Congratulations to the undergraduate students from the Storrs campus who took part in the College Fed Challenge!
Tyler DiBrino, Gabriel Hack, Max Karsanow, Ari Nishimura-Gasparian, John Roberts, Alexander Rojas, Joaquin Sanchez, and Timothy Sullivan all participated on behalf of the University of Connecticut – Storrs in the 2017 Fed Challenge held at the Boston Fed on Friday, November 3rd. The students, and their faculty advisors Derek Johnson and Owen Svalestad, are shown at left in Boston.
Sponsored by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the “College Fed Challenge is a team competition for undergraduate students. Teams analyze economic and financial conditions and formulate a monetary policy recommendation, modeling the Federal Open Market Committee.”
Stanford University Press has just published the third edition of Thomas J. Miceli’s Law and Economics textbook.
From the publisher:
“Master teacher Thomas J. Miceli provides an introduction to law and economics that reveals how economic principles can explain the structure of the law and make it more efficient.
The third edition of this seminal textbook is thoroughly updated to include recent cases and the latest scholarship, with particular attention paid to torts, contracts, property rights, and the economics of crime. A new chapter organization, ideal for quarter- or semester-long courses, strengthens the book’s focus on unifying themes in the field.
As Miceli tells a cohesive, analytical “story” about law from a distinctly economic perspective, exercises and problems encourage students to deepen their knowledge.”
The New Frontiers in Development Economics conference, hosted by the Department of Economics, will be bringing together some of the most prominent researchers in Development Economics on October 6th and 7th.
Visit the website at http://newfrontiers.econ.uconn.edu for complete information about the program, speakers, location, and other details.
Richard Murnane, the Thompson Research Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, will present the Fall 2017 Philip E. Austin Chair Lecture on Economics & Public Policy:
Income Inequality & Private School Enrollment
The lecture, co-sponsored by the Philip E. Austin Chair, Center for Economic Policy and Analysis, and the Department of Economics, will be held:
Thursday, September 28th
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Dodd Center Konover Auditorium
Susanna Loeb, the Barnett Family Professor of Education at Stanford University, will present the second Philip E. Austin Research Seminar in Education Policy:
One Step at a Time: The Effects of an Early Literacy Text Messaging Program for Parents of Preschoolers
Monday, March 27
2:30 – 3:30 pm
Gentry 144
A reception will follow the seminar.
Susanna Loeb specializes in education policy, looking particularly at policies and practices that support teachers and school leaders. Her work spans the the range of age-level, including early education, K-12 and higher education. Her recent work focuses on information barriers to teaching improvement and parenting.
Loeb is a member of the National Board for Education Sciences, co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education, a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Douglas S. Massey, the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, will present the Spring 2017 Philip E. Austin Chair Lecture on Economics & Public Policy:
America’s Immigration Policy Fiasco
The lecture, co-sponsored by the Philip E. Austin Chair, the Department of Economics, the Department of Geography, the Department of Sociology, the Urban and Community Studies Program & the journal Urban Geography, will be held:
Thursday, March 23rd
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Dodd Center Konover Auditorium
Congratulations to Economics students Rebecca Hill and Lucas Silva Lopes, who are among the twenty-three University of Connecticut undergraduates who have been selected as the 2017 University Scholars:
Rebecca Hill Major: English/Economics Project Title: The Western Madwoman: A Feminist History and Economic Study in Novel Form Committee: Ellen Litman, English (chair), Veronica Makowsky, English & Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Delia Furtado, Economics
Lucas Silva Lopes Major: Political Science/Economics Project Title: Presidential Interruptions and Interim Presidents: How Do Latin American Countries Re-Equilibrate Both Politically and Macroeconomically After a Presidential Interruption? Committee: Matthew Singer, Political Science (chair), Veronica Herrera, Political Science, Derek Johnson, Economics
“The University Scholar Program is one of the most prestigious programs for undergraduates at the University of Connecticut. Available to students from all of the University’s schools and colleges, the University Scholar Program allows students to design and pursue an in-depth research or creative project and to craft an individualized plan of study that supports their intellectual interests during their final three semesters. Each student is mentored by an advisory committee of three faculty.
