At the beginning of this year, Economics professor Tilman Klumpp spent three months in Munich, Germany to visit the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance. On sabbatical and away from classes, Tilman completed several research projects. One of these concerns the voting rights of ex-felons in the United States and was recently featured on the Atlantic's CityLab website.
He also began work with the institute's director, Prof. Kai A. Konrad, on a new project that investigates a class of situations called sequential Blotto games. "These mathematical models were originally developed in the 1920s to devise optimal strategies in warfare. Our work applies similar tools to analyze the allocation of campaign spending by political candidates in elections," Tilman says. He also visited Durham University Business School in England for 10 days to work with Prof. Xiaogang Che on a different research program, concerning auctions and internet marketplaces. Now back at the University of Alberta, Tilman remembers his time in Europe: "I I had a truly wonderful experience at the Max Planck Institute and at Durham. I very much enjoyed the warm and collegial atmosphere at both places, and I would like to thank everyone I met for their hospitality."