Department Happenings

The Department is pleased to announce that Barry Lesser has been named as one of this year’s recipients of the 2012 Rosemary Gill Award. The award, first presented in 1995, is dedicated to the memory of Rosemary Gill, a former director of Dalhousie Health Services. In honour of her commitment to the student population, the award was established to recognize deserving university employees who go above and beyond in the service to students. All recipients are nominated by members of the university community and voted on by a committee of students and administrators.

Barry Lesser received an honourary degree from the Shandong University of Finance and Economics (SDUFE), with which Dalhousie Economics has a joint program. The honorary professorship was "in recognition of outstanding service to the internationalization of Shandong University of Finance and Economics."

Barry Lesser retired from his position as Professor in the Department effective June 30, 2012. He has accepted a post- retirement appointment at Dalhousie as Director of the China Projects effective July 1, 2013.

Abdul Aleem (PhD Université Paris 13) joined the Department of Economics as an Instructor (one-year limited term appointment) on July 1, 2012. Abdul’s former position was Assistant Professor at the University of New Brunswick – Saint John campus.

Ruth Forsdyke (PhD Simon Fraser University) began a three-year limited term appointment as Instructor in the Department of Economics on July 1, 2012.

Casey Warman (PhD Carleton) joined the Department of Economics as an Assistant Professor on August 1, 2012. Casey’s former position was as a Term Adjunct Assistant Professor at Queen’s University.

Dan Rosenblum (co-investigator) has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health - National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH-NIDA) for research on the "Heroin Price, Purity and Outcomes Study". The grant period is from 2010 to 2014. This multidisciplinary research project brings together researchers in public health, social work, anthropology, and  sociology  along  with  Dan  as  the team's economist. They will soon publish a paper on the relationship between heroin and prescription-opiate overdoses in the US ("Intertwined Epidemics: National Demographic Trends in Hospitalizations for Heroin- and Opioid- Related Overdoses, 1993-2009" forthcoming in PLOS ONE, joint with Jay Unick, Dan Ciccarone, and Sarah Mars). They also have a paper on the entry of Colombian heroin into the US market ("The Entry of Colombian Heroin into the US Market: The Relationship between Competition, Price, and Purity" joint with Jay Unick and Dan Ciccarone) that is under review. They are working on several other papers seeking to better understand the US heroin market and the connection between the heroin market and overdoses, HIV, and other outcomes.

Courtney Ward has received a SSHRC grant for her research on “School-entry Immunization policy, child development and later educational outcomes.” This research focuses on how early intervention in fetal health impacts later economic   well   being.    Specifically, it proposes that external benefits from MMR immunization are much broader than accounted for in previous literature, and, further, suggests that the phase in of school entry mandates (circa 1960- 1970) could partly account for recent changes in seasonality in health at birth and later economic outcomes.

The Nova Scotia Agriculture College (NSAC) merged with Dalhousie University on July 1, 2012. NSAC became Dalhousie’s new Faculty of Agriculture and a distinct campus within Dalhousie.

China Project News

Thirty-one students from Shandong University of Finance  and Economics  (SDUFE)  and  nine students from Renmin University of China (RUC) arrived in Halifax in September 2012 to begin the Canadian portion of their  2+2  programs in Economics. In 2011, we had 24 from SDUFE and 7 from RUC, all of whom are now in their 2nd year at Dal. Putting both years together, we now have 71 China program students studying at Dalhousie.

In March 2012, as part of the second semester of the English Workshop, a special ESL course for China Program students conducted by the ESL department of the College of Continuing Education, the 2011 Joint Program students hosted a conference “From China to Canada: Economics Through the Eyes of the Students of the China Program in Economics.” In attendance were Vice President Academic Carolyn Watters; Associate Vice President Keith Taylor; Assistant Vice President Meri Kim Oliver; Executive Director of International Relations, Alain Boutet; Dean of CCE, Andrew Cochrane; Chair of Economics Department, Lars Osberg; Professor of Economics Teresa Cyrus; and Director of the Economics China Program, Barry Lesser.

