This year’s conference theme was “Planting Seeds for Success.” Throughout the two-day PAFCS conference, various sessions were conducted striving to integrate and provide practical knowledge about the things of everyday life—human growth and development, personal behavior, housing and environment, food and nutrition, apparel and textiles, and resource management—that every individual needs to make decisions that lead to a healthy, productive, and more fulfilling life in our curriculums.

At this particular session, participants learned that miniatures are not just for hobbyists. Miniatures can be used to teach the elements and principles of design, furniture styles, and architectural elements. Miniatures can also be used to facilitate creative writing, problem solving, and discussion of family interaction from an historical perspective. This session introduced participants to a wide range of ideas for using miniatures in the family and consumer sciences classroom. Participants also constructed a miniature furniture item during the session.

Nicholas Karatjas is a board member of the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts (NAME). Susan Karatjas owns sdk miniatures, and it is very much a family business. Susan and her daughter, Pamela Ridgley, handcraft dollhouse miniatures, including plants, furniture, and structures. McCombie, Owens, and Karatjas provided information about using miniatures in the classroom, while Susan Karatjas taught participants how to assemble miniatures. Nicholas Karatjas also provided some information about the hobby and about NAME.

Since Susan Karatjas can create custom orders, she was able to incorporate the PAFCS name and year into the miniature furniture item design. In addition to providing the participants with a working example of her miniature kits, it also gave them a conference keepsake.

Department of Economics

Ashley Alt and Dan Oberkofler: “The Effects of Power, Prestige and Performance on Salary in the National Hockey League” (Advisor:  Dr. James J. Jozefowicz)

Grey Berrier and Angela Rowland: “The Combined Effects of Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors on State-Level Unemployment Rate Volatility” (Advisor:  Dr. James J. Jozefowicz)

William Harman “Determinants of Congressional Reelection Rates” (Advisor:  Dr. James J. Jozefowicz)

Shaye Kurdziel: “Where Are You Shipping Out From?” (Advisor: Dr. James J. Jozefowicz)

Amanda Wade "Uganda: An African Leader in Development" (Advisor: Dr. Yaya Sissoko)

Wenjing Yun: "The Determinants of China's Economic Development" (Advisor: Dr. Yaya Sissoko)

Chioma Umunnakwe "Ethiopia's Underdevelopment: Rising Beyond Missed Opportunities"  (Advisor: Dr. Yaya Sissoko)

Economics students Wenjing Yun and Ashley Alt and Dan Oberkofler won the College of Humanities and Social Sciences "Outstanding Presentation" awards. They received a $100 award and will have their papers published in The Inkwell,  the IUP undergraduate refereed social science journal.

Chioma Umunnakwe, who is pursuing dual baccalaureate degrees in economics and management, was recognized with the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology Dean’s Award for Excellence at the Undergraduate Scholars Forum.

Economics majors Ashleigh Craig and Chioma Umunnakwe served as student moderators at the forum.

Congratulations to all of our students!

Department of Economics 

The book will be available from the Oeconomica Collection of ASERS Publishing.

Department of Economics 

This paper investigates the Theory of Optimum Currency Areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This issue was examined in a context of small open economies of SSA using a structural vector autoregression (VAR) approach with limited capital mobility and a weak-banking system in Africa. A structural VAR implies long run restrictions of a small open economy model to identify the shocks. Using annual data series for 30 SSA countries from 1960 to 2000, the findings suggest similar terms of trade and trade balance disturbances in the CFA (“Communauté Financière Africaine”) and non-CFA countries in contrast to the supply and demand shocks which tend to influence the non-CFA zone to a greater extent. The sizes of the disturbances and the speed of adjustment confirm that the CFA and non-CFA countries are suitable of forming a monetary union. The adjustment speed is on average 9 to 18 months the CFA zone and 12 to 24 in the non-CFA zone. These results also suggest the creation of smaller monetary arrangements in the CFA and non-CFA regions as preliminary steps in creating one monetary union in Africa. The findings support evidence of weaker business cycle synchronization in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Department of Economics 

This paper won the Best Undergraduate Student Paper Contest at the Pennsylvania Economic Association Conference. The work was supervised by James J. Jozefowicz.

