Tufts will bring to campus a number of internationally recognized economics professors this weekend as the Department of Economics hosts for the first time the annual Northeast Universities Development Consortium (NEUDC) Conference.
The conference will focus on new research in the realm of development economics and will provide a platform for researchers as well as graduate students to present their individual work.
The conference will feature close to 100 presentations. Speakers will present on such topics as literacy and female status in green-revolution India, maternal education and lessons from school choice and admissions in Ghana.
Economics Department Chair Enrico Spolaore considered it an honor to host the conference, which he called "very important and prestigious." He said it was a reflection of Tufts' continued focus on issues of economic development.
"The fact that the conference is hosted by Tufts recognizes both the importance that issues of economic development have for the Tufts academic community and the prominence of our own faculty in this field: many economics professors at Tufts are doing [ground]-breaking research on development," Spolaore said in an e-mail.
The NEUDC consortium has hosted conferences since 1967 to showcase research from scholars around the world on the frontier of development economics. The annual conference rotates among NEUDC universities. Tufts is a member of the NEUDC along with Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Yale and Boston Universities and Williams College.
The conference, which will be held in Cabot Intercultural Center on Saturday and Sunday, will be broken down into a total of seven sections. Each section will be chaired by faculty from Tufts' economic department.
Scholars will discuss issues that fall under the conference's umbrella theme, among them measuring and explaining poverty, gender differences in education, immigration and trade and climate change.
Speakers include professors from universities across the globe including Harvard, Oxford, University of Milan, University of British Colombia, University of Chicago, the London School of Economics and the Paris School of Economics in addition to faculty from Tufts.
Each presenter will receive feedback from attendees, which Spolaore said will help them expand their research.
"This conference will greatly contribute to building new knowledge and will move the frontier of research forward," he said.
The Department of Economics has worked diligently to bring each segment of the conference together. Associate Professor Margaret McMillan, Associate Professor Rajeev Dehejia and Assistant Professor Randall Akee were the lead faculty organizers, along with the rest of the economics department, Spolaore said.
The conference is open to all Tufts students and is free of charge. Students will have the opportunity to ask presenters questions regarding their work during each session.
"I encourage interested students to attend some of the sessions, even if they are not formally registered," Spolaore said. Spolaore himself will discuss measuring economic growth from outer space on Saturday.
The economics department has recruited interested student volunteers to help staff the conference. Student organizers sophomore Marla Spivack and senior Luke McCarthy organized a group of 25 student volunteers who will work the conference the entire weekend, according to McMillan.
Freshman Mark Rafferty expressed his enthusiasm regarding the conference. "I believe the conference will give me the opportunity to tap into the forefront of economic research," said Rafferty, who is planning to attend this weekend.
