Professors Alpert and Harmon present at AEA

Posted on by

AEA[1]Professor William Alpert and Professor Oskar Harmon were panel discussants in the session “The Effects of Online Economics Courses on Student Learning” and presented the  paper “The Effectiveness of Interactive Online Exercises across Delivery Format”,  co-authored with Professor James Lambrinos (Union Graduate College) at the American Economic Association, Annual Meetings, San Diego CA, Jan 3-6, 2013.  Their paper evaluates the effectiveness of online activities controlling for delivery format.  The data are from a Principles of Microeconomics class taught in three different delivery formats: traditional lecture, fully online (no in class meetings), or blended (combination of online lecture and in-class discussion.  Overall the empirical estimates are consistent with the hypothesis that participation in interactive learning exercises has a positive effect on exam score at a statistically significant level.  Professors Alpert and Harmon were also panel discussants in the session “The Effects of Online Economics Courses on Student Learning.”

 

Professor Nishith Prakash awarded Faculty Large Grant

Posted on by

prak[1]Professor Nishith Prakash was recently awarded a Faculty Large Grant by the Office of the Vice President for Research for his proposal entitled Affirmative Action, Public Service Delivery and Well-Being in India. Below please find the abstract for this project.

The world’s biggest and arguably most aggressive form of affirmative action policy in employment exists in India, where government jobs are explicitly reserved for historically disadvantaged minority groups. In this research project, we aim to study the impact of employment quotas for “Other Backward Classes” (OBCs) mandated by the Mandal Commission on public service delivery and well-being. The Mandal Commission reserved approximately 27% of government jobs for OBCs. The specific outcomes we examine include implementation of government sponsored schemes, provision of public infrastructure, mobility, and education, health and employment outcomes. We are not aware of any existing study that rigorously quantifies the effects of any aspect of the Mandal Commission.

Professor Randolph and Ph.D. candidate Patrick Flaherty on WHUS

Posted on by

whuslogo[1]One of Connecticut’s National Public Radio stations, WSHU, launched a program Thursday November 28th called the “State of Disparity.” The program focuses on inequality in Connecticut.  The research of Professor Susan Randolph, Emeritus Professor William Lott, and Ph.D. candidate Patrick Flaherty provided background information for the program, some of which was published in The Connecticut Economy.  Both Professor Randolph and Patrick Flaherty and were interviewed by Craig LeMoult. 

The launch of the program along with some sound clips from the interview can be heard on Morning Edition (See November 28th entry) can be found at the website devoted to the program:   http://www.stateofdisparity.org/ .  

Click below to see the two articles from The Connecticut Economy that provided background to the program.

What Drives Income Inequality Among Connecticut’s Families?

Nutmeg Haves and Have Nots: How Wide the Divide?

Professor Segerson appointed to the NAS Review Panel of the National Climate Assessment

Posted on by

The National Climate Assessment, which is conducted every four years and submitted to the President and Congress, provides an assessment of the state of knowledge about climate change and its impacts in the U.S.  The report was mandated by the 1990 Global Change Research Act.  The first assessment was produced in 2000, and the next one is due to be released in 2013.  By statute, before release, it must be reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences.  NAS has recently put together the panel that will review the report.  The 23-member panel is comprised of scholars from across the country in a wide range of fields.  Professor Kathleen Segerson has been appointed as a panel member.  As part of her appointment, she will be responsible for providing comments and feedback on the draft report to the U.S. Global Climate Change Research Program, which is responsible for preparing the report.  After the review process is completed, the final report will be available to the public at http://www.globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment/nca-overview.

Interpreting the American Revolution as Civil War

Posted on by

Professor Paul Hallwood will have a paper published in Defence and Peace Economics entitled “Quantifying Greed and Grievance in Civil Wars: The American War of Independence”.  A strand in the political science literature asks ‘why do civil wars happen’? With blood diamonds in mind one possibility is greed; but in many other cases civil wars are provoked by grievances against the central power – Chechnya and Kosovo come to mind.  Hallwood collects data on the cost of British Empire membership and war costs to the American colonists and passes them through his economic model to find that the Americans were over-whelmingly motivated by grievance. In over 200-years of scholarship, while some historians argue as much, others emphasize the greed hypothesis, to be rid of the economic burdens of colonial status. As one historian observed a generation ago, the debate raged on because of a lack of a scientific model to settle the dispute.  Hallwood offers such a model.

Professor Ross attends HDS 2010 Advisory Council Meeting

Posted on by

Professor Stephen Ross attended the advisory council meeting for the 2010 Housing Discrimination Study at the Urban Institute on Nov 16th.  The 2010 Housing Discrimination Study is a nationwide effort to measure the level of racial and ethnic discrimination in U.S. metropolitan areas using pairs of testers sent to the same real estate or rental agency.  Professor Ross was the research director for the 2000 Housing Discrimination Study and has been a key advisor on the new study since its inception.

Seminar Series: Alumnus Jeffrey Milyo

Posted on by

On Friday, November 16, the Economics Department welcomed back an illustrious alumnus as a speaker in the department’s weekly seminar series.  Jeffrey Milyo ’86, Middlebush Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Missouri, spoke on “Campaign Finance Reform and the ‘Actuality and Appearance’ of Corruption.”

Milyo graduated from UConn as an Honors and University Scholar, which allowed him to receive the B.A. and M.A. in Economics simultaneously.  He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford, and went on to positions at Tufts and the University of Chicago before coming to Missouri.

Using differences in campaign-finance laws among U. S. states as a natural experiment, Milyo’s seminar paper tested empirically the effect of campaign-finance reform on corruption in government.  His conclusion is that campaign finance reform has no discernible effect on levels of corruption.

Professor Harmon Presents at ITL Lunchtime Workshop

Posted on by

Prof. Oskar Harmon co-presented with Professor Steven Park at the Uconn Institute of Teaching and Learning’s lunchtime workshop “Mobile Learn for Students” on Nov. 6 2012.  The seminars provide an opportunity to gather with colleagues to listen, discuss, comment, interact, and reflect on a number of topics. Prof. Harmon is part of the Fall 2012 Mobile Learn pilot  project exploring the capabilities of the mobile App for BlackBoard Next Generation.  At the workshop Prof. Harmon discussed  his experience with creating tests, announcements, and multimedia course content for mobile devices.

Econ Professor’s Book Translated into Vietnamese

Posted on by

The book Toward a Market Economy in Vietnam edited by Associate Professor William Alpert has been translated into Vietnamese. The translated title, “Để Tiến Tới Một Nền Kinh Tế Tự Do ở Việt Nam,” changes “market economy” to “free economy,” emphasizing social justice over competition.

Professor Alpert comments that “The Vietnamese are attempting their own version of a Chinese Economic Miracle.”