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Professor Erkin Bairam Memorial PrizeWith Erkin's untimely death on 21 May 2001 at the age of 43, New Zealand lost one of its most distinguished and prolific applied economists. Born in Cyprus, most of Erkin's working life was spent in the Department of Economics at the University of Otago. At the age of 33, he became one of the youngest full professors to be appointed in NZ and by the time of his death had published over 60 articles and 4 books. Erkin's main research interests were aggregate production functions and the testing of Thirlwall's law of economic growth. He was also a gifted applied econometrician and contributed to econometric theory and also published in the areas of inflation, labour economics, the economics of sport and the research rankings of economics departments. Erkin gained a BA (Hons) from the University of Essex in 1980, followed by a MA in 1982 and a doctorate in 1986 from the University of Hull. The following year he was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Otago. By 1991, after only four years, he had risen to the rank of professor. Erkin was a very popular teacher of econometrics and labour economics, whose 'door was always open' to students and staff alike. During his time as Head of Department (1995-1998), Erkin worked tirelessly for the Department, often putting the interests of his staff and students ahead of doing his own research, and, at times, his own health. Erkin's death left a big gap in the Department. What his friends and colleagues miss the most is his sense of humour, his friendship and his concern for other people. (Adapted from the tribute to Erkin by Stephen Knowles and John McCombie, forthcoming in Ekonomia.) In memory of Erkin's life and his many contributions to the Department of Economics and the University of Otago, a fund has been established from the donations of his former students, friends and colleagues. The money is held in trust by the University. From 2003, the Erkin Bairam Memorial Prize is to be awarded annually by the University Council on the recommendation of the Assistant Vice-Chancellor of Commerce to the student with the highest aggregate mark across the core third-year honours Economics papers in the same year (if there is more than one winner the Prize will be split between them). All students, including non-Honours students, taking these courses in any single year will be eligible for the Prize. Currently the papers in this core are:
For more information about the Prize please contact Paul Hansen.Department of Economics
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