Rostra Economica

rostra economica Facebook's IPO.

High expectations, mixed results

News.com

New strategies for newspapers

Internet Life necessity?

Internet in India.

Google lends a hand

nummer 291 september 2012 reageren? rostra@sefa.nl

Jouw studievereniging wil het je zo voordelig en makkelijk mogelijk maken.

Dus hebben ze een boekenleverancier die daarbij past.

Jouw studievereniging werkt nauw samen met studystore.

En dat heeft zo z’n voordelen.

Doordat we snugger te werk gaan, kunnen we jouw complete boekenpakket snel aanbieden tegen een scherpe prijs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------editorial rostraeconomica 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------text & photo Bart Hoffmann editor-in-chief

Bart Hoffmann is 22 years old and a master student of Economics.

#thingsarechanging

A

s I spent most of August in China for a summer school this year, putting together my very first Rostra as the editor-in-chief would have to be done solely via the internet. Not the best way to start off, you might think.

However, internet has radically changed the traditional ways of doing business and working together as a team.

Conference calling has made it possible to station departments of the same company in different locations, without losing the ability to have face-to-face meetings.

And online software enables people to work on a project from anywhere around the world and instantly share their progress with the rest of their team. Using online editing software, I was able to comment on the article from one of our editors that was on holiday in Italy and simultaneously message the copy-editor in Germany to have a look at the article. And all of this from the comfort of my room on the campus of Peking University.

This also shows that internet seems to be nearly universally available, although this does differ widely amongst countries. In The Netherlands the internet penetration rate is about 90%, whilst this is over 35% in China, and only around 7% in India. One of the articles in this Rostra looks at the trends in internet usage and availability around the world and a special project by Google to promote internet usage.

Another major change due to the rise of internet is the constant flow of news that we are exposed to every single day. Whether you follow BBC or CNN on Twitter, or your homepage is the Dutch NU.nl, it is hard to miss any kind of news once you’re online. This has forced

newspapers and magazines to rethink their strategy, and has made online advertising a new focal point. You will find more on this topic later in this Rostra.

Obviously, it is impossible to talk about the internet without thinking about social networks. Celebrities have millions of followers on Twitter and meeting someone without a Facebook account is quite rare these days.

This Rostra will take a closer look at Facebook’s (failed?) initial public offering and the column of Roger Pruppers shows just how much we use online networks to associate ourselves with certain brands.

The social networks we all know and use are however not available in China. The so-called Great Firewall has made it impossible to access Facebook, Youtube and Twitter (and to my surprise, even IMDB.com), although most of the Chinese youth manage to work their way around this. What definitely has found its way on to the Chinese market is Angry Birds. Whether as T-shirts, stuffed animals or bags, the Angry Birds are everywhere in China. And last June Rovio, the company behind the game, has announced plans to build several Angry Birds theme parks around China in the ‘not too distant future’. More on how this extremely simple format has conquered the world later in this issue.

So even though most of this Rostra was made without face-to-face discussion, I hope you will all enjoy reading this issue. Me and the rest of the editors will make sure to continue to uphold the quality of the Rostra, with interesting articles, interviews with the big names of today and new features. And who knows, the Rostra might soon be tweeting, uploading and tagging its way into the future.

At NIBC, entrepreneurial bankers start at the deep end As a trainee banker at NIBC, you also have a daily job. Your assignments and responsibilities start from day one. And you’ll have the chance to specialise, in for example mergers and acquisitions. You and your fellow analysts will follow our incompany training programme at the Amsterdam Institute of Finance, led by professors from international business schools.

A flying start at the bank that thinks and acts like entrepreneurs. For more information, visit www.careeratnibc.com.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------content rostraeconomica 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COLOPHON Editor in chief Bart Hoffmann Copy Editors Jules Vos Moira Hooper Editors Jordi van den Berg Pierre Borst Klara Keutel Tim Martens Anela Turulja Photographer Nicole Koedooder

The digitalization of news, rethinking strategies and ways to make money

Supervisory Board Wouter Smeets Hanne van Voorden Lennart Verhoef Albert Jolink Reactions, letters and 足applications can be sent to: Room E0.02 Roetersstraat 11 1018 WB Amsterdam 020 5254024 rostra@sefa.nl www.rostraeconomica.nl

Sefa Front Corruption around the world

Columnists Roger Pruppers Joop Hartog Design def., Amsterdam (Yvonne Roos) Print run 5000 Address Changes Can only be made through studielink, www.studielink.nl Advertisements StudyS tore NIBC mindprep PwC ING Ernst&Young KPMG Advertisement Costs Contact Sefa and ask for Aniel Ganga 020 525 40 24 commercial@sefa.nl Printing DR&DV Media Services, Amsterdam Copyright Notice Any redistribution of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited. You may not, except with express written permission by the editor in chief, distribute or commercially exploit the contents. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

Internet in the developing world: how a bus might be the answer

en verder 13 column roger pruppers 15 fsr page 26 fsr page 27 column dr joop hartog 34 feb flash

16 22 32 What happened when Facebook went public, and did it fail?

16 Students visited China, 8 valuable lessons

The story behind Angry Birds

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Internet at the edge of the Sahara.

In the tiny village of Merzouga in southeast Morocco, the local internet cafe proves to be a hit. While most villagers are busy farming or caring for their camels during the day, at night the cafe comes to life. Large parts of Africa still have internet penetration rates below 12%, but initiatives like this are slowly increasing everyone’s access to the world wide web.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------internet rostraeconomica 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------photo Vladimir Melnik

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------internet rostraeconomica 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------text Klara Keutel -------------------------images Yvonne Roos

Klara Keutel (18), Economics & Business, 2nd year.

The changing market of news It used to be so easy: When the news was paper-based and could be bought at the kiosk or delivered as a subscription. With fixed prices for news, it was easy to justify and pay salaries for journalists. Now, the situation has gotten somewhat more complicated. The internet has brought us online journalism. That provides journalists with a whole new spectrum of possibilities to reach and connect with the reader. Blogging and Podcasting, the use of social networks, collaboration with other media and research centres, a faster and steadily growing flow of information, to name just a few. PPractically no news outley can afford not to have an online version of its product, which means it also has to cope with the exasperating problems of financing that service.

As newspapers were forced to join the online community, criticism and fears appeared. How to generate revenues while offering your product for free?

