Takakazu Honryo: Entertaining Scholars

2018/06/26

At universities and research institutions both in Japan and abroad, it is common practice to invite researchers from other institutions to give research presentations for about an hour to an hour and a half for the purpose of exchanging information and opinions. At the University of Mannheim in Germany, where I work, three research groups—Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Econometrics—each invite an external researcher once a week at a fixed time to give a research presentation.

At overseas universities, it is common not only to request a research presentation but also for researchers at the host university to set up 30-minute individual meetings with the presenter before and after the presentation. At many universities, this means the presenter is occupied for the entire day. The University of Mannheim believes that filling the presenter's schedule with individual meetings from morning to night demonstrates that there are many enthusiastic researchers there, and above all, it is a matter of courtesy and hospitality for those who have traveled to visit.

If there are not enough volunteers for individual meetings, the administrative staff will call and ask to schedule a meeting with the presenter. Since I am always indebted to the administrative staff, I can't really say no. However, although it is all called "economics," it encompasses a wide range of research themes and completely different analytical methods, so there are many cases where it seems impossible to find topics to fill 30 minutes. As someone who builds mathematical models to analyze the formation of collective will, I am not at all confident in having a meaningful 30-minute exchange of research opinions in English with a scholar I am meeting for the first time who conducts empirical research on the relationship between education levels and domestic violence.

Therefore, to get through the 30-minute meeting, I look for common topics with the person through their website or other means. Perhaps I can find a mutual friend and steer the conversation that way. I also check the person's nationality in advance. If they are Italian, I can talk about soccer; if they are Korean, I can usually talk about "Slam Dunk" (manga).

Just the other day, the editor-in-chief of the American Economic Review, the journal to which I had submitted a paper, was coming to give a research presentation, so I scheduled an individual meeting myself. Then, early that morning, I received an email from him—a so-called "rejection letter" declining to publish my paper. During that individual meeting, I was able to fill the 30 minutes by lodging a complaint.

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of writing.