Duke University has bested its Ivy League competitors to claim the No. 1 spot in a ranking of best economics colleges for undergraduates in the United States. The list, published on USA Today, is based on College Factual’s ranking system for evaluating overall academic quality. Rounding out the top five are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia. “What’s meaningful about this ranking is that it combines objective information about both the academic environment for studying economics here at Duke and the future career… read more about Duke Beats Out Harvard, Yale as Top College for an Economics Degree »
08 December 2014 11:57AM Last week 75,000 eighth graders in New York City had to submit applications to secure a spot at one of 426 public high schools. As daunting as this process might be, it was far more complicated before a team of economists – including Duke Economics Professor Atila Abdulkadiroglu – redesigned it. Abdulkadiroglu was part of the three-man team that created a Nobel Prize-worty algorithm that fixed the application process. According to The New York Times, their solution “was a model of mathematical… read more about In the Media: How Economists Improved New York City’s High School Application Process »
08 December 2014 11:38AM Each month, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) selects a handful of working papers to feature in its Digest. Professional journalists are assigned to summarize the papers for a non-technical audience. The research being done by Duke Economics Professors Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato, Elizabeth Frankenberg, and Duncan Thomas has been highlighted in the December issue of the publication. Read the full December NBER Digest online. Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato: Who Benefits When States… read more about New & Noteworthy: Faculty Research Featured in NBER Digest »
05 December 2014 1:54PM Professor Allan Collard-Wexler’s familiarity with the steel, concrete, and newspaper industries may seem unusually diverse to some, but for an industrial organization (IO) economist, it is par for the course. Collard-Wexler is a jack-of-all-trades in a field that necessitates knowledge about particular industries and their respective markets. The new professor joined the Department of Economics in August, and his addition as a member of the faculty has reinforced the department’s strength in… read more about Collard-Wexler Brings IO Expertise to Duke Economics »
25 November 2014 3:32PM A team of three Duke seniors came out on top at the 2014 Carolina Hedge Fund Challenge on Nov. 21 and was awarded $10,000 for its start-up hedge fund idea. Having developed an original algorithm and an in-depth business plan, Wes Koorbusch ’15, Annie Wang ’15, and Giulia Caterini ’15 pitched their unique quantitative long/short equity hedge fund, Bull City Capital Management, to a distinguished panel of hedge fund professionals. “I was very nervous before the presentation and in between rounds, but… read more about Duke Team Triumphs at Carolina Hedge Fund Challenge »
18 November 2014 10:09AM It’s been almost 10 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami killed an estimated quarter of a million people. More than 160,000 died in Indonesia’s Aceh province, where the tsunami wiped some coastal villages completely off the map — removing every building, every road, every bridge, every tree. In some villages, not a single child survived. In the immediate aftermath, people worldwide followed the story closely. For most, the fascination was short-lived. But not for Sanford Professors … read more about After the Tsunami: Ten Years of Recovery and Resilience »
For most people, jumping out of a plane is a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime endorphin rush. Duke alumnus Danny Schaffer thinks of parachuting as an occupational necessity. “When you jump out of planes as a soldier, you’re doing so with up to 130 pounds of equipment, often at night, and impacting the ground with a force equivalent to jumping off a two-story building,” he said. His paratrooping days behind him, Schaffer has since graduated with his M.A. in economics and become a commissioned officer in the U.S.… read more about Danny Schaffer: From Paratrooping to Applied Micro »
11 November 2014 3:01PM When Duke alumnus Jordan Rahal joined the Marine Corps in 2008, he didn’t know it would ultimately lead him to an opportunity in finance. Armed with the tenacity and resolve of a Marine – not to mention the quantitative skills of an economist, Rahal was able to get his first crack at working New York City. The Chicago native graduated from Duke University with his M.A. in economics earlier this year, and he currently works for Goldman Sachs. He continues to serve as a Company Commander in the… read more about Jordan Rahal: From Afghanistan to Wall Street »
11 November 2014 7:47AM From studying landmines to flying airplanes, Duke alumnus Peter Devine is using his academic passions to guide his military career. read more about Peter Devine: Flying Navy Planes and Clearing Landmines »
31 October 2014 1:23PM Ten Ph.D. students and one postdoctoral fellow from the Department of Economics are on the job market this year. They will be available for employment beginning summer 2015. Specialties of this group include applied microeconomics, behavioral economics, economics of education, environmental economics, financial economics, industrial organization, labor economics, macroeconomics, and public economics. Please visit our Job Market Candidates page for more information on these students. read more about 2014-15 Ph.D. Job Market Candidates »
