Tag: Economics

US Economic History research on two projects related to (1) maternal health and (2) marriage laws (Katharine Shester)

On campus: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/2/2025 and run for 10 weeks, finishing on 8/8/2025.

Project Description

This position offers students the opportunity to work as a research assistant on two projects at different stages of completion. “Maternal Mortality and the Baby Boom” examines the effects of changes in maternal mortality rates on fertility and family formation during the mid-twentieth century. “The Effect of Blood Test Requirements and Marriage Rates in the US” explores the potential effects of state-imposed blood test requirements for marriage on marriage rates in the early to mid-twentieth century. Scholars will engage in a wide range of research activities, including finding, reading, and synthesizing relevant literature from related fields; locating historical documents and data sources; entering, cleaning, and organizing datasets; creating publication-quality tables and figures; and doing preliminary empirical analysis. Students will be involved in all steps of the research process, gaining hands-on experience in empirical research methods and data management. This position will also provide valuable training in Stata, a widely used statistical software in economics and social sciences.

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Prerequisites

Students should have already completed ECON 203 (Econometrics).

Special Comments

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/2/2025

Estimated End Date: 8/8/2025

Estimated Project Duration: 10 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 2

Research Location: On campus

Contact Information: Katharine Shester (email: shesterk@wlu.edu)

Globalization and Inequality: A Critical Assessment (Michael Anderson)

On campus: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/2/2025 and run for 10 weeks, finishing on 8/8/2025.

Project Description

This summer my co-author (Stephen Smith, Hope College) and I will take on a new research project, one that examines the relationship between globalization (trade and migration) and income inequality. The voluminous and growing literature on this topic has striking conclusions, including new evidence that a “China shock” (the name given to China’s sudden and large volume of exports to the U.S.) lowers the wages of unskilled U.S. workers. The previous consensus was that trade played a relatively minor role in creating U.S. wage inequality, with skill-biased technological change bearing most of the blame. This recent evidence has rekindled the debate on the trade-and-inequality nexus, as well as a reexamination of migration’s role in affecting wages. Our work this summer will be preliminary to a book proposal. Our goal is to synthesize and critically evaluate the evidence linking globalization to inequality.

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Prerequisites

Successful completion of Econ 203, Econometrics, is desired. In addition, a successful candidate will have previous research experience, including experience with the economics literature.

Special Comments

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/2/2025

Estimated End Date: 8/8/2025

Estimated Project Duration: 10 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 1

Research Location: On campus

Contact Information: Michael Anderson (email: andersonm@wlu.edu)

Transmission of Intergenerational Wealth through Dating Markets (Hugo Blunch)

On campus: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/2/2025 and run for 8 weeks, finishing on 7/25/2025.

Project Description

The intergenerational transmission of wealth is facilitated in part by a marriage market preference for higher income. However, it is unclear how this wealth displayed in a marriage market. This study investigates how wealth is displayed in a dating market and the dating market advantage wealth can provide market actors.

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Prerequisites

Applicants must have completed Econ 202, Econ 203, and Econ 210 as well as the Math Sequence through Linear Algebra. Applicants should have some research experience before applying.

Special Comments

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/2/2025

Estimated End Date: 7/25/2025

Estimated Project Duration: 8 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 1

Research Location: On campus

Contact Information: Hugo Blunch (email: blunchn@wlu.edu)

CLOSED: Long-run economic consequence of The Holodomor (Shikha Silwal)

Remote: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/2/2025 and run for 10 weeks, finishing on 8/8/2025.

Project Description

The Holodomor is a man-made famine of the Ukrainian nation committed in 1932-1933 by the leadership of the Soviet Union to eliminate Ukrainian national resistance to the Soviet regime and suppress attempts to build a sovereign Ukrainian State independent of Moscow. It is estimated that around 8 million Ukrainians perished during that time. Although scholars in History and other related fields have studied the Holodomor extensively, there are very limited studies on the economic analysis of the Holodomor, especially as it pertains to the long-run consequences of it. This study seeks to understand the effects the Holodomor has on the peopleís trust and sociopolitical norms. Using World Value Survey data (2017) and the Holodomor casualty data (obtained from multiple sources), the study seeks to analyze how localities that were differentially impacted by the Holodomor differ in their sociopolitical norms today. The study brings to light a relatively understudied genocide and contributes to our understanding of impact of violent conflicts on culture. The first few weeks (approximately 3) will be devoted to preparing data for manipulation and collecting additional data as needed. Then, the next couple of weeks (2-3 weeks) will be focused on taking stock of the literature on consequences of the Holodomor. The rest of the time will be spent on data analysis.

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Prerequisites

Students should have taken Intermediate microeconomics and have some background in programming language (STATA, Python, or taken ECON 202).

Special Comments

n/a

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/2/2025

Estimated End Date: 8/8/2025

Estimated Project Duration: 10 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 2

Research Location: Remote

Contact Information: Shikha Silwal (email: silwals@wlu.edu)