04 March 2016 3:17PM read more about Alumni Spotlight: Juanita Kreps »
26 February 2016 3:52PM read more about In the Media: A Trump Wave Is on the Way »
Professor Christopher Timmins presented on the economics of environmental justice at a briefing of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. USCCR is an independent, bipartisan agency that advises the president and Congress on civil rights matters. Its 2016 enforcement report, to be released later this year, will examine whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is complying with its environmental justice obligations to ensure that environmental damage is not… read more about Timmins Provides Testimony on Environmental Justice at USCCR »
09 February 2016 9:26AM read more about Using Price to Avoid Vaccine Shortages »
04 February 2016 1:45PM read more about In the Media: A Lottery to Lose »
25 January 2016 11:41AM The Duke Financial Economics Center (DFE) is excited to host three finance competitions for undergraduates this semester. In partnership with corporate sponsors, the DFE has scheduled the PEAK6 Business Strategy Competition for March 4, the Morgan Stanley Equity Research Competition for April 5, and the Deutsche Bank Finance Game Show for April 12. The competitions are designed to educate participants on different roles in the finance sector and hone essential skills for those interested in pursuing… read more about The DFE Announces Spring 2016 Finance Competitions »
13 January 2016 2:23PM In honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and MLK Day, social media company WalletHub identified which U.S. states have made the biggest strides in the name of equality and integration. Professor William Darity, Jr. provided expert commentary for the report. WalletHub examined 10 key indicators of progress, ranging from median annual income to homeownership rates to voter turnout and created two rankings lists: state rankings based on racial integration and state rankings based on racial… read more about Commentary: 2016's States That Have Achieved the Most Racial Progress »
30 December 2015 10:17AM Duke Department of Economics faculty and graduate students will be presenting their new research at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (AEA) on Jan. 3-5. Additionally, Duke Economics Ph.D. job market candidates have interviews scheduled throughout the three-day meeting in San Francisco. The following is a list of work to be presented at the conference that have been authored or co-authored by our faculty and students: College Attrition and the Dynamics of… read more about New Research to Be Presented at the 2016 AEA Annual Conference »
21 December 2015 11:47AM In the last half-century, economists increasingly have turned to empirical methods in their research, and empirical studies now represent the majority of published work in the top economic journals. However, what some economists may not realize is that the shift toward empirical economics indicates that the discipline could be in the midst of a fundamental change. Duke Economics Ph.D. students Matt Panhans and John Singleton sought to understand this transition by examining the rise of quasi-… read more about Panhans and Singleton to Present Paper at the AEA Meeting »
18 December 2015 4:31PM Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's recently suggested that black students might perform better at less challenging institutions. Though his comments caused outrage, they are based on research "showing that a substantial number of black students would do better — and be happier — at schools less selective than the ones they are often admitted to via racial preferences," writes John McWhorter in an op-ed for CNN. One example of this research is a study by Duke Economics Professors Peter… read more about In the Media: Actually, Scalia Had a Point »
15 December 2015 10:21AM Abstract Using data from Pennsylvania and an array of empirical techniques to control for confounding factors, we recover hedonic estimates of property value impacts from nearby shale gas development that vary with water source, well productivity, and visibility. Results indicate large negative impacts on nearby groundwater-dependent homes, while piped-water-dependent homes exhibit smaller positive impacts, suggesting benefits from lease payments. Results have implications for the… read more about The Housing Market Impacts of Shale Gas Development »
07 December 2015 9:12AM Six startup teams last month pitched a panel of judges to represent Duke University at the upcoming Hult Prize Regional Finals on Mar. 12, 2016. Dhoop Energy, the brainchild of second-year master’s student Raghav Saboo (M.A. ’16), was the winning pitch. Billed as the “planet’s largest student competition to solve the world’s toughest challenges,” the Hult Prize, in collaboration with the Clinton Global Initiative, this year challenged budding social entrepreneurs to create “sustainable, scalable,… read more about Raghav Saboo (M.A. ’16) and Team Win Duke Hult Prize Pitch Contest »
