(Last revised 27 May 2024)
Problem sets and short papers (and written examinations) are valuable practice in composition: set out your ideas logically; use paragraphs to group your thoughts; write complete sentences. Written work should be concise. Explain how you obtained results. In problem sets, show your work and briefly explain what you have done and why you have done it. Stick to the assignment; there is no need to speculate or make normative statements unless this is explicitly asked.
Except when explicitly stated otherwise the rules for written work set out below apply to all written work in all my courses. They also apply to bachelor and master research papers or theses, and for PhD dissertations promoted by me. Read them carefully before starting each assignment. Print them and keep them with your course files.
The key references are:
One of the tasks of education is to prepare you to function effectively in the world where readers generally expect you to produce edited standard written English (or Dutch). Your ideas may be superb but if the majority of your potential audience chooses not to struggle through your language, the paper is a failure. Thus, in my classes you must use edited standard written English (or Dutch). On graded, final, formal papers, I will subtract points for any of the following mistakes:
I am not a language professor but I am familiar with the type of written language which must be used to publish professional articles. I will hold you to these rules. I will also subtract points if you fail to apply the formatting rules set out in this document.
Practice the “plain style” of writing. The best guides are McCloskey (2019) and Mankiw (2006). For more guidelines consult Strunk & White (2000), Becker (1986), or Chapter 2 of American Psychological Association (2001). Write with your reader in mind: is she able to understand your train of thought? Avoid being colloquial or pompous. Write complete sentences; complete sentences contain minimally a subject and a verb. “Use verbs, active ones” (McCloskey, 2019, p. [to be verified]]). Use the past tense to describe past events (also when you write in Dutch).
Written work problem sets and short papers gives you the opportunity to see whether you can apply what you have learned. For this reason you should do it on your own, though I and the tutors will be pleased to provide some guidance. Don’t pass on your work to other students, and don’t solve problems for an assignment in group unless explicitly stated otherwise. Assignments that are not individual work are instances of academic dishonesty. Such assignments will receive an F and the case will be reported to the dean. Also read the section on Plagiarism in American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 349-350; substitute “Authors” for “Psychologists” in the first line).
Submit written work on or before the date specified in the course schedule. The penalty for late written work is 2 points on a 0-20-point scale per weekday that the paper is late. In accordance with Murphy’s Law, computers and printers are likely to break down the evening before the due date. Start in time. Computer problems are no valid reason for handing in work late.
If you use a word processor, submit work as a .docx-file unless specified otherwise: I use the Comments and Reviewing tools of Microsoft Word to comment on your drafts. If you use LaTeX, submit work as a pdf file. (The final version of your master’s thesis has to be uploaded to a server as a pdf file.)
The solution to a problem or the answer to a question has to be presented as a self-contained report. This means that the reader should understand the report without having read the problem or question first: the givens and the context of the problem must be included in the introduction of the report. Each report consists of title, body of text, and reference list.
Different scientific disciplines use different styles for formatting papers and documenting sources. Historians and linguists usually document their sources using footnotes, while most social scientists use parenthetical author-date documentation. Some scientific disciplines use Chicago Style, others use MLA Style or APA Style. For all written work in my courses (problem sets, short research papers, term papers, or theses) you should use the American Psychological Association (APA) Style (with some minor modifications, see below), documented in American Psychological Association (2001) and Bullock, Brody, and Weinberg (2014). APA Style is an extensive set of formatting and editorial rules for research papers and is used widely in the social sciences, including economics. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, for instance, uses a format that is close to APA Style (example).
Before formatting your paper, go to the APA Style Sample Papers page (link). Carefully inspect the annotated student sample paper (pdf). Download the student sample paper (docx), make a copy and use the copy as a template for your work by typing over the existing text. Also see the section on APA Style (pp. 188-191) in Bullock, R., Brody, M., and Weinberg, F. (2014). The Little Seagull Handbook (2nd edition). W.W. Norton & Company, New York and London.
