UPLB wins in international microeconomics competition
It was an exuberant moment again for the UP Los Banos community, especially for its Department of Economics. Last Sept. 25, the delegation it sent to represent the Philippines in the 3rd International Microeconomics Competition snatched the second prize for the second time in a row. The team is headed by Prof. Christian Marvin Zamora and is composed of four BS Economics students, namely: Rodolfo Emmanuel Macalindong (team captain), Jonas Alan Oblefias, Alyssa Marie Ramos, and Trisha Mae Nakamura.
The competition, which ran from Sept. 23 to 25 at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia, gathered Southeast Asia’s brightest young minds in the field of microeconomics from 14 different universities. The competition not only tested their expertise on economic theories and concepts but also discussed the pressing concerns faced by presentday economies. For this year, the competition focused on the “Microeconomics of E-Business Corporation Development,” particularly the new business model called sharing economy wherein Uber and AirBnb are two of its examples.
With sharing economy as the topic for the semifinals, the paper presentation of the UPLB delegation aced the other five remaining teams and entered the final round. They then achieved their feat, with two other delegations from the University of Indonesia garnering the first and third prizes.
“This competition gave new opportunities, especially to economics students, to validate and compare their learnings as well as made valuable experience and connections,” said Oblefias during the team’s testimonial at the IMC awarding ceremony. When asked about what he felt after his team won, he replied, “Competing in an international competition is already the biggest achievement in my life. Being second is a blessing.”
Oblefias, together with Macalindong, Ramos and Nakamura, were selected through a competitive placement test given only to the top 10 senior and junior students of the BS Economics program of UPLB Department of Economics.