2026 Economic Scholars Program Agenda

About Us

We serve the American people as part of the US central bank. We support the US economy and our region by studying economic conditions and issues that impact our communities, serving financial institutions, and providing economic education and resources for all.
- Our leadership
  
  Meet the individuals leading our mission, including the president and executive leadership team, advisory council members, and the boards of directors of each Cleveland Fed branch.
- Who we are and what we do
  
  The Fed does more than inform monetary policy. Learn about the mission, structure, and role of our organization, both regionally and nationally.
- Sharing our work
  
  Community outreach, education, and research are central to the Fed’s mission. Connect with us as we share our work, latest publications, and welcome you to visit our learning center.

Research and Analysis

Our research informs the public and policymakers by examining economic issues of importance to those in our local communities, across the nation, and around the world.
- Research teams
- Publications
  
  We publish research and analyses to keep audiences informed of economic trends in our region and nationwide. View latest releases or explore our archive.
- Events
- Inflation questions?
  Visit our Center for Inflation Research for all things inflation—from general information on how inflation works and why it matters to the latest data and analysis on current inflationary trends.

Region and Community

We represent and gather information from the Fourth Federal Reserve District, spanning Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. These resources are useful for our region, the communities we serve, and communities across the United States.
- Our region
  
  Learn about our work to advance understanding of economic trends affecting the Fourth District.
- Our communities
- Events
  
  Hear from local leaders and community development experts about economic problems their communities face and the solutions they are putting forth.
- By topic
  
  Looking for the Fed’s work on a particular subject? Narrow your search to the areas that interest you.

Education

Learn economic basics, dive into inflation, and get educational resources and games for yourself or to share with others.
- Ways to learn
  
  Explore articles, explainers, videos and more to learn about our economy and the Fed.
- Financial Literacy and Career Readiness
  
  Browse the Cleveland Fed’s suite of programs and resources for informative ways to learn about personal finance or career readiness.
- Visits and tours
  
  Visit us to learn more about our history and our ongoing work to promote financial literacy throughout our region.
  - Visit Us
- Financial Literacy Curriculum
  Learn more about resources supporting required high school, middle school, and elementary school financial literacy courses.

Banking and Payments

We supervise financial institutions, support American consumers’ financial security, and maintain the financial stability and payment systems for the US Treasury.
- Banking research and tools
  
  The Cleveland Fed provides a range of tools for tracking trends in the lending environment.
  - Small Business Credit Survey
  - Home Mortgage Explorer
- For consumers
  
  Learn about the resources we offer to help people in the community navigate the financial system.
- For financial institutions
  
  Understand the various requirements for Fed-chartered financial institutions and discover the range of services available to them—from cash services and reserve balance data to the discount window.
- Supporting the financial system
  
  Find out how the Cleveland Fed supervises member banks to ensure financial-system stability and support the US Treasury.

