The college has a 20+ year track record of students presenting at the Eastern Economics Conference in the International Political Economy sessions. This year, in February, three students accompanied by their faculty mentors, travelled to New York City to present their findings at the Eastern’s.
Igna Méndez is a senior who presented early results from her senior thesis. Ethan Hunt and Faiyaz Hassan, both juniors, enhanced and submitted their econometrics papers for publication in Case Western Reserve Journal of Economics (forthcoming). So this was a great additional opportunity to present their work.
After presenting their research, students and their economics faculty mentors gathered with New York area alumni for dinner. The student attendance to the conference was supported by the Kaufman Endowed Funds and Apex Fellowships, while support for the alumni gathering was co sponsored by the Economics Department and Alumni Engagement.
Below are the titles and the paper abstracts that were accepted into the International Political Economy Sessions for February 2025.
Ignacia Méndez ’25 – Who Cares? The Relationship between Cardiovascular Surgery Recovery Times and Intrahousehold Gender Inequality.
Abstract: The gendered distribution of unpaid care, including care for those who are ill or recovering, is an issue that affects women’s bargaining power around the world. In cardiovascular surgeries, patients are sent home earlier or go through cheaper surgeries with longer recovery time to reduce hospital and family costs. For a patient to recover fully, someone has to take care of them at home. Chile already offers an alternative, a shorter recovery surgery (SRS). However, due to its high financial costs, families still undergo longer recovery surgery (LRS), leading to hidden costs that may negatively affect women. This article will answer two questions: (a) How do gender roles influence who is taking on responsibilities for the care of recovering patients in the household? (b) How does the increase in household unpaid care work associated with LRS affect gender inequality? A survey conducted in a Chilean hospital found that caregivers for an LRS patient had a mean caregiving time that was approximately 3 times longer than SRS, 71 percent of the caregivers were women, 62.5 percent of the respondents thought women where better at caregiving, and 80 percent of the respondents feel responsible for their parents care. Secondly, a broader econometrics study using the Chilean National Time Use Survey (ENUT) will be used to evaluate how an increase in the share of time spent on elder care affects who makes consumption decisions within the household.
Faiyaz Kasir Hassan ’26 – Assessing the Phillips Curve Across Economies
Abstract: This study investigates the validity of the Phillips Curve (PC) across different economies by analyzing the relationship between inflation and unemployment in both developed and developing countries over a span of 31 years. While the Phillips Curve traditionally suggests an inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment, this study hypothesizes that inflation has a nominal impact on unemployment compared to other macroeconomic factors such as GDP growth, labor force participation, and development status. Using pooled OLS regression, with additional lagged inflation variables and robustness checks, the analysis spans 12 countries (6 developed and 6 developing). The results show that inflation’s effect on unemployment is minimal, with economic growth and development status emerging as stronger predictors. These findings challenge the universal applicability of the Phillips Curve, particularly in developing countries, suggesting that other macroeconomic variables play a more critical role in influencing unemployment. The paper calls for a reassessment of how unemployment is studied, especially in the context of diverse economic realities.
Ethan Hunt ’26 – Green Bonds as Climate Solutions: Assessing Their Efficacy in Developed vs. Developing Nations
Abstract: Climate finance is a critical element of the world’s climate transition, yet its allocation is not directed towards areas of greater returns. Using six different data sources from 2000 to 2018, this paper explores whether green bonds yield greater greenhouse gas emission returns in developing countries compared to developed countries using fixed effects. The results indicate greater returns for green bonds invested in developed countries the previous year compared to developed countries, and, therefore, investment should be allocated towards them for greater returns.