Conferences:1.International Journal of Arts and Sciences Multidisciplinary Conference, Boston, Massachusetts: Presentations at the IJAS Conference included papers in the Social Sciences and Humanities, Business and Economics, Teaching and Education, and Science and Technology. I watched academics from Australia, Austria, Canada, Croatia, Finland, France, Ghana, India, Malaysia, Poland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States present their work in the Business and Economics and Social Sciences and Humanities presentation and poster sessions. Each presentation lasted 15-20 minutes and was followed by a 5 minute question and answer session. A few of the presentations I saw included “Ocular Health Interventions: Alleviating Poverty and Promoting Gender Balance”, “A Contextual Applied Research Analysis of Negative Organizational Stigmas,” and “Social Media-Related Competencies and Assets.” 2.Western Economic Association International Conference, Seattle, Washington:Presentations at the WEAI Conference included papers in economics. Sessions lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes and included 3-4 paper presentations. Each presentation lasted 20-25 minutes and was followed by a 5 minute discussion by another presenter. A few of the presentations I saw were “Determinants of Total Compensation for NCAA Football Coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision”, “Experimental Study on Preferences for Redistribution: Equality of Opportunity Matters”, and “The Effect of Cognitive Load on Economic Decision Making.”

Economics Research at North Carolina State University

In June, I was a research assistant for Dr. Traum. I created a time series of the distribution of U.S. debt across various maturities. I used the U.S. Treasury’s Monthly Statement of the Public Debt to calculate the total debt for each quarter/year for bills, notes, bonds, and TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) from 1993 to 2012. Then, I used Excel to calculate the weighted debt and the average maturity for each type of security. This data collection and analysis will help Dr. Traum create a theoretical model to understand how issuing various maturities of debt affects a government’s ability to repay its debt.

Economics Research at Centre CollegeIn June and July, I was a research assistant for Dr. Petkus and Dr. Johnson. I emailed letters to athletic directors at 225 public colleges and universities requesting their athletic department’s revenue and expenditure data under their state’s Freedom of Information Act. The athletic department data will be used for future research projects. Additionally, I used USA Today’s college football coaches database to find information (e.g. salary, number of Bowl Championship Series titles, tenure, race) about college football coaches at 98 Division I universities in 2012. This data will be added to data from 2006-2011 that was previously collected and used in a paper that looked at the determinants of a coach’s salary. Finally, I found pictures of 705 college presidents and administrators and used an online tool to determine their facial symmetry score. This data will be used in a research project looking at the relationship between beauty, which is objectively measured by the facial symmetry score, and the salaries of college administrators.

Monthly Statement of the Public Debt January 1996

Debt Outstanding: Bonds

Economics Research at North Carolina State University and Centre CollegeAshley El Rady, Centre College

AbstractFor my enrichment project this summer, I worked as a research assistant at North Carolina State University and Centre College. At NC State, I helped Dr. Traum, a macroeconomics professor at NC State and a Centre College alum, with data collection for her research project about the term structure of government debt. At Centre, I helped Dr. Johnson and Dr. Petkus with data collection for their research projects involving collegiate athletic department spending, the determination of a college football coach’s salary, and the impact of beauty on a college administrator’s salary. Finally, I attended the International Journal of Arts and Sciences Multidisciplinary Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Western Economic Association International Conference in Seattle, Washington. This summer enrichment project was my first opportunity to participate in economics research and the conferences offered many examples of research topics that economists are investigating.