Faculty

Stamford Economics Students Explore FACTSET Data Platform

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FactSet creates data and software solutions for investment professionals around the world, providing instant access to financial data and analytics that investors use to make crucial investment decisions. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Norwalk, CT, a short distance from the Stamford campus.

All UConn Stamford students now have access to FactSet data portal through the terminals located in Jeremy Richard Library. Because students in Dr. Smirnova’s Financial Economics (ECON 3413) class are engaged in a project valuating a company of their choice, they used FactSet to get financial performance data and other information about the company they have selected, its competitors, and the industry, in which the company operates. However, there is a lot more depth to FactSet.

UConn Stamford Center for Career Development had arranged for a special (virtual) visit of FactSet’s Academic Specialist, Andi Huff, to Financial Economics class. On November 18, 2021, Andi demonstrated for students many features of FactSet portal. This knowledge will help students not only in completing the semester project, but also in developing skills in data analytics, and in utilizing this data source in other Economics courses as well as in other disciplines.

Ms. Andi Huff also introduces students to various career opportunities available at FactSet, such as Student Ambassador Program, Internships, and Client Solutions Associates positions.

Economics majors are prepared for a diverse range of careers, but jobs in data analytics are of a particular interest nowadays. Availability of FactSet’s platform at the Stamford campus plays an important role in enhancing our students’ readiness for careers in this field.

Stamford Economics Students Discuss their Career Aspirations

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On November 11, 2021, Stamford Economics majors met a special guest. The visitor was Jeff Magnuson, Career Consultant and owner of Jeff Magnuson Consulting. Jeff talked to students about developing a strategy for their job search and about specific steps they should take to aid this process.

Students learned about developing an understanding of the role they want to play at a firm they are applying to. This step of thinking about one’s passions and personal goals and objectives should be the first one in the job search process. Drafting the resume and cover letter should come after that. The practice of thinking deeper about what one wants to do will help making resume more focused and cover letter more persuasive.

Jeff encouraged students to be open and truthful. He motivated them to not get deterred by the competition, and to concentrate only on things within their control. He gave hints about utilizing mailings to the actual hiring manager instead of relying solely on the electronic uploads of the materials. Overall, many good ideas and suggestions were discussed, and students were grateful for the wealth of information that Mr. Magnuson provided.

The visits of business community members to the Stamford campus are encouraged by the CLAS 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. Supporting “Goal 3 Teaching” and the “Student Support and Engagement” objective, we are creating ways to better connect students with various opportunities related to their career aspirations. In support of “Goal 4: Broader Impacts, Service, and Visibility”, we are facilitating community engagement and increasing the visibility of CLAS with and for citizens of the state.

 

Photo: Mr. Jeff Magnuson (left) and Dr. Smirnova during the Stamford campus visit on November 11, 2021

Professor Prakash at the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative

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Professor Nishith Prakash spoke at a recent symposium on “Social Innovations in Policy, Healthcare, and Work Organizations to Advance Gender Equality” at the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI), an “innovative academic program designed to unleash the potential of experienced leaders to help solve society’s most pressing challenges.“

Information about the Advanced Leadership Initiative may be found online at:  https://www.advancedleadership.harvard.edu/

 

Research on Women’s Employment and COVID-19 by Professor Couch released by NBER

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“The Evolving Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gender Inequality in the U.S. Labor Market:  The COVID Motherhood Penalty” has been released by the National Bureau of Economic Research as Working Paper 29426.

The paper is co-authored by Professor Ken Couch along with Robert Fairlie at the University of California Santa Cruz and Huanan Xu at Indiana University South Bend.

Abstract:

We explore whether COVID-19 disproportionately affected women in the labor market using CPS data through the end of 2020. We find that male-female gaps in the employment-to-population ratio and hours worked for women with school-age children have widened but not for those with younger children. Triple-difference estimates are consistent with most of the reductions observed for women with school-age children being attributable to additional child care responsibilities (the “COVID motherhood penalty”). Conducting decompositions, we find women had a greater likelihood to telework, higher education levels and a less-impacted occupational distribution, which all contributed to lessening negative impacts relative to men.

