Past Summer Case Projects

Past Summer Case Projects

 

Baafra Abeberese and Joe Joyce

2021 Case Fellowship: Research on three projects in international economics

Examples of projects the fellow will assist with:

  1. (Prof. Abeberese) This project provides empirical evidence on the effect of trade liberalization on consumer prices, taking into account the impacts of both output and input tariffs and differences across goods with respect to the scope for quality differentiation. The project uses consumer expenditure data together with data on tariff changes induced by an Indian trade reform.
  2. (Prof. Abeberese) This project provides empirical evidence on whether migration responds to place-based policies by studying a policy in India that provided tax exemptions for newly-created firms in eligible districts, with the aim of stimulating economic growth. We exploit the eligibility threshold for the policy by using a regression discontinuity design in conjunction with several sources of data to assess the impact of the policy on migration.
  3. (Prof. Joyce) Advanced economies and developing economies differ in a number of aspects, including their relative factor abundance. The advanced economies are capital abundant, and the developing economies are usually labor abundant. Consequently, multinational firms based in the advanced economies establish operations in the developing economies through foreign direct investment, while workers in the developing economies migrate to the advanced economies. These activities generate income for their respective home countries: FDI profits for the advanced economies, remittances for the developing economies. In the past thirty years both income flows are grown substantially, although the pandemic has caused each to fall. I am studying the impact of these income flows on both the advanced and developing economies, as well as studying the size of their recent declines.

    Qualifications: proficiency in Excel and Stata.
     

Eric Hilt
2021 Case Fellowship: The Choice of Organizational Form Among American Investment Banks, 1900-1975

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, it was commonly argued that the financial stability of investment banks was imperiled by their organization as corporations, rather than partnerships. Yet the role of the corporate form in the near-collapse of many investment banks in 2008 is impossible to analyze, since there were no longer any major investment banking partnerships to use as a basis for comparison. This project will use newly collected data to study the choice of organizational form among investment banks from 1900 through 1975. During that period, the partnership was the dominant organizational form in the industry, but beginning in the 1950s, the corporate form became more common. The study will analyze the transition to the corporate form in the industry, and its consequences for the capital adequacy and survival rates of investment banks during earlier financial crises. The project will involve substantial data collection and analysis from primary sources.

Qualifications: proficiency in Stata

 

Kartini Shastry and Olga Shurchkov
2021 Case Fellowship:  Gender differences in persisting

This project builds on previous work studying gender differences in how women and men respond to noisy feedback. In a previous paper, “Luck or Skill: How Women and Men React to Noisy Feedback” we conducted a lab experiment online and found that women are more likely to attribute negative feedback (even when due to luck) to their own ability on a male-stereotyped task, relative to men. Women then choose not to compete in a subsequent task, even though it would pay more. In future work, we are planning to study the impact of randomized feedback on gender differences in persisting in a male-dominated field. Students working with me will either assist on this project or a similar project.

We are looking for a student who is familiar with Stata (taught in Economics 203), is detail-oriented, is willing to learn Qualtrics and more Stata, and has good communication and organization skills.

 

Casey Rothschild and Akila Weerapana
2021 Case Fellowship: Wellesley Initiative for Scholars of Economics (WISE) Case Study Development

Fellows will work with Casey Rothschild and Akila Weerapana to develop and refine materials related to the Wellesley Initiative for Scholars of Economics (WISE) -- and possibly related to some other nascent initiatives.

Experience with WISE is preferred but not required; a commitment to and passion for fostering inclusive excellence is a must.  No other qualifications are required.

 

Kyung Park
2021 Case Fellowship:  Exploring topics of race and gender inequality in America.

Case Fellow will work on projects related to racial and gender inequities in America. Tasks will involve qualitative research and possibly quantitative research using Stata, R, or another program to analyze data. Research questions/projects range from trying to understand the relationship between race and residential choice, small business visits during the coronavirus pandemic, and the internment of Japanese persons in the 1940's.

 

Baafra Abeberese
2020 Case Fellowship

Place-based policies are being increasingly used to reduce geographic economic disparities in developing countries. However, the economic opportunities generated by these policies may have the unintended effect of attracting migrants to the areas that receive the policies. This migration could, in turn, temper the effects of the policies for the intended beneficiaries. We provide empirical evidence on whether migration responds to place-based policies by studying a policy in India that provided tax exemptions for newly-created firms in eligible districts, with the aim of stimulating economic growth. We exploit the eligibility threshold for the policy by using a regression discontinuity design in conjunction with several sources of data to assess the impact of the place-based policy on migration.

