The inaugural winners of the Economics Summer Research Awards will receive hands-on experience, “Learning by Doing” under the supervision of a professor, says economics department head Sang-Chul Suh.

“In addition to an in-depth learning on a selected topic, it also gives students an opportunity to connect with a professor,” he says. “Building close connections with professors will help students learn better and be better prepared for their future careers.”

Each winning undergraduate is awarded $500 and paired with a researcher and a research project.

This year’s winners are:

• Sean Coughlin will work on the effects of an agent’s labour supply when there is a non-zero probability of receiving a bequest or gift in the future under the supervision of Marcelo Arbex.
• Zijun Fan will work on the Canadian labour market during the COVID recession under the supervision of Yahong Zhang.
• David Henderson will work on the role of credit default swaps in the 2008 financial crisis in the U.S. under the supervision of Hyuk-Jae Rhee.
• Jared Seagris will work on the Easterlin Paradox and the shortcomings of GDP to correctly measure happiness, along with some other potential candidates for this ‘happiness index’ under the supervision of Dr. Suh.