24 October 2014 12:44PM There can be many barriers to an individual’s economic success, such as access to schooling or jobs. Professor Robert Garlick is interested in how people, particularly those in developing countries, make decisions about both. “I use statistical methods and economic tools to study why education outcomes differ across countries, and why people’s abilities to get jobs and the types they do get differ,” Garlick said. Ultimately, his goal is to determine how those can be improved. Garlick recently joined… read more about New Professor Applies Economics to Education, Unemployment »
16 October 2014 2:46PM Famed American journalist Walter Lippmann corresponded with many leading economic thinkers of the 20th century, including Friedrich Hayek, John Maynard Keynes, Lionel Robbins, and Frank Taussig. Though Lippmann was considered to be an influential thinker in his own right, he has never been perceived to be an economist himself – until now. In Duke Professor Craufurd Goodwin’s new book out this month, he presents Lippmann in a different light. Goodwin’s book, “Walter Lippmann: Public Economist,” marks… read more about Goodwin Celebrates Journalist Walter Lippmann in New Book »
07 October 2014 1:48PM Duke Economics has launched a new online admissions center and admissions FAQ website to help prospective master’s students during the application process. “Duke Econ’s website is constantly evolving to keep up with its various constituents’ needs,” said Sarah Tung, communications specialist for the department. “And as our master’s programs have grown, so too has the need for a section of the website devoted to the graduate admissions process.” The Department of Economics currently offers three… read more about Econ Master’s Programs Introduce New Online Admissions Center, FAQ Website »
03 October 2014 10:55AM Duke University stands among the top 10 in a new ranking of undergraduate universities in the United States based on career outcomes. Specifically, Duke was ranked as number four among U.S. schools in investment banking jobs placement and number seven for finance jobs placement. read more about Duke Claims Top 10 Spots in LinkedIn University Rankings »
22 September 2014 4:03PM Georgia State University Professor of Economics H. Spencer Banzhaf is the featured speaker for this semester’s upcoming Allen Starling Johnson, Jr. Distinguished Lecturer Series. His talk, “Environmental Economics and Christian Ethics,” will discuss the intersections between the ethics of environmental conservation, Christian thought, and economics. It will be held at the Field Auditorium in Environment Hall at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014. Banzhaf’s primary field of study is environmental… read more about Duke Economics Alumnus to Be Featured Johnson Lecturer »
19 September 2014 2:55PM The Department of Economics will be hosting its third Empirical Microeconomics Jamboree for young economists this fall. The event, which is sponsored by the Economic Research Initiatives at Duke (ERID), will be held on Oct. 3-4 in the Social Sciences building. read more about Duke Econ to Host Third Empirical Microeconomics Jamboree »
12 September 2014 10:03AM Gabrielle Inder ’14 was already recognized for her honors thesis when she graduated with a high distinction in economics. But nearly half a year after earning her bachelor’s with a finance concentration and moving to New York to work for Morgan Stanley, Inder is now being highly commended by The Undergraduate Awards 2014 for an abridged version of her capstone project. The UA is a pan-discipline academic awards program that identifies leading creative thinkers through their undergraduate coursework… read more about Alumna Recognized by Awards Program for Honors Thesis »
02 September 2014 3:32PM The sound of London calling appeals to many undergraduates who wish to study abroad. Fifteen talented juniors answered by way of the 2014 Duke in London Finance program. “We created the London program because we knew that a lot of Duke alumni currently work in the financial markets in London, and we wanted to have opportunities for those alumni to connect with current students,” said Professor Emma Rasiel, who has helmed the program since its inception in 2013. Six women and nine men, including… read more about Economics Faculty Lead Second Duke in London Program »
25 August 2014 1:08PM Death and taxes have long been established as inevitabilities in life. Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato, a new member of the Duke Economics faculty, is concerned with determining the actual effects of the latter. “Whenever you have a tax, that tax is going to change the economic equilibrium in a way that is going to affect underlying prices such as wage rates or house values,” Suárez Serrato said. “If there is a tax cut in a given area, firms are going to move in, and that’s going to raise wages (for workers… read more about New Professor’s Research Applies Public Finance to Economic Policy »
