Economics students named as finalists for IAES Best Undergraduate Paper

Two of our Economics students were amongst four finalists for the International Atlantic Economic Society’s 13^th annual Best Undergraduate Paper Competition (IAES).

Gytautas Karklius and Yin Li Toh, both recent graduates from the Department were selected as finalists and presented their work at the 84th International Atlantic Economic Society Conference in Montreal, Canada on Saturday, 7 October 2017.

The winner of the competition receives a cash prize and has their paper printed in an upcoming issue of the Atlantic Economic Journal, with the other three finalists invited to have an 800 word abstract of their papers published in the same journal.

The papers being presented were:

• Gytautas Karklius “The Effect of Central Bank Informal Communication on Bond Markets: The Evidence from the Bank of England”

• Yin Li Toh “The Role of Land Wealth on Child Labour in Vietnam”

The other two papers being presented were:

• Christina Cheung “Eliminating the Penny in Canada: An Economic Analysis of Penny-rounding on Grocery Items”, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

• Jessica Green “To What Extent Does Immigration Lead to Displacement Effects and Subdued Growth in Earnings for UK Workers?” Nottingham Trent University, UK

Gytautas arrived in Canada and had this to say about his experience at the conference:

"The Best Undergraduate Paper Competition was one of the most interesting experiences in my life. Yin and I were the only undergraduates attending the conference. However, I soon realised that the quality of education provided by Warwick allowed me to offer constructive comments on how to improve research done by professional economists. Sessions reminded me of RAE seminars when people would give each other constructive feedback.

Saturday was the competition day. Each contestant had 20 minutes for presentation and a few minutes for Q&A. Even though I expected Q&A to be the most stressful part of the competition, the questions were not meant to catch me off guard but were more of a clarifying nature. In my opinion, all presentations by other finalists were good and deserved to win. In the end, the first prize went to Christina Cheung from the University of British Columbia, who analysed the effect of penny rounding in Canada.

Overall, I would strongly encourage everyone to apply. The submission process is very straightforward. It is an incredible opportunity to present your research in a professional environment and have a paper/anthology published in an economic journal."

Commenting on her nomination and experience, Yin said:

"I submitted my paper following my tutor’s nomination, and was thrilled to find out that I was selected as one of the four finalists for the competition! On October 4th. I found my way to Montreal, Canada. Opening the conference was an address by Professor Barry Eichengreen who spoke about his forthcoming paper discussing the aftershocks of the European Union.

It was so surreal to listen to him in person, after learning about his works and citing them in my first year module ‘The World Economy’. The day ended with the welcoming drinks reception and we had the opportunity to talk to academics from other universities.

I was the last to present among the finalists and I would be lying if I said it was not nerve-wrecking standing in front of the panel of judges. I found the Q&A session following my presentation insightful, which offered a discussion on the robustness of my results.

It was definitely an honour to present my paper alongside other participants who had diverse topics and such distinguished papers. Special thanks to Stefania Paredes for her unwavering support and encouragement, Gianna Boero for her invaluable acknowledgement of my work, and the Department for sponsoring my travel.

I am extremely grateful for this opportunity – I never would have thought of presenting my paper at an international audience, when I first started writing my RAE. To any Warwick undergraduate reading this, I highly recommend you submit your paper to the competition. It is a fantastic way to expand your economics knowledge and network. More importantly, enjoy the process of writing your RAE paper. This whole experience was truly one of the best takeaways I have had, and am proud to be an undergraduate of Warwick"