News

Notre Dame Economists Help Kenyan Entrepreneurs Improve Their Businesses

Author: Carrie Gates

Kenya small business economics

In a dense Nairobi slum best known for its toxic garbage dump, the crowded streets are lined with roadside stands. With no job prospects, residents’ best chance to eke out a living comes from selling foods and handcrafted goods at these tiny stalls. Three assistant professors in Notre Dame’s Department of Economics—Wyatt Brooks, Kevin Donovan, and Terence Johnson—are researching ways to help those entrepreneurs succeed and increase their income.

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Economics Department Adds Faculty Experts in Education, Energy, Sovereign Debt, Consumer Markets

Author: Brian Wallheimer

Notre Dame seal

Notre Dame’s Department of Economics added expertise in education, energy, sovereign debt, and consumer market behavior with the appointments this fall of four new faculty members. The fast-growing department is continually looking to add faculty who best fit with its mission and the University’s mission, said William Evans, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics and chair of the department, which often leads to new hires with varying research and teaching interests. That’s exactly the case with new assistant professors Christiane Baumeister, Chloe Gibbs, and Zachary Stangebye and assistant teaching professor Forrest Spence.

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Economics Alumna is the Catholic Church’s Consultant in Chicago

Author: Bianca Almada

Betsy Bohlen

Though Betsy Bohlen ’90 once enjoyed success as a partner at Chicago’s McKinsey and Co., the business leader always knew she eventually wanted to direct her efforts toward nonprofit work, especially within the Catholic Church. “There was a part of me that always felt that, one of these days, I would serve in a more nonprofit capacity,” Bohlen said. “I think there was a calling for me to do that, to apply my leadership skills there.” Today, she is the chief operating officer of the Archdiocese of Chicago, making her the highest ranking woman in Chicago’s Catholic Church.

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New Burns Fellowship Program Supports Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Research

Author: Carrie Gates

A new interdisciplinary fellowship program launched by the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives will train graduate students in state-of-the-art quantitative methods, allowing them to examine the impact of educational policies, programs, and practices. Beginning in fall 2016, the Rev. James A. Burns Fellowship is open to prospective students applying to Ph.D. programs in economics, political science, psychology, and sociology who plan to pursue educational research.

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Letter from the Chair

Author: William Evans

william_evans

The most gratifying aspect of being a professor at Notre Dame is working with our talented students. In this issue of our newsletter, we provide a glimpse of what makes our job special by highlighting five economics students, past and present, undergrad and graduate.  …

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Economics Major Finds Abundant Research Opportunities at Notre Dame

Author: Tessa Bangs

Melanie Wallskog

Notre Dame economics major Melanie Wallskog walked into her professor’s office hours with a question. She walked out with a job. That simple act of reaching out to a professor led to research opportunities in Nicaragua, Ireland, and Chicago. The senior from Bloomington, Indiana, and Glynn Family Honors Scholar has now co-authored a paper with two of her professors and is working on her senior thesis.

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Economist Studies School Choice Programs and Private School Revenue

Author: Mandy Kinnucan

Dan Hungerman

Private school voucher programs are becoming more common, with more than a million U.S. families participating in these programs across the country. A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, “Where Does Voucher Funding Go? How Large-Scale Subsidy Programs Affect Private-School Revenue, Enrollment, and Prices,” authored by Notre Dame economist Daniel Hungerman and graduate student Kevin Rinz, provides the first study of how school choice programs affect the finances of private schools and the affordability of a private education.

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Economist Studies School Choice Programs and Private School Revenue

Author: Mandy Kinnucan

Dan Hungerman

Private school voucher programs are becoming more common, with more than a million U.S. families participating in these programs across the country. A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, “Where Does Voucher Funding Go? How Large-Scale Subsidy Programs Affect Private-School Revenue, Enrollment, and Prices,” authored by Notre Dame economist Daniel Hungerman and graduate student Kevin Rinz, provides the first study of how school choice programs affect the finances of private schools and the affordability of a private education.

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Notre Dame Economics Major Kelsey Bebout Interns at Beijing Financial Media Outlet

Author: Todd Boruff

Kelsey Bebout

During the summer of 2015, Kelsey Bebout interned at Caixin Media, a financial news company in Beijing. She obtained the internship with the help of the Notre Dame Beijing Global Gateway, which reached out to the Notre Dame alumni network and connected her with Huang Shan, a Notre Dame alumnus employed at Caixin Media. “It’s definitely challenged me a lot and opened my eyes to different cultures and just seeing what it would be like to live and work abroad,” she said.

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Betsy Bohlen ’90 on the Importance of the Liberal Arts and Catholic Leadership

Author: Todd Boruff

Betsy Bohlen

“When I came to Notre Dame I had a sense that I wanted to have a business career, and I chose a liberal arts degree because I wanted a broader education,” said Betsy Bohlen ’90. She was named the first-ever chief operating officer of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2015, after serving as chief financial officer and in other senior advisory roles. Previously, she was a partner at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, where she worked for 16 years.

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Betsy Bohlen ’90 on the Importance of the Liberal Arts and Catholic Leadership

Author: Todd Boruff

Betsy Bohlen

“When I came to Notre Dame I had a sense that I wanted to have a business career, and I chose a liberal arts degree because I wanted a broader education,” said Betsy Bohlen ’90. She was named the first-ever chief operating officer of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2015, after serving as chief financial officer and in other senior advisory roles. Previously, she was a partner at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, where she worked for 16 years.

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Army Officer Earns Economics Ph.D. in Record Time

Author: Carrie Gates

Carl Wojtaszek

Two years and nine months. That’s how long it took Army Maj. Carl Wojtaszek to complete his Ph.D. in Notre Dame’s Department of Economics—a little more than half the typical time. An assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point since 2008, Wojtaszek received a prestigious, yet finite, award from the Army—full funding to pursue his advanced degree, but a three-year time limit to complete it.

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