The general instructions for the manuscript below include some minor departures from APA Style that apply for my assignments:
“Document your study throughout the text by citing by author and date the works you used in your research” (American Psychological Association, 2001, p. 207). For examples, see American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 207-214 and pp. 117-122). (The last two lines are by themselves examples of the APA author-year style of documentation.) The author can be a person or an institution, as the previous sentences illustrate. “References cited in text must appear in the reference list (…)” (American Psychological Association, 2001, p. 215). “Material directly quoted from another author’s work or from one’s own previously published work (…) should be reproduced word for word. Incorporate a short quotation (fewer than 40 words) into text, and enclose the quotation with double quotation marks (…). Display a quotation of 40 or more words in a freestanding block, and omit the quotation marks”(American Psychological Association, 2001, p. 117). “When quoting, always provide the author, year, and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list” (American Psychological Association, 2001, p. 117). The citation is placed inside the sentence: the period (.) follows the citation, as the previous sentence shows. The abbreviation “p.” means page, “pp.” means pages, e.g., p. 117, pp. 207-214. There’s a blank space between the period (.) and the page number(s). If the document does not list the personal authors (the people who wrote the text), list the institutional author, as I did in the references to American Psychological Association (2001).
Check the title page of the sample student paper: Sample Papers
Carefully read the section on abstract in American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 12-15). Following the title page, the paper should have an abstract which is “a brief, comprehensive summary (…)” (American Psychological Association, 2001, p. 12). A good abstract is accurate, self-contained, concise and specific, nonevaluative, coherent and readable (see American Psychological Association, 2001, pp. 12-14 for more explanation). The reader should get the main points (problem, method, and results, including key numerical results) from reading the abstract. A common mistake is that the abstract reports the main questions but fails to provide the answers. An abstract is also no substitute for the introduction of the paper.
Write the abstract after you have written the main text (after all, it’s a summary of the main text), but place the abstract before the body of the report, following the title. Many students erroneously write the abstract before having written the main text, and as a result their main text lacks an introductory section with the context and the data of the problem (they seem to think that the abstract also serves as the introduction; it doesn’t).
“Abstracts should not exceed 120 words” (American Psychological Association, 2001, p. 12). For a short report on a simple textbook problem, the abstract can be as short as 25 words.
Abstracts never refer to tables or figures. Abstracts don’t cite sources.
Abstracts are double spaced, not indented, in a single paragraph.
In business or consultancy reports abstracts are sometimes called executive summaries; in that case, the language is usually non-technical, and the abstract emphasizes the practical meaning of the results for the decision maker.
For assignments consisting of a series of short textbook problems don’t include an abstract. (If in doubt, ask me.)
(This is a departure from APA Style)
Thanks to keywords or subject descriptors, a researcher can locate papers on a particular subject by searching a bibliographical database (such as EconLit) by keyword or subject descriptor. That’s why most academic journals require their authors to assign subject descriptors to their own paper. Most economics journals require authors to describe their subject by two- digit Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification codes: a letter for the field and two digits for the subfield, e.g., a paper about national income accounts is classified under E01). See for instance the Quarterly Journal of Economics: example. The list of JEL subject descriptors is here. At the end of the abstract you should include two or three appropriate JEL subject descriptors describing the subject of your paper (e.g.: JEL classification codes: C21, L62).
The body of a report starts on page 2 (or p. 3 if the paper includes an abstract) with the title of the paper (centered) followed by the introduction. In APA Style the introduction has no heading or label, so don’t type “Introduction” as the heading (unless you number the sections).
“The body of a paper opens with an introduction that presents the specific problem under study and describes the research strategy” (American Psychological Association, 2001, pp. 15-16). Remember that your report should be self-contained: when you report the solution of a textbook problem or internet exercise, don’t assume that the reader has read the problem, but provide the reader in your introduction with all information necessary to understand the context of the problem. Don’t cite the question or problem verbatim in your paper; instead, summarize the main givens from a problem in a short, declarative section of the introduction. Document the source of the givens (usually a textbook or a textbook web site) using APA style author-year citation and include the source in the list of references.
Your report should clearly explain the technical details (method, data) of how you obtained your results, and their exact interpretation. The text should seamlessly integrate text, equations, tables, and figures in a narrative.
You can’t separate two main clauses by a comma. Separate two main clauses by a period (.). Sometimes a semicolon (;) is OK, too. A colon (:) and a semicolon (;) are two different things.