04 December 2015 11:24AM For the third consecutive year, a team of Duke seniors took the top prize at the Carolina Hedge Fund Challenge, winning $10,000 and free registration for the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation exam. Jordan Cook ’16, Seamus FitzPatrick ’16, and Harrison Kashkin ’16 competed against three teams at the Nov. 20 event, one from Elon and two others also from Duke. The objective of the challenge was for students from regional universities to develop an idea for a startup hedge fund,… read more about Duke Seniors Sweep the Carolina Hedge Fund Challenge for a Third Year »
03 November 2015 3:09PM Not too long ago, a post-war South Korea was struggling. The economy was in shambles and the country was largely dependent upon foreign aid, first from the United States, then Japan. Six decades have since passed, and South Korea now offers a standard of living close to that of the advanced nations, has high marks for political freedom, and relatively low income inequality. There is “circumstantial evidence” that trade played a large role in what is called the “Korean growth miracle.” In “How Much of… read more about New and Noteworthy: Can Trade Policy Drive Economic Development? »
28 October 2015 4:20PM As Congress attempts to overhaul No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a paper co-written by alumnus Tom Ahn (Ph.D. ’03) and former Duke professor Jacob Vigdor is one that could help lawmakers understand what is and isn’t working, according to NPR. While at Duke, Ahn studied the impact of federal accountability sanctions on struggling schools in North Carolina. Under NCLB, low-performing schools could be forced to allow students to transfer, offer supplemental education services, or restructure. “These… read more about In the Media: Forcing Schools to Hit the ‘Reset’ Button »
28 October 2015 3:15PM Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy chief Selin Sayek Boke (M.A. '95, Ph.D. ’99) believes Turkey’s current leaders run a “vulgar, oppressive, statist economy,” but her party is willing to work with them if the upcoming Nov. 1 parliamentary election fails to produce a majority, according to Bloomberg News. “There has to be a truce within the country,” said Sayek Boke, who is head of CHP economic policy. “There’s such polarization that we’ve lost all common ground when it comes to other interests.… read more about In the Media: Turkey Opposition Preps for Power Share With Party It Abhors »
26 October 2015 2:49PM Professor Arnaud Maurel’s paper, “Inference on an Extended Roy Model, with an Application to Schooling Decisions in France,” has been selected as the winner of the 2015 Dennis J. Aigner Award. Maurel, along with co-author Xavier D’Haultfoeuille (CREST), will receive a $5,000 prize. Published in the Journal of Econometrics (JoE) in 2013, the paper was selected by a committee of JoE fellows as the best paper in empirical econometrics published by the journal in 2013 or 2014. In this paper, Maurel and D… read more about Maurel Wins 2015 Dennis J. Aigner Award »
21 October 2015 11:15AM David McDade recently joined Duke Economics grant support team as a senior-level grants and contracts administrator, a role in which he manages the sponsored projects for assigned principal investigators (PIs) in the department. Though he has only been here six months, the Baltimore transplant said he can see Duke Economics becoming a permanent home. When McDade emerges from the depths of the “dungeon” — his nickname for the basement-level office he and Patricia Tirrell share — members of the faculty… read more about Staff Spotlight: David McDade »
08 October 2015 12:01PM The Departments of Economics and Political Science have received approval from Duke University’s Board of Trustees to offer a new joint master’s degree program in analytical political economy (MAPE), and applications are now being accepted for the 2016-2017 academic year. MAPE represents an interdisciplinary field of growing scholarly interest in which students will gain modeling skills in game theory, formal economics, and political science. Courses in both sponsoring departments are deeply rooted… read more about New Master’s Program in Analytical Political Economy to Begin Fall 2016 »
07 October 2015 3:01PM Malcolm Gillis, the sixth president of Rice University, died Oct. 4 at age 74. A University Professor, the Ervin Kenneth Zingler Professor of Economics and a professor of management, Gillis served as president from 1993 to 2004, one of Rice’s most active periods. He was a well-known economist who consulted with numerous countries on economic public policy. “Malcolm served Rice as its president for 11 years with extraordinary distinction and dedication, raising the university to new heights,” President… read more about In Memoriam: Malcolm Gillis »
02 October 2015 2:07PM Abstract The use of race in college admissions is one of the most contentious issues in U.S. higher education. We survey the literature on the impact of racial preferences in college admissions on both minority and majority students. With regard to minority students, particular attention is paid to the scope of preferences as well as how preferences affect graduation, choice of major, and labor market earnings. We also examine how schools respond to bans on racial preferences and the… read more about Affirmative Action in Undergraduate Education »