Every year the Society sponsors prizes for outstanding papers by graduate students at its annual meeting.
The Society is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025-2026 Graduate Student Paper Contest at the CEF conference in Venice. The winner receives a check for $1,500 and each finalist receives a prize of $500. The winners are:
- Winner: Piero De Dominicis (Bocconi University) for the paper “The Micro and Macro Implications of Early Career Skills Mismatch”.
- Finalist: Steven Hoekstra (University of Amsterdam) for the paper “Forecasting with a Dutch Agent-Based Model and Optimally Behaving Households”.
- Finalist: Yoshiya Yokomoto (Keio University) for the paper “Accelerating the Krusell-Smith Algorithm with Deep Learning”.
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2025 conference in Santiago. The results:
Winner: Stefan Ebmer, University of California, Irvine. “Subjective Expectations and Interaction of Monetary and Fiscal Policy under Trend Inflation”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2024 conference in Singapore. The results:
Winner: Fred Seughyun Maeng, University of Cambridge. “Default, Inflation Expectations and the Currency Denomination in Sovereign Bonds”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2023 conference in Nice. The results:
Winner: Alan Lujan, Ohio State University, “EGM*n: The Sequential Endogeneous Grid Method”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2022 conference in Dallas. The results:
- Winner: Sean McCrary (University of Pennsylvania) and Eva F. Janssens (Federal Reserve Board of Governors), “Finite-State Markov-Chain Approximations: A Hidden Markov Approach”
This contest was organized as a part of the 2021 virtual CEF conference.
- Winner: Quentin Batista, University of Tokyo/University of Chicago, “Approximate Dynamic Programming with Recursive Preferences”
- Finalist: Matthias Rottner, European University Institute, “Financial Crises and Shadow Banks: A Quantitative Analysis”
- Finalist: Ikuo Takei, University of Wisconsin Madison, “A Quantitative Model of Corporate Reputation Building in Debt Markets and Firm Dynamics”
This contest was held in conjunction with what would have been the 2020 conference in Warsaw. The results:
- Winner: Choongryul Yang, University of Texas at Austin, “Rational Inattention, Menu Costs, and Multi-Product Firms:Micro Evidence and Aggregate Implications”
- Finalist: Alistair Macaulay, Nuffield College, Oxford University, “Cyclical Attention to Saving”
- Finalist: Benny Hartwig, Deutsche Bundesbank and Goethe University Frankfurt, “Robust Inference in Time-Varying Structural VAR Models: The DC-Cholesky Multivariate Stochastic Volatility Model”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2019 conference in Ottawa. The results:
- Winner: Matthew Oldham, George Mason University, “Quantifying the Concerns of Dimon and Buffett with Data and Computation”
- Finalist: Natascha Hinterlang, Deutsche Bundesbank and Goethe University Frankfurt, “Predicting Monetary Policy Using Articial Neural Networks”
- Finalist: Soyoung Lee, Ohio State, “The Role of Firm Heterogeneity in Earnings Inequality”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2018 conference in Milan.
- Winner: Alessandro Villa and Vytautas Valaitis, Duke University, “Machine Learning Projection Methods for Macro-Finance Models”
- Finalist: Magdalena Tywoniuk, Department of Finance, University of Geneva & Swiss Finance Institute, “CDS Central Counterparty Clearing Liquidation: Road to Recovery or Invitation to Predation?”
- Finalist: Nobuhide Okahata, Ohio State University, “An Alternative Solution Method for Continuous-Time Heterogeneous Agent Models with Aggregate Shocks”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2017 conference in New York.
- Winner: Gregor Boehl, CeNDEF Amsterdam, “Monetary Policy and Speculative Stock Markets”
- Finalist: Felix Mauersberger, Pompeu Fabra, “Monetary Policy Rules in a Non-Rational World”
- Finalist: Jesper Riedler, ZEW Mannheim, “Evaluating Regulation within an Artificial Financial System”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2016 conference in Bordeaux.
- Winner: Peter Zorn, Goethe University Frankfurt, “Investment under Rational Inattention: Evidence from US Sectoral Data”
- Finalist: Jeremy Boccanfuso, Paris School of Economics, “The Expectation Formation Process along the Business Cycle: More Information or Better Information?”
- Finalist: Wieland Hoffmann, University of Mannheim, “What Drives the Volatility and Persistence of House Price Growth?”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2015 conference in Taipei.