Often, the online versions survive only with their paper counterpart as a financial safeguard. The paper newspapers, however, are confronted with a steadily declining reader pool. Considering that as a trend that will not change over the next few years, online newspapers need to seriously think about how to earn money for the services they provide.

-------------------------------------------The online versions survive only with their paper counterpart as a financial safeguard Financing Concept 1: Advertisment There are, surely, various methods to attempt the latter.

Advertisements in all its different shapes is one of them.

Banners, text advertisements and links for fixed prices are the most obvious. Alternatively, affiliate concepts are used. Google AdSense is currently the most popular advertisement provider on the web. Once registered

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 rostraeconomica internet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Facebook introduced its own currency, the Facebook credits, in 2009, and this makes up

20% of its overall income.

the system places mostly content related advertisements on the webpage. Compensation results from the amount of clicks the advertisement gets. However, heavy advertising could be detrimental as well. Advertisement is often considered as disturbing and might give the news product a cheaper and less-sophisticated look.

Also, as soon as there is advertising on a webpage, especially if it follows an affiliate concept, good business men or women try to maximize the resulting cash flows by, for example, adapting the content of the articles in such a way that either more people in total or a certain target audience is attracted. Both could result in lower quality and a more populist or even lurid form of journalism. … and 2: Donations Donations are another approach. If people really like the content of a website, then they might also be willing to donate a certain amount to keep it alive. This has worked quite well with Wikipedia, for instance. The operators collected millions of dollars in their call for donations. … and 3: Direct Payment So far, most media companies avoided the actual most obvious way of earning money with their online newspapers: direct payment. It is often said, as soon as a newspaper’s online version is only accessible with a costly subscription, it will lose its attractiveness – at least to the general public. Since you can barely regulate anything on the internet, there will always be newspapers that offer high quality online-articles for free. Charging alternatives need then to master the challenge of having outstanding, differentiating characteristics to get established.

Some newspapers are experimenting with the implementation of a selective payment system. The

New York Times allows you to only read ten articles per month for free. If you would like to read more, you need to buy a subscription. Others distinguish strictly between the articles that are specifically written for the online presence and the articles from the paper version (that are to be found in the archive on the website). The online articles are free. For the paper articles you either have to pay or need a regular subscription for the newspaper. De Groene Amsterdammer is an example of this. Or the FAZ, one of the biggest German newspapers.

-------------------------------------------Online Monthly subscriptions might actually be detrimental for the online business Nevertheless, there are almost no cases where you have to pay for the actual online newspaper and consequently for the used resources (time and expertise). Research magazines might be the only exceptions.

Due to the fact that the journalists providing the articles for the online versions of the newspapers earn in many cases significantly less than the paper editors (sometimes even only 30% or 40%!) and most of the online departments are still in the red, sooner or later newspapers need to find an appropriate approach to how to yield a sufficient profit with the online business.

The new idea: Single-Article Payment Facebook, in cooperation with a provider of online payment services, has now brought up a new idea: Payment per article.

Given that a whole tangible newspaper costs between €2 and €4, the price for a single article should be much

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------rostraeconomica 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

less. However, the paying module has to meet some basic requirements for being successful on the internet: It has to be fast, easy and uncomplicated.

The Economist ranked online payment as one among three crucial business spots on the internet in its 2012-preview edition: Still open, to be contested and conquered. PayPal, since 2002 belonging to ebay, is currently the biggest player and most popular provider on the market yet is problematic for small transactions due to its fee structure.

A small start-up, called Paycento, is now using the same general concept of an online cash account.

The main differences are that it will surrender the fixed amount charge and that it be linked to social networks. Like the already existing “Like” and “Share via Facebook/Twitter” – buttons there would then be a “Pay with Facebook” – button, as well. Two clicks and the payment is done. Very easy, very convenient. Not even a new registration on a new payment platform is necessary since the largest part of the target group – young, internet-affiliated people – is on Facebook already. According to Reuters there is already a European

-------------------------------------------Facebook could soon offer a payment service for online news media company giving this concept a try. If that is turning out to be a profitable business the interesting follow-up question will be how long it takes until Facebook decides to offer this service on its own as Facebook already has a form of virtual currency.

Facebook + Payment System = Solution?

Often, people are interested in a single article; because they are doing research on a certain topic, or simply consider the title to be really promising.

Fewer are interested in a monthly subscription. Thus, a system where you could buy a single article for some cents or a euro with a single click could be a solution that is an appropriate compromise. At least, as long as the users can live with the fact that Facebook will then know even more about their interests and spending behaviour.

more time for life

Exclusively for first year students!

What is mindprep?

Mindprep is a students-tostudents company that provides flash cards which include the most important topics relevant to a specific course that enable students to prepare easier for exams.

Why flash cards?

- The flash cards support you in learning and provide an efficient and fun way to revise and process the amount of subject matter.

- The flash cards are always up to date and are specifically matched to the contents of the course of each year.

- A high quality can be guaranteed due to a correcting system consisting of editors who previously attended the course and got excellent grades, a team leader and lectors.

- The flash cards are sorted and numbered according to your lectures and also feature cross-references to further readings.

NOTE: flash cards are not a replacement of attending the lectures and also cannot substitute the reading of the primary literature.

from October onwards in Sefa Bookstore!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------column < internet rostraeconomica 13 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roger Pruppers

I’m Microsoft, she’s an Apple: we would never connect…

I

like the internet, I really do.

I may not participate in all the wonderful activities that came along with it (no Facebook, no Twitter, does that make me pathetic and sad?), but I certainly see their value. I won´t complain about the irrelevant stuff people communicate via social media, like “In the train to Amsterdam right now” (as comedian Louis C.K. put it: “We’re not secret agents, I don’t need to know where you are!”). Even the surprising need other people have to read and respond to such messages (“Well, have a safe trip then!”) doesn’t bother me. It’s all part of the bigger pattern of weird (consumer) behavior that is just fascinating to observe.

And that’s where one of the major advantages of the internet lies from my perspective: it gives consumers a direct medium to reveal to the entire world just how strangely important brands are in their lives. That may not seem surprising as such, but I am not just talking about the Big Brands here. There is a very lively online brand community for a brand of duct tape called Duck Tape (see what they did there?). Members of this Duck Tape Club (link via www.duckbrand.com) share stories about their experiences with Duck Tape, enter Duck Tape contests,

and upload ideas for “Ducktivities”: fashion and crafts made using Duck Tape. If you lack inspiration at Valentine’s Day, just visit the Duck Tape Club website for a full tutorial on how to construct a bouquet of roses made entirely from duct tape.

