Thanks to the generosity of Lynn Scarpati, the Department of Economics is proud to announce the 3nd annual conference in the Spring 2026 semester.
We are pleased to invite you to the 3rd Jim and Matthew Scarpati Honorary Applied Economics Conference on May 14th in Fronczak 408. This year’s conference features student research presentations and discussions about a variety of economic subjests. This years' panel of judges are Justin Downs, Alex Anas, Aisling Winston, Todd Pugatch, Kegon Tan and Lynn Scarpati.
May 14, 2025 8:45 am – 1:00 pm Fronczak Hall, Room 408
8:45am – 9:00am: Breakfast
9:00am: Opening Remarks
AUTHORS & PAPER PRESENTATIONS
9:05 am – 9:35 am - Bennett Schaefer - Can Resilience and Recovery be Explained by Industrial Composition?
9:40 am – 10:10 am - Zack Wyse - The Nexus of Trade Openness and Structural Transformation in Africa
10:15 am – 10:45 am - Owen Penhollow - Community Land Trusts and Neighboring Land Value: Champlain Housing Trust Case Study
10:50 am – 11:20 am - Fahim Khawar - Information Shocks and Asset Repricing: A Natural Experiment in a Synthetic Economy
11:25 am – 11:55 am - Aidan Maturo - A Cost Benefit Approach to Rain Barrels in Onondaga County
12:15pm – 1:00pm: Lunch
Undergraduate economics majors and MA/MS students in Economics are eligible and are invited to participate. Non-economics majors with sufficient economics background are also eligible.
Participating students will present their papers in a conference format at the end of the Spring semester. The first-place prize comes with an award of at least $1500, the second-place prize comes with an award of at least $1000. Additionally, participants who were previously chosen for a proposal prize and successfully present in the conference will be awarded $250 each, and the committee reserves the right to award additional prizes to conference participants, including but not limited to the first- and second-place prize winners.
Open topic: Students may choose the topic of the paper and presentation, subject to the approval of the conference committee. We encourage students to seek feedback from committee members prior to choosing the topic and intended method of analysis of their paper.
October 15, 5pm: general interest meeting.
February 3, March 3, April 7, May 5, 5pm-7pm: conference committee help sessions.
May 14, 9am-1pm: Scarpati Conference presentations and reception.