- Winner: Markus Riegler, London School of Economics, “The Impact of Uncertainty Shocks on the Job-Finding Rate and Separation Rate”
- Finalist: Philip Harting, Bielefeld University, Germany, “Stabilization Policies and Long Term Growth: Policy Implications from an Agent-based Macroeconomic Model”
- Finalist: Camillo Jiménez-Morales, University of Maryland, “Information Frictions, Nominal Shocks, and the Role of Inventories in Price-Setting Decisions”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2014 conference in Oslo.
- Daan in ‘t Velda, University of Amsterdam, “Limitations of Demand Constraints in Stabilising Financial Markets with Heterogeneous Beliefs”
- In Hwan Jo and Tatsuro Senga, Ohio State University, Size Distribution and Firm Dynamics in an Economy with Credit Shocks
- Jasmina Hasanhodzic, Boston University, “Increasing Borrowing Costs and the Equity Premium”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2013 conference in Vancouver.
- Winner: Thomas G. Ruchti, California Institute of Technology, “Estimating an Equilibrium Model of Limit Order Markets”
- Finalist: Galen Sher and Pedro Vitória, University of Oxford, “An Information-Theoretic Test for Dependence with an Application to the Temporal Structure of Stock Returns”
- Finalist: Marcin Wolski, University of Amsterdam and Bielefeld University, “Monetary Policy, Banking and Heterogeneous Agents”
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2012 conference in Prague.
- Petr Sedláček, University of Amsterdam, Firm Age, Business Cycles and Aggregate Labor Market Dynamics
- Tae-Seok Jang and Stephen Sacht, University of Kiel, Identification of Animal Spirits in a Bounded Rationality Model: An Application to the Euro Area
- Charles Brendon, University of Oxford, Applying Perturbation Analysis to Dynamic Optimal Tax Problems
This contest was held in conjunction with the 2011 conference in San Francisco.
- Joseph Vavra, Yale University, Inflation Dynamics and Time-Varying Uncertainty: New Evidence and an Ss Interpretation
- Damian R. Pierri, Ministry of Economy and Public Finance, University of Buenos Aires and University of San Andres, Theoretical Error Bounds for the Value and Policy Function Iteration Algorithms: An Application for Recursive Dynamic Models with Inequality Constraints
- Co-Pierre Georg, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, The Effect of the Interbank Network Structure on Contagion and Common Shocks
No award was made this year.
This contest was held in conjunction with the July 2009 conference in Sydney.
- Gaetano Gaballo, Università di Siena, Endogenous Switching of Volatility Regimes: Rational Expectations and Behavioral Sunspots
This contest was held in conjunction with the July 2008 conference in Paris.
- Antonella Tutino, Princeton University, The Rigidity of Choice. Life cycle savings with information-processing limits
- Francesco Bianchi, Bad Beta, Good Beta, and Rare Events
- Antonio Mele, Repeated Moral Hazard and Recursive Lagrangeans (tie)
This contest was held in conjunction with the June 2007 conference in Montreal.
- Andriy Norets, University of Iowa, Inference in Dynamic Discrete Choice Models with Serially Correlated Unobserved State Variables
This contest was held in conjunction with the June 2006 conference in Limassol, Cyprus.
- Pontus Rendahl, European University Institute, Inequality Constraints in Recursive Economies
- C. Bora Durdu, University of Maryland, Are Indexed Bonds a Remedy for Sudden Stops?
- Mauro Bambi, European University Institute, Endogenous Growth and Time to Build: the AK Case
This contest was held in conjunction with the June 2005 conference in Washington, D.C.
- Oleksandr Zhylyevskyy, University of Virginia, Pricing American-style Derivatives under the Heston Model Dynamics: A Fast Fourier Transformation in the Geske-Johnson Scheme
- Roberto Billi, Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, The Optimal Inflation Buffer with a Zero Bound on Nominal Interest Rates
- Che-Lin Su, Stanford University, A Sequential NCP Algorithm for Solving Equilibrium Problems with Equilibrium Constraints
This contest was held in conjunction with the July 2004 conference at the University of Amsterdam.