In May 2012, a delegation from SDUFE visited Dalhousie and joined the platform party of the 2012 Spring Convocation. The SDUFE delegation consisted of the Dean of Student Services and Assistant Provost, Zhenglin Liu; Dean of the School of International Education, Huiqin Yang; Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Changrui Dong; and the Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Shubo Yu. Mr. Zhenglin Liu assisted Dalhousie University Registrar Asa Kachan in distributing the

Dalhousie diplomas to the joint program graduates. There were 27 graduates from SDUFE. One program student, Ge Wang, received the University Medal in Economics. Eighteen of the students graduated with an Honours degree, and 13 graduated with first-class honours. Twenty-four of the 27 graduates are currently enrolled in Masters Programs at various universities in Canada and the UK. In the October 2012 convocation, there were 7 SDUFE graduates and 3 RUC graduates.

The Dalhousie University Summer Institute took place in July 2012. Hosted by the Faculty of Science, and jointly sponsored by the Department of Economics and the Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, the Summer Institute featured the course “The Science and Economics of Climate Change,” taught by Prof. Ruth Forsdyke from Economics and Prof. Glen Lesins from Physics. Nine students came from China to participate in the program, joining a class of 21 Dalhousie students, several of whom were Joint Program students. As part of the course, the students visited the Dalhousie Mountain Wind Turbine Farm, the Annapolis Royal Tidal Generating Power Plant, and the Tufts Cove Energy Generation Plant. The course also included several social events: a lobster boil party at Point Pleasant Park, a tour of Peggy’s Cove, a visit to the Tall Ships Festival and a ride on the Metro Ferry to Dartmouth. The summer program will be offered again this summer from July 22 to August 16, 2013.

In September, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Chris Moore, and Program Director, Barry Lesser, visited China. The trip consisted of visits at SDUFE in Jinan, Ocean University of China in Qingdao, Nanjing University in Nanjing and Renmin University and UIBE in Beijing. They attended the opening ceremony for new students at Renmin and met new students at both Renmin and SDUFE. During the visit, Barry Lesser received an Honourary Professorship from the School of Economics at SDUFE.

In November, Barry Lesser and Shannon Peng were in China to interview applicants for Dalhousie for the 2013-14 academic year. They met with Renmin students in Beijing and then met with SDUFE students in Jinan. A meeting with students from the UIBE School of Banking and Finance also took place.

Liza Bristow (Dalhousie) and James Sawler (MSVU) were at SDUFE to teach Intermediate Microeconomics and Macroeconomics in May-June, 2012. Paul Hobson (Acadia) spent the fall 2012 semester at SDUFE teaching courses in public finance and public policy.

Yali Zhang and Li Wang, faculty members in the School of Economics at SDUFE, are the 2013 Faculty Fellowship recipients from SDUFE. They arrived in Halifax in September 2012 and will stay until May 2013. Yaliang Xu, the 2012 Fellow, returned to China in May 2012, after 10 months in Halifax.

Xiaojuan Sun, a PhD student at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), is visiting the department from September 2012 to August 2013. During this time, she is working on her research on the “RMB Foreign Exchange Market Microstructure in China” under the co-supervision of Drs. Barry Lesser and Kuan Xu. This research is part of her PhD dissertation work at UIBE’s School of Finance.

Miao He, Jiawen Li, Xuan Li, Yaxuan Wang and Wenqi Zhao from UIBE spent the fall 2012 semester at Dalhousie under the Dalhousie-UIBE Exchange Program.

Yu Qiao and Yi Li, Masters students at UIBE, are the first two students visiting Dalhousie under the new visiting student agreement with the School of Banking and Finance at UIBE. They just arrived in February 2013, for a stay of approximately 3 months.