(Website: “Give a hand-made Duck Tape rose to someone special and he or she will be stuck to you like...”) But wait a minute, we are talking about DUCT TAPE here. I mean, WHO CARES? Well, over 1500 people that have uploaded their very own Duck Tape Tales obviously do.

Then there are social media sites like www.hyves.nl, where “My Brands” is part of your member profile. Think about that: you are presenting yourself to the outside world by giving a summary of who you are as a person, and apparently you use BRANDS to do that. And our mind has adapted so well that it actually works. Let’s look at Willeke’s list of brands: “Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund, Max Havelaar, Natuurwinkel, No Logo.” That’s a full identity right there, isn’t it?

Right now you have a fairly complete picture in your mind of Willeke. You know how she dresses, where she shops, how she votes. This image probably does not coincide with who Willeke really IS, but since

text Roger Pruppers -------------------------Roger Pruppers is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the ­Amsterdam Business School (University of Amsterdam). His ­teaching activities focus on consumer behavior, marketing communication, and brand management.

Willeke carefully selected those brands, it’s probably close to how she WANTS you to see her. We already know that consumers have a tendency to see brands as human beings (if Harley Davidson, Lonsdale or Marlboro were a person, you could describe them), but apparently we can also perceive human beings via brands.

And if brands can be a heuristic to define human personality, let’s take that final step and look at the most fundamental decision in a human life: the choice of a life partner.

The internet has thoroughly invaded this process as well (www.lexa.nl, www.parship.nl, www.relatieplanet.nl, www.e-matching.nl...) and since brands seem to define us so well, why not use them in our partner search?

So we register at www.branddating.nl, where we introduce ourselves to our potential mates by means of a list of brands because “that says so much more than clichés like “spontaneous” and “sporty”. No matter how much you and I have in common in terms of demographics, lifestyle and preferences, if I like typing my columns on a laptop with a Microsoft operating system and you are an Apple, unfortunately that makes us totally incompatible. Damn. In an unbranded world we could have been so happy together.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FSR page rostraeconomica 15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P CHE LACES C TO KF st face udente SR ON nr b L twit ook.co aad.nl INE m/U /feb ter.c / om /Uv vACou ncil ACo unc il

From left to right: Sytske de Jong - Education Officer, Alexander Hartveld - CSR (Central Student Council) representative, Li Li Vuong – Vice Chairman, Emma den Held – Treasurer, Jan-Tjibbe Steeman – Chairman, Jana Zarges – Communications Officer, Amel Guediche – Secretary, Astrid Magnus – Education Officer, Annemijn van Rheden – Facilities Officer

DEAR STudents

with a course or a specific teacher or you have an idea about something missing at our faculty that would improve your university experience.

We are happy to introduce your new Faculty Student Council for the academic year 2012/2013

It is important that you approach us because the FSR, as the students’ participation body within the Faculty of Economics and Business, represents the students by controlling the board of the FEB. We have two types of rights: consent right and advice right. Consent right means the FSR has a veto on the policy set out by the Dean. We have consent right on the Education and Examination Regulations (OER) and the Faculty Regulations. Advice right comes in two forms: the first is re-active advice, which is an advice after a request by the Dean and the second is pro-active advice, which means advice on the council’s own initiative. We could really use your input for the latter one.

We are currently studying in tumultuous times as major changes at our faculty have been and are still happening.

A new three-block system has been put into place, we have the redesign of the student administration, the introduction of the new SIS system and of course the reconstruction of parts of our campus, which affects us all. Therefore, it is important that we, as the student council, monitor these events attentively and work together with you on leading them into a direction that all students can benefit from. We see it as our responsibility to bundle our “workforces” and to be the information channel for all students of our faculty.

As it is our job to represent you, we need to work closely together and communicate as much as possible.

Therefore, we would like to encourage you to contact us if there is anything you are concerned about. That may be that you do not agree with any of the changes that are currently being implemented, that you have a problem

We look forward to an exciting and dynamic university year!

Your Faculty Student Council Economics and Business You can always contact us via; Email fsr.feb@studentenraad.nl Telephone 020- 525 4384

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16 rostraeconomica internet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------text Pierre Borst

Pierre Borst is 20 years old and a Bachelor student in Economics.

Why didn’t investors Facebook?

Being one of the most successful and popular companies worldwide Facebook dominates the world of social media with its 900 million users.

On May 18, Facebook’s long anticipated Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ stock market took place. Mainstream media created a massive hysteria in the run-up to what, according to them, would be the biggest IPO in history. But things did not exactly go as expected.

To start with, Facebook needed the public offering because the founders, employees and early investors were all looking for a way to cash out.

Zuckerberg’s social platform was built with millions of dollars of investment capital and many of Facebook’s employees were working for the company in return for stock options. Also, the company was already using its shares as an acquisition currency. For example, the relatively new Instagram was not profitable and only had a handful of employees, however, it was

considered a threat to Facebook nevertheless. Therefore, Facebook took over Instagram for a billion dollars with a combination of cash and (presumably) valuable Facebook stock.

Because Facebook’s IPO has been hyped up in the days preceding it, the underwriting banks must have thought that the appetite for Facebook’s shares was bottomless.

Therefore, Facebook was allowed to increase the number of shares on offer by 25% and settle the price above the $28-35 range it had initially set just a few days before the trading began.

On the day of the IPO, there was an unexplained delay in the opening of the trading in Facebook stock. This made investors nervous causing many of them to cancel their orders.

The shares were initially priced at $38 but the delay caused problems with NASDAQ’s electronic trading system and as a result, it struggled

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------rostraeconomica 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Latest graphic of the price of Facebook stock, since May 18th. Source: nasdaq.com $40 $38 $36 $34 $32 $30 $28 $26 $24 $22 $20 $18 $16 2012

Jun 1

to print the opening price of the stock. So when the trading finally opened, the shares were priced at $42 because the process of supply and demand had already set in. This was the only surge in its price even though the rise in the share price is usually larger with hyped IPO’s.

But while mainstream media were creating a hype in anticipation of the IPO, investors were having doubts about Facebook’s business model.