- S. Boragan Aruoba, Univ. of Pennsylvania, “Data Uncertainty in General Equilibrium”
- S. van der Hoog, CeNDEF,University of Amsterdam, “Credit and Cash-in-Advance in Disequilibrium Models”
- J. Sadefo Kamdem, Univ. de Reims/Univ. d’Evry, “Value-at-Risk and Expected Shortfall for Quadratic Portfolio of Securities with Mixture of Elliptic Distribution Risk Factors”
This contest was held in conjunction with the July 2003 conference at the University of Washington. The Society is proud to announce the winners of this contest.
- Fabrizio Laurini, University of Padova “Evaluating the Extremal Index in GARCH Processes Through Double Random Walk”
- Patricia Langohr, Kellogg School of Management “Competitive Convergence and Divergence: Capability and Position Dynamics”
- Christoph Schleicher, University of British Columbia “Kolmogorov-Wiener Filters for Finite Time Series”
The Society is proud to announce the winners of the 2001-2002 contest. The winners received a total of €2,500.
- Arpad Abraham “Wage Inequality and Education Policy with Skill-biased Technological Change in OG Setting,” University Pompeu Fabra and London Business School
- Christopher A. Laincz “Market Structure and Endogenous Productivity Growth,” Duke University
- Stuart McDonald and Rodney Beard “Numerical Simulation of the Term Structure of Interest Rates Using Random Fields” University of Queensland, Australia
The Society is proud to announce the winners of the 2000-2001 contest. Each author received a check for $1,000. They are:
- Kwang Woo Park “Population Genetics and Economic Growth,” Claremont Graduate University
- Toke Ward Petersen “General Equilibrium Tax Policy with Hyperbolic Consumers,” University of Copenhagen
- Ted Turocy “Implications of Approximate Equilibrium Concepts in Sealed-Bid Auctions,” Northwestern University
The Society is proud to announce the winners of the 1999-2000 contest. Each set of authors received a check for $1,000. They are:
- Jim Engle-Warnick “Inferring Strategies from Observed Actions: A Nonparametric Binary Tree Classification Approach,” University of Pittsburgh
- Nienke A. Oomes “Local Interactions and Global Persistence,” University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Martin Ellison and Natacha Valla “Learning, Uncertainty and Central Bank Activism in an Economy with Strategic Interactions,” European University Institute
The Society is proud to announce the winners of the 1997-1998 contest. Each received a check for $1,000. They are:
- David M. Drukker, “Neighborhood Effects Can Increase Inequality and Hurt Those at the Bottom,” University of Texas
- M. Utku Unver “Backward Unraveling over Time: The Evolution of Strategic Behavior in the Entry-Level British Medical Labor Markets”, University of Pittsburgh
The Society is proud to announce the winners of the 1997-1998 contest. Each received a check for $1,000. They are:
- Mustafa Babiker, “The CO2 Abatement Game: Cost, Incentives, and the Stability of a Sub-Global Coalition,” University of Colorado at Boulder
- Spyros Skouras, “Financial Returns and Efficiency as seen by an Artificial Technical Analyst,” European Investment Bank and European University Institute
- Sevin Yeltekin, “Dynamic Principal-Multiple Agent Contracts,” Stanford University
The Society, along with the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Geneva, is pleased to announce the winners of the 1996-1997 Graduate Student Paper Contest. Each winner received a check for $1,000. The winners are:
- Nick Feltovich, “Equilibrium and Reinforcement Learning with Private Information: An Experimental Study,” Univ. of Pittsburgh, now on the faculty of the Univ. of Houston
- Dietmar Leisen, “The Random-Time Binomial Model,” Univ. of Bonn, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, and CREST
- Gustavo Ventura, “”Flat Tax Reform: A Quantitative Exploration,” University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, now on the faculty at the Univ. of Western Ontario
This award is given on an irregular basis to those individuals who have who stood out for their contributions to the field.
The David A. Kendrick Distinguished Service Award in 2025 is awarded to Professor John Stachurski for his profound contributions to computational economics and his tireless advocacy for open science. John is a Professor of Economics at the Australian National University and a founding member and co-chair of QuantEcon, a non-profit organization dedicated to making open-source code and learning materials accessible to the global community. He has authored four books and over 40 research papers on subjects including Markov process theory, asset pricing, and dynamic programming. Through his leadership at QuantEcon, John has been a crucial driver in developing open-source software and creating collaborative platforms, helping to make powerful computational tools and knowledge more widely available to economists.