See American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 215-281):
See American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 205-206). Include appendices only if needed; problem sets and short papers rarely need an appendix. If the information for your problem (such as survey results) was not published include it in an appendix (Appendix A, etc.). Explain in a short introductory paragraph of the appendix how you gathered the information. Present the infomation in tables (numbered as Table A1, Table A2 etc., and with appropriate titles). Make sure the units of measurement are included. Only include information that is not publicly available (usually that happens when you generated the information yourself, for instance by conducting a survey or by doing an experiment). If you used information from a publicly available source (such as OECD Main Economic Indicators or the Penn World Table) don’t included it in your report but carefully document the source. If you include results from a survey, make sure respondents cannot be identified (unless they explicitly agreed). Don’t include the raw data from a textbook problem in your report, but document the source in the introduction or in notes to tables or figures, and include the source in the references. See American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 205-206) for details.
Don’t use footnotes to document sources: APA Style requires in-text parenthetical author-year documentation of sources (American Psychological Association, 2001, pp. 207-214 and pp. 117-122). One exception: use footnotes to document the source of a personal communication.
APA Style allows footnotes for other purposes. Still, don’t. McCloskey (2019, p. XXX) points out that “[f]ootnotes are nests for pedants” (pun intended). Mankiw (2006) gives useful advise: “Put details and digressions in footnotes. Then delete the footnotes.”
Technical reports are a common format in market research, accounting, finance, operations management and many other fields of business. Manuals, descriptions of procedures, consultancy reports, and scientific papers are all technical reports. Technical writing typically mixes text, equations, figures and tables; good technical writing does so seamlessly. The major challenges in writing a good technical report are to be clear and to the point, and to tightly integrate the different elements (text, equations, figures and tables). Problem sets in economics, statistics, mathematics or business courses are good exercises for writing technical reports. For a detailed discussion, see American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 215-281). For my assignments don’t begin each table on a new page, and you don’t have to put each figure on a separate sheet; put the captions for the figures below the figures themselves (departure from APA Style; American Psychological Association, 2001, pp. 301-302).
Figures (graphs, diagrams) and tables. For guidelines on tables, see American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 147-175, p. 301) and Ehrenberg, A.S.C. (1981). The Problem of Numeracy. American Statistician, 35(2), pp. 67-71. For guidelines on figures, see American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 176-201, p. 302) and Tufte, E. (2001). The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (2nd edition). Chesire (CT): Graphics Press. Never start a section or a paragraph with a figure or a table (or an equation). Number figures (figure 1, figure 2, etc.) and tables (table 1, table 2, etc.), followed by a brief and explanatory caption. Number tables and figures even is there’s only one. Tables and figures should (if applicable) contain a note indicating the source(s). The note to a table is placed directly below the table; the note to a figure is part of the figure caption (see examples). Notes to figures are tables are never in a footnote at the bottom of the page. Keep the caption, the corresponding figure (or table) on the same page.
Example for a table (the caption is placed above the table): :
Table 1.
Real GDP growth, unemployment, and inflation for Germany, 1980-2003
[here comes the table]
Note. Data on GDP and inflation from International Monetary Fund (1999), table 12 p. 234. GDP growth rates computed by the author.
Example for a figure (a graph, a diagram, …):
[here comes the figure; the caption is placed below the figure]
Figure 1. GDP growth (%) in Germany, 1980-2003.
Note. Numbers from International Monetary Fund (1999), table 12 p. 234. Graph generated by the author using R (R Development Core Team, 2008).
Refer to all figures and tables in the text. Place all tables and figures within the text after the first text reference. Don’t write sentences like “As can be clearly seen from looking at figure 1, the goods market is not in equilibrium when income (Y) equals €1400 billions.” Just state the fact, and refer to figures and tables as follows:
The goods market is not in equilibrium when income (Y) equals €1400 billions (see figure 1).
Or, alternatively:
As shown in figure 1 the goods market is not in equilibrium when income (Y) equals €1 400 billions.