No more than 30 University Scholars are selected each year. Admission is based on an application submitted during the first semester of a student’s junior year. Applications are reviewed by an interdisciplinary faculty committee that looks for innovative projects and academically rigorous course selection. Graduation as a University Scholar recognizes a student’s exceptional engagement in research and/or creative endeavors.”
The Department of Economics has a new MS program, now accepting applications to start in Fall 2017.
The Master of Science in Quantitative Economics (MSQE) Program emphasizes the development of skills in quantitative methods and data analysis, as well as the application of those skills to economic problems. The program combines training in economic principles/theory with strong training in quantitative and analytical methods.
The program qualifies as a STEM program. It is designed for individuals who seek careers in public and private sectors, including, for example, insurance companies, health care providers, think-tanks, financial consultancies, accounting firms, and academic institutions.
The program requires a minimum of 30-credits and typically is completed over three semesters. Due to course sequencing, students are only admitted to the MSQE program for the Fall semester.
Congratulations to the undergraduate students from the Stamford and Storrs campuses who took part in the College Fed Challenge this month!
Sponsored by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the “College Fed Challenge is a team competition for undergraduate students. Teams analyze economic and financial conditions and formulate a monetary policy recommendation, modeling the Federal Open Market Committee.”
The Stamford team (above left) participated in the NY Fed Challenge, competing against forty-one other schools.
The Storrs team (below right) presented at the Boston Fed Challenge, competing against twenty-four other New England schools.
Congratulations to both teams on all of their hard work in this competition!
Stamford Team:
Joanna Ksiazek
Chris McLaughlin
Amir Parikh
Shrey Patel
Alex Rojas
Ravinder Singh
Dr. Julia Coronado (Advisor)
Professor Oskar Harmon (Advisor)
Professor Steven Lanza (Advisor)
Professor Kanda Naknoi (Advisor)
Storrs Team:
Patrick Adams
Matt DeLeon
Erik Eason
Gabriel Hack
Ed Leardi
Stephen Mwangi
Matt Regan
Joe Roessler
Professor Owen Svalestad (Advisor)
Professor Amy Ellen Schwartz, the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Affairs at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, will present The Impact of Universal Free Meals on Student Outcomes as the speaker at the first biannual Austin Seminar in Education Policy.
The lecture, co-sponsored by the Center for Education Policy Analysis, the Neag School of Education, and the Department of Economics, and presented jointly with the Health, Labor and Development seminar series of the Department of Economics, will be held:
Tuesday, October 25th
3:00 – 4:30 pm
Gentry 142, 144
A reception will follow the seminar.
The Abstract: This paper investigates the academic effects of providing school meals free of charge to all students. Using detailed data on NYC public school students, we estimate the impact of “Universal Free Meals” (UFM) on standardized test scores, participation in school meals, obesity and BMI.
Using a difference in difference design and novel student-level transaction data, we explore the heterogeneity of the impact by student race/ethnicity, poverty, and, critically, prior participation in school lunch. Most important, we find that UFM significantly increases academic performance of middle school students by as much as 0.1 sd, large enough to pass a commonly used threshold for a successful academic intervention.
UFM increases lunch participation by roughly 5.2 percentage points for poor students and larger effects of 13.5 percentage points for non-poor students. Similarly, the effect of UFM is larger for students with low baseline participation, than those with high baseline participation. Finally, we find some evidence of reductions in weight and obesity for non-poor students driven, perhaps, by the better nutritional value of school lunch compared to competitive alternatives.
Tyler DiBrino, Gabriel Hack, Max Karsanow, Ari Nishimura-Gasparian, John Roberts, Alexander Rojas, Joaquin Sanchez, and Timothy Sullivan all participated on behalf of the University of Connecticut – Storrs in the 2017 Fed Challenge held at the Boston Fed on Friday, November 3rd. The students, and their faculty advisors Derek Johnson and Owen Svalestad, are shown at left in Boston.
