April 19, 2024

Dhar Accompanies Students to Lead Conference in Dallas

November 30, 2023 by
Dr.Dhar, Peter Lermo, and Jarad Ponce at the Dallas bank

Dr.Dhar, Peter Lermo, and Jarad Ponce at the Dallas bank

This October Associate Professor of Economics Amrita Dhar, and students Jarad Ponce and Peter Lermo, traveled to Dallas, Texas. They attended the 17th Annual Economic Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Economics major Jarad Ponce presented “The Sidewalk Effect: A study on the demand for homes in Fredericksburg, VA.” He looked at the relationship between two Fredericksburg neighborhoods and the effect that having uniform sidewalks had on the housing prices. He found at the .1% Significance level that sidewalks had a positive 8% effect on the housing prices. “My experience at the conference pleasantly developed a great sense of accomplishment and belonging amongst my peers.” – Jarad Ponce

Economics major Peter Lermo presented “Income and Opioid Overdoses.” Lermo used panel data from 2014-2020 and conducted two regression models. The first model is where state had fixed effects and the second model is where state and year had fixed effects. The first model found that income had a positive effect on overdoses to where for every 1% increase in income, overdoses increased by .7396 per 100,000 people. In the second model income also had a positive effect and for every 1% increase in income, overdoses would increase by .1351 per 100,000 people. Lermo came up with the topic because of the rapid increase in synthetic opioid overdoses that have occurred over the past decade.

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Lee, Dhar Present at Southern Economic Association Conference

November 30, 2023 by
Dr. Don Lee and Dr. Amrita Dhar presenting their paper together at the 93rd annual SEA Conference.

Dr. Don Lee and Dr. Amrita Dhar presenting their paper together at the 93rd annual SEA Conference.

The Southern Economic Association had their 93rd annual conference this year in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Southern Economic Association is a global professional organization that wants to help further the education of scholars and the public. The three-day conference allows for a multitude of topics to be explained and discussed. UMW’s Economics program was showcased by Associate Professors of Economics Donghyun Lee and Amrita Dhar. 

Lee and Dhar presented “Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions, Cultural Distance and Growth: Industry-level Analysis.” While there has been significant research done to explore the cultural distance as a determinant of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), studies on the effect of FDI on growth and the role of cultural distance at the sector level are scant in the literature. In this paper, Lee and Dhar empirically examine the role of cultural distance on the effect of FDI on growth using values system data from the World Values Survey (WVS) and worldwide mergers and acquisitions (M&A) data at industry level from 1986-2012. They examine the effect of FDI on growth at sector-level and the role cultural distance plays in different sectors. 

Dr. Amrita Dhar also presented “Central Bank Communications and International Capital Flows,” co-authored with Dr. Zach McGurk. The focus of the paper is using a novel approach of text mining techniques to estimate central bank sentiment, and its subsequent impact on international capital flows.

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Economics Students Attend Conference in Texas

November 16, 2022 by
Students attending the 16th Annual Economics Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. Top Row (left to right): Dillon Durocher, Matthew McGlynn, Shane Sutton, Peter Smith, Jason Mueller; Middle: Dr. Amrita Dhar; Front Row (left to right): Paige Harrington, Tara Fitzgerald, Dana Smith

Students attending the 16th Annual Economics Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. Top Row (left to right): Dillon Durocher, Matthew McGlynn, Shane Sutton, Peter Smith, Jason Mueller; Middle: Dr. Amrita Dhar; Front Row (left to right): Paige Harrington, Tara Fitzgerald, Dana Smith

On October 21st, a group of eight students from the Economics department, Dillon Durocher, Tara Fitzgerald, Paige Harrington, Matthew McGlynn, Jason Mueller, Dana Smith, Peter Smith, and Shane Stutton with Dr. Amrita Dhar, Associate Professor of Economics at UMW, attended the 16th Annual Economics Scholars Program Conference for Undergraduate Research at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. It is one of the largest undergraduate conference nation-wide with a strict criteria for selection of research papers.

The students presented their research work and served as discussants and peer reviewers for other research papers. This was all of the students’ first time presenting research to peers outside of UMW. “The conference was a good introduction to the world of professional research in a friendly and low pressure environment,” Dillion says.

In addition to presenting and getting feedback, the conference also allowed students to interact and network with undergraduates at universities all across the southern United States. Paige says, “I really enjoyed the conference! It was so nice to meet people who were also passionate about economics.” Agreeing with this, Jason says, “The Dallas conference was a great way to connect with peers in economics to see what they care about and why.”

Due to the wide array of schools present and the vastness of the field of economics, the topics presented at the conference covered a large assortment of topics, expanding the knowledge of the students. “The Dallas conference was a great experience as an undergraduate to expand my research interests and gain new insights from other economics majors,” Tara says. Overall, the students loved attending the conference and learned valuable research and networking skills they will use both at Mary Washington and after they graduate.

These students are enrolled in Econ 490E: Independent Research class with Dr. Dhar.

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