This paper examines current account sustainability of eight countries in the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS): Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sénégal, and Togo.

The paper uses the intertemporal solvency framework of Hakkio and Rush (1991) and Husted (1992) and cointegration methodology to test for a long-run relation between exports and imports items of the current account. Further, we estimate this long-run relationship using dynamic OLS. Our results show that only Sénégal and Togo have sustainable current account positions. Of the others, Ghana and Niger have a statistically significant relation between exports and imports, although it is not strong enough, and thus they continue to have vulnerable current account positions. The rest of the countries have unsustainable current account deficits. The paper argues that monetary, trade, and political reforms are necessary to reduce vulnerabilities in external positions.

Department of Economics 

In addition, Dr. Yaya Sissoko’s paper, “The Sources of Real Exchange Rate Fluctuations in Sub-Saharan Africa,” has been accepted for publication in the China-USA Business Review, forthcoming in Spring 2012.

The prsentation took place at the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees fall conference, held at IUP on October 19–20, 2011.

Drs. James Jozefowicz, Stephanie Jozefowicz, and Yaya Sissoko, along with Economics majors Christian Minich and Elizabeth Judge, attended the Pennsylvania Economic Association Conference held at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., on June 2–4, 2011.

Economics majors Christian Minich’s and Mitchell DeRubis’s paper, “Access to Formal Credit and Rural Economic Development: An Examination of Prevailing Assumptions in the Land Rental Market of Rural India,” won the Best Undergraduate Student Paper Award. Christian Minich accepted the award. In addition to a $200 award, the paper will be published in an upcoming issue of the Pennsylvania Economic Review.

The first study aims at examining the relationship between public expenditure (i.e. public goods) and income using vector error-correction (VEC) approach on annual data spanning the period between 1993 and 2006. Under this view suggested by Adolph Wagner (1877), a growing economy generates additional tax revenue and creates opportunities for policy makers to increase popular public sector expenditures and government subsidies. Such an increase in public sector activity continues to flourish even in times of recession. Our results provide no support for Wagner's hypothesis for Slovakian economy.

The second article aims at revealing the effectiveness of Turkish monetary policy in controlling the inflation rate and the stability of exchange rate using the rational expectations framework that incorporates the fiscal role of exchange rate. This study affirms that the effort of the Turkish monetary policy at influencing the finance of government fiscal deficit through the determination of the inflation-tax rate, to some extent, affects both the rate of inflation and the real exchange rate, thereby causing volatility in their rates. Moderate evidence emerges that inflation affects volatility of its own rate as well as the rate of real exchange in Turkey.

Stephanie Brewer Jozefowicz serves as PEA secretary, James Jozefowicz serves as PEA president, and Yaya Sissoko is a member of the PEA board of directors.

This study examines the relationship between economic growth as measured by GDP per capita and foreign direct investment for Singapore, using the methodology of Granger causality and vector auto regression. Evidence shows that there is a unidirectional Granger causation from foreign direct investment to economic growth.

Dr. Sissoko gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Dean’s Office, College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, for providing a research grant for this project.

Department of Economics

The paper examined the impact that changes in U.S. financial stress, as measured by an index constructed by economists at the International Monetary Fund, impacts Canadian real GDP, and whether or not this impact is different depending on whether or not the U.S. is in a “high-stress” vs. a “low-stress” environment.

A paper by Potts and Yerger titled “Variations across Canadian Regions in the Sensitivity to U.S. Monetary Policy” has been accepted for publication in the Atlantic Economic Journal. The paper examines the extent to which there are differences across Canadian regions in their employment response to U.S. federal funds rate shocks, and whether or not this employment response differs from that emanating from a shock to the Canadian bank rate.

