The "Lois and Robert Resek Economics Seminar Series" is sponsored by Lois and Robert Resek. The Department of Economics at the University of Illinois hosts a conference or mini-conference annually. The seminars are research-based focusing on topics in applied economics that use econometric techniques and data to address an important policy issue.
Previous seminars or conferences in the series: (reverse chronology)
September 22, 2017 Mini Conference on Economics of Education. Speakers included:
- Arnaud Maurel, Duke University, "College Attrition and the Dynamics of Information Revelation" (with Peter Arcidiacono, Esteban Aucejo and Tyler Ransom)
- Eric Bettinger, Stanford University, “Can Education Vouchers Pay for Themselves? Evidence from Colombia" (with Michael Kremer and Juan Saavedra)
- Costas Meghir, Yale University, "The Marriage Market, Labor Supply and Education Choice" (with Pierre Andre Chiappori and Monica Costas-Dias)
September 25, 2016 Mini Conference on Economics of Education. Speakers included:
- Ben Marx, University of Illinois, presented his research on "ProPelled: The Effects of the Pell Grant on Graduation and Earnings" (with Jeff Denning and Leslie Turner)
- George Bulman, UC Santa Cruz, presented his research on "Parental Resources and College-Going: Evidence from Lottery Wins" (with Robert Fairlie, Sarena Goodman, and Adam Isen)
- Lance Lochner, University of Western Ontario, presented his research on"Designing Efficient Student Loan Programs" (with Alex Monge)
September 25, 2015 Mini Conference on Economics of Education. Speakers included:
- Kevin Stange, University of Michigan, presented his research on “Investing in Schools: Capital Spending, Facility Conditions, and Student Achievement” Co-authored with Paco Martorell (UC Davis) and Isaac McFarlin Jr (U of Mich)
- Joshua Goodman, Harvard University, presented his research on “The Potential for MOOCs to Increase Access to STEM Education: Evidence from A New Computer Science Degree Program,” co-authored with Amanda Pallais (Harvard University) and Julia Melkers (Georgia Tech)
- Sarah Turner, University of Virginia & NBER, presented her research on ”A Passage to America: University Funding and International Students,” co-authored with John Bound (U of Mich & NBER), Breno Brago (Urban Institute) and Gaurav Khanna a (U of Mich)
May 1, 2015 Giuseppe Arbia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Department of Statistics, Rome, Italy, presented his research on “Pairwise likelihood inference for spatial regressions estimated on very large datasets.”
October 17, 2014 Christian B. Hansen, The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business – presented his research on “Inference in High Dimensional Models with an Application to Gun Control” with Alex Belloni, Victor Chernozhukov, and Damian Kozbur
April 23, 2014 Derek A. Neal, The University of Chicago, Department of Economics, presented his research on “The Design of Accountability Systems in Education.”
April 16, 2013 Dr. James Sallee, University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy Studies presented his research on “New Evidence on Taxes and the Timing of Birth: Tax returns from 2001-2010 provide new evidence on the extent to which taxpayers are willing to shift the timing of births to claim child-related tax benefits in an earlier year.”
December 10, 2012 Paul Glewwe, University of Minnesota , Department of applied Economics , presented his research on “Cognitive Skills, Non-Cognitive Skills, and the Employment and Wages of Young Adults in Rural China”