Dickinson Hosts Conference on Household Economics in Developing Countries
Associate Professor of Economics Shamma Alam kicks off the conference Friday afternoon. Photo by Dan Loh.
Economists from the World Bank and universities across the country attend two-day workshop
by Tony Moore
Dickinson recently hosted a workshop, Household Economics in Developing Countries, bringing together 22 economists from various institutions to present and discuss cutting-edge research.
The two-day mini-conference, organized by the Department of Economics, focused on critical research areas related to households and outcomes in health, education, fertility and other sociodemographic spheres, with a particular emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. And it’s one more event geared toward the student experience and building their professional futures.
“We wanted to do the mini-conference where students can get to see in real life how economists and international development experts go about understanding and solving current problems across the world and how the discourse among experts works with real life problems,” says Associate Professor of Economics Shamma Alam, one of the event’s organizers. “These kinds of live discussions can be an excellent training for our students as they move to a career after Dickinson.”
More than 20 economists from across the country were in attendance, including:
- Kathleen Beegle and Andrew Brudevold-Newman, both from the World Bank
- Pascaline Dupas, a development economist and professor in the Department of Economics and at the School of Public & International Affairs at Princeton University
- Kehinde Ajayi from the Center for Global Development
- and Jessica Leight, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Other notable speakers include Claus Portner from Seattle University, Rossella Calvi from Rice University and Adrienne Lucas from the University of Delaware. The event featured several sessions covering livelihood intervention programs, mental health, economic shocks and sustainability in household behavior.
"This workshop aims to build a research network and spur idea generation among researchers working on household economics," says Alam, who has served as consultant to the World Bank on several occasions. "We're particularly excited to welcome a diverse group of researchers, especially those from developing countries, women and individuals of color."
The workshop featured both experimental and nonexperimental research, providing a comprehensive view of household economics in developing countries. A networking lunch with students was held on Sept. 21, offering Dickinson students a unique opportunity to interact with visiting economists.
“As a woman of color, I found this conference to be a welcoming and supportive environment for engaging with accomplished economists,” says Nishtha Sharma ’25 (quantitative economics, data analytics). “The interactions provided invaluable insights into graduate school, career opportunities and broader life experiences, and I believe Dickinson should consider hosting more conferences like this to create further dialogue and learning.”
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Published September 24, 2024