Department of Economics

This study examines the current account sustainability of countries in the Eastern African Community, the Economic Community of Central African States, and the South African Development Community. Using the intertemporal solvency framework, cointegration methodology, and dynamic OLS, the relations between exports and imports of the current account are estimated. Evidence shows that most countries within these African regions appear to have unsustainable current account deficits.

Department of Economics

Dr. Sissoko also presented two research papers: “Current Account Sustainability in African Communities: Are there Regional Differences?” coauthored with Niloufer Sohradji, and “Balance of Payments Constrained Growth: An Application to Cameroon,” coauthored with Wilfred Awung.

IUP Economics major Jim Dalecki presented “Excises Taxes and the Demand for Beer: The Case of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” at the conference. His work was supervised by Dr. Stephanie M. Brewer Jozefowicz.

The JBER is a double-blind, peer-reviewed journal with an 11 percent–20 percent acceptance rate. 

The paper investigates the impact of age distribution and educational attainment on the level of underemployment in Appalachian regions of the United States.  Furthermore, this study shows the similarities and differences at the state and county levels for Pennsylvania. 

In rural Appalachia, younger workers and those with some post-baccalaureate education are more likely to find themselves underemployed. 

The JBER is a double-blind peer reviewed journal with an 11 to 20 percent acceptance rate.

In addition, Dr. Sissoko discussed the paper “Foreign Direct Investment and its Determinants in the Chilean Case: An Error-Correction Model Analysis, 1960–2004” by Miguel D. Ramirez and participated in the discussion of the following papers: “Social Cohesion, Poverty, and Growth in Africa” by Mina Baliamoune-Lutz and “Urban Poverty and Economic Growth in a Cross-Section of U.S. Cities” by Chris Johnson. Dr. Sissoko also attended the presidential address by N. Gregory Mankiw on “Spreading the Wealth Around: Reflections Inspired by Joe the Plumber” followed by the EEA president’s reception.

In his role as cochair of the NAEE Professional Development Committee, James J. Jozefowicz organized the conference, which brought together economic educators from across the country.

Dr. Sissoko also chaired the session on “Building Trust into an Information System Framework: Can it be Accomplished with Technology?” at the NABET conference.

“West Africa’s Evolving Competitive Exposure in U.S. Import Markets,” coauthored by Dr. David Yerger (also of the IUP Department of Economics) and Dr. Sissoko, was accepted on November 2, 2009, for publication in the International Advances in Economic Research.

In addition, Dr. Sissoko chaired the session on the “Exchange Rate Impacts on International Finance” and discussed the paper “Capital Inflows and Real Exchange Rate Misalignment: The Case of India” by Niloufer Sohrabji at the conference.

Dr. Brewer Jozefowicz serves as secretary of the National Association of Economic Educators Executive Committee, and Dr. Jozefowicz serves as cochair of the National Association of Economic Educators Professional Development Committee.

The theme of the conference was “Cuba in a World of Uncertainty.” The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies of the University of Miami cosponsored the conference.

Department of Economics

Department of Economics 

Dr. Sarah Jackson presented “Assessing the Impact of Family Aid on College Persistence.”

Dr. James Jozefowicz was elected immediate past president of PEA. He also served as session chair/discussant at the conference.

Dr. Stephanie Jozefowicz was elected secretary of PEA. She also served as session chair/discussant at the conference.

Dr. Yaya Sissoko presented the following at the conference: “Optimum Currency Areas and Synchronization of Business Cycles in Sub-Saharan Africa;” “South Africa’s Evolving Competitiveness Exposure in U.S. Import Markets,” co-authored with David Yerger; and “The Impact and Length of the Exchange Rate Fluctuations on U.S. Imported Crude Oil Pricing: An Exchange Rate Pass-Through and VAR Model Analysis,” co-authored with Jui-Chi Huang (Penn State Berks, Reading PA). He was also elected to the Board of Directors of PEA.

In addition, students Antonio Ayllon, Stephanie Bearjar, and Aleta Haflett attended the conference and presented their papers from the IUP Undergraduate Scholars Forum.