Facebook has announced that they will stay free for their users and derive their profits solely from advertisers. Unfortunately, they have seen a slowing growth in average returns per user and will need to find more creative ways to make money in order to meet their valuation of $100 billion. This has prompted investors to be more apprehensive towards Facebook.

The news that speculators were receiving an unusually large number

Jul 2

Aug 1

of shares in combination with the cancellation of many trades damaged the confidence in the stock further.

Facebook’s stock failed to take off as a result of these doubts and closed at a disappointing $38.23 by the end of its first day. This price though was only achieved with the help from the underwriting banks. These banks, who had just sold their stock to investors found themselves buying back the stock in order to prevent a collapse. The banks kept supporting the price for a week but once they stopped and short sellers were able to enter the market, the stock went on trading at around $31, more than 25% below its opening price.

Although Facebook’s IPO might be considered a flop, we must not forget that it raised $16 billion for the company and its early investors, and also generated the highest firstday gain in US history. Instead of calling the stock closing at just 0.6% above its opening price on its first day a disappointment, we can argue

Sept 4

---------------------------Facebook’s stock closed at a disappointing $ 38.23 by the end of its first day, after it has opened at $ 38 that Zuckerberg priced the stock exactly right. There was no big jump and most of the money went to his company instead of the Wallstreet bankers.

Despite these remarkable facts and figures, Facebook’s IPO was a public-relations calamity. At the time of writing, Facebook is trading at $20.72. Not even three months have passed and the price has dropped more than 45%. Facebook may have burst the social media bubble and investors will think twice the next time they consider jumping on the bandwagon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18 rostraeconomica sefa front --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sefa front

Doing smart business or engaging in corruption?

What do Enron, Mohamed Suharto, Worldcom as well as the Dutch Ahold scandal and fraud in the construction industry have in common? These are examples of misconduct in which corruption played a decisive role. People abused power for private gain.

Take, for example, the fraud in the construction industry. Several constructors secretly made appointments with each other to divide public orders in order to gain higher profits. However, it is the

citizens who end up suffering and having to pay the bill.

Another example of corruption is Mohamed Suharto (2nd president of Indonesia during 1967-1998), known as the most corrupt leader the world has ever had. He abused his power by first granting his family and friends strong positions in the government in order to maintain en stabilize his position. Next he paid them large sums of money to make sure they would make favorable decisions.

Breaking the law The less likely it is to be caught when exhibiting corrupt behavior, the more tempted people actually are to be corrupt. This is often the case in critical situations. Take, for example, a natural disaster that results in immense panic, chaos and the need for aid. This is a great opportunity for suppliers to break the rules and make a lot of money. Due to the lack of organization in such a situation, transactions, mergers and deals are not transparent in moments like this and it is easy to charge needlessly high amounts of money for food, vaccines and transport. Also intermediaries benefit from this kind of situations; they know how to hustle money by ‘arranging’ things here and there.

corruption index Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, has deployed a corruption index.

This index scales countries in order of their level of corruption. This index is a subjective matter; due to the fact corruption is hidden and not directly measurable.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------rostraeconomica 19 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Career Month Each year Sefa transforms November into its Career Month. The grand opening will be the Sefa Conference with this year’s theme being Power, Corruption & Compliance. As always, the Sefa Conference has invited prominent speakers who will share interesting stories and experiences. This year’s conference will be hosted at the Felix Meritis, the European center of art, culture and science on Keizersgracht, on the 1st of November. For more information please visit www.sefaconference.nl.

Grey area In the natural disaster example the judgement is clear: there is corruption and abuse of power due to a lack of control and supervision.

There are also circumstances in which the judgement is not clear, for example, abusing power in order to help yourself or friends and family.

This is a phenomenon as old as mankind itself. People tend to help and care more about themselves and people they know and love and

do not realize, or care about, the damage they might cause to other people that are affected by their action. Kind turns (which means doing something for your friends, in Dutch we call it: perform a service to your friends) could also oil the wheels of a properly functioning society. The grey area between acting corruptly and doing smart business is interesting and a matter of opinion. Compliance is an

important tool to make sure corruption is restricted to a minimum by implementing rules of law by which companies and individuals are restricted. Nowadays, almost every multinational has a compliance department. Corporate scandals and breakdowns such as the Enron case in 2001 have highlighted the need for stronger compliance and regulations for publicly listed companies.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20 rostraeconomica sefa front --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sefa introduces...

ACADEMIC, CAREER, SOCIAL, INTERNATIONAL. Sefa has been the study association for the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Amsterdam since 1922. It is our goal to add an extra dimension to the lives of our 4000 members by organizing 60 distinctive activities in the above-mentioned four key domains.

The members of the 91st Sefa board introduce themselves Sebastiaan Klein Chairman Having almost obtained my master degree, having studied abroad and working as a teaching assistant, I realized that it was the perfect moment to bring my development to the next level by joining Sefa’s 91st board. As chairman, I will be responsible for leading the board and thereby setting the strategic direction for Sefa in the coming year. I hope it will be a year full of success and fun for you as a member and for us as board members!

Bas Jongerius Secretary (Vice Chairman) Sure, studying provides you with a solid base of theoretical knowledge, but since internships are not a mandatory part of the curriculum many students struggle at their jobs after graduating. Joining the Sefa board means a year full of challenges, opportunities, and above all practical experience.

Being the Secretary of the Sefa board in the coming year I hope to become fully prepared for what the future holds for me!

Wendy Rossenaar Treasurer After having been an active member of Sefa for several

years, a board year was (and is) a big challenge for me. As the new treasurer of the Sefa board I will have a broad overview of the financial situation of the association.

I am sure this will be a great year in which I can learn a lot and have a lot of fun with fantastic people!

Jordi van de Berg Marketing Officer After having gained some experience in entrepreneurial and foreign projects and one year left in my four-year bachelor, I decided to become a member of the 91st board of Sefa. Being completely new in the association, my task as the Marketing Officer will contribute to the extra success of Sefa as the largest study association at the FEB.

Lysbet Dekker HR Officer After working on several projects of Sefa I realized that all the experiences Igained from these projects have contributed to my personal growth as well. Sefa can be of great importance when it comes to gathering practical experience next to studying. As the new HR-Officer of the 91st board I am going to contribute to the growth of the association by recruiting and selecting members and giving them the chance to have the same experiences by working on committees offered by Sefa.