Share

Register to attend virtually on April 17

9:00–9:45 am	Arrival and Breakfast
9:45–9:55 am	Welcome and Opening Remarks Pianalto Auditorium Edward S. Knotek, II, Senior Vice President and Director of Research \| Bio Beth M. Hammack, President and Chief Executive Officer \| Bio
9:55–10:05 am	Break
10:05–11:05 am	Morning Session 1 Pianalto Auditorium Session Chair: Allison Osei-Okrah, Junior, The College of Wooster Chloe Christen, Junior, Ohio University Did the Rise of Ultra-Processed Foods Reshape the BMI-Poverty Gap? An Analysis of Income-Based BMI Trends Payton Garcia, Junior, Howard University Factories or Flux? Deciphering the Partisan Signature of EDI in Ghana’s Fourth Republic Tyler Sotomayor and Gabriel Uceda-Sosa, Juniors, Columbia University Heterogeneous Effects of Merit-Based Aid on Institutional Access Discussant: Anika Kaur, Junior, Case Western Reserve University Cincinnati Room Session Chair: Fiona Arado, Junior, Case Western Reserve University Bat-Enerelt Ulambayar, Senior, The College of Wooster Coal, Cold and Clear Air: Impact assessment of raw coal ban on Mongolian Household Emissions and Pollutant levels Renee Tetlow, Senior, Allegheny College The Relationship between R&D and Financial Performance of Renewable Energy Firms Evelina Sheridan, Senior, Hamilton College More buyers, less problems? An examination of Ghana’s 1992/1993 cocoa market partial liberalization on child health outcomes Discussant: Chidiebere Christabel Nnubia, Senior, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University
11:05–11:15 am	Break
11:15 am–12:15 pm	Morning Session 2 Pianalto Auditorium Session Chair: Aahna Sinha, Sophomore, University of Pittsburgh Ahmad Alexander, Senior, Pace University The Causal Impact on Bus Lane Coverage on Ridership and Speed in New York Joy Cheng, Junior, Emory University (Virtual) Adaptive Conjoint Analysis of Threshold Effects in Refugee Return Intentions Neha Yadavalli, Freshman, Northwestern University Does access to AI writing tools improve academic performance more for lower-income students than higher-income students? Discussant: Richard Li, Sophomore, University of California, Berkeley Cincinnati Room Session Chair: Karina Ismailova, Sophomore, Berea College Mara Dukuly, Junior, University of Minnesota War and Literacy: Regional, Ethnic, and Cohort Effects from the Liberian Civil Wars Kara Hooppell, Senior, Pennwest University – Edinboro Campus The Effect of U.S. Consumer Price Index Surprises on EUR/USD Volatility Tyler Hartman, Senior, University of North Carolina Wilmington The Impact of the Minimum Legal Age Increase on Tobacco Use Across Demographics Discussant: Leah Mokry, Senior, Agnes Scott College (Virtual)
12:15 pm–1:00 pm	Lunch
1:00–1:45 pm	Perspectives on Careers in Economics – Panel Discussion Pianalto Auditorium Moderator: James Mitchell, Vice President \| Bio Panelists: Kevin Jacobson, Research Analyst \| Bio André Victor D. Luduvice, Research Economist \| Bio Chengcheng Jia, Research Economist \| Bio Kevin Rinz, Senior Research Economist \| Bio Rory G. Quinlan, Research Analyst \| Bio
1:45–2:00 pm	Break
2:00–3:00 pm	Afternoon Session 3 Pianalto Auditorium Session Chair: Mrunmayi Warade, Sophomore, The Ohio State University Oliver Ng, Junior, Pace University Sports Betting & Financial Deterioration. The effect of online sports betting legalization on consumer finances Stevi Dugas, Senior, University of Richmond The Differential Effects of Food Aid & Agricultural Input Aid on Household Consumption: A Case Study of Agricultural Households in Malawi Matthew Posego, Senior, Pennwest University - Edinboro Campus Consolidation in Healthcare: The Effect of Hospital Acquisitions on Patient Pricing Discussant: Zev van Zanten, Senior, Duke University Cincinnati Room Session Chair: Gideon Hurtado-Sher, Sophomore, Oberlin College Sidharth Jindal, Junior, Case Western Reserve University Bayesian Analysis of Event Studies for Securities Litigation: Time Series Improvements Jesse Boockvar-Klein and Camryn Yates, Seniors, Case Western Reserve University The Effect of Facebook’s Rollout to Colleges on College Students’ Voter Participation Hridhika Vora, Senior, The University of Akron How Do Automatic Expungement Laws Affect Crime Rates Across U.S. States? Discussant: Sara Singh, Senior, The College of Wooster
3:00–3:10 pm	Break
3:10–4:10 pm	Afternoon Session 4 Pianalto Auditorium Session Chair: Kaitlin Wang, Freshman, Case Western Reserve University Petr Beránek, Junior, Sacred Heart University The Alcohol Paradox: Do Drinkers Weigh Less? Evidence from National Health Data Marine Kang, Senior, The College of Wooster Not Everyone Recovers from Disaster in the Same Way: Wildfire Risk, Insurance Premiums, and Income-Stratified Migration in California Brandon Chan, Senior, Yale University (Virtual) Corrective Overoptimism Discussant: Emily Tutt, Senior, University of Kentucky Cincinnati Room Session Chair: Devarth Patel, Junior, The Ohio State University Dang Nguyen, Junior, Union College Investing Isn’t Just Math: Behavioral Biases and Student Market Participation Shams Sadhin, Junior, University of Cincinnati The Geography of Intergenerational Poverty Revisited: How Urban and Rural Poverty Shape Life Chances Hannah Kelly, Senior, The University of Akron Women’s Work and Wealth: Measuring the Impact of Incremental Liberations, 1850-1870 Discussant: Cole Butterfield, Senior, Hope College
4:10–4:15 pm	Break
4:15–4:30 pm	Closing Remarks Pianalto Auditorium
4:30–6:00 pm	Networking Reception Cleveland Room