• Antonio Ayllon: “A Cross-Section Analysis of Variation in Crime Rates in the Counties of Pennsylvania.” He was mentored by Dr. James J. Jozefowicz.
• Stephanie Bearjar: “Income Inequality and Population Growth Rates: An Analysis of Post-Industrial Europe.” Stephanie won the Best in Session award for the “Topics in Applied Economics” session at the forum. She was mentored by Dr. James J. Jozefowicz.
• Vernon Brundage: “Downfall or Difference? Examining the Role of Parents/Guardians in the Success of African American Students’ Pursuit of Higher Education.” He was mentored by Dr. James J. Jozefowicz.
• Matthew Celestin: “Brazil: Road to Economic Development.” He was mentored by Dr. Yaya Sissoko. (Note: Matthew is an Economics minor.)
• Joshua Gerwick: “Pay for Performance: A Study of Factors that Influence CEO Compensation.” He was mentored by Dr. Stephanie M. Jozefowicz.
• Aleta Haflett: "In Poor Health: An Analysis of Infant and Maternal Mortality Rates in Pennsylvania Counties." She was mentored by Dr. Stephanie M. Jozefowicz.
• Mark Jackson: “Economic Reforms and Poverty Alleviation: Case of India.” He was mentored by Dr. Yaya Sissoko.
• Boris Tanny: “Facing Economic Development: Cote d’Ivoire.” He was mentored by Dr. Yaya Sissoko.

The papers were results of research supported by a grant from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. Both papers, “Rural Pennsylvania Underemployment and Its Determinants” and “Estimating Core Unemployable and Workforce Non-Participants: A Study for Rural Pennsylvania’s Labor Force,” were accepted for publication in the Journal of Business and Economics Research, forthcoming in 2009.

First Commonwealth, EconomicsPennsylvania and Indiana University of Pennsylvania are committed to helping students make sense of economics. 

Officials from the three entities signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2008 to formally establish the First Commonwealth Center for Economic Education at IUP.

“The mission of Economics Pennsylvania is to ensure that every young person in Pennsylvania understands essential economic concepts, is able to use economic ways of thinking and problem-solving, and has a solid grasp of the nature and structure of the national and global economy,” explained EconomicsPennsylvania President and CEO Fritz Heinemann.

IUP economics faculty members have worked with EconomicsPennsylvania for the past several years to offer summer programming to high school students and teachers to enhance economic education at the secondary level.

With this new financial support from First Commonwealth, the First Commonwealth Center for Economic Education at IUP aims to increase community awareness and teacher and student participation in all of EconomicsPennsylvania economic, financial and investment literacy initiatives.

In addition, the College of Education and Educational Technology and the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology will join the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in the program. The First Commonwealth funding also will afford a dedicated staff person from EconomicsPennsylvania to work with the First Commonwealth Center for Economic Education at IUP in an expanded geographic region.

“We appreciate the opportunity to continue our relationship with EconomicsPennsylvania and First Commonwealth in order to better serve the needs of students and teachers in our region,” said Dr. Tony Atwater, IUP president. “IUP is in a unique position to serve as a resource for enhanced economic education for the western Pennsylvania community.

“First Commonwealth has a pattern of outstanding support for IUP and for enhanced educational opportunities for this region through the university, most recently in the establishment of the First Commonwealth Endowed Lecture Series. The First Commonwealth Center for Economic Education is another demonstration of First Commonwealth’s commitment to this region and enhancing the teaching and learning experience for the commonwealth.”

“First Commonwealth always exemplifies our dedication to the people and communities in which we live, work and raise our families. We are financial stewards for those we serve,” said T. Michael Price, president, First Commonwealth Bank. 

“We are proud to partner with EconomicsPennsylvania and IUP, providing students and teachers with the knowledge and capability to be financially successful throughout their lives.”

EconomicsPennsylvania was launched as a not-for-profit organization in 1978. The board of directors consists of representatives from business, education, labor, agriculture and government. One of the best-known curriculum initiatives developed by EconomicsPennsylvania is the Stock Market Game.