| Abstract: |
Conferences are an important element in the work of researchers, requiring
substantial investments in fees, travel expenses and the time spent by the
participants. The aim of this paper is to identify the preferences of
participants with respect to conference characteristics. Based on a sample of
European labour economists, preferences are measured using the vignette
approach where participants are asked to choose between hypothetical European
Association of Labour Economists (EALE) conferences. We find that the keynote
speakers are the most important element in the preference for a conference,
followed by the location of the conference. There is substantial heterogeneity
in the taste of labour economists especially with respect to location, though
the link between preference parameters and measured characteristics like
gender, age and seniority is limited. Factor analysis suggests that the
variety in preferences can be best described by a latent variable that
reflects the weights people put on content versus fun. |