21 August 2014 12:30PM What does it take to start a successful business? Some might say all it takes is a good idea and a lot of caffeine. From Tatiana Birgisson’s perspective, that’s especially true. In her dorm at Duke, Birgisson ’12 had taken to brewing large batches of tea in a pasta pot so that she could have ready-to-drink tea whenever she wanted a healthy source of caffeine. At the urging of several friends from InCube, the university’s residential entrepreneurship program, she decided to turn her tea-brewing… read more about Steeped in Success: Alumna’s Energy Drink Startup Gains Traction »
18 August 2014 1:31PM The Economics Department’s new master’s students have descended upon campus, and they are kicking off the start of their programs with a week of orientation events. “This week is designed to give students all the information they need for the upcoming semesters,” said M.A. program assistant Addie Stagg. “Students should keep any items that may be given to them – especially how-to documents, maps, or guides.” Stagg has spent the summer coordinating various events for the departmental… read more about Department Welcomes Record Number of New Master’s Students »
15 August 2014 6:25PM The Duke Department of Economics today participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge to support research for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A total of 19 faculty, students, and staff doused themselves with buckets of ice water on West Campus Quad, in front of the Social Sciences building. As of Friday close of business, the department raised $715. We would like to extend the challenge to other members of the department and the Duke Community. A special thank you goes out to all who donated, and to the… read more about Duke Economics Takes on the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS »
11 August 2014 11:40AM From studying landmines to flying airplanes, Duke alumnus Peter Devine is using his academic passions to guide his military career. read more about Peter Devine: Flying Navy Planes and Clearing Landmines »
29 July 2014 10:44AM Fall semester classes do not begin until Aug. 25, but the first wave of incoming students has already arrived. Orientation and Mathematics for Economists – better known as “math camp” – for first-year economics Ph.D. students began Monday. The three-week course marks the beginning of their careers here at Duke. “I feel very excited and happy to start the program,” said Chuhang Yin ’14, who recently earned her master’s in economics at Duke. “After meeting my classmates and getting to know them, I’m sure… read more about First-Year Economics Ph.D. Students Arrive at Duke »
17 July 2014 3:59PM Students of economic theory may be familiar with Arrow-Debreu’s model of general equilibrium, but they likely have not given much thought to the men – both the eponymous and the unnamed – who constructed the proof that transformed the field of economics post-World War II. Professor E. Roy Weintraub, with Till Düppe of the Université du Québec à Montréal, has published a new book on three economists’ quests to prove the existence of competitive equilibrium. “Finding Equilibrium: Arrow, Debreu, McKenzie… read more about Weintraub Completes History of Equilibrium Project »
02 July 2014 1:23PM This summer, Ruilin Zhong is finding that her interests in economics and statistics are taking her to very disparate fields of study. The junior from Beijing, China, is exploring how investment firms use decision science to manage their portfolios of investments. Investment companies make decisions to buy, sell or hold onto financial assets every day -- working to maximize profit and minimize risk to investors. Working with Mike West, professor of statistics and decision sciences, Zhong is applying… read more about Ruilin Zhong: Going Far With Interests in Economics and Statistics »
30 June 2014 1:36PM Are you blaming those rising prices for airplane tickets on the mergers in the industry? Senior Jonathan Gao says you might be right but the economics of the ticket price isn't that straightforward. The economics and math major from Ellicott, Md., studies a field of economics called industrial organization, which looks at firms, sellers, product pricing and competition in various markets. His project specifically looks at how the prices of airplane tickets fluctuate after airline company mergers.… read more about Jonathan Gao: What Do Mergers Mean for Prices? »
25 June 2014 9:25AM Professor Timur Kuran was a keynote speaker at the 18th annual conference of the International Society for New Institutional Economics (ISNIE) this weekend at Duke Law School. More than 200 international scholars from a range of disciplines convened for the event. The conference, which began June 19, brought together economist, legal scholars, organizational theorists, political scientists, and other social scientists from 20 countries. Over three days of panel discussions and two keynote addresses, they… read more about Professor Kuran Gives Keynote Address at ISNIE Conference »
24 June 2014 12:25PM read more about Staff Spotlight: Katie-Rose Repp »
19 June 2014 11:11AM Professor Vincent Contizer has been awarded the seventh Social Choice and Welfare Prize for his contributions in the field of computational social choice. The award honors young scholars below the age of 40 for excellent accomplishment in the area of social choice theory and welfare economics. Conitzer was selected “for his research bringing together computer science and social choice theory,” according to Professor Bhaskar Dutta, president-elect of the Society for Social Choice and Welfare. He… read more about Vincent Conitzer Receives Social Choice and Welfare Prize »