Economics Student from Aarhus University receives 2nd place for Best Undergraduate Paper 2012

In a prestigious international competition (at the International Atlantic Economic Society), Boris Georgiev  took Aarhus University to the very top with his paper on “Implications of Public Debt on Economic Growth and Development”.

Boris Georgiev from Aarhus University came in second after Stanford University. Reaching the final four in this prestigious international competition is in itself a great academic achievement and Boris Georgiev can be very proud to receive an impressive 2^nd place in the world's most competitive undergraduate competition in Economics.

The final 2012

The final selection of the best paper took place on Saturday, October 6, at the annual IAES conference in Montreal, Canada, where the papers and presentations were judged by five additional judges from Brazil, Italy, South Africa, and the USA. 

The four finalists represented Stanford University (USA), Aarhus University (DK), Warwick University (UK), and the State University of Minnesota (USA).

The judges found the judging of this year’s competition to be very demanding as there were many qualified papers. All the papers – with names, university, and country affiliations removed – were originally judged by a blind panel of 9 judges from the Czech Republic, China, Korea, India, Greece, Poland and the USA, who found the four finalists.

After his final presentation in Montreal, Boris received very positive feedback and praise for his performance from the international judges and his competitors, and the battle between Aarhus University and Stanford University was really close.

- The fact that I received a second place in this prestigious competition simply indicates that Aarhus University produces excellent education at the highest academic level equally to that of Stanford, Oxford or Princeton etc. I feel really proud to have represented Aarhus University and brought it to this level of the competition, says Boris.

A great interest in macroeconomics

Boris Georgiev’s paper with the title “Implications of Public Debt on Economic Growth and Development” has been written under the supervision of Professor Nabanita Datta Gupta. The paper focuses on the causality link between public debt, economic growth and public investments.

Boris has had a great interest in this topic for quite some time, and the current financial situation in Europe has just boosted his curiosity.

In the beginning of his thesis process he had a great wish to produce new knowledge on the topic and provide new findings. Many of his classmates told him that he was being way too ambitious with his undergraduate paper, but he insisted on giving it his very best.

Participating was a huge experience

Boris finished his BSc in Economics and Business Administration at BSS on the 28^th of May with the grade 12 for his outstanding efforts on the Bachelor’s thesis.

His supervisor Nabanita Datta Gupta suggested him to send in his paper for the IAES competition and they began editing and simplifying it extensively.

- Applicants from various top ranked universities across the world had also sent in their papers, so when I found out that I was among the finalists, I was really excited and proud.

Boris also spent a great deal of time preparing his presentation for the conference as he knew that the competition would be tough. At the conference he quickly knew that Stanford University would probably be his main competitor, as the paper from Stanford was an excellent paper with a very current and highly debated topic on the effects of US monetary policy.

Boris found the entire experience very motivating and hopes to inspire other students at Aarhus University to participate in similar international academic competitions.

- It was exceptional to meet so many enthusiastic economists and participate in debates about the field of macroeconomics in an international setting like this. I had all my academic abilities tested and feel that the outcome provides me with a strong academic background.

The academic findings

The paper focuses on the causality link between public debt, economic growth and public investments.

The main, very simplified, findings of Boris’ paper were that the causality direction between public debt and economic growth goes from low economic growth to higher public debt. Second, on average, an increase in economic growth displays a significant decrease in public debt. However, public debt does not have a direct impact on economic growth but an indirect impact through investments. An increase in public debt leads to less public investments in the economy, leading to a slowdown in economic growth.

You can read more about the IEAS (International Atlantic Economic Society) and the best paper competition on the IEAS website:  http://www.iaes.org/awards/best-undergraduate-paper-award/