 

Courtney Coile
2020 Case Fellowship

My first priority is to get help creating new teaching materials for Econ 203. I am teaching 3 sections in 2020-21 and some of my materials are 20 years old, so it seems time for an upgrade! I would really need someone who has already taken 203 so that they can create and work with data extracts, run regressions, etc.  There is also an opportunity to work on Prof. Coile's new research ideas.

 

Casey Rothschild and Akila Weerapana
2020 Case Fellowship

The successful applicant will assist Professors Casey Rothschild and Akila Weerapana in developing and curating materials for the WISE program. This may include: writing case studies; curating materials for in-class debates; crafting solutions to in-class exercises; researching related programs at peer institutions.  

 

Pinar Keskin
2020 Case Fellowship

I am an applied micro-economist focusing on public policy issues, with a particular emphasis on issues of gender, ethnicity and resource access in developing countries. This summer I, along with my coauthor, plan on analyzing a recently acquired data set to investigate the impacts of industrial water use directly on groundwater scarcity and indirectly on day-to-day decisions of rural farmers in India. Econ 203 is a prerequisite for this position.

 

Gauri Kartini Shastry
2020 Case Fellowship

This project studies the impact of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) on vaccine coverage rates and child health in developing countries. Founded in 2000, Gavi focuses on improving access to vaccines through subsidies and negotiating lower prices with pharmaceutical companies and on bolstering health and vaccine delivery infrastructure. Using data on more than 10 different vaccines, over 160 countries, and birth cohorts spanning almost 40 years, we examine trends in vaccine coverage rates before and after Gavi introduced support. We compare these trends for vaccines supported by Gavi to vaccines not supported by Gavi, as a placebo test. I am looking for a student who is familiar with Stata (taught in Economics 203), is willing to learn more Stata, and has good communication and organization skills.

 

Kyung Park
2020 Case Fellowship

The goal of this project is to examine the role that speech patterns play in racial and gender discrimination. We would like a student to conduct an extensive literature review on this topic. The literature would span multiple disciplines. The student would then help us use this information to help to craft an experimental design that would allow us to parse out the role of speech more rigorously. This is joint work with Olga Shurchkov.  Qualifications include excellent communication, organizational, and critical thinking skills.  Preference to students who have completed 200-level coursework in Economics.

 

2019 Olga Shurchkov Project

Examples of projects I would need help with include the following (although other related ones might come up):

  1. Effect of career outcome information from role models on educational attainment decisions
  2. Effect of feedback on beliefs about ability and subsequent economic decisions
  3. Help prepare macroeconomics content modules for EdX

I am looking for students who are familiar with Stata, and are willing to learn more Stata. Great attention to detail, communication and organization skills are a must.

 

2019 Ama Baafra Abeberese Project

  1. The Impact of Trade on Linkages Between the Formal and Informal Sector

This project will analyze the impact of openness to trade on firms in the informal sector in developing economies.  The focus will be on the implications of foreign competition for the role of informal firms as suppliers of inputs to formal firms. We will use data on Indian firms and exploit variation in exposure to trade induced by a trade reform program in India in 1991 and the expansion of Chinese exports in India following China’s accession to the WTO.

  1. Input Tariff Liberalization and Consumer Prices

This project analyzes the effect of trade liberalization on consumer prices using consumption expenditure data and data on tariff changes induced by an Indian trade reform program. Taking into account both output and input tariff changes, we examine how the impacts vary with the product's scope for quality differentiation.

Successful applicants need working knowledge of Stata (acquired in ECON 203 or beyond).

 

2019 Kartini Shastry Project

  1. One of my research interests relates to how people make financial decisions. I am studying the impact of financial training workshops on the decisions of migrant mineworkers in South Africa and the impact of similar workshops on the financial decisions of female migrant workers in Singapore. Another research project is examining the impact of Financial Literacy Centers on financial outcomes in India. 
  2. A second research interest relates to child nutrition. I am studying two school nutrition interventions in India to evaluate the impact of these programs. Another related project is looking at the long term impact of increases in agricultural productivity in India on health. 
  3. Finally, I am also working on a project with Professor Shurchkov about gender differences in reactions to feedback when the feedback is based partly on luck.  