Aniel Ganga Commercial Officer I have been an active member of Sefa for a couple of years now. Last year I was partly responsible for the acquisition for the Amsterdamse Carrière Dagen.

I really enjoyed putting gained knowledge into practice at this project. I sincerely hope my board year will be another opportunity for me to do that! This year I will be the Commercial Officer of the 91st Sefa Board. My primary task will be to maintain and establish (new) contact with companies.

Enza Monster Projects Officer It is an honor to say that I am going to be the Project Officer of the Sefa Board 2012-2013. This is a great opportunity for me to experience the practical side of my study besides just the theories taught in class. I am looking forward to lead one of the biggest faculty associations of the country together with my fellow board members and develop myself in many ways.

Please feel welcome to drop by the Sefa room (E.16).

We are happy to answer your questions and to inform you about all of Sefa’s activities.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22 rostraeconomica -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------text Jordi van den Berg -------------------------photos The 16

Jordi van den Berg is 21 years old and a Bachelor student in Business.

Doing business in China:

16

The know how In edition 289 of Rostra Economica, The 16 Student Entrepreneurs introduced themselves. The 16 Student Entrepreneurs is a company started by the most entrepreneurial students from Amsterdam with the mission to assess the entrepreneurial climate in China and to explore the opportunities in this fast growing and exhilarating market. In May 2012, they travelled to China. Jordi van den Berg, student at the faculty of Economics and Business, talks to Rostra about the project and entrepreneurship in China.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------rostraeconomica 23 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part of The 16 in front of 100 Chinese (including 8 ministers) in Changzhou

What we did May 2012 brought us the journey of our lives.

We had three goals that month: learn a lot about Chinese entrepreneurship, perform assignments for Dutch companies and meet a lot of (Chinese) people.

These goals were accomplished in three main cities where we stayed for one week each: Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. We also paid short visits to four other cities: Tianjin, Changzhou, Macau and Shenzhen.

All seven places were different in culture, environment, people and entrepreneurship. Dutch entrepreneurs, multinational companies, Chinese students and professors taught us how to deal with this extremely interesting country.

A distinction can be made between two types of entrepreneurship in China. One can be found on the mainland and the other can be found in Hong Kong.

To start with, let us consider Mainland China. An enumeration of eight important factors to consider for entrepreneurs who wants to start a business in China.

Factor 1: Network Use your personal network as much as possible.

Get to know a lot of Chinese people, other foreign entrepreneurs and maintain these contacts well. In China, this phenomenon is known as Guanxi, the way that Chinese people maintain their connections and relationships. The Chinese people expect you to do a

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24 rostraeconomica --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 16 visit Van Thiel, a Dutch antiques dealer in Beijing

-------------------------------------------Give your whole arm, and do not be afraid to have it cut off favour for them, as they will also do the same for you.

You can expect to be going out for numerous dinners and having a lot of meetings if you are looking for a Chinese business partner.

Factor 2: Government A good relationship with the government is extremely important. You can either maintain this relationship yourself, or otherwise meet a born Chinese as a business partner to do this for you. Especially in Beijing the government is very powerful. As an entrepreneur you have to acquire a lot of licences from the government for your company. So be prepared for many dinners and even more drinks. Another fact important to consider is that a contract in China is not the same as a contract in the Netherlands. The contract can change any moment,

even after signing, and gives no rights in court.

Also, you cannot win a lawsuit against the Chinese government.

Factor 3: Trust After having built a relationship with a Chinese person, trust is the most valuable thing to give and to get.

Partnership and exclusivity are important elements of this relationship which is based on trust in the business environment. Make sure that in business situations, everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interests are looked after. Give your whole arm, and do not be afraid to have it cut off. This shows your partner they can trust you.

Factor 4: Long term thinking When building new business relations, you should make sure that you are in for the long term. Think about around ten years, just a couple of years are too short. As a foreign entrepreneur in China the starting phase of your company is the hardest period. Enormous risks must be taken, especially in a partnership with a Chinese entrepreneur. Lots of

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------rostraeconomica 25 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16

time investments must be made in friendship and trust.

In general, profits are realised after a few years.

Factor 5: Commitment Long term thinking is reflected in commitment. Again, give your whole arm. Show that you are committed to doing business in China and are not planning to give up easily. Financial risk is not the biggest risk you take in China. Risk of losing face is. Invest in your relationships and try not to rush into anything. Stay focused and motivated.

-------------------------------------------Financial risk is not the biggest risk you can take in China. Risk of losing face is Factor 6: Think big, start small Be patient, but have a big plan and keep developing that as well. Wait to discuss sensitive issues until you are sitting at the table with the right person. Do not discuss these kind of issues with lower-ranked people in the same company, the might be embarrassed by that. Do not start off a conversation by discussing business. Eventually, when decisions are made, bigger steps tend to be taken at once. This stands in contrast to what we are used to in Europe, where a lot of small decisions are needed before the big one can be passed.

Factor 7: Speak the language If you do not speak Mandarin Chinese, you take enormous risks. In this case, you have to find someone who does and whom you can fully trust. And in the end, language is a part of the Chinese culture.

This text is mainly about how to be an entrepreneur in China.

The 16 will give a conference on September 27th about what we as Dutch Entrepreneurs can learn from Chinese entrepreneurship and implement in The Netherlands. For more information visit www.the16.nl.Â

-------------------------------------------A boss is a boss, and you listen to him Factor 8: Respect for the culture As a foreign entrepreneur, you are a guest, so you have to act like a guest. Know how people feel, think and act in this country. Hierarchy is, for example, very important; it comes forth in Confucianism. A boss is a boss, and you listen to him. If you hire Chinese workers, know that they will think like this. The boss decides how things are done, they will not come up with solutions themselves.

Hong Kong is different. Is Hong Kong part of China?

Two answers are possible here: No, because they have their own rules, language and culture, and yes, because the Beijing government still has lots of power in this area.

Starting your own company in Hong Kong is easier.

While you need half a year in China, only a few days are needed in Hong Kong. Here, you can also focus more on the short term and profits can be realised in the first year.

Also, a good relation with the government is not needed.

Even a lawsuit can be won because a contract is a contract.

