Peter Sinclair Undergraduate Research Awards Announced

Today would have been Convocation for our Economics students. Unfortunately, the postponement due to the pandemic means we can’t congratulate all of them on their achievements right now.  

However, the Department of Economics is pleased to announce the winners of its Winter 2020 Undergraduate Research prizes. 

The Peter Sinclair Undergraduate Research Prize goes to Alexis Roebuck for her paper “Could Foreign Direct Investment Be the Secret to China's Economic Growth?" Alexis, using time series regressions, found that foreign investment into China has a positive relationship with Chinese output per capita, but only in the long run – it is not as effective for short-run stimulus. 

“When I chose the topic for my paper I was unaware of the global crisis that was to come,” said Roebuck, “but looking at my findings I think they are more important now than ever. With China's sudden economic collapse it is interesting to see how inward FDI can be used to aid China in their recovery.”

Outside her studies, Roebuck is a portrait artist who does work for fun, as well as graphite and watercolour commissions. She is graduating with an Honours BA in Economics (Research Specialization), and will start an MA in Economics at Western University in September.   

The runner-up for the Sinclair prize is Mitchell Gour for his paper “The Effect of Monetary Policy Shocks on Stock Prices in Canada.“ He used changes in 3 month Canadian Bankers Acceptance futures contracts to identify unexpected shocks to interest rates, and found that a surprise 0.25% cut in rates was associated with a 1% average increase Canadian equities prices, with some evidence that the relationship may have gotten stronger since the 2008 financial crisis. Gour was also the MVP of Laurier’s Men’s Swim team this year, and is graduating with an Honours BA in Economics and Financial Management  

Four other students earned honourable mentions for the prize: 

• Tyler Gadke, “Does the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hold When Applied to Developing Countries?” 
• Andrew Melnychenko, “Educational Expenditure and Economic Growth: An Empirical Study of Canada” 
• Arani Ravikumar, “The Effect of the Female Labour Force Participation Rate on GDP Per Capita in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2016” (this is Arani’s second honourable mention – she is the first student to achieve that) 

• Alessandra Urtuna, “Gambling in Canada: Examining the Relationship Between Household Income Levels and Spending on Games of Chance” 

Starting this year, the department is also awarding a Short Undergraduate Research Paper prize. Congratulations to our Winter 2020 winner Yuhe Xi, for her paper “The Short-Run and Long-Run Effects of Import Substitution”. She notes that there are substantial short-run incentives to restrict foreign competition, particularly in the face of rapid changes in trade patterns like those in the wake of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. But, she cautions, this comes at the expense of longer-term reductions in competition and innovation, as well as resource misallocations. She will be starting a Masters in Economics at the University of Toronto in the fall. 

The runner up for the Short Paper Prize is Grace Somerville, for her paper, “Does Increasing the TFSA Contribution Limit Benefit Low Income Canadians in the Long Run?” 

The department had a record number of submissions for the prizes this term. Reading the papers and seeing the range of topics and approaches that economics students have researched in the past term is impressive. 

Congratulations again to these students, and to all our graduating students for their outstanding work, all the more impressive for having to finish up in the midst of the major disruptions caused by COVID-19 at the end of term. The Department of Economics looks forward to being able to celebrate your graduation properly once things have settled down. 

And to students who are starting this Fall, Alexis Roebuck had this to say: “My four years at Laurier were priceless. From the students, to the campus, to the professors, I feel as though I am on the right path for my future and have only loving memories of my time there.”