By Ally Horine | Echo
When economics professor Hadley Mitchell encouraged senior Levi Boxell to submit a paper to the International Atlantic Economic Society last spring, he complied but didn't think much of it. At least, he didn't until the end of the summer-when he received an email informing him that he had been selected as a finalist for the competition.
"Levi easily is one of the strongest and best-prepared students I have ever taught," Mitchell said.
The paper was the final project for a class offered by mathematics professor Ken Constantine last spring.
"After talking to Dr. Mitchell, I made some edits and submitted the essay, largely forgetting about the contest," Levi said.
Though he might have initially forgotten about the essay, the International Atlantic Economic Society did not. It extended him and three other finalists an invite to Savannah, Ga. for the 78th International Atlantic Economic Society conference. On Oct. 13, Boxell and the other finalists presented their papers to the conference judges. After deliberating, the judges chose Boxell as the winner.
Boxell's paper was titled "Beyond In-sample Significance: Using k-fold cross-validation to examine the out-of-sample significance and model specification of the gravity model of bilateral trade."
Judges chose the winner based upon the content of the paper and quality of the presentation. Along with receiving a commemorative plaque, Boxell received a $500 prize and a complimentary issue of the journal with his published article.
"I think that Taylor provides a lot of opportunities for interested students who want to take advantage of them," Boxell said. "The econometrics class that the paper was written for isn't a normally-offered class. Dr. Constantine decided to offer it for me and a couple other interested students."
Boxell will graduate in May with a dual degree in developmental economics and mathematics. Recently, he accepted an economics research position at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. He is currently working on another research paper under Constantine that he hopes to submit to the International Atlantic Economic Society next summer.