“Most tables of data can be improved by following a few simple rules, such as drastic rounding, ordering the rows of a table by size, and giving a brief verbal summary of the data” (Ehrenberg, A.S.C. (1981). The Problem of Numeracy. American Statistician, 35(2), pp. 67-71). Never copy tables or other software output from a software directly into a report, but create tables in your word processor. Think about a reader-friendly layout for the table. Tables should only contain the information essential for the problem at hand. Numbers should be rounded to the decimals relevant to the reader. All numbers of the same variable should be rounded to the same number of decimals. Align numbers right in a column. Tables are usually more readable when they have no vertical borders and only horizontal borders around the header. Don’t use grid-like horizontal borders to separate rows within the table, spreadsheet-style —they make the table less readable. See American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 147-175, including many examples). For an example of well-designed table see Edward Tufte’s redesign of a table with cancer survival rates (link).
Keep table number, caption, table, and note to the table on the same page. The same applies for figures. If you don’t know how to do this in a word processor, look up “Keep paragraphs together” in your word processor’s Help function.
Equations. For guidelines on equations and other mathematical & statistical copy, see American Psychological Association (2001, pp. 136-146; pp. 293-295).
Italicize mathematical symbols for scalars: income (Y); Y = 3 600 − 300i
Indent formulas or equations by ½ inch (1.3 cm):
The equation of the IS schedule is:
Y = 3 600 − 300i
State crucial assumptions explicitly, e.g.: I assume that nominal wages are fixed in the short run.
Properly typeset special symbols, superscripts, and subscripts in your word processor. Don’t use ^ for a power but use a superscript. Don’t use * or x (the letter “x”) as a multiplication sign but use the correct multiplication symbol (×). To type mathematical symbols in Microsoft Word, use: Insert > Symbol. To typeset equations in Microsoft Word, use: Insert > Equation.
Use mathematical symbols correctly. Mathematical symbols have precise meanings. If you don’t know the exact meaning of a symbol don’t use it and express your ideas in words. For instance, don’t use single or double arrows to indicate a causation.
Don’t start a section or a paragraph with an equation (or a figure or a table). Introduce equations using a short declarative sentence (and don’t forget to indent the equation):
The money market is in equilibrium when the supply of money (controlled by the central bank) equals the demand for money:
Ms/P = (M/P)d
When working a mathematical problem use the layout to help the reader follow the argument. For instance, keep corresponding terms aligned at the same position in different stages of a calculation.
P(0 < z < +6.67) − P(0 < z < 1.33)
0.5000 − 0.4082
If you develop a mathematical argument include transitions (just as in any other argument):
Solving the money market equilibrium condition for income (Y) yields: (…)
The imperative is useful to develop a mathematical argument:
Solve the IS equation for Y to obtain:
Y = 430 − 2 800i
If you report an equation (for instance, a line of best fit) don’t use as variable names x, y (“y = 315.5 + 3.3x, where x is the batch size and y is total labor cost in dollar”), or arcane abbreviations (such as LABCOST: “LABCOST = 315.5 + 3.3 × BATCH””). Instead, use the actual names of the variables when you report the equation:
The model predicts the total labor cost (in $) as:
predicted total labor cost = $315.5 + $3.3 × batch size
Until the 1980s, most statistical computer programs could only handle short variable names, usually at most seven characters long. That is why, especially in older papers, authors used variable names like LABCOST for labor cost. There is no need anymore to do that, so don’t.
For more information on reporting econometric results (lines of best fit and the like) see my document line-of-best-fit.
Period. A period (.) is always followed by a blank space: write p. 17, not p.17. This rule does not apply to decimal points (write t = 2.34). Type two blank spaces after a period at the end of a sentence.
Be specific. Avoid vague words (“change”, “affect”, “influence”). Be specific: increase, decrease, grow(th), decline. “An increase in a country’s terms of trade increases that country’s welfare” is clearer than “A change in the a country’s terms of trade influences that country’s welfare.”
Sample size. If sample information is used, the figure or table caption reports the sample size. Example:
Table 2.
Descriptive statistics of mileage and selling price of second-hand cars (sample size = 150)
Labels. Label the axes in figures. Always include units of measurement:
Income (billions of euros)
Scales of measurement. Include units of measurement when citing numbers (3 billions of euros, 2.5 percent, …).
