ode

Omicron Delta Epsilon is the international economics honor society. We have had a chapter at Villanova since 1967. The society is open to all juniors and seniors having an overall grade point average of 3.5 or better, as well as a grade point average of 3.5 or better in the economic courses taken. Eligible students must have completed a minimum of four economics courses. All students who meet these minimum requirements are invited to contact the faculty advisor (Dr. Clain, 610-519-6556, suzanne.clain@villanova.edu) for more information on how to apply for ODE membership.

The ODE 23rd Annual Undergraduate Research Conference in Business and Economics was held on Friday, April 13, 2012, at Ursinus College. Students from area undergraduate institutions, including Villanova University, presented and discussed their research in concurrent morning sessions. A luncheon followed the morning sessions. Four Villanova students participated in this event in 2012.

Last spring, the Department of Economics once again conducted the student research paper competition known as the Adam Smith Contest. The winners (in tie for first-place) in the 2011-2012 Adam Smith Contest were Margaret Banker (for her paper entitled "OECD Donors and HIV/AIDS aid") and Alexandra Soltis (for her paper entitled "The Effect of Immigration on the Income of Americans"). Papers written by Patrick Donnelly ("The Existence of the Interest Rate Channel in Monetary Transmission") and Matt Haemmerle ("Manufacturing Institutional Quality: The Impact of Dutch Disease on Governance in Oil Dependent Countries") received honorable mention. First- and second-place winners received cash awards of $2000 and $1000, respectively, while honorable-mention winners received cash awards of $500. These finalists presented their papers at a luncheon on April 20, 2012. The 2011-2012 Adam Smith Contest was funded by a gift from John Haines (A&S ’79). Congratulations to these winners! Many thanks to all who entered their work in the competition.

The paper that wins first place in the Adam Smith Contest is usually entered into the national ODE undergraduate research paper competition, the Taussig competition (http://www.omicrondeltaepsilon.org/awards.html). Three Adam Smith contest winners have gone on to win the Taussig award in recent history.

Jonathan Klick '97 was the 1997 winner of the Taussig Award, for his paper entitled "Do Dollars Make a Difference? The Relationship Between Expenditures and Test Scores in Pennsylvania's Public Schools" (The American Economist, Vol. 44, No. 1, Spring 2000, pp. 81-87) Klick, who went on to complete both an economics Ph.D. and a J.D. at George Mason University, is now Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania. (http://search.proquest.com.ezp1.villanova.edu/abiglobal/docview/200703218/fulltext/1343952C199555F2B5F/3?accountid=14853)

Matthew Nespoli '04 won the 2006 Taussig Award for his paper entitled "Infrastructure Privatization in Latin America: A Medium Term Analysis". At that time, the $200 award to the Villanova University chapter of ODE was donated to Water for Waslala (http://www.waterforwaslala.org); Nespoli has been President and Founder of Water for Waslala since 2004. He is currently an MBA candidate in the Class of 2012 at the MIT Sloan School of Management.