 | Yngve Ramstad, Viviane Aiex Martins, Joel Dirlam, Irma Mattei and Mohammed Sharif.
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Two recent graduates earn economics research awardViviane R. Aiex Martins of Providence and Irma S. Mattei of Middletown, both of whom earned bachelor’s degrees in economics from URI in May, were selected by faculty of the Economics Department to receive the first Joel B. Dirlam Undergraduate Research Excellence Award.
Under the guidance of Economics Professor Mohammed Sharif, the women completed a research project last spring titled, “Effects of Gobalization on Income Inequality and Poverty: Brazil case study.”
Professor Yngve Ramstad, the chair of the Economics Department, said that about eight years ago the department added a course—Economics 445: Senior Research Project—believing the course would serve as a capstone experience allowing students to use the skills they developed by completing a meaningful research project.
“Not many have elected to undertake a sophisticated quantitative project,” Ramstad said. “Of those who have, none have matched the sophistication with which Viviane and Irma pursued their investigation of the effect that globalization has had on inequality.”
Using Brazil as a case study, Mattei and Martins used their training in econometrics to uncover the mixed impact that globalization may be having on the world’s poor. “Their empirical results suggest that in Brazil the poor are falling farther behind as a result of globalization,” Ramstad said.
Martins, who came to this country three years ago from Brazil, and Mattei, who emigrated from Puerto Rico three years ago, had a common focus for their research.
“Because we were both from Latin America, we wanted to focus on the problems of a developing country,” Martins said. “We worked very hard on what was my toughest project during my time at URI.”
Using email, the students collected data on Brazil’s economy and its labor conditions. The result was a 35-page paper they submitted at the end of their senior year.
The award is named in honor of Professor Emeritus Dirlam, who retired from URI in 1981.
“To my knowledge Joel Dirlam is one of the most productive and influential scholars who has been associated with the URI Department of Economics,” Ramstad said. “This is why we are so pleased to be able to award this prize for undergraduate research excellence in his name.”
By Dave Lavallee
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