Disneyland in Action

The AQR/QRCA Conference attracted delegates and speakers from around the world. Here are the reactions of Ethan Chon, QMR.

The most inspiring moment of the conference? Well, strangely, it didn't take place during one of the papers. I was strolling, after dinner at a riverside restaurant, to the Petrin Watch Tower to hear the bell toll 11pm. As I waited, I looked up at the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn and said: “That looks just like Disneyland!” to my colleague, who replied: “And it's real!”

Back at the Marriott, I found the two most inspiring topics among many were behavioural economics and online qual. These, too, seemed just like Disneyland, too good to be true. The ideas appealed but I was unsure how real or actionable I'd find them in practice. They probably are, but I'd just need to find out how . Discussions about behavioural economics make me think about the perspective on human nature, which was the basis of traditional research methods. I think one of the books Wendy Gordon introduced in her workshop proposed a clue for this topic, which is "Predictably Irrational". Since prediction is what researchers do so well, and it was implied in the title that the irrational behaviour is predictable, there will be a good solution.

I'd like to suggest that the AQR and QRCA should get more members from outside of the EU and the US, so that knowledge and experiences can be shared more widely. After all, "sharing" seemed to be just as important a topic for discussion during my time in Prague.