Likewise, the language barrier is much lower. Most people in Hong Kong speak English very well. Hong Kong is a paradise when it comes to paying taxes compared to China. However, Hong Kong also has similarities to Mainland China. Respect the culture, use your personal network, show commitment and be trustworthy. Â In conclusion, my advice would be to start a business in Hong Kong first, settle down well, and then use your contacts and knowledge to move to the mainland from there.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------26 rostraeconomica FSR page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TO PLACES INE SR F ONL b/ CHECK fe l/ .n nraad studente /UvACouncil k.com ouncil faceboo m/UvAC r. te twit co

The vision of the FSR The coming period is expected to be another challenging year for the FEB. After a period of financial struggles, the emphasis this year will be on the major changes that were implemented last year or will be realized this year.

The reconstruction of the campus, for example, is in full swing. Consequently, some classes will take place off campus while others might be disturbed by the noise of the reconstruction. Also, the study programs have changed into an 8-8-4 semester schedule. Furthermore, the facultyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial crisis has caused it to reorganize by laying off staff, discontinuing studies and redesigning the administration. These events require close monitoring to keep student complaints at a minimum.

We, as the Faculty Student Council, will try to make these big transitions as smooth as possible for you.

Our vision on education will be the guideline for our work in the upcoming year. The following is intended to give you a brief idea of what points are especially important to us.

High quality education prevails Universities are primarily evaluated according to their level of education. This is also the point that is most important to us. We all chose to study and we therefore want to receive the best education possible. It is the

responsibility of the university to provide this high level of education. However, we, the students, should be present to show that we are motivated and should react if the level of education is not satisfactory.

Modern University Even though the level of education has a high priority, a university should offer much more! The years we spend at university are the ones in which we should develop ourselves not only academically but also socially.

Therefore, the university should provide a platform where students and teachers are encouraged to exchange their ideas, communicate, learn to think critically or simply have fun. The new CREA building and canteen are a first step in the right direction. However, there are still places missing where students can study or just sit and relax. We want a university students enjoy going to and spending time at, not simply a place for attending lectures.

Facilitating Future Nowadays, companies expect you to have a high level of skills in all different fields of knowledge. These include, next to the academic skills in your field of study, soft skills such as communication, the ability to think critically and problem solving skills. But also the knowledge of different computer programmes and research methods such as excel or sdata are required in almost every relevant academic and business environment. Therefore, we think that the university should offer the opportunity for students to acquire these skills. Additionally, the university should increase its support facilities for students seeking advice with their search for jobs or internships as well as with their application process.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------column < internet rostraeconomica 27 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr Joop Hartog

INTERNET VERSTOPPERTJE

E

-mail heb ik zo lang mogelijk buiten de deur gehouden.

En dan bedoel ik de huisdeur.

E-mail kwam bij mij binnen via de bedrijfsdeur. Ik weet niet meer wanneer, maar ik herinner me wel levendig het eerste nadeel. Toen ik voor enkele maanden naar een buitenlandse universiteit vertrok was ik in het pre-mail tijdperk; zeker drie weken buiten het bereik van andermans zorgen. Ze moesten zich eerst realiseren dat ik er een poosje tussen uitgeknepen was, vervolgens moesten ze die zorgen in een brief formuleren en die moest dan naar mij worden opgestuurd. Omdat in het pre-mail tijdperk ook niet op acuut antwoord werd gerekend, begon ik dus bij aankomst met een heerlijke periode van windstilte, een isolement waarin ik me volledig aan de lokale contacten en mijn eigen onderzoek kon wijden. Voor velen is dit ondenkbaar geworden. Wie meedoet aan de permanente open lijn is nergens meer veilig. Ik heb dan ook geen permanente open lijn.

Ik heb altijd veel thuis gewerkt.

Ik vond de combinatie van studeer­ kamer thuis en werkkamer op de universiteit productiever dan alleen de werkkamer. Vanaf het begin heb ik de opdringerigheid van internet gevreesd. Bang voor het verlies van bewust gekozen intervallen van isolement. Voor dwingende mails die meteen reactie vragen. En ook bang voor dwingende telefoontjes: “ik zet het wel effe op de mail, kun je er even naar kijken”. Onzin, zei

mijn vrouw dan, je kunt toch zelf ­beslissen wanneer je beschikbaar bent? Zeker. Maar ik vreesde de druk van buiten en ik vreesde mijn eigen zwakheden. Inmiddels heb ik al lang heel wat terrein prijsgegeven.

Overal zie ik de sporen van verstoppertje spelen. Iedereen zoekt permanent de ander maar probeert zelf verborgen te blijven zo lang dat behaagt.

---------------------------Heel je internetveld is ondermijnd door een stelsel van misbruikte ­mollengangen Deze nieuwe dynamiek schept ongeduld. Als je niet snel genoeg op een bericht reageert krijg je prompt de vraag of je het niet hebt gezien of gehoord. Maar je wil natuurlijk het liefste zelf bepalen wanneer het je behaagt om te reageren. De telefoon biedt tegenwoordig die mogelijkheid. Was vroeger het antwoord­ apparaat vooral bedoeld voor gemiste contacten, tegenwoordig herstelt de voice-mail de machtsbalans. In het oude patroon had een beller ­prioritaire toegang tot de gebelde, tegenwoordig bepaalt de gebelde wel of de beller meteen welkom is of in de wachtrij wordt geplaatst.

Het nieuwe spelletje is ook een spel in zelfbeheersing. Toen ik bijna twintig jaar geleden een zomer in

tekst Dr Joop Hartog

Emeritus Professor ­ of Economics ­Amsterdam School of Economics University of Amsterdam Fellow of Tinbergen Institute, IZA, AIAS, CESifo, CrEAM Member KNAW ­Royal Dutch ­Academy of Sciences.

J­ apan verbleef, werkte ik eerst de hele dag aan mijn onderzoek en ging ik pas s’middags om vier uur naar boven, naar de computerzaal met ­internet aansluiting. Tegenwoordig kan ik de verleiding niet weerstaan om ’s ochtends eerst te kijken of er leuke, interessante of uitdagende ­berichten zijn ingestroomd. Ik moet dan vaak met enige moeite de neiging onderdrukken om meteen op alles te reageren.

Het meest irritante spel speel je met op winst beluste speurders. Overal word je gezocht en opgejaagd. Heel je internetveld is ondermijnd door een stelsel van misbruikte mollengangen. Opdringerige verkopers zijn voortdurend op zoek naar de routes die je hebt afgelegd. Via je eigen mollengangen duiken ze dan onverhoeds op. Ooit belangstelling getoond voor x, y of z? Dan vindt u deze aanbieding vast wel interessant!