Students working with me will either assist on one of the projects described above or a similar project. I am looking for a student who is familiar with Stata (taught in Economics 203), is willing to learn more Stata, and has good communication and organization skills.

2019 Joseph Joyce Project

My research deals with the foreign direct investment of multinational corporations, and the income it generates for them. Most of these firms are based in a few advanced economies, and consequently the income flows to those countries from emerging market economies. I will work with a student to obtain data from different public sources and then to undertake the empirical analysis.

Knowledge of Excel is a prerequisite, and preference will be given to those who can use Stata. Some knowledge of international macro is also helpful.

 

2019 Casey Rothschild and Akila Weerapana Project

The summer Case Fellow would help us draft cases based on faculty research for the Wellesley Initiative for Scholars of Economics (WISE) program.

No specific background is required, but past participation in WISE is a plus.

 

• 2018 Susan Skeath Projects: 

1. Editing a microeconomic theory textbook (201 level), writing problems, and writing solutions to those problems.

2. Course preparation for Econ 341 (Industrial Organization)

Requirements: Econ 201.

 

• 2018 Kartini Shastry projects: 

1. How do people make financial decisions? Prof. Shastry is studying the impact of financial training workshops on the decisions of migrate mineworkers in South African and the impact of similar workshops on the financial decisions of female migrant workers in Singapore.

2. How do school nutrition programs impact child health? Prof Shastry is studying two school nutrition interventions in India to evaluate the impact of these programs.

3. Prof. Shasty is also working on a project with Prof.Shurchkov about gender differences in response to feedback for students at community colleges.

 

• 2018 Joe Joyce projects: 

Prof. Joyce’s research deals with financial globalization. His current work looks at the foreign assets and liabilities of nations, and the investment income that these yield in the form of profits, interest and dividends. As capital flows have increased, so has the investment income that they pay out. Prof. Joyce is looking for an assistant to help him finish two papers on investment income flows from emerging and markets and advanced economies.

Requirements: working knowledge of Excel.

 

• 2018 Baafra Abeberese project:

Firms under Dictatorship and Democracy: Evidence from Indonesia's Democratic TransitionAfter the unexpected collapseof President Soeharto’s regime in Indonesia in 1998, the Soeharto-era district mayors were allowed to complete their five-year terms instead of being immediately replaced by democratically-elected mayors. Prof. Abeberese is exploiting the resulting variation in political regimes across districts over time to analyze the behavior of firms in democracies versus autocracies. The Impact of Trade on Linkages Between the Formal and Informal Sector. This project will analyze the impact of openness to trade on firms in the informal sector in developing economies. The focus will be on the implications of foreign competition for the role of informal firms as suppliers of inputs to formal firms. Prof. Abeberese plans to use data on Indian firms and exploit variation in exposure to trade induced by a trade reform program in India in 1991 and the expansion of Chinese exports in India following China’s accession to the WTO.

 

• 2018 Dan Fetter project:

Prof. Fetter is looking for a student assistant who will work on projects relating to the expansion of social insurance in the United States. His current and anticipated future projects focus on how social insurance has affected family relationships and the distribution of population and economic activity across space.

 

• 2018 Pinar Keskin project:

In the past 5 years around 3 million Syrians, fleeing war, have found refuge in Turkey. Using the latest rounds of the Turkish Labour Force Surveys, Prof. Keskin’s work shows that Turkish women experienced a net displacement from the labor market (both in the formal and informal sectors) and declining earning opportunities as a result of refugee influx. She and co-authors are now interested in understanding the potential impacts of this decline on household dynamics and the prevalence of domestic violence in Turkish households.

Requirements: Econ 203

 

• 2018 Kristin Butcher project:

It is well known that the U.S. population is aging.The Census Bureau predicts that there will be about 19 million Americans aged 85 and up in 2050. Estimates suggest that about 40 percent of 80 year olds are living with some type of disability, and this rises to 80 percent by age 95. Currently, the foreign born are about 18 percent of the workforce overall, but they comprise 22 percent, 26 percent, and 47 percent, respectively, of health service providers (health aides etc.), health diagnosticians (MDs etc.), and home service providers (housekeepers, gardeners etc.). Demand for these services is likely to rise as the population ages. This project will use several different data sources to estimate how many workers in occupations that disproportionately serve the elderly will be needed in the next 30 years, and how many additional foreign-born workers will be needed in the U.S. in the coming years to fill those positions, assuming current trends continue.

Requirements: Econ 203