Concerning the reearch agenda substantial progress has been made with respect to all objectives. Two experiments have been carried out to study issues of expectation formation. The analysis of dynamics of opinion diffusion and of social influence in networks has been expanded considerably addressing issues of conformist vs. anti-conformist behavior and farsighted behavior on networks as well as the implications of social influence for the evolution of cooperation in strategic settings. Series of innovative models capturing the role of social influence and adaptive expectations on labor markets, financial markets and in macroeconomic settings have been implemented and are in the process of being used for economic analysis in these areas. In addition also models addressing policy questions in the domain of monetary and tax policy have been developed which are suitable for enriching our understanding of the role of adaptive heterogeneous expectations in these areas. Each of the 15 Early Stage Researchers has already generated substantial research results and presented them at the ExSIDE jamboree in June 2018. In addition, more than 46 research presentations at international conferences and research seminars have been given in the 16 months between September 2017, when they entered the ExSIDE programme, and December 2018. In particular, special sessions dedicated to the research output of ExSIDE have been organized at two highly esteemed international conferences in 2018.
With respect to the training program, all planned Research Training Schools have been completed exactly as scheduled involving a large number of accomplished scientists both form within ExSIDE and outside ExSIDE as instructors. In addition, all ESRs have completed additional training attending local doctoral courses or summer schools during their first year of training. All ESRs have progressed substantially in their own research agenda and either have already completed their non-academic secondments or the start dates of their secondments have been fixed and agreed upon with the non-academic partners.
The ability to deliver a joint or double degree from two ExSIDE universities is an important aspect of ExSIDE. Joint Supervisory Agreements (JSA), which determine the details of the joint supervision and degree procedure, have been succesfully generated for all 15 ESRs in the ExSIDE program.
