Anupam Nanda, 2006 PhD alumnus in Economics, has joined the faculty of Real Estate and Planning, Henley Business School at University of Reading (United Kingdom), one of the world’s leading centers for real estate education and research. His doctoral dissertation was advised by Prof. Stephen Ross, Prof. John Clapp, and Prof. Dennis Heffley. Previously, he worked with Deloitte , Market Intelligence group in Mumbai, and the Economics group of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in Washington DC. His research papers have appeared in Journal of Urban Economics and The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. Anupam’s research interests are in real estate economics, empirical finance as well as urban economics and local public finance. He is currently working on the minimum services mandate for the real estate brokers.
Prof. Zimmermann to speak at British Library event
Prof. Christian Zimmermann is to speak at the end of the week at a conference at the British Library in London on subject repositories. These are collections or works and research, like the DigitalCommons at the University of Connecticut, but for subjects instead of institutions. The two prime examples of subject repositories are arXiv for Physics and RePEc for Economics. Prof. Zimmermann will talk about the latter, in particular how it came to grow with very little resources.
The conference will in particular feature the official launch of a new online service for Economists, the Nereus lead EconomistOnline portal, which at this point relies heavily on data from RePEc. Prof. Zimmermann will conclude his European trip by giving further talks at the German universities of Cologne, Dortmund, Giessen and Darmstadt.
Department 16th in “blog reputation ranking”
According to a recent article in the Eastern Economic Journal, our department ranks 16th by reputation of their blogging faculty. The authors took a selection of the 85 most important economics blogs, then looked at the academic citation frequency of their regulator contributors. Prof. Richard Langlois, who regularly posts on Organizations and Markets ranks 9th by academic impact, and all by himself brings the department to a ranking of 16th. A possibly better ranking could have been in the cards if any of the blogs Prof. Christian Zimmermann contributes to had been included in the analysis: Against Monopoly, the RePEc blog and the NEP-DGE blog.
Prof. Segerson wins Publication of Enduring Quality Award
At the recent Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) meeting in Atlanta, GA, Professor Kathy Segerson was awarded the 2009 Publication of Enduring Quality Award by the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE). This award, instituted in 1989, is given annually to the author(s) of a publication that is deemed to have had a lasting and significant impact on the field of environmental and natural resource economics. Professor Segerson received the award for her paper entitled “Uncertainty and Incentives for Nonpoint Pollution Control,” which was published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management in 1988. During the award ceremony, the presenter of the award noted that “Dr. Segerson’s paper was the first to incorporate the fundamental characteristics of nonpoint source pollution into a formal theoretical model to study efficient tax schemes.” This paper proposed an innovative policy approach to controlling agricultural production based on observations of ambient water quality, which some have termed the “Segerson mechanism”. In recent years, it is spawned a number of studies that have examined the incentives created by this mechanism and related ambient-based policies using economic laboratory experiments.
Department seeking to fill position in Economic Rights
The Department of Economics, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Human Rights Institute (HRI) – at the University of Connecticut seek to fill a tenure track faculty position in Economic Rights at the Assistant Professor level beginning August 23, 2010. Duties will include teaching, research and service. The successful applicant must demonstrate: (1) the potential for research excellence in Economics and Human Rights, (2) willingness to contribute to the development of economic courses appropriate for the new human rights major, (3) the drive to actively seek external funds to support their scholarly activities and (4) ability to contribute through research, teaching, and/or public engagement to the diversity and excellence of the learning experience Teaching responsibilities on the graduate and undergraduate levels will be in both the Department of Economics and the Human Rights Institute. The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to participate in and help shape a range of interdisciplinary programs based at HRI and throughout the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Depending upon appointment, candidates may work at the University of Connecticut’s main campus located in Storrs, and/or the campuses at Avery Point, Hartford, Stamford, Torrington, Waterbury, and West Hartford, as well as the Health Center in Farmington.
Candidates must have completed all requirements for a Ph.D. in Economics by August 23, 2010. Equivalent foreign degrees are acceptable. Salary will be commensurate with background, qualifications, and experience.
Please submit letter of interest, CV, three letters of reference and writing sample by March 1, 2010 to: Economics-HRI Search Committee, Department of Economics, Unit 1063, University of Connecticut, 341 Mansfield Road, Storrs, CT 06269-1063 or send material as email attachment (one single pdf document) to: rosanne.fitzgerald@uconn.edu Applications will be reviewed until the position is filled. (Search # 2010231)
CLAS faculty snapshot features Prof. Segerson
Kathleen Segerson (IDEAS), has worked as an environmental economist for 25 years. She is an elected fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists and is known for developing the Segerson mechanism, a policy for rewarding or penalizing farmers as a group for their agricultural pollution runoff. She is a science advisory board member for the Environmental Protection Agency and vice chairs a committee on how to value the impact of EPA rules on ecosystems.
Listen to the podcast of this snapshot.
BA Alumnus endows fund for Honors Program
An alumni couple who felt compelled to give back to the University of Connecticut for the education they received will now make a similar difference in the lives of future honors students. Robert ’68 and Carlotta ’68 Holster have contributed more than $1 million to fund an endowment for the Honors Program.
“Building on the quality of our outstanding Honors Program is a key strategy to attract the very best and brightest students to the University of Connecticut. This wonderful gift will enable us to expand the opportunities for students to have a truly enriched experience, and will enable us to provide the quality of undergraduate education that our top students have come to expect,” says Provost Peter Nicholls.
A self-described “curious but indifferent” student when he started college, Mr. Holster was excited by the Honors Program. He credits his professors during his first year with inspiring a lifelong passion for learning and preparing him for success throughout his life.