Decimal points. In English use a point to separate the decimals (not a comma as in some other languages such as Dutch or French). In English use commas to separate thousands: write “ten thousand seven hundred and twenty-five hundredths” as: 10,700.25 or (even better, using non-breaking spaces: 10 700.25). To insert a non-breaking space in Microsoft Word do: Insert > Symbol > Special characters. If you write in Dutch use a comma to separate decimals.
Currency symbols. Place currency symbols before the amount: US$3.3 billion, €2.9 billion.
Rounding. Report numbers up to a number of decimals meaningful and relevant to the reader. Your software may have computed annual per capita income up to the umpteenth decimal, but the reader is only interested in the number rounded to the dollar or euro: “Belgium’s annual per capita income in 2007 was USD 35 187.” Round a coefficient of correlation (r) or a coefficient of determination (R2) to two decimals (that is, round 0.12398534 to 0.12): “The coefficient of correlation (0.12) indicates a positive and weak linear relationship.” Round an unemployment rate or an inflation rate to one decimal (6.2%).
Significant. Don’t use the term significant in the meaning of substantial or large. “(Statistically) significant” has a special (and usually poorly understood) technical meaning in statistics. “The coefficient is statistically significant” means: “the difference between the estimated coefficient and zero (regardless of how small or large the difference is) is probably not caused by chance variation.” This meaning differs from the common meaning of “significant” as large, and has been the cause of much confusion. Statistical significance has nothing—really, nothing—to do with the common meaning of large (McCloskey & Ziliak, 2008; Freedman, Pisani & Purves, 2007, pp. 552-554). When you mean “the coefficient is large” write: “the coefficient is large”. When you mean “the coefficient is statistically significant” then follow the advice of Freedman, Pisani & Purves (2007, p. 546): “… report the P-value instead of just comparing P to 5% or 1%.”
Chart junk. No pie charts, 3-D bar charts, 3-D pie charts, or other chart junk. For more on chart design and chart junk, read Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Don’t use a spreadsheet to make charts—they look awful and unprofessional. Use R instead (see links for more information on R).
Data. The noun Data is plural (Data is a Latin word meaning “the givens”; the singular is datum, “a given”), so use the correct verb: “Data are ….” (not: “Data is …”) (American Psychological Association, 2001, p. XXX).
Percent and percentage points. When a variable is itself expressed in percent, a change is measured in percentage points, not percent. For instance, when the interest rate drops from 6 per cent to 3 per cent, by how much did it change? One person might argue that if the interest rate was 6 per cent and dropped to 3 per cent, it dropped by three percent:
6 percent − 3 percent = 3 per cent
Another person might argue that the drop from 6 per cent to 3 per cent represents a 50 per cent drop::
((6 per cent − 3 per cent) / 6 per cent)) × 100 per cent = 50 per cent:
To avoid this confusion, follow the following convention: when a variable is expressed as a percentage change, express the change of the variable in percentage points. In this case, when the rate of inflation drops from 6 per cent to 3 per cent, we say that it dropped by three percentage points. One hundredth of a percentage point (0.01 percentage point) is also called a basis point: “The European Central Bank increased its policy interest rate by 25 basis points, to 3.50 per cent from 3.25 per cent” is the same as “The European Central Bank increased its policy interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 3.50 per cent from 3.25 per cent”
Subscripts, superscripts. Type subscripts as subscripts and superscripts as superscripts. In Microsoft Word, type “subscripting” in the Help function of learn how to do this. Use Tools > Customize to put the subscripting and superscripting functions in your formatting toolbar.
Abbreviations. Avoid non-standard symbols, abbreviations or acronyms. If you use symbols, abbreviations or acronyms, always introduce them (e.g., “European Union (EU)”, or “income (Y)”), even if you suspect most readers will know them (some won’t). You can use standard symbols in equations once you have introduced them. Acronyms are cheap typographical tricks (McCloskey, 2019). Bad writers love them.
Acknowledgements. Acknowledgements belong in the author note on the title page (link). Don’t thank your advisor for doing their job. That’s evidence of bad taste (Umberto Eco, How to Write a Thesis).