Terwijl bedrijven zelf minder bereikbaar zijn dan ooit. Telefoonnummers van aanspreekbare functionarissen in een bedrijf zijn niet te vinden, zelfs hun email adressen niet. Alle communicatie wordt naar een call-center geleid waar je tegen geprogrammeerde robots aanpraat met amper ­kennis van zaken en geen enkele ­bevoegdheid. Terwijl de bazen in hun burcht zitten, moeten de opgejaagden op zoek naar een knop om hun mollengangen te vernietigen.

Internet: de verslavende houdgreep van speurder en verstopte, samen dansend door het digitale mijnenveld.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------28 rostraeconomica internet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------text Anela Turulja -------------------------photo iStockphoto

Anela Turulja is 20 years old and a Master student in International Economics.

Internet in the Third World:

only a busride away In 2009, Google started its Google Internet Bus project in India. A bus filled with computers that offers free internet access has been sent to past the most remote cities and towns throughout the country. According to The Economist, over 1.6 million people have had their first online experience and over 100,000 have signed up for an internet connection since the bus started driving. Apart from this example, internet access in general has been playing an important part in developing countries and if done right, could be a way to accelerate their political and economic development.

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but everything in India happens mostly offline.

Internet penetration is less than 7%, while in comparison, internet access in Europe is 61.3%, with Norway and Iceland exhibiting figures of 97.2% and 97.8%, respectively. This low rate is blamed on infrastructural problems, high costs of connection and the lack of relevant content. But the biggest problem seems to be awareness. According to Google, many people in India do not know what the internet is and how to use it, let alone that it could help to improve their lives. The Internet Bus has therefore increased awareness and is still driving through the country in order to reach more people. India is not the only country with these problems. In fact, Africa seems to be doing much worse in terms of internet development. Only 6.3% of all worldwide internet users come from this continent, and internet penetration is not higher than 13.5%, far below the world average of 32.7%.

A sea of possibilities Nonetheless, internet accessibility and use in developing countries has been experiencing serious growth. Over

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------rostraeconomica 29 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Internet penetration in India is very low, especially in rural areas like this near Dharamsala

the years 2000-2010, internet use grew tenfold, while it only tripled in the developed world. Although every economy benefits from the possibilities that internet has to offer, these benefits are especially important in the third world. Trade, education, health and wealth can be improved through faster access to news and information.

Moreover, the internet lacks national barriers and through its openness it can stimulate developments in tolerance, governance and even democracy. It is therefore not surprising to see that increased internet use in developing countries is part of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, that are aimed to be achieved by the year 2015.

For example, farmers who are ‘online’ have increased access to information which enables them to compare prices, sell their products on new markets and end up with higher profit margins. Even farmers without internet access benefit from this development in transparency, because the goods they buy and sell are also priced more competitive. This has been the case in Ghana, where the service Esoko was introduced to collect and provide all

kinds of agricultural market data. These kinds of services are now visible across many other African countries.

Regarding the ‘softer’ issues such as human rights and tolerance, Ushahidi forms a nice example of Africa’s growing success in this field. This Kenyan website was launched after the controversial presidential elections in 2008 that led to protests and riots throughout the country. During the unrest, there was no official media coverage of the events and many things were about to pass by unnoticed. This was exactly the gap that Ushahidi managed to fill. It started out by mapping incidents of violence throughout the whole country, so that aid workers knew where to provide medical care. This proved to be highly successful and since then, the website has expanded into a full blown human rights and software development organization and has set foot into a growing number of countries. Ushahidi has even been used to track and map the Swine flu outbreak of 2009.

Still, one of the most successful and popular stories of the last few years must be the one of M-Pesa.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30 rostraeconomica --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

73% of Internet users donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use English as a first language.

M-Pesa is a money transfer service that operates through mobile telephones and allows people to transfer money without using traditional banking services. It originates in Kenya where it now has more than 18 million clients, but has been expanded to Afghanistan, Tanzania and several other countries. In these less developed and predominantly rural countries, banking facilities are scarce, and the majority of the population does not even have a bank account. Carrying cash would be the other option, but this poses a security risk, since nobody would feel safe to walk around with their entire paycheck in their wallets, even in a relatively safe country like Holland. M-Pesa makes sure that the only thing that you need in order to deposit, withdraw and transfer money or pay your bills is a mobile telephone and your ID card. Moreover, you can buy groceries or book a hotel, and the beauty of it all is that it is available to anybody who owns a mobile phone, no matter how simple the device might be.

-------------------------------------------Digital literacy (also) poses a problem, as even highly educated people do not know how to get on the internet Despite these success stories, there still remains a lot of room for improvement. Consultants from McKinsey have calculated that the average internet contribution to GDP in 2010 has been only 1.9% for developing countries, while it grew to 3.4% in developed countries.

This is due to several impediments, like the high infrastructural costs of internet access and the fact that large parts of the population in these countries are illiterate, not to mention that they would only be able to read in their own languages. Digital literacy also

2.3%

is the average contribution of Internet to GDP growth in developing countries, over 2004-2009, while for developed countries it is 21%.

poses a problem, as even highly educated people do not know how to get on the internet.

A comparison with Europe might show the infrastructural differences. Europeans generally enjoy over 90,000 bits of bandwidth or available resources per second, while for the African user, this bandwidth does not get higher than 2,000 bits per second. This means that internet access is not only limited, but also very slow, and the price for this slow and limited access remains high, especially for African standards.

Future Trends At the same time, several clear trends are visible.

One important development is the fact that due to technological progress, mobile phones are less expensive than laptops, and are nowadays even becoming affordable for people living in third-world rural areas.

Combined with the development and growth of wireless networks that reduce the need for a large and complex cable infrastructure, like cloud computing, internet connection through mobile devices is becoming the next big thing in developing countries. A quick glance at some figures illustrates this impact. Between 2000 and 2010, the annual growth of mobile subscriptions was only 7% in the United Kingdom and 9% in the United States, while it exhibited growth figures of 67% in Vietnam and even 109% in Nigeria. In fact, 50% of all internet users in Nigeria gain internet access through their mobile phones, and similar figures are visible in other developing countries. Firms like M-Pesa can benefit from such developments. In addition, the growth of languages other than English on the internet has been explosive, with China leading the way as Chinese speaking users have grown by 1,479% over the past ten years!

