Congratulations to our Fall 2020 Small grant recipients!

For the first time ever this semester, BEE hosted a small grant competition where PhD students in economics-related programs at UC Berkeley (Economics, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Haas, Public Policy, and Health Policy) were invited to apply for the first (ever) Small Research Grants Initiative towards research pertaining to issues of diversity and social justice.

We are pleased to announce our first round of grant recipients, selected by an impartial panel of reviewers who are all experts in social justice and diversity-related issues.  

James Sayre - research on opium poppy markets in Mexico
"I study the economic forces that lead rural farmers in Mexico to produce opium poppy, and the feasibility of crop substitution programs to provide a legal alternative to such activities. I measure the degree to which farmers can substitute between legal and illegal crops, and whether out-migration of such regions has also been a way to mitigate changes in the price of illegal crops."

Kayleigh Barnes and Jakob Brounstein - research on the "pink tax"
"We evaluate the existence of a "pink tax" placed on women's consumer goods and find that women pay higher prices per unit than do men for similar goods. This work can inform whether there exist real consumption inequalities between men and women.”

Congratulations James, Kayleigh, and Jakob! We eagerly await the results of your research!