2017 Senior Essay Prize Recipients

Four departmental prizes were awarded at commencement ceremonies this year to Economics and Economics and Math majors for the best senior essays. With more than 60 senior essays written in the Department of Economics, 16 were nominated for prizes. This year’s recipients are as follows.

The Charles Heber Dickerman Memorial Prize for the best departmental essay:

“A Head Start for the Whole Family: Assessing the Labor Supply Response of Mothers of Head Start Participants” by Anna Russo (supervised by Joseph Altonji).

The Ronald Meltzer/Cornelia Awdziewicz Economic Award for two outstanding senior essays:

1. “The Targeting Performance and Short-Term Welfare Effects of Female Income Support Programs: Evidence from Pakistan” by Amen Jalal (supervised by Christopher Udry)
2. “Investing in the Womb: Identifying Gender Discrimination Through the Lens of Parental Ultrasound” by Neha Anand (supervised by Xi Chen)

The Ellington Prize for the best departmental essay in the field of finance:

“Did Central Clearing of Interest Rate Products Impact Market Activity?” by Alicia Borja Alvarez (supervised by Heather Tookes).

In addition to the senior essay prizes, two awards were given to majors by the department:

The William Massee Prize was awarded to Zheng Xiang Toh for an outstanding record in Economic courses in the first seven terms of Yale College.

The Louis Laun Prize was awarded to Michael Wang for an outstanding course record in all courses taken at Yale College during the first seven terms.

Senior essays are nominated for a prize by both a student’s advisor, as well as a second reader from the department, after which a committee comprised of faculty members from the Department of Economics read and select the winning essays. For a complete list of this year’s nominations, visit the senior essays nomination page.