Welcome to the Department of Economics at Tufts University!

Please explore our website and learn more about our department's people, programs (undergraduate and graduate), and activities.

Thank you for your interest in our Department.

Enrico Spolaore
Chair, Department of Economics

New Faculty:

We are delighted to welcome two new faculty members in 2008-2009: Stelios Michalopoulos, who will join our department as Assistant Professor of Economics, and Jenny Aker, who will join the Fletcher School as Assistant Professor of Development Economics, and our department as Assistant Professor of Economics, by courtesy.

Stelios is getting his Ph.D. from Brown. His fields are macroeconomics, economic growth and development. In particular, he has been working on the origins and implications of ethnic diversity. Click here to learn more about Stelios' research.

Jenny is completing her Ph.D. at Berkeley. Her areas of specialization are development economics, applied econometrics, agricultural marketing and policy analysis, and program evaluation, with a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.  Click here to learn more about Jenny's research.

Welcome, Stelios and Jenny!

Department Highlights:

Professor Panle Jia of MIT was presented the 2008 Tufts Graduate and Undergraduate Economics Society Alumni Achievement Award.
After the presentation of the award, Professor Jia gave an insightful seminar on "Tracing the Woes: An Empirical Analysis of the Airline Industry."  Panle Jia received her M.A. in Economics from Tufts in 1999. Click here to learn more about her research.

Professor Caroline Hoxby of Stanford University gave our Annual Marvin and Carolyn Birger Lecture on "Educating People to Produce Economic Growth: The New View."
Professor Hoxby's fascinating and informative lecture was attended by numerous students and faculty, and was followed by a discussion with the audience and a reception.

Professor Esther Duflo of MIT gave our Wellington-Burnham Lecture on "Fighting Poverty Effectively: The Role of Creative Experimentation"
Professor Duflo's fascinating lecture was followed by a lively discussion by Professor Dani Rodrik of Harvard and by numerous questions from a large audience of Tufts faculty and students. The event was co-sponsored by the Institute for Global Leadership's EPIIC program. Learn more about the debate from Professor Rodrik's perspective.

Professors Edward Kutsoati and Margaret McMillan launch pilot phase of microfinance research in Ghana
In June, Professors McMillan and Kutsoati met with farmers in the Osino region to talk about their credit needs. Kutsoati and McMillan, along with Mumuadu Bank, worked to design a loan product that included price crop insurance. The pilot phase of the project was launched on August 1 and includes 200 farmers. So far, almost 70% of the farmers to whom the product was offered have taken a loan.

Gilbert Metcalf and Jay Shimshack featured on Tufts website
Professors Gilbert Metcalf and Jay Shimshack are featured on the Tufts website in Profile: Climate Change "What Are We Missing?"

In the Media:

Gilbert Metcalf's research on policy proposals to reduce carbon emissions featured on CNBC. Read the article.

Gilbert Metcalf's research on the global oil market is cited in Boston Magazine. Read the article.

Gilbert Metcalf's research on tax policy cited in Forbes magazine. Read the article.

Rajeev Dehejia's research on "The Role of Religious and Social Organizations in the Lives of Disadvantaged Youth" was covered in The Boston Globe and the New York Times Freakonomics Blog.

Gilbert Metcalf's research on carbon taxes has been cited by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors where Bloomberg came out in support of a carbon tax, has been featured in the Tufts Journal article "Congress to debate carbon tax legislation by Tufts economist", and cited in Greg Mankiw's article "One Answer to Global Warming: A New Tax" in the New York Times.

Enrico Spolaore's research on the diffusion of development featured in David Warsh's Economic Principals.

Gilbert Metcalf interviewed on SmartMoney.com in the article "New Plan Would Offset Carbon Tax with Payday Savings".

David Dapice and other academic experts (H. Rogovsky of Harvard and B. Sheppard of Duke) briefed the President of Vietnam and members of the Vietnamese government at a Forum on Higher Education in New York City. The event was covered in the Chronicle of Higher Education the Associated Press, BBC World Services, Voice of America, and numerous other media.

Ed Kutsoati cited in The Economist in an article about "Bankruptcy and Burials" in Ghana.

Enrico Spolaore's research on the size of nations cited in the article "California Split." in The New York Times.

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