Department Highlights

In Spring 2026 Professor Enrico Spolaore is presenting his research on the diffusion of modern fertility at various events, including the NBER meeting on Culture and Institutions in Cambridge (MA), the PISM seminar at the University of Pennsylvania, and the economics seminar at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. 

Professor Emerita Lynne Pepall recently revised Microeconomic for Dummies.  The new edition updates and clarifies many of the core concepts while keeping the material accessible and practical for readers who want to understand the fundamentals of microeconomics.

Professor Ujjayant Chakravorty’s advisee, Mathew Letua, has been selected to receive a 2026 Presidential Award for Civic Life. The award recognizes Mathew’s outstanding community service and civic leadership achievements during their time at Tufts University.

Professor Margaret McMillan's research was cited in the Economist article, "In African Development, Big is Beautiful Again".

Professor Jeffrey Zabel documents the challenge of housing affordability, the reasons behind it, and what can be done in the EconoFact Chats episode The Rising Cost of Housing.

Professor Enrico Spolaore presented his research on cultural remittances and modern fertility as an invited speaker at the 30th Annual Conference of LACEA (Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association) in Recife, Brazil, on November 22, 2025.

Professor Cheryl Doss, Co-Director of the MS program, has been award the 2025 Outstanding Alumni Award at the University of Minnesota Ph.D. program in Applied Economics.

On September 28, Professor Enrico Spolaore presented his research on immigration and fertility at the BIG Forum, the first conference of the Building Inclusive Growth (BIG) Lab at the University of Notre Dame.

Professor Enrico Spolaore co-authored the VoxDev article "Why Doesn't Global Capital Flow To Where It's Most Productive, in Developing Countries?" 

Professor Enrico Spolaore presented his research on "Cultural Remittances and Modern Fertility" at the World Economic History Congress in Lund (Sweden) on July 29 and at the University of Oslo (Norway) on August 14.

Patrick Schena, Barton L. Rachlin, E59, A85P, Professor of Economics, in a Bridge Michigan article, explained why the government of Singapore owns more than 5% of all land in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Douglas Gollin, Jason P. and Chloe Epstein Professor of Economics, has been appointed research associate to the National Bureau of Economic Research Development Economics Program. The Development Economics Program studies the forces that contribute to economic development, particularly in less developed nations.

Matthew Gudgeon, assistant professor of economics, was appointed faculty research fellow to the National Bureau of Economic Research Labor Studies Program. The Labor Studies Program explores issues related to employment and compensation, including the supply of and demand for labor, human capital, and the determinants and consequences of unemployment.

Professor Enrico Spolaore's paper "Barriers to Global Capital Allocation" (with Bruno Pellegrino and Romain Wacziarg) was presented at the 34th annual Utah Winter Finance Conference on February 8 and accepted at the Quarterly Journal of Economics on February 24.

Professor of Practice Patrick J. Schena's  article “US sovereign wealth fund: A feasible idea to invest strategically, or a giant opportunity for waste?” has been published on The Conversation.

Congratulations to the following Economics students receiving awards this year!