Politeness is an underrated virtue. E-mail to a professor uses the format and style of a formal business mail. The subject line should contain the course title, and a description of what the message is about (Subject: Statistics I: absence in class of Tuesday 21 September 2020). Start your e-mail with “Dear professor:” and end with “Sincerely,” followed by your full name (first name first). Don’t attach documents unless your professor asked you to do so. In particular, don’t e-mail me drafts or final versions of assignments unless I asked you to. Use CC: (“carbon copy”) only when it’s really necessary that the person in cc reads your mail. Always use your official VUB mail (@vub.be).
[Students who write in Dutch should also read the last section.]
Avoid common mistakes made by francophones. Here are some expressions in French and their counterpart in English.
| French | English |
| comme suit | as follows (not: as follow) |
| important (when you mean "large") | large (not: important) |
In English and Dutch, always write your first name first (that’s why it’s called a first name) and your surname last. If you say or write that Eilish Billie is your name, English speaking people will think that Eilish is your first name and Billie your last name (surname).
Don’t mail attachments unless the recipient explicitly asked. Use portable document format (pdf) files if you send a text; don’t send documents formatted in Word (.doc or .docx) format or or other proprietary formats unless the recipient explicitly asked.
(Voor wie in het Nederlands schrijft.)
Alle hierboven vermelde regels zijn van toepassing als je in het Nederlands schrijft, met één uitzondering: gebruik in het Nederlands decimale komma’s. Schrijf dus: t = 2,34.
De webstek Taaladvies (koppeling) van de Nederlandse Taalunie is een uitstekende referentiebron als je vragen hebt. Raadpleeg de Woordenlijst van de Nederlandse taal (koppeling) als je twijfelt over de spelling of het genus van een woord.
Net als in het Engels vermijd je in het Nederlands best passieve werkwoorden (zinnen met “worden”). Wees specifiek: wie is het onderwerp van de zin? Vermijd om dezelfde reden “men.” Herschrijf elke zin die “worden” of “men” bevat en gebruik de actieve werkwoordsvorm.
Vermijd ambtenarentaal (woorden als aangezien, daar, dewelke, deze, doch, eveneens, ingevolge, omwille van, reeds, teneinde, welke); gebruik de doordeweekse equivalenten (omdat of doordat i.p.v. aangezien, omdat i.p.v. daar, die i.p.v. dewelke of welke, ze i.p.v. deze, maar i.p.v. doch, ook i.p.v. eveneens, dankzij of door i.p.v. omwille van, al i.p.v. reeds, om i.p.v. teneinde).
Samengestelde woorden schrijf je in het Nederlands aan elkaar vast (“World Trade Organisation” is Wereldhandelsorganisatie, “long-term interest rate” is: langetermijnrentevoet) of met een koppelteken en aan elkaar vast (lange-termijnrentevoet).
Gebruik de verleden tijd om gebeurtenissen uit het verleden te beschrijven: “Tussen 1998 en 2003 groeide [NIET: groeit] de Chinese economie met bijna 10 % per jaar.”
Als je in het Nederlands schrijft, zet je ook de afbeeldingen en tabellen in het Nederlands (inclusief de namen van de variabelen op de assen).
Een veel voorkomend Gallicisme is om voorzien (wat betekent: verwachten, voorspellen) te verwarren met bepalen. In het Frans zeg je: “La loi prévoit que … “; in het Nederlands zeg je: “De wet bepaalt dat … “ (niet: voorziet dat). Maar je zegt wel: “De organisatoren van het tuinfeest voorzagen in tenten voor het geval dat het zou regenen.”