“They were talented, engaged with their material and their students, and it was infectious,” Mr. Holster recalls. “Those freshman courses in economics, English literature and history armed me with models for thinking about things that assisted me later in the Army and in graduate school, and remain relevant to this day in business.”
After graduating from UConn with a B.A. in economics, Mr. Holster served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and then earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University, where he was a Samuel Bronfman fellow. He is chairman of the board and former chief executive officer of HMS Holdings Corp. HMS coordinates health care benefits between government entitlement programs (e.g., Medicaid) and the health insurance industry, working with more than 40 states and the federal government. Mr. Holster was elected to the UConn Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2009.
Read more at the University of Connecticut Foundation.
Timothy A. and Beverly C. Holt Economics Fellowship established
Timothy Holt ’75, chairman of the Board of Directors of the University of Connecticut Foundation, is supporting his two great passions—economics and Huskies basketball—with a major campaign gift. Holt and his wife, Beverly, have committed $401,000 including $150,000 to establish the Timothy A. and Beverly C. Holt Economics Fellowship and $251,000 toward the fund for a new basketball practice facility.
Holt, retired senior vice president and chief investment officer at Aetna, credits his education at UConn for helping with his professional success. He was elected to the Foundation’s board in 2001 and assumed the chairmanship in 2009. Additionally, he was inducted into the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame in 2005.
“I received my education at UConn, and I’m grateful for that. That’s why I’m giving back. I’d like to help other people receive as good an education as I did,” Holt says. “UConn stands out for its ability to give people the opportunity to receive an excellent education.”
Holt, who earned a B.A. in economics from UConn and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, wanted to support an area the economics department is seeking to expand. The Holt Economics Fellowship will provide essential support for graduate students who are conducting research, teaching undergraduate classes and preparing to be the next generation of leaders in the field.
“When I was an undergraduate student at UConn, I majored in economics, and so I wanted to do something that would benefit the economics department. We talked to them about what would be the most helpful in achieving their strategic goals. Graduate student support is one of their highest priorities,” Holt says.
Read more at the University of Connecticut Foundation
Department has strong presence at ASSA meetings in Atlanta
The annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations in early January is the big meeting place of economists, about 11,000 are expected this year. Many members of the department will be in attendance, and quite a few will be presenting their research, see the list below. Note that the department is not organizing a reception this year, but an informal gathering will happen on Monday January 4th, 8:30pm, at the Westin Peachtree Plaza (210 Peachtree St.). We will be heading to a restaurant thereafter.
Jan. 3, 8:00 am, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, International C (American Economic Association)
Low-Skilled Immigration and Work-Fertility Tradeoffs Among High-Skilled U.S. Natives
Delia Furtado (University of Connecticut)
Heinrich Hock (Florida State University)
Jan. 3, 10:15 am, Hilton Atlanta, Room 211 (American Economic Association and Association of Environmental and Resource Economists)
Combining Environmental and Development Goals: Strategies for Moving Forward (Panel Discussion)
Presiding: Kathleen Segerson (University of Connecticut )
Christopher Barrett (Cornell University)
Ariel Dinar (University of California-Riverside)
Paul Ferraro (Georgia State University)
Charles Perrings (Arizona State University)
Ma Zhong (Renmin University, China)
David Zilberman (University of California-Berkeley)
Jan. 3, 10:15 am, Hilton Atlanta, Room 306 (Society of Government Economists)
Measurement Issues in the Labor Market
Kenneth Couch (discussant, University of Connecticut)
Jan. 3, 12:30 pm, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M103 (National Association of Economics Educators)
Student Performance in Traditional vs. Online Format: Evidence from an MBA Level Introductory Economics Class
Oskar Harmon (University of Connecticut)
James Lambrinos (Union University)
Jan. 3, 12:30 pm, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M303 (Omicron Delta Epsilon)
The Impact of Population Density on Technology, Productivity of Human Capital and Growth
Juan-Pedro Garces (University of Connecticut)
Jan. 4, 10:15 am, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, L508 (American Economic Association)
Measuring Employment Transitions and Mass Layoffs with Administrative Data
Kenneth Couch (University of Connecticut)
Dana Placzek (Connecticut Department of Labor)
Jan. 4, 10:15 am, Hilton Atlanta, Room 206 (American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association)
Urban Labor Markets
Stephen Ross (discussant, University of Connecticut)
Jan. 4, 2:30 pm, Hilton Atlanta, Room 210 (Association of Indian Economic and Financial Studies)
Profit Efficiency and Return on Equity in Banking: Evidence from India
Subash Ray (University of Connecticut)
Abhiman Das (Reserve Bank of India)
Kankana Mukherjee (Babson College)
Jan. 5, 1:00 pm, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, L402 (American Economic Association)
Malaria Policy: Alternative Prevention and Eradication Strategies in a Dynamic Model
Douglas Gollin (Williams College)
Christian Zimmermann (University of Connecticut)
Preliminary Spring seminar program released
The UConn Department of Economics pursues an active seminar program to allow outsiders to present their latest research as well as local faculty and students to run their latest output by their colleagues. For this Spring term, the preliminary program has been posted. Among the regular activities are:
- the seminars, typically given by faculty from outside the university, are given Fridays at 3:30pm and run for 90 minutes;
- the brownbags are scheduled for Tuesdays at 12:30pm this term and run for 45-60 minutes. Usually, local faculty and students present their work in an informal setting. Bring your lunch;
- the macro workshop is set for most Wednesdays at 12:20pm, with presentations on macroeconomics, broadly defined, and sometimes on very preliminary research. Bring your lunch, and non-macroeconomists are also welcome;
- Other, irregular activities are also listed on the seminar page. They include the Austin Forum, a new event sponsored by the Austin Chair in Economics, and a reunion of graduate alumni.