The David A. Kendrick Distinguished Service Award in 2021 is awarded to Bill Goffe for his invaluable contributions to the field of Computational Economics and in particular to the Society for Computational Economics. Bill is Teaching Professor of Economics at Penn State University and has published in leading journals, on the development of computational methods and the use of such methods for teaching economics. He has acted for more than twenty years as Secretary-Treasurer of the SCE and during this period has shaped the society and been a crucial driver of many of the society’s activities. Bill has also started the Resources for Economists (RFE) webpage, an efficient pre-Google tool to find colleagues working on similar subjects as well as data, open source code and lots of other very useful material for economists.
The Society awarded the David A. Kendrick Distinguished Service Award in 2020 to Leigh Tesfatsion for her pioneering contributions to different areas of Computational Economics, in particular to Agent-based Computational Economics. She is a Research Professor and Professor Emerita of Economics at Iowa State University (ISU) and also a Professor Emerita (Courtesy) of Mathematics and a Professor Emerita (Courtesy) of Electrical and Computer Engineering at ISU. Leigh has published highly influential papers and books highlighting the potential of agent-based simulation as a method for the analysis of economic processes as an open-ended dynamic system of interacting agents. She has demonstrated this potential in different areas of application. In recent years Leigh has published extensively on the analysis of electric power market design using an agent-based computational platform.
The David A. Kendrick Distinguished Service Award in 2015 is awarded to Michel Juillard for his outstanding contributions to the field of Computational Macroeconomics, in particular for the development of efficient algorithms for the solution of nonlinear dynamic macroeconomic models. This includes the development of DYNARE, a software package to make such algorithms, and computational software more generally, accessible to the economics profession. In particular, DYNARE can solve dynamic models with rational expectations, forward looking variables and heterogeneous agents, but can also flexibly be used to solve dynamic models with learning. Various public bodies (central banks, ministries of economics and finance, international organisations) and private financial institutions use DYNARE for performing policy analysis and as a support tool for forecasting. In the academic world, DYNARE is widely used for research and teaching purposes in postgraduate macroeconomic courses. Michel is a former Editor of the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control and a stimulating leader and former president of the Society of Computational Economics.
Professor Stephen Turnovsky holds the Ford and Louisa Van Voorhis Professorship of Economics at the University of Washington. His main area of research is in macroeconomic dynamics and growth. In this field, he developed early on the use of mathematical tools and models with a special interest for optimal policies. He made outstanding contributions to issues such as price and wage dynamics, international economics, small open economy modeling, and inequality and growth. Steve published numerous articles in the best journals and several well-known books. He also contributed much to the profession with uncommon editorial activities. He has been Associate Editors of many journals and Editor of the Journal of Dynamic Economics and Control, 1981-1987 and 1995-2001. He is now Advisory Editor of the Journal. Invited in universities all over the world, his achievements are recognized worldwide.
The Society awarded the 2012 prize to Dr. Kenneth Judd. The prize is awarded to mark his many years of outstanding contributions. He is the Paul H. Bauer Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Ken has written in many areas, including public finance and most recently global climate change. In recent years, Ken’s primary focus has been on bringing modern mathematical and computational methods to economics. His paper on projection methods has been very influential and he might be best known for his text “Numerical Methods in Economics” which is a standard reference.
Ken has also engaged in many other activities promoting computational economics. He was the founding president of the Society and hosted its third conference. He also co-edited both the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control the Handbook of Computational Economics: Agent-based Computational Economics. For the past eight years, a top priority of Ken has been the ICE (Initiative for Computational Economics) Summer Workshop at the University of Chicago. Thanks to Ken, more than 300 graduate students in economics received training in numerical methods.
In 2010, the SCE Advisory Council voted to name David Kendrick the first recipient. He is the Ralph W. Yarborough Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts, at the University of Texas, Austin. A prolific contributor to economics in general and computational macroeconomics in particular for more than 40 years, David has published more than 70 articles, contributed software, and authored or co-authored more than a dozen books. The Society chose to award him with the inaugural award due to his David’s contributions to the development and proliferation of computational technique, including his dedication to the teaching computational economics to ever wider audiences of students, both graduate and undergraduate. A past president of the SCE, David has played a key role in the growth of the Society and, as with everything he does, has done so with the utmost grace.