Gebruik een Nederlandse term wanneer je een Engelse term kan vermijden: marketing en computer zijn OK, maar ijkpunt maakt benchmark overbodig. Een goed vertaalwoordenboek is daarbij nuttig; het gespecialiseerde vertaalwoordenboek van de Jong (1980) is gedeeltelijk beschikbaar (koppeling) (de Jong, Frits J. (1980). Quadrilingual economics dictionary English/American, French, German, Dutch. The Hague etc.: Martinus Nijhoff). In de International Statistical Institute (ISI) Glossary of Statistical Terms kan je de Nederlandse termen voor heel wat statistische begrippen terugvinden (koppeling). Of raadpleeg de webstek vindpunt.nl die hoort bij het boekje van Frans Bakker, Paul Uljé, en Van Zijderveld, D. (2015). Op-en-top Nederlands: woordenlijst overbodig Engels. Brave New Books. Hier is een lijst van enkele veel voorkomende vaktermen in het Engels met hun Nederlandse equivalent:
| Engels | Nederlands | |
|---|---|---|
| administration (US, as in: Biden administration) | regering (de regering van Biden; de regering Biden) | |
| adverse selection | negatieve risicoselectie | |
| (economic) agent | (economische) actor | |
| to allocate | toebedelen | |
| allocation | toebedeling | |
| assumption | veronderstelling, aanname | |
| a benchmark | referentiepunt, ijkpunt | |
| to benchmark | vergelijken, ijken | |
| bias | vertekening | |
| biased | vertekend | |
| billion (1,000,000,000) | miljard (1.000.000.000) | |
| brain drain | kennisvlucht | |
| business model | verdienmodel | |
| capital dilution | kapitaalverwatering | |
| case study | casusonderzoek | |
| claim | vordering | |
| common resources | gemeenschappelijke middelen | |
| constant returns to scale | constante schaalopbrengsten | |
| convenience sample | gemakssteekproef | |
| (when describing a correlation:) the higher A, the lower B | hoe hoger A, hoe lager B | |
| customs union | douaneunie | |
| database | gegevensbank, gegevensbestand | |
| deadweight loss | welvaartsverlies | |
| decrease by (let op het correcte voorzetsel in het Engels: by) | afnemen met | |
| default | wanbetaling, betaalstaking, staking van betaling | |
| discount rate | disconteringsvoet, verdisconteringfactor, tijdvoorkeurvoet | |
| diseconomies of scale | schaalnadelen | |
| disincentive | sanctie; negatieve prikkel, negatieve stimulans | |
| draft | concept, conceptversie | |
| economies of scale | schaalvoordelen | |
| economies of scope | voordelen van bereik | |
| emerging markets | ontluikende economieën | |
| (full) employment | (volledige) werkgelegenheid (niet: tewerkstelling) | |
| feedback | terugkoppeling | |
| figure | afbeelding | |
| fiscal policy | begrotingsbeleid | |
| free rider | vrijbuiter | |
| free trade area | vrijhandelszone | |
| general equilibrium model | algemeen-evenwichtsmodel (met koppelteken: algemeen slaat op het evenwicht, niet op het model) | |
| gross domestic product (GDP) | bruto binnenlands product (bbp) (zonder punten, in kleine letters) | |
| growth rate | groeivoet | |
| incentive | gunstmaatregel, voordeel; prikkel, stimulans | |
| increase by (let op het correcte voorzetsel in het Engels: by) | toenemen met | |
| intercept (y-intercept) | asafsnede (y-asafsnede) | |
| labor force | beroepsbevolking | |
| link | koppeling | |
| long-term interest rate | langetermijninterestvoet, lange-termijninterestvoet (in één woord of met koppelteken) | |
| monetary policy (expansionary —; restrictive —) |
geldbeleid (ruim —; krap —) | |
| monopoly rent | monopolierente | |
| moral hazard | moreel risico | |
| natural resources | natuurlijke hulpbronnen | |
| note | noot | |
| orderly default | begeleide betaalstaking, begeleide staking van betaling | |
| outlier | uitschieter, uitbijter | |
| output | productie | |
| p value | p-waarde; overschrijdingskans | |
| paper | artikel (indien gepubliceerd); werkstuk (indien de neerslag van een taak) | |
| partial equilibrium model | partieel-evenwichtsmodel (met koppelteken: partieel slaat op het evenwicht, niet op het model) | |
| peak | piek (in de betekenis van: (lokaal) maximum in een tijdreeks). Tegengestelde van: trough. | |
