Faculty

Professor Prakash in the Media

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The London School of Economics has cited Professor Prakash‘s paper on education and incentives in Bihar in their blog. The paper, titled “Education Policies and Practices: What Have We Learnt and the Road Ahead for Bihar,” has also been covered by Ideas for India, which Professor Prakash was invited to join earlier this year.

Professor Prakash has also published a non-technical summary of his paper “The Redistributive Effects of Political Reservation for Minorities: Evidence from India” in VOX. VOX is a policy portal that aims to promote research-based policy analysis and commentary by leading scholars.

Professor Nishith Prakash has been invited to Growth Week 2012, a three day conference held by the International Growth Centre at the London School of Economics. Professor Prakash spent time at the IGC this summer as an academic visitor. The conference will be held from September 24-26.

Professor Shor Named Associate Editor of Economic Inquiry

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Economic InquiryEconomic Inquiry, a general interest journal, has named Professor Mike Shor as Associate Editor. Published since 1962, Economic Inquiry is widely regarded as one of the top scholarly journals in its field.

Economic Inquiry has taken steps in recent years to diversify its areas of specialization. Professor Shor will primarily be assisting in the newly developed area of Competition Economics.

Professor Prakash’s Article Accepted in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

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Cover of JEBOProfessor Nishith Prakash‘s article titled “Consumption and Social Identity: Evidence from India” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 

Abstract:
We examine spending on consumption items which have signaling value in social interactions across groups with distinctive social identities in India, where social identities are defined by caste and religious affiliations. Using nationally representative micro data on household consumption expenditures, we find that disadvantaged caste groups such as Other Backward Castes spend eight percent more on visible consumption than Brahmin and High Caste groups while social groups such as Muslims spend fourteen percent less, after controlling for differences in permanent income, household assets and household demographic composition. The differences across social groups are significant and robust and these differences persist within different sub populations. We find that the higher spending of OBC households on visible consumption is diverted from education spending, while Muslim households divert spending from visible consumption and education towards greater food spending. Additionally, we find that these consumption patterns can be partly explained as a result of the status signaling nature of the consumption items. We also discuss alternative sources of differences in consumption patterns across groups which stem from religious observance.

Click to view full article.

Professor Prakash in The Times of India

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The Times of India published a story highlighting a paper co-authored by Professor Nishith Prakash. The paper, titled “Education Policies and Practices: What Have We Learnt and the Road Ahead for Bihar,” analyzes the steps taken by the Indian government to improve education in the region of Bihar, and the effects of those steps.

To read more, click here.

Prof Harmon at the AEA National Conference

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Prof. Oskar Harmon presented the paper  “Interactive Online Exercises: An Evaluation of Their Effectiveness in a Large Size Principles of Economics Class at a Public University” co-authored with Prof. William Alpert, at the AEA’s 2nd Annual National Conference on Teaching Economics, Boston, MA, May 30 to June 1, 2012.

Their paper reported empirical estimates of the effect of various online exercises on learning outcomes.

Professor Prakash invited to join new India Policy Portal

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International Growth Centre
Professor Nishith Prakash was recently invited to join a newly formed online economics and policy portal for India, funded by the International Growth Centre (IGC). The portal will potentially become the go-to source for ideas and evidence on policy issues in India.  The portal’s goal is to be an ideologically neutral portal for researchers to discuss policies and ideas with a wide audience, and to encourage debate and analysis based on rigorous evidence.

Professor Prakash’s expertise and research in the Indian economy made him a sought after addition to the group. His “Cycling to School” project, which focuses on school attendance in rural India, is also funded by the IGC.

Recent UConn Visitor accepts Position at Top 10 Chinese Research Institution

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Xiaofang Dong, who visited our department for a year and a half to work with Professor Stephen Ross on agglomeration economies, recently accepted a faculty position at Xiamen University in China.  Xiamen University was ranked 6th this year among research institutions in China.  Xiaofang recently completed her dissertation on Entreprenuership, Firm life cycle and Agglomeration Economics at the Southwest University of Finance and Economics, China.

Oxford University Press publishes book edited by Professor Couch

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Oxford University Press has published a book entitled, Counting the Poor:  New Thinking about European Poverty Measures and Lessons for the United States, co-edited by Professor Douglas Besharov at the University of Maryland and Professor Kenneth Couch at the University of Connecticut.  The book is a collection of papers by leading scholars on current European measures of poverty, their conceptual underpinnings, and how they contrast with poverty measurement in the United States.  The papers were originally presented at a conference held at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris co-organized by Besharov and Couch.

Ph.D. candidate Leshui He presents at two conferences

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On April 11, Economics Ph.D. candidate Leshui He presented a paper at the Universitas 21 Doctoral Conference organized in Hartford by the UConn School of Business. UConn recently joined Universitas 21, which is a consortium of top universities in 13 countries. The doctoral conference brought to UConn graduate students and faculty from many member universities, providing Ph.D. students with comments on their work and an opportunity to meet and network with their counterparts from around the world. Leshui’s dissertation advisor, Professor Richard Langlois, who is a member of UConn’s Study Abroad Advisory Committee, served as discussant for a number of papers at the conference.

A few days later, on April 14, Leshui presented the same paper — titled “Subeconomy Meets Property Rights: A Theory of the Firm” — at the annual doctoral colloquium of the Consortium for Competitiveness and Cooperation (CCC), held this year at the Robert H. Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland.

Professor Prakash Featured on UConn Today

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Professor Prakash’s “Cycling to School” project is featured on UConn Today. Professor Prakash’s project centers around providing bicycles to girls in rural India, in an effort to increase school attendance. The project is funded by the International Growth Centre .

Click here to read more.