Economics 312: Theory and Practice of Econometrics
Spring 2007
Final Project Teams

1. What will Reed have to pay for its faculty in 2012 in order to be at the median of its reference group of colleges? Construct a model of faculty-salary determination at liberal-arts colleges and use it to forecast salaries at Reed and peer institutions.

David Jackson, Andreea Jurculet, Wyatt Laikind, Eric Schmitt, Andrei Stephens.

2. How elastic is the demand for Reed? What effects would an increase in tuition, matched or not matched by increases in financial aid, have on decisions of admitted applicants? You would update and add to the Buss, Parker, and Rivenburg Economics of Education Review paper.

Liz Alexy, Amanda Bittaker, Josh Lingerfelt, Kris Russell, Matt Summers.

3. How much will other liberal-arts colleges raise tuition next year? Every year Reed must decide how much to raise tuition and other charges. The biggest variable that affects this decision is how much our peers are raising theirs, but since we have limited communication with them (for legal reasons), we must try to estimate their tuition increases. You would build a model of tuition determination at liberal-arts colleges and use it to predict next year's tuition levels.

Sakib Bin Salam, Rachel Ferst, Karim Lakhani, Michael Turner, Avery Ucker.

4. How much would it cost to hire a new president or dean? You would construct a model to estimate what factors determine the salaries of presidents and chief academic officers at liberal-arts colleges.

Jose Fernandez, Upasana Khadka, Daniela Morar, Erica Strachan, Tolga Yilmaz.