| peer review | collegiale toetsing, onderlinge toetsing, toetsing door vakgenoten | |
| peer reviewed | gecontroleerd door collega’s. | |
| principal and agent | opdrachtgever en uitvoerder | |
| production possibility frontier | productiemogelijkheidscurve, transformatiecurve. | |
| public goods | collectieve goederen | |
| quantitative easing (QE) | kwantitatieve verruiming, kwantitatieve versoepeling | |
| quota rent | quotarente | |
| to raise (raised, raised) | doen stijgen, verhogen (altijd met lijdend voorwerp: “The ECB raised the refi rate by 25 basis points.”) | |
| to rise (rose, risen) | stijgen (zonder lijdend voorwerp: “The market rate rose by 7 basis points.”) | |
| random sample | toevalssteekproef | |
| random walk | stochastische wandeling | |
| range (statistiek: range = max - min) | variatiebreedte | |
| rate of return | opbrengstvoet | |
| rent (i.e., income from land or capital) | rente (niet: huur). Zie ook: monopoly rent, quota rent. | |
| refereed | gecontroleerd door collega’s (synoniem van peer reviewed) | |
| resources | middelen (natural resources is natuurlijke hulpbronnen) | |
| scatter plot | spreidingsdiagram | |
| short-term interest rate | kortetermijnrentevoet, korte-termijrentevoet (in één woord of met koppelteken) | |
| spill-over effects | oversijpelingseffecten | |
| stakeholders | belanghebbenden | |
| supply chain | waardeketen | |
| tariff | invoerrecht | |
| time series | tijdreeks | |
| terms of trade | internationale ruilvoet | |
| trade diversion | handelsverlegging | |
| trade-off | afweging | |
| trough | dal, laagtepunt (in de betekenis van: (lokaal) minimum in een tijdreeks). Tegengestelde van: peak | |
| unit root (a property of a time series) | eenheidswortel (een eigenschap van een tijdreeks) | |
| an update | bijwerking, actualisering | |
| to update | bijwerken, actualiseren | |
| wage rate | loonvoet | |
| worker | arbeidskracht (niet: werker) | |
| working paper | niet-gepubliceerd artikel, werkdocument | |
| World Trade Organisation | Wereldhandelsorganisatie (in één woord) |
Beleefdheid is een onderschatte deugd. Daarom enkele wenken voor als je wil dat ik (of één van mijn collega’s) je mails leest. Beschouw een mail naar een professor als een zakelijke brief en gebruik dus de opmaak en stijl van een zakelijke brief (koppeling). De gepaste aanhef is “Geachte professor” (formeel) of “Beste professor” (minder formeel; niet gepast bij het eerste contact), gevolgd door een komma en een witregel (in het Engels: “Dear Professor” gevolgd door een komma of een dubbele punt en een witregel). Voor een assistent is de gepaste aanhef: “Geachte heer” of “Geachte mevrouw.” Het helaas alomtegenwoordige “Beste,” (of “Geachte,”) is geen gepaste aanhef (koppeling en koppeling). Beste wie of wat? Beste komma? Op het bijvoeglijk naamwoord “beste” hoort een zelfstandig naamwoord te volgen. Als je een brief of mail schrijft aan iemand die je niet persoonlijk kent en waarvan je het geslacht en de titel niet kent, is de gepaste aanhef: “Geachte mevrouw, [nieuwe regel] Geachte heer,” (maar dus niet: “Geachte,”). Als je een brief of mail schrijft aan iemand die je wel persoonlijk kent, is de gepaste aanhef (zie hierboven) “Geachte heer,”, “Geachte mevrouw,” “Geachte professor,” of “Beste professor,”. Gepaste slotformules zijn: “Met de meeste achting,” “Hoogachtend,” (formeel) of “Met vriendelijke groet,” (minder formeel; niet gepast bij het eerste contact); gevolgd door je voornaam en naam (de voornaam eerst: daarom is het de voornaam). Brieven en mails aan mij gericht die beginnen met “Beste,” belanden ongelezen in de prullenmand. Stuur bijlages enkel als de bestemmeling daarom heeft gevraagd. Stuur bijlages enkel in Portable Document Format (pdf); gebruik geen andere opmaak (zoals .docx, .xlsx, of .pptx) tenzij je bestemmeling daar uitdrukkelijk om heeft gevraagd. Lees ook de emailrichtlijnen voor studenten van de faculteit ES (koppeling) en How to write an e-mail to your instructor or teaching assistant (koppeling).