Should such trends continue, the only bus that will be needed in India is the one carrying people and their smartphones.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------32 rostraeconomica internet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------text Tim Martens -------------------------photo Gerar Peralta

Tim Martens is 23 years old and a Master student in Economics.

According to various estimates, smartphone shipments will reach 1.7 billion in 2017. With this phenomenal progression of the smartphone, there is a new demand for mobile entertainment.

To serve this demand, a little software firm released a game called “Angry Birds” that caused a frenzy in 2009. With 1 billion downloads since 2009, Angry Birds has become one of the most famous games on mobile devices.

The idea behind the game is simple; the player has to shoot green pigs using little birds on a slingshot.

The goal is to kill all pigs by getting things to fall on them, knocking them to the ground or blowing them up.

In 2003, three Finnish students from the Helsinki University of Technology took part in a gamedevelopment competition sponsored

by Nokia and Hewlett-Packard.

Niklas Hed, Jarno Väkeväinen and Kim Dikert won the contest with a real-time multiplayer game called “King of the Cabbage World”. This experience motivated the trio to start their own business called Relude. They then sold their game

to the Sumea Studios who renamed it Mole War. It became the first commercial real-time multiplayer mobile game in the world. In 2005, Relude was renamed to Rovio Entertainment and, after launching 50 unsuccesful games, they developed Angry Birds in 2009.

Soon the game became very popular and significantly boosted earnings.

In 2011, Rovio made revenues of $99 million and a profit before tax of $48 million. In contrast, they had only earned revenues of about $10 million the year before. One reason for the sudden growth was the expansion of the business; Angry Birds became a recognized brand name which, in addition to the

profits generated by the game, generates profits in the merchandise business.

With the tremendous growth in both game and merchandise sales, venture capital firms became convinced of Rovio’s potential and provided them with $42 million for further expansion in 2011. The investors were Atomico Venture and Accel Partners, who have also worked with companies such as Groupon and Facebook. Rovio has been expanding ever since. They acquired the Futuremark Game Studio in March 2012, which only has a small gaming arm that released a small number of games. Rovio Entertainment primarily wanted to

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------rostraeconomica 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Compared to 2010 Rovio experienced a growth in revenue of

890% in 2011.

add new talents to their developer team. Now the Futuremark Game Studio is concentrating on its main business, the benchmark software “3dmark”.

What is the secret behind Angry Birds’ success? Firstly, there is no age restriction, it is simple and the individual rounds do not consume much time. Another reason for the game’s success is its price; it is either free or costs only a couple of euros.

In addition, there is no need for expensive hardware to be able to play the game.

Still, the mobile game industry is not as big as the console game industry.

Taking a look at the game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” the difference in revenues is considerable.

“Call of Duty” made $400 million in the first 24 hours alone; the total revenue of Rovio is much smaller.

However, taking the number of users into account we get an impressive picture. Rovio has about 10 million customers while “Call of Duty” reached a user count of 6.5 million in the first 24 hours alone.

The importance of mobile games for smartphone producers is shown by the number of apps developers and users. Fewer apps mean fewer users and fewer users mean fewer apps.

Rovio Entertaiment, for example, did not offer a version of their newest Angry Bird game, “Angry Bird Space”, to Microsoft Windows Phone. Some analysts see this as an indication that no one else expects to be making money writing for Windows Phone either.

Nokia meanwhile is trying to reanimate its smartphone business with the Windows Phone OS. Without the new Angry Bird Space game, it could be very difficult for the Finnish smartphone producer to attract users that want mobile gaming and developers that create apps for this platform.

Rovio was recently criticized by the software developer Erin Catto for using the engine “Box 2D” without giving credit to its developer. The use of the software is free and many programmers use it to develop games. At a press conference,

---------------------------Analysts value the company at $9 billion Erin Catto confronted Chief Marketing Officer Peter Vesterbacka with this misconduct and Rovio ended up giving credit to the software’s developers retrospectively.

Afterwards Erin Catto said that Rovio had done a great job giving credit to Box2D in the game. In addition, he received some clothes and plush toys as a friendly gesture.

Rovio›s newest game is called «Amazing Alex». The game itself is not new but was bought by Rovio from the independent developers Noel Llopis and Mystery Coconut in May 2012. It is still to be seen whether the firm can repeat its success with this game and whether it will be able to satisfy the expectations of the analysts who have valued the company at $9 billion. Rovio Entertainment plans to go public in 2013.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------34 rostraeconomica FEB flash --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

feb flash

UvA scores

high in Tilburg University Economics Ranking

The University of Amsterdam has risen to 27th place in the latest Tilburg University Economics Ranking. In this international ranking of the 100 best economics research institutes, the UvA placed sixth in Europe and second in the Netherlands. Four other Dutch universities also made it into the top 100: Tilburg University finished 21st, Maastricht University was 49th, Erasmus University Rotterdam was ranked 52nd and VU University Amsterdam rounded off the list at number 73.

At the top of the list were Harvard University, University of Chicago, New York University and the University of California, Berkeley.

‘Stapenning’ honorary award for economist Michael Ellman On Friday, 8 June, Prof. Michael Ellman gave his farewell lecture as professor of Economic Systems with special reference to Transition Economies.

Following his lecture, the University of Amsterdam awarded him with the ‘Stapenning’ honorary award, presented by the Rector Magnificus Dr Dymph van den Boom. Ellman received the award for his outstanding academic achievements and his dedication and efforts for the University of Amsterdam, in particular the Faculty of Economics and Business.

New FoundationCampus centre opens at the FEB Cambridge Education Group (CEG) from the UK has opened a brand new FoundationCampus centre based at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Amsterdam. From September 2012 CEG will be welcoming international students to their one-year undergraduate foundation programmes and

helping them prepare for undergraduate entry to FEB programmes from September 2013 onwards. FoundationCampus is a partnership between many top international Universities and Cambridge Education Group, the leading provider of pre-university academic and English Language programmes.

© 2012 KPMG N.V., alle rechten voorbehouden.

120 UUR MADRID: DE KPMG MADRID BUSINESS EXPERIENCE 21 T/M 25 NOVEMBER 2012. SCHRIJF JE IN VÓÓR 1 OKTOBER OP WWW.GAAAN.NU/120UURMADRID