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Message from the Chair
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Greetings from the Department of Economics and Finance!
I am truly honored and excited to greet you as chair of a department with such high-caliber, dynamic and innovative faculty. Our department has remained dedicated to excellence in Economics and Finance education. As always, our first priority is to serve our students and prepare them for long-term success in the business world. We frequently review our undergraduate and graduate programs to identify areas of improvement. The Department of Economics and Finance faculty is as active as ever in their research output, conference presentations and editorial activities. Our faculty’s engagement in the School of Business- and University-level service activities continues to be exemplary.
Our enrollments in the School of Business economics and finance program and the College of Arts and Science economics program have shown robust growth rates of 20-30 percent in the past couple of years. Additionally, our graduates remain very successful in the job market. The Department is proud to have seniors who have job offers, or even jobs, by the time of their senior assignment presentation. While most of our graduates continue to work for financial companies and corporations, we have seen an increasing number of academically-inclined students who are planning to pursue PhD studies in economics or finance.
I am speaking for the entire department when I say we want you to stay in touch. Let us know how you are doing. Share your job experiences with us so that we can proudly talk about your accomplishments. Share your insights with us so we can better serve our current students. I hope the Department of Economics and Finance will always remain an intellectual home to which you can return anytime. I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Ayse Evrensel
Associate Professor and Chair
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High-Impact Campaign |
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Business Transitions Program Lays Foundation for SIUE Student Success
 From the beginning of their collegiate studies in business, to their first steps into the professional world, School of Business students are benefiting from the Business Transitions Program. The goal of the program is to give SIUE students a competitive edge in the professional workforce by helping mold them into successful business leaders during their college career.
“Our primary objective is to enhance their professionalism,” said Dr. Tim Schoenecker, associate professor of management in the SIUE School of Business. “Anything we can do to better prepare them for their transition to business professionals is beneficial.”
Read more about the Business Transitions Program
The Business Transitions Program is the School of Business’ current High Impact Campaign. The School is working to raise $250,000 in the next 18 months for the program. Contribute today!
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Department Events |
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The Department held its first alumni reception on April 23, 2015, in Birger Hall. Following a very interesting take on the current economic situation by our illustrious alumnus Dr. Ben Herzon of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, about 30 attendees, including Dean Navin, mingled for two hours. Our alumni shared their success stories with the faculty, as well as information as to what is needed to succeed in today’s job market. The economics and finance faculty was thrilled to receive such insights from our alumni and learn about our students’ success.
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Spotlight on Students |
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The School of Business student team won the 2014 Case Competition organized by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) that is comprised of successful corporate leaders and small business owners in the St. Louis area. Under the dedicated supervision of Dr. Shrikant Jategaonkar, the student team (Tyler Miller, Mark Webster and Ryan Price from economics and finance and Rajesh Pudota representing the MBA program) demonstrated their superiority against formidable teams from Washington University, Saint Louis University and University of Missouri-St. Louis.
In 2014, Dr. Shrikant Jategaonkar planned and implemented the first ever Mutual Fund Contest organized by the School of Business. Funded by one of our generous MBA alumni, Dr. Charles Alvin Wentz, Jr., more than 40 students participated in the competition. Kevin Doak and Darren Wright from Bank of Edwardsville provided the participating students with a presentation entitled “How to Invest in Mutual Funds?" Each student’s portfolio was tracked for about six months and the top 5 students received cash prizes.
Dr. Shrikant Jategaonkar served as faculty advisor and worked with students Forest Knight and Jason Januska on the 2014 annual All-American Student Analyst Competition, a nationwide online competition with more than 1,000 student participants that is organized by the Institutional Investor. Forest and Jason performed very well and their names, along with SIUE, were published in the Institutional Investor.
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Alumni in the News |
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When discussing SIUE alumni who are heavily involved in their communities, the name Kate (Kramer) Mayfield will not be far from the top of the list. A 2002 BS undergraduate and 2005 MS graduate of the economics and finance program, Mayfield now serves in several professional groups and organizations, including such positions as president of the Risk Management Association Young Professionals Group for St. Louis, member of the Risk Management Association's National Committee for Young Professionals, and cabinet member of the United Way Women's Leadership Society.
A St. Louis native, Mayfield now works for Regions Bank at a branch in Clayton, Mo., holding the title vice president of government and institutional banking. Her job duties include structuring private placement debt for municipal governments, educational institutions and not for profits. Mayfield has received several accolades for her professional successes, having recently earned the Certified Treasury Professional designation. Read more
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Focus on Faculty |
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Economics and Finance Faculty Research Activities
In 2014, our department’s research output continued to be of high volume and high quality. Here are some of the publication highlights:
- Public information arrival and investor reaction during a period of institutional change: An episode of early years of a newly independent central bank (J. Brzeszczynski and A. Kutan), Journal of Comparative Economics, forthcoming.
- Monetary and fiscal policy interactions: Evidence from emerging European economies (E. I. Cevik, S. Dibooglu and A. Kutan), Journal of Comparative Economics, forthcoming.
- Policy uncertainty and the demand for money in the United Kingdom” (with S. Bahmani, M. Bahmani-Oskooee, A. Kones and A. Kutan), Applied Economics, forthcoming.
- Financial market reaction to Federal Reserve communications: Does the global financial crisis make a difference? (B. Hayo, A. Kutan and M. Neuenkirch), Journal of European Economics, forthcoming.
- Investor wealth, the IMF and the Asian Crisis (A. Kutan and G. Muradoglu). International Review of Financial Analysis 33: 130-137.
- Impact of global shocks and volatility on herd behavior in an emerging market: Evidence from Borsa Istanbul (M. Balcilar and R. Demirer), Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, forthcoming.
- What drives herding in developing stock markets? Relative roles of own volatility and global factors (M. Balcilar, R. Demirer and S. Hammoudeh), North American Journal of Economics and Finance 29: 418-440.
- The competing values framework for corporate communication: Theoretical and practical implications (T. Belasen and A. Belasen), Journal of Promotion Management, forthcoming.
- When oceans attack: Assessing the impact of hurricanes on localized taxable sales (A. Belasen and C. Dai), Annals of Regional Science 52: 325-342.
- Happiness, Economic Freedom and Culture (A. Evrensel), Applied Economic Letters, forthcoming.
- Insider trading in REITs: Evidence from informed stock option exercise around seasoned equity offerings (Brandon N. Cline, X. Fu, T.M. Springer and T. Tang), Journal of Real Estate Research, forthcoming.
Read more about faculty research
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