Economics Department Seminars – 2008-09
Neil Olitsky, University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth
April 3, 2009
1:30pm KoBC 346
Presentation: “Academic Achievement and the College Major Earnings Differential”
Vitaliy Strohush, Boston College
March 12, 2009
3:30pm, KoBC 300
John Hejkal, University of Iowa
February 18, 2009
9:30am, KoBC 204
Justin Dubas, St. Norbert College
February 17, 2008
9:30am, KoBC 300
Katy Rouse, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
February 12, 2009
1:30pm, KoBC 300
Jake Gramlich, Yale University
February 5, 2009
9:30am, KoBC 300
Robert Tamura, Clemson University
September 25, 2008
4:15pm, KoBC 237
Presentation: "Fertility Declines, Baby Booms and Economic Growth: Evidence from the United States
and 20 other countries"
PDF version of the paper
Abstract:
We present a model capable of explaining 200 years of declining fertility, 200 years of rising
educational achievement and a significant Baby Boom for the United States and twenty other
industrialized market countries. We highlight the importance of secularly declining young adult
mortality risk for producing secularly declining fertility and a sudden decline in housing costs after
the end of the Second World War, but ending by 1970.
Robert received his PhD in 1988 from the University of Chicago. He has held positions with the Clemson
University, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the University of Iowa. His research topics include
long run economic growth, fertility, and education.
Richard Green, University of Southern California
October 23, 2008
6:30pm, KoBC 101
Presentation: "The Real Estate and Credit Meltdown - how did we get here?"
PDF Version of the Paper
Richard Green is the Director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. He holds the Lusk Chair in Real
Estate and is Professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the Marshall School of
Business. Richard received his PhD in 1990 from the University of Wisconsin. He has held positions with
the University of Wisconsin, Freddie Mac, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has published
extensively in the economics of housing, urban development and mortgages.
Oliver Lorz, Univeristy of Aachen (Germany)
November 13, 2008
4:15pm KoBC 211
Presentation: "Enlargement vs. Deepening: The Trade-off Facing Economic Unions"
PDF Version of the Paper
Abstract
This paper analyzes the relationship between the size of an economic union and the extent of
policy centralization. We consider a political economy setting where elected representatives
determine the degree of policy centralization. In our model strategic delegation affects the
identity of the representatives and hence the equilibrium policy outcome. We show that the
relationship between the size of the union and the degree of policy centralization may be nonmonotonic: Up to a certain size of the union enlargement leads to deeper integration, whereas
beyond that size further enlargement implies a decrease in policy centralization. We also
analyze whether allowing for differing degrees of integration welfare-dominates outcomes with
uniform centralization levels.
Oliver Lorz is Chair of the International Economics at the University Aachen RWTH in Aachen,
Germany. His recent research interests are in the areas of capital mobility and taxation.