior to joining academia, Dr. Al Bahrani worked in the mortgage industry from 2003-2006. He has also served as outside economic consult to the Ministry of Education, Sultanate of Oman and new business ventures entering Oman.

Abdullah received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Kentucky in 2010, where he received an award for Best Economics Graduate Teaching Assistant.

His Master degree in Economic Theory was awarded by American University in Washington D.C. in 2003 and he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics from the University of Louisville in 2002.

Influencers:

My parents are big advocates of education and they instil the value of education and the value of curiosity – Abdullah Al-Bahrani

Personal Habits:

Abdullah has a 5am start and gets to the gym most mornings. It is at the gym where Abdullah creates his to-do list, becomes super-organized and listens to Economic Rockstar!

On dealing with racial discrimination:

You roll up your sleeves and you keep on trying – Abdullah Al-Bahrani

Abdullah’s Philosophy and Affirmations:

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently

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Failing in a business does not need to mean that you failed as a person – Abdullah Al-Bahrani

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Whatever you do, allow your personality to shine – Abdullah Al-Bahrani

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The thing that I appreciate is people that push the boundaries that create new paths – to me that’s what growth is – Abdullah Al-Bahrani

My philosophy is to embrace technology – Abdullah Al-Bahrani

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Find Out:

  • why Abdullah decided to do a Phd in Economics in 2006 and left the mortgage industry just before it imploded.
  • about Abdullah’s economic consultancy work with the Sultanate of Oman.
  • about Abdullah’s connection when reviewing labor market studies in Oman (Hint: She is the Director General of the National Centre of Career Guidance and is as maternal to Abdullah as Oman as a country is to him).
  • how Oman are creating an entrepreneurial spirit to drive is economy in the future.
  • why Oman is faced with difficulties in transitioning to an entrepreneurial economy.
  • how Omani culture is preventing it’s people to take on risk and why incentives do not work.
  • about Abdullah’s suggestion that to create an entrepreneurial spirit in Oman, the labor market must first be liberalised.
  • how ‘Omanization’ has made it costly for foreign firms to set up subsidiaries in Oman.
  • why Omani’s are not hired by foreign firms setting up in Oman.
  • why discrimination exists in the Omani labor market and why US and UK ex-pats would be a preferred employee.
  • how data limitations for Oman make it difficult to conduct an empirical analysis of the labor market.
  • how labor market regulations in Oman is making it costly for firms to hire Omani’s.
  • about some economic indicators for Oman.
  • about Oman’s free trade agreements, the Gulf Corporation Council and the potential Oman offers.
  • about Oman’s tourism initiative to create Oman as an eco-friendly destination.
  • how Abdullah is integrating social media into the classroom, making education a more interactive and conducive learning environment for students.
  • about Abdullah’s clever way of using a students’ mobile phone in explaining the concept of a negative externality.
  • how to create a sense of community in a classroom.
  • why Abdullah received an Easter basket of goodies from a student’s mother.
  • why Abdullah is ‘helping his students to ‘clean’ their social media footprint.
  • how Abdullah encourages his students to connect with him on whatever platform they choose to use.
  • how using ESPN 30 for 30 to teach economics and to keep the economics student engaged.
  • how to teach economics with no math and no graphs.
  • about the research Abdullah is doing on racial discrimination in the labor market.
  • how Abdullah is identifying how racial discrimination is evident in online markets where, unlike traditional markets,  the color of your skin is not a factor.
  • if your last name prevent you from getting a loan, employment or from being priced out of a market.
  • how dropping a letter from your name can get you a job if you’re being racially discriminated against.
  • how Abdullah was racially discriminated against in both the labor market and when selling mortgage loans in the USA.
  • how Abdullah dealt with racial discrimination and how it gave him his Phd dissertation question.
  • how online price comparison websites may actually be anti-competitive.
  • how online stores are eating into the consumer surplus.

Economists:

In this interview, Abdullah mentions:

Darshak Patel, Kim Holder, Gary Becker, Steven Levitt, Stephen Dubnar, Frank Scott, Chris Bollinger and Gail Hoyt, Brandon Sheridan and Roland Fryer.

Economics:

In this interview, Abdullah mentions and discusses:

Labor market, incentives, entrepreneurship, small and medium sized enterprise, venture capital, unintended consequences, business cycle, unemployment, GDP per capita, trade agreements, indigenous industries, multinational companies, Gulf Corporation Council, tourism, factor endowments, negative externality, comparative advantage, search cost, marginal cost, competition and consumer surplus.

Papers:

Books:

Resources:

Where to find Abdullah:

 

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