The paper can be found at this link:  https://www.nber.org/papers/w29426

Early College Experience – Economics: Workshop 2021

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On Wednesday, October 27, 2021, Dr. Smirnova conducted annual professional development workshop for teachers participating in UCONN Early College Experience (ECE) Economics program. Dr. Smirnova, who is the Economics Department coordinator of this program, welcomed 34 teachers and presented the summary of NACEP (National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships) accreditation requirements. Dr. Smirnova emphasized the importance of course comparability such as student learning outcomes, syllabus, assessment, and grading standards. Dr. Smirnova proudly mentioned that University of Connecticut was the first institution in the nation that received NACEP accreditation in 1999.

Next on the agenda was an important topic of Highlighting Diversity and Inclusion with FRED® Data. This segment was presented by Dr. Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Senior Economic Education Specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Participants learned how to leverage FRED Blogs in their classes by accessing FRED Blog posts through EconLowDown and using multiple-choice questions addressing data literacy, numeracy, and econ analysis. Several examples highlighting the topics of diversity and inclusion were discussed, such as labor force participation of workers with disability and women’s employment losses due to COVID-19, among others. Dr. Mendez-Carbajo suggested possible uses of FRED Blogs such as pre-lecture independent exploration, in-class application exercises, assessment, and out-of-class assignments.

Contemporary monetary policy changes were addressed by Dr. Scott A. Wolla, Economic Education Coordinator at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. His presentation called “Monetary Policy Has Changed. Has Your Instruction?” highlighted new information about changes of primary monetary policy tools, flexible inflation targeting, and nuanced changes in the wording of the Fed’s dual mandate. Dr. Wolla carefully explained the contemporary implementation of monetary policy and shared classroom resources, which address these changes ahead of changes inside economics textbooks.

UCONN Library is a great resource for getting access to databases, reading materials, videos, and teaching our students about legitimate sources, citation styles, and research skills in general. In her presentation “UConn Library Resources for You and Your ECE Students”, Shelia A. Lafferty, Information Literacy & Social Sciences Librarian, showed various research tools as well as familiarized participants with the notion that there are “not only books” that are available at UCONN Library. She guided teachers to video recordings, data sources, academic journals, popular journals, and many other things that are part of the library collection. Ms. Lafferty created a special ECE Library Guide, which summarizes her presentation and can be accessed any time.

In conclusion, Dr. Smirnova encouraged teachers to continue perfecting their craft of teaching economics in an engaging way. To aid with that endeavor, every workshop participant will receive a complimentary electronic copy of the book “Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning” by Brown, Roediger III, and McDaniel (2014).

Thank you, Early College Experience Office, for making this professional development workshop a success!

Professor Ross has NBER Featured Paper on Foreclosure Spillovers

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Professor Steve Ross’s work (with Weiran Huang and Ashlyn Nelson) on foreclosure spillovers was the Featured Working Paper for October 4, 2021 on the National Bureau of Economic Research homepage: https://www.nber.org/

The paper “Broad Effects of Foreclosure Spillover” shows that spillovers can explain over 60% of the increase in the dispersion of foreclosure rates across neighborhoods during the foreclosure crisis.

The paper may be found at: https://www.nber.org/papers/w28851

Professor Furtado, Visiting Scientist at Harvard’s Population Center

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Professor Delia Furtado is spending the 2021-22 academic year visiting the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.

The Center brings together researchers from different disciplines across Harvard University with a common goal to “produce population-based evidence that will better inform policies needed to create healthy and resilient societies.” The Center has four main research focal areas:  Social & Environmental Determinants of Population Health, Aging Societies, Workplace & Well-Being, and Social & Family Demography.

While all of Professor Furtado’s research touches on at least one of these broad areas, during her stay at the center, she will focus on her work on the impacts of immigrant labor on long-term care markets.

Professor Ross has NBER Featured Paper on Career and Technical Education

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Professor Steve Ross’s work (with Eric Brunner and Shaun Dougherty) on the positive effects for students of attending one of Connecticut’s technical high schools was the Featured Working Paper for September 17, 2021 on the National Bureau of Economic Research homepage: https://www.nber.org/

The paper “The Effects of Career and Technical Education: Evidence from the Connecticut Technical High School System” may be found at: https://www.nber.org/papers/w28790