Faculty

Prof. Alpert speaks at Ascend Event

ascendProfessor Bill Alpert was one of three panelists (the other two being IBM Senior Vice Presidents, including their chief economist) discussing “Big Data” at an event in Stamford in December.  Ascend is the largest, non-profit Pan-Asian organization for business professionals in North America. Established in 2005, Ascend has grown to serve professionals and corporations across various professions and across multiple industries.

Prof. Randolph Publishes Book

bookcoverOne of the most ambitious legacies of the 20th century was the universal commitment to ensure freedom from want as a human right.  But to what extent are countries across the world living up to this commitment?  Find out in Prof. Randolph’s new book with Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and Terra Lawson-Remer, Fulfilling Social and Economic Rights (New York:  Oxford University Press, 2015). Fulfilling Social and Economic Rights develops an innovative evidence-based index for comparing performance on education, food, health, work and housing across very differently situated countries over time and explores the factors influencing performance.  In doing so, it provides empirical evidence to resolve some longstanding controversies over the principle of “progressive realization” and advances our knowledge about the status of and factors promoting social and economic rights fulfillment in the 21st century.

Prof. Naknoi Publishes in Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control

journalecondynamics.gifProf. Naknoi’s sole-authored paper titled “Exchange Rate Volatility and Fluctuations in the Extensive Margin of Trade” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. Her study provides new evidence that the extensive margin of trade fluctuates over the business cycle, using quarterly data of U.S. bilateral trade with 99 countries. Also, she shows that fixing exchange rates with the U.S. dollar, having a free trade agreement with the U.S., and an increase in country size is significantly associated with the stability of the pattern of trade with the U.S.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

 

Prof. Ross in Washington Post Blog

rossProfessor Ross‘s work on mortgage lending was featured in the Washington Post’s Storyline Blog.

Read it here.

Professor Ross’s work finds large differences in the price of credit paid by African-Americans and Hispanics compared to white borrowers that cannot be explained by traditional underwriting variables.  These differences primarily arise due to differences in loan pricing across lenders, rather differential treatment of whites and minority borrowers at the same lender. Further, these differences are concentrated among borrowers from locations that have high poverty rates and relatively lower education borrowers

Couch organizes Conference at AARP

couch

Couch organizes Conference at AARP

Professor Couch along with his collaborators, Julie Zissimopoulos (USC) and Mary Daly (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco), organized a one-day conference on Social Insurance and Lifecycle Events Among Older Americans held at the national headquarters of AARP in Washington, D.C. on December 5th.  Researchers from major universities, federal agencies, consulting firms, and think tanks made presentations.  About 80 people attended the event including representatives of two Congressional committees, multiple federal agencies, several philanthropic organizations, the NIA, and numerous universities and think tanks.  The papers presented will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of Research on Aging.  The event was supported by a grant from AARP to the University of Connecticut.

Prof. Ross’s research mentioned in Slate Magazine

rossAn article on the American Melting Pot in Slate Magazine on October 31st discusses one of Professor Ross‘s recent working papers.  In this paper, Professors Ananat, Fu and Ross find that African-Americans benefit less in terms of earnings for working in locations with lots of economic activity.  Exposure to economic activity allows workers and firms to learn from each other and raises productivity and thus wages.  However, these spillovers appear to accrue along racial lines so that African-Americans do not benefit from a vibrant work location when most of the individuals working in that location are white.

Prof. Hallwood’s Press Release

Prof. Paul Hallwood’s (with Professor Ronald MacDonald of University of Glasgow) Press Release on Wednesday of his position paper (submitted to the Smith Commission) outlining a new fiscal settlement for Scotland – following September’s Independence Referendum – had within 24-hours received widespread coverage in the Scottish Press; five newspapers covered it in six reports or editorials. The headlines of the news pieces were: “No Scots bail-out by Westminster, academics warn” (Daily Express), “Pressure mounts on Labour to review tax proposals” and an editorial “Party labours with its powers plan” (The Herald), “Scotland should have to wait 15 years for a bailout it its spends too much” (The Scotsman), “Tight rein on spending needed” (Aberdeen Press and Journal), and “Put up and Shut up” (Daily Record).