The Econometric Game is also known as the world championship of econometrics. Four graduate students from the Department of Economics brought home third prize in the 2026 competition. Founded in 1999, the study association for Actuarial Science, Econometrics & Operational Research (VSAE) of the University of Amsterdam hosts the annual event. It is not just another case competition for the student econometricians. Over two days, the 4-members of the 30 teams from around the world analyzed the problem, brainstormed, developed a model for data prediction and then authored a 25-page paper detailing their solutions. The top ten teams then returned for a third day and completed the process again. PhD student Anthony McCanny acted as captain of the University of Toronto team. He was joined by MFE student Maria Jose Amaya Varela and MA students Minh Thai Duong and Victor Poulin-Therrien.
Besides possessing the intellectual stamina required to write two 25-page econometrics papers in three days, the four students had one more thing in common: they all call the eye of team recruiter Professor Jiaying Gu. As a PhD student, her own team from the University of Illinois won second place in 2015. However, Professor Gu claims the team’s success is not the result of her dedicated talent scouting.
“I honestly cannot take the credit for selecting this team! Our department is filled with such exceptional students that they made my job effortless,” Gu said. “All the credit belongs entirely to them. I was simply looking for individuals whose genuine love for econometrics and data analysis naturally shines through.”
Like any team, the econometrics team had to practice.
“We weren’t quite sure how to prepare, but the team was very enthusiastic about doing a practice run,” McCanny explained. “We took a Saturday back in March and reserved a room for about six hours. I created a mock case, and we simulated the experience of working under time pressure, trying to write an econometrics paper together in a single afternoon.”
That practice session had a profound impact on how prepared the team was during the actual competition.
“I looked at who the sponsors were and tried to guess what kind of case we might get, so I designed a practice case about predicting German electricity prices,” McCanny remembered. “It turned out to be surprisingly close to the actual problem we were given. That helped us hit the ground running, because we already had some intuition about how to structure the work.”
The actual case? Predicting electricity prices in Denmark where energy from renewable sources has become part of their grid over the past few years. The game sponsor who introduced the case spent time talking about how renewable energy has very unpredictable levels of production based on the weather and other factors. He also explained how prices are set in that market, by a central authority. This information, combined with their practice session, informed the team’s strategic choices.
“It immediately got me thinking that we shouldn’t just take a plain prediction‑model approach,” McCanny explained. “We should try to use some of this knowledge about how prices are actually set and what the important factors are and build a more informed economic model of the process.”
In addition to a strong strategy, the team also had a defined playbook going into the case with each member taking up a different position on the field.
“We had clearly defined roles, which made a big difference,” McCanny said. “Everyone knew what they were responsible for, and I acted as a hub, so each person would talk to me, and I could coordinate information across the group. We checked in constantly and made sure we were all aligned. That level of coordination helped us stay focused under a huge amount of time pressure.”
While intense, the competition also brought unique rewards.
“The atmosphere has just the right amount of competitiveness,” said MA student Victor Poulin-Therrien. “Yes people want to win, but they are still super nice and friendly. Looking back, I do recall working on the case and writing the paper, but I also have strong recollection of all the awesome conversations I had with a bunch of very interesting people. For the people who are looking to sharpen their econometrics skills, this is the perfect place! The cases you must solve are well engineered and will make you scratch your head. It’s also a great opportunity to get familiar with the topics commonly studied in applied econometrics in Europe!”
The right amount of competitiveness includes appreciating the opportunity to build relationships.
“What I enjoyed most was getting to know more people, including my teammates and participants from other schools,” said MA student Minh Thai Duong. “Everyone was smart and passionate about econometrics, and that made the whole experience feel very special. I still remember the first day of the competition. We took the ferry and then walked for about 20 minutes through the streets of Amsterdam to the venue. I was chatting with students from the National University of Singapore and the University of Cambridge about econometrics, and I thought that was so romantic in a nerdy academic way.”
The opportunity to collaborate with a team was also enriching.
“Learning from our captain Anthony, his encouragement, creativity and curiosity to approach the case was fundamental in having a structured plan and being able to deliver in such a short span of time,” said MFE student Maria Jose Amaya Varela. “Victor was immersed in the models and coding environment, since this trip began. Minh Thai, with his sharp quantitative analysis, had a clear goal of understanding the data and what we were working with, and all the work that needed to go on early on to have a clear path forward.”
Amaya Varela was the only Latin American woman to participate in this year’s competition, making it a truly global contest
“This experience will go on to be one of the most enrichening experiences during my time at U of T,” she said. “Knowing that many years of academic studies, countless nights at the library, and endless coffees, would allow me to represent not only U of T, but also Colombia my home country is a moment I will always cherish and be immensely proud of!”
Return to the Department of Economics website.
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