M. Amara Dukuly, University of Minnesota -- On Christmas Eve 1989, a Libyan-backed rebel group led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia, sparking the First Liberian Civil War, which lasted until 1997. A second conflict followed in 1999 and ended in 2003. After nearly a decade and a half of civil war, Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world and half of the population is illiterate.
Yifei Li, Chenbing Zhou, and Tianshu Xia, University of Colorado Denver -- In recent decades, the United States has experienced a continuous decrease in fertility, which raises concerns regarding labor force shortages and the sustainability of old-age welfare programs. Several states have implemented pronatalist policies, but their effectiveness has not been fully examined. This paper analyzes the impact of parental leave and the child tax credit on fertility at the state level between 1999 and 2023.
Salmaan Seraji-Bozorgzad, Wayne State University -- Following the 2013 bankruptcy, Detroit has pursued a redevelopment strategy which significantly focuses on downtown tourism; however, there are concerns as to whether these investments benefit the city’s resident population or primarily serve regional consumers and the surrounding metropolitan and statistical areas.
Rou Yu (Roanne) Yap, University of Oxford -- This paper estimates the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the labour market in Guangzhou. This is done by studying the effects of past disruptive technologies on the city’s workforce and incorporating theories and evidence from the existing literature.
Rachel Costello, Tulane University -- As destruction from weather events has increased, property insurance premiums have also risen. This article utilizes weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and household survey data from IPUMS USA to answer the following question: “Is the increase in damaging weather events causing lower-income households to drop their property insurance policies at a disproportionate rate?”.
Luke Tsuchiya, Tufts University -- This paper examines the effects of trade liberalization on different communities and the importance of regional integration for calculating the effect of trade shocks.