Seven students in the China Program were recipients of a Professor W. Russell Maxwell Memorial Scholarship Award for 2012-13. The recipients are: Junkai Bi, Wei Chu, Shanwen Li, Zhen Wang, Xiaowei Yang, Yang Yang, and Zhaohui Zhang.

The SDUFE-DAL Joint Program Scholarship recipients have been named for the 2012-13 year. These awards go to fourth-year students based on their GPA in the first year of study at Dalhousie. Recipients for 2012-13 are: Junkai Bi, Wei Chu, Shanwen Li, Zhen Wang, Xiaowei Yang, Yang Yang, Shuosheng Yin, Zhaohui Zhang, Yang Zhao, and Zhen Zhou.

Many social events have taken place in the past few months:

-    September 2012 - A Mentor Program BBQ kick-off event was held at which mentors and mentees were introduced to each other. This year we have 6 non- Chinese mentors and 6 Chinese mentor advisors. Chinese Mentor advisors are 2+2 students from the 2011-12 year. They are grouped with the non-Chinese mentors to provide additional support for the non-Chinese mentors.

-     October 2012 – Halloween Haunted House and Pumpkin Carving: With the help of DUESA, the Economics building was transformed into a haunted house. For many of the 2+2 students this was their first time celebrating Halloween. They enjoyed the pumpkin carving and the spooky haunted house.

-      December 2012 – Christmas Party: About 60 people attended the Christmas Party held in the Chase Building. The Chair of the Math and Stats Department, Karl Dilchard; Robert Milson, Math Undergraduate Coordinator; Keith Taylor, Associate Vice-President; Shazia Nawaz, ESL instructor; and Lars Osberg, Chair of Economics, attended the party, together with several faculty from the Department of Economics. Zhen Wang performed Taichi Martial Arts and Haokun Sun drew four different pieces of Chinese calligraphy, which were then presented as gifts to the guests listed above.

-  February 2013 – Chinese New Year Gala: The Chinese students were invited to the Gala hosted by the Dalhousie Chinese Students and Scholars Associations. The Gala was held at Rebecca Cohn Theatre on the Chinese New Year.

Student News

Best wishes to the following students who received their degrees at the May 2012 Convocation Ceremonies: MDE: Weiguo Cai, Andrew Fanning, Julie Houde; MA: Aliah Akbari, Nicole Maliha, Aaramya Nath, and Qin Xu.

Ge Wang was awarded the University Medal in Economics at the May 2012 convocation ceremony. The University Medal is awarded to an Honour’s graduate in recognition of superior achievement in his/her field of study. One medal is awarded per department.

On Tuesday, March 27, 2012, the ECON 4200 honours students held a poster session presenting their research. The session was held at the Great Hall, University Club. There were 24 honours students who participated.

Maggie Jones (MA) and Lu Lin (MA) are this year’s recipients of the U.L.G. Rao Memorial Prize in Economics. The prize is awarded to a Master’s student with the highest GPA in MA core classes.

Maggie Jones (MA) was named recipient of the Economics Teaching Assistant Award. The award was established in academic year 2011-12 to celebrate the invaluable contribution of teaching assistants to the economics student experience. Specifically, recognition will be given annually to an outstanding TA who inspires students and demonstrates excellence in his or her TA duties.

Jonathan Deal (BSc) and Peng Fei Li (BSc Hons) are recipients of the Anonymous Prize in Economics for 2011-12. The prize is awarded to an Economics student or students, not in their last year, "who has (have) shown through an essay outstanding promise of successfully applying economics to the solution of human problems." Both Deal and Li were nominated by their Econometrics (ECON 3338) professor, Courtney Ward, for their papers entitled: "An Essay on the Effect of Changes in State-Level Tax Burden on the Rate of Larceny Theft” (Deal) and “Effects of the Minimum Wage on the Employment of Teenagers and Young Adults in Canada” (Li).

The Department hosted a reception for graduates following the May 23, 2012 convocation ceremony.

