Establishing A Computer Laboratory for Student/Faculty Economics Research

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With support from a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation award, the economics faculty at Morehouse College will develop a research computer laboratory to improve the quality and scope of research activities in economics and other related disciplines. The research computer lab will enhance the economics department's capacity to model and investigate substantive economic and social issues using national and international data sets employing well-designed econometric models. The department also will rely on this broadened instrumentation to augment student research within specific courses. Faculty and student researchers will carry out econometrics projects in urban economics, international economics, macroeconomics, public finance, economic development, environmental and health economics, labor economics and other socioeconomic research. The effort to significantly improve the number of computer applications for both student and faculty research is central to the department's strategic plan to strengthen economics and business education at Morehouse College, and to increase the number of Morehouse graduates pursuing graduate training in economics, public policy, and international affairs. Thus, in addition to strengthening the economics curriculum, this effort will significantly expand the amount of computer-based student research vital to increasing the pool of undergraduates applying to graduate programs. The lab also will be available to students and faculty in the political science department's Brisbane Institute, which will utilize the facility to conduct voting and political behavior research. In addition, the computer research lab will help the Division of Economics and Business address important social issues across the entire economics and business curriculum. Within the division, the marketing research course will utilize the econometrics research lab, as will the management faculty and students who do behavioral and social research. This lab, therefore, will be an important tool for the growth and development of the economic research program, related divisional business research, and political behavior research efforts. The MRI funding will underwrite a new effort aimed at addressing the needs and interests of students, the economics faculty, and other related faculty to expand the college's policy research capacity. The department is proposing an ambitious and forward looking program to begin an expansion of their infrastructure over three years to take advantage of data downloads from the University of Michigan Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research, to expand the climate of serious faculty/student research, and to improve the traditional lecture learning approach with something more interesting, important and useful for cognitive development. The project is important for many reasons. It will increase the opportunities for Morehouse College faculty and students to engage in policy research, presentations, and programs. It will increase the depth and relevance of economics and business-related courses in their coverage of national and international issues through improved computer-based student projects and papers. Over time, it is expected that these activities will increase the number of students applying to Ph.D. programs in economics and public policy, thereby helping to expand the pool of highly trained African American economists and policy analysts.