REU Site: Tulane Research Experience for Undergraduates in Applied Microeconomics and Program Evaluation (TREU-AMPE)

Tulane University, New Orleans LA

Investigators

Abstract

Intellectual Merit. The Tulane Research Experience for Undergraduates in Applied Microeconomics and Program Evaluation (TREU-AMPE) identifies undergraduate students from Southeast Louisiana universities majoring in Economics with an interest in applied microeconomics and program evaluation, and provides research opportunities designed to support them through their current major, encourage them to attend graduate school and, eventually, a research career in applied microeconomics and program evaluation. The TREU-AMPE provides not only a curricular research opportunity but also the long-term support necessary for a career in research. This support is particularly important for student groups such as women and underrepresented minorities that have been, and continue to be, underrepresented in these disciplines at the graduate level. The TREU-AMPE is an intensive year-round program for economics majors from Tulane University, the University of New Orleans, Xavier University, Loyola University, Dillard University, and Southern University at New Orleans. Promising students from these schools are matched with a faculty member of the Tulane Economics department. Students choose an independent project or collaborate on an existing project of an advisor. Projects last between six months and two years and result in senior theses and potentially publications authored by the student, faculty adviser, or both. Broader Impacts. The objective of the TREU-AMPE is to engage a diverse set of talented undergraduates in the economic analysis of public policies that affect the New Orleans and Gulf Coast areas and have broader implications for all regions. By participating in the scientific evaluation of the effects of local public policies, the program fosters their interest in economics and program evaluation and build broader research skills to support their graduate studies. The TREU-AMPE program has a number of potential benefits. First, it provides an unusually intensive research program for a select group of undergraduates. Second, it involves student groups that are underrepresented in the economics profession. By focusing the research program on the economic analysis of their own city and region, the PI-Team hopes to draw these students into research careers in this field. Third, this research examines critical economic questions that have global relevance. For example, New Orleans is currently an exceptional laboratory to answer questions about the economics of local school governance, healthcare, urban agglomeration, and environmental policy; this makes the REU Site a unique project at a very special period of time.