The Department established a number of prizes for undergraduate Economics majors in academic year 2011-12 and they were awarded for the first time in May 2012. The prizes (including recipient names) are listed below:

Principles of Economics Prize - Julie Melanson (BSc). This prize is awarded to

the undergraduate Economics major with the highest combined average in the Principles of Microeconomics (ECON 1101) and Principles of Macroeconomics (ECON 1102) sequence of courses.

Economic Theory Prize - Katherine Ryan (BSc). The prize is awarded to the undergraduate Economics major with the highest combined average in the Intermediate Microeconomics (ECON 2200 or 2220) and Intermediate Macroeconomics (ECON 2201) sequence of courses.

Econometrics Prize - Jonathan Deal (BSc). The prize is awarded to the undergraduate Economics major with the highest combined average in the Econometrics I (ECON 3338) and Econometrics II (ECON 3339) sequence of courses.

Economics Honours Thesis Prize - Tong Zheng (BSc Honours) is this year's recipient of the Economics Honours Thesis Prize for her paper entitled "The Determinants of Credit Ratings and the Evaluation of Rating Agencies: Evidence from 16 OECD Countries." The Economics Honours Thesis Prize is awarded to the Honours student with the best honours thesis, as determined by the Selection Committee.

Best wishes to the following students who received their degrees at the October 2012 Convocation Ceremonies: MDE: Chayanika Abeysekera, Paola Beneras, Jamie Charlebois, Ryan Duff, Kodjo Efu, Nathalie Green, Julia Hiscock, Josian Petgrave, Kaylie Tiessen; MA: Md. Forhad, Maggie Jones, Michael Lutes, Steven Ryan, Mico Schwartzentruber, Sean Winters, Shuichang Xie, Jing Zhong; and PhD: Ke (Kelly) Chen.

Junkai Bi, William Buckley, Wei Chu, Emily Jackson, Peng Fei Li, Shanwen Li, Yu

Takagi, Wan Nur Iylia Wa Yusoff, Zhen Wang, Aaron Wolf, Xiaowei Yang, Yang Yang, and Zhaohui Zhang are recipients of a Professor W. Russell Maxwell Memorial Scholarship Award for 2012-13.

Congratulations to Sam Emblem and Neil Simpson, who were each awarded SSHRC’s 2012 Jo seph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program - Master’s Scholarships. This program offers non-renewable, twelve- month awards to students intending to pursue full-time studies at the master’s level in a discipline supported by SSHRC.

Ke (Kelly) Chen (PhD) successfully passed the oral defence of her PhD thesis entitled “Parental Health Shocks and Children’s Outcomes.” The defence was held on August 1, 2012. Kelly’s examining committee included: Jane Friesen (Simon Fraser University), External Examiner, Mevlude Akbulut-Yuksel, Lars Osberg and Shelley Phipps (co-supervisors), and  Me lvin Cross (departmenta l representative). Kelly graduated in October 2012. She is currently employed with Digonex Technologies Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Paul Spin (PhD) received a travel grant from the Faculty of Graduate Studies to attend the European Population Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, June 13-16, 2012.

The Department hosted an Awards reception for scholarship and prize recipients following the March 15, 2013 weekly seminar.

In Memoriam

We remember Gillian Wood who passed away in January 2013.   Gillian received a MA degree in Economics in 1988. She was employed as Dalhousie’s Assistant Vice- President of Government Relations. Our condolences go out to her family: husband Richard Wood, professor in Dalhousie’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics; daughters Allison, Lesley and Bronwen; stepson Thomas; grandchildren Dexter and Remy; brother Greg.

Alumni Update

Chris MacDonald (MDE 1999) and Michelle Maragh (MDE 1998) are happy to announce the arrival of their first child, Moy Myrina Maragh MacDonald. She was born in Ottawa on Friday, January 4, 2013.

ECON MATTERS is published by the Department of Economics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2. Inquiries and suggestions for future issues may be sent to economics@dal.ca.