AEDE graduate students had the opportunity this past week, March 21–22, to present at the Midwest Economics Association's annual meeting in Chicago, IL. This annual meeting is an opportunity for midwest economists to expose their work and communicate with each other face-to-face.
The Midwest Economics Association (MEA), a non-profit organization whose purpose is the advancement of economic knowledge and the economics profession, hosted the meeting.
This year, several AEDE graduate students had the opportunity to present on different topics with other economists and fellow students. The graduate students who had the opportunity to present were Alex Ryan, Yixuan Wang, Kunxin Zhu, Hyeseon Shin, Jongeun Park, Jonghoon Shin, and Minseong Kang.
PhD student Jonghoon Shin had the opportunity to present at the MEA meeting and found it incredibly rewarding to hear constructive feedback from experts, which he sees as instrumental to refining his research. Jonghoon said that what he will really take away from the event is, “Engaging in discussions about my work allowed me to gain diverse viewpoints, enhancing my approach to research. This experience underscored the importance of cross-disciplinary conversations in fostering creativity and development.”
Jonghoon would encourage future students to present their work, even if they believe their results are preliminary, because the process of presenting research is a great way of learning and developing their skills, stating, “The process of preparing and presenting your research can be incredibly educational. Additionally, take the opportunity to engage with the numerous scholars in attendance. Conversations with them can offer valuable insights and broaden your academic perspective.”
To learn more about Jonhoon’s presentation and what he presented, here is a short abstract of his research.
In Nigeria, maize stands central to both the national diet and agricultural production, with smallholder farmers shouldering the majority of its cultivation. However, the increasing severity of climate change, marked by more frequent and prolonged extreme weather events, presents significant threats to their agricultural endeavors. Through an extensive randomized controlled trial in Nigeria, this research dissects two central themes: (1) Does training farmers on the optimal use of stress-tolerant seeds and access to index insurance bundled with a production loan affect their investments in said seeds? (2) Does access to this bundle of agronomic and financial products result in improved resilience and productivity for smallholder farmers?