Author: McConnel, Mark

Finance and Econometrics at Seminar Supported by Art Wright Funds

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Art Wright SeminarWith support from the Art Wright Seminar Fund, Dr. Dong Hwan Oh, a senior economist and quantitative risk analyst at the Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems of Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, spoke at the departmental Econometrics Seminar on Friday, October 7th.

Dr. Oh’s research focuses on analyzing financial markets and risk, as well as methodological development of forecasting and quantitative finance models. During this event, Dr. Oh presented his recent research paper, “Better the Devil You Know: Improved Forecasts from Imperfect Models”. The research paper proposes a new theory and empirical approach for improving the forecasting of financial and macroeconomic variables such as stock volatility, risk, and yield curve of the interest rates. The views expressed in this research are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Board.

PhD students, MSQE students from advanced econometrics and programming classes, and a focused group of undergraduates were invited to participate in the seminar.  At the beginning of the talk, Dr. Oh recommended that students invest in quantitative data skills on the foundation of econometrics, which can give them great returns when they apply to research assistant/internship positions in the Federal Reserve and other financial institution. Also, through this opportunity, the faculty in the econometrics group were able to actively interact with an expert in financial market analysis, which can help them advise those students with career goals in financial industries.

Business Appraiser Shares Methodology in Financial Economics Class

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Mr. Becket presents in the Financial Economics class at Stamford on September 15, 2022

Mr. Peter Becket, a proprietor of Becket Business Appraisals, LLC visited the ECON 3413 Financial Economics class at Stamford on September 15, 2022. In this course, students learn company valuation techniques and apply those to a selected publicly traded company.

Mr. Becket has been an appraiser of privately owned businesses for over 40 years. So, his presentation gave students a real-world view of how he goes about valuing businesses that are not publicly traded.

Peter’s very engaging and interactive presentation showed how financial statements analysis and discounted future cash flow methodology are used in evaluating financial prospects of a closely held companies. Students learnt many nuances of appraisal business, which are not covered in the textbook. Peter shared several publications that present data of financial ratios, for example, which could be consulted for a benchmark analysis. He also explained his proprietary methodology for company valuation. Students were able to ask questions about the business and seek Peter’s advice about their career aspirations.

Mr. Becket encouraged students to invest in their learning, join professional associations, and start their careers working for someone else before venturing on their own if they decide to start their own professional practice. His talk connected the textbook material to the real-world appraisal business.

Dr. Smirnova, who is the instructor in this class, and the students are grateful to Mr. Becket for his time and invaluable wisdom, suggestions, and encouragement. The talk was very fun, as well.

Tao Song, PhD 2017, Featured on Sewanee’s Faculty Spotlight

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Five Sewanee: University of the South professors were asked to share their thoughts on teaching in the Information Age, and our own Tao Song, PhD ’17, was one of them. See his reflections on how the explorer mentality guides his teaching.

In addition to his devotion to teaching at Sewanee, Tao remains committed to research. Together with Professor Delia Furtado, he recently published a chapter on interethnic marriages in the Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics.

Economics at the Major Fair at the Stamford Campus

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Photo (left to right): Economics Seniors Miriam Salazar-Rey, James McQuade, and Gerson Jacinto at the Economics Major table on September 15, 2022.

On September 15, 2022, there was a buzz around the Rich Concourse at the Stamford campus. Various academic fields, representing majors and minors offered at UConn Stamford, were showcased. The Economics Department was represented by students majoring in Economics with Professor Smirnova in attendance as well.

The Economics table was one of the most visited through the two-hour period. Economics seniors Miriam Salazar-Rey, James McQuade, and Gerson Jacinto enthusiastically shared information about the academic course of study, about various economics paths within the profession, and about the College Fed Challenge competition, a popular extra-curricular activity at Stamford.

Students also shared various career readiness events that they have attended on campus and competencies that they have developed in Dr. Smirnova’s classes. Business community leaders’ visits, career panels, Career Development Center professionals’ presentations, and other events – all of these, in students’ view, contribute to the satisfaction with the Economics major at Stamford.

MSQE Alumni Networking Panel September 7, 2022

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Tyler Terbrusch (MSQE December 2018) and John Rolfe (MSQE December 2019) participated in a virtual MSQE Alumni Networking Panel on September 7, 2022.

Tyler currently works at McLagan Data & Analytics, as a Consultant.  John currently works at Spreetail as a Senior Demand Planner.  They spoke highly of their MSQE training in Python, R, and Economic Theory, and gave several examples of how they use these skills in their current positions.  They recommended applying early and often for summer internships.

The panel was moderated by Professor Harmon.

Matthew Ross, Ph.D. 2016, Associate Professor at Northeastern University

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Matthew Ross, 2016 UConn Ph.D. in Economics, has been hired by the School Public Policy & Urban Affairs and the Department of Economics at Northeastern University as an Associate Professor, leaving his previous Assistant Professor position at Claremont Graduate School.

Matt works on research related to technological change in the labor market, racial profiling in policing and the process of scientific research. His work has been or will soon be published in several major journals including Nature, Journal of Human Resources, Industrial Labor Relations Review, and Criminology and Public Policy. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the US Department of Transportation.

Professor Harmon has 2nd Most Cited Article in the Journal of Economic Education

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Professor Oskar Harmon’s paper “Are Online Exams an Invitation to Cheat?”, co-authored with Dr. Lambrinos, is the 2nd most cited article of all time in the Journal of Economic Education, considering all articles published in the journal.

The article may be found online here.

The abstract is below:

Title: Are Online Exams an Invitation to Cheat?

Abstract: In this study, the authors use data from two online courses in principles of economics to estimate a model that predicts exam scores from independent variables of student characteristics. In one course, the final exam was proctored, and in the other course, the final exam was not proctored. In both courses, the first three exams were unproctored. If no cheating took place, the authors expected the prediction model to have the same explanatory power for all exams, and, conversely, if cheating occurred in the unproctored exam, the explanatory power would be lower. Their findings are that both across and within class, variations in the R-squared statistic suggest that cheating was taking place when the exams were not proctored.

Stephen Acquah (MSQE 2023) awarded a National Association of Business Economists Scholarship

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Stephen Acquah, a 1st year student in the Masters of Science in Quantitative Economics (MSQE), was named a 2022-23 National Association of Business Economists (NABE) Scholar.

The NABE Scholars program provides scholarships to NABE conferences specifically to minority students and early-career economists to attend NABE conferences and events.  Alex Gu (UConn MSQE 2022) was a 2021 designee of this award.

Stephen is one of 20 selected scholars  and holds a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Verona, Italy, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He aspires to become a future Tech-economics expert and a Certified Business Economist (CBE).

The UConn MSQE Program is a participating partner and students can earn the CBE certification by completing MSQE courses, completing the CBE certification exam, and two years of work experience in applied business economics or in a related field.

Professor Prakash named Associate Editor with Journal of Development Economics

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Professor Nishith Prakash has been named an Associate Editor with the Journal of Development Economics, which publishes “original research papers relating to all aspects of economic development – from immediate policy concerns to structural problems of underdevelopment.”

Information about the Journal, and about the Editorial Board, may be found online at:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-development-economics/about