On Friday and Saturday, May 17-18, 2024, we will hold the MDev Conference in Ann Arbor. This will be a development economics conference for University of Michigan researchers, students, and alumni. Anyone with a current or previous connection to the University of Michigan is welcome!

The list of presenters and papers is here and the list of confirmed participants is at the bottom of this page. 

The conference will be held in Lorch Hall. It will consist of a mix of full paper presentations, short presentations, and 5-minute (1-3 slide) “flash” slots. We will be open to presentations of early-stage work.

Please RSVP here, where you can indicate whether you would like a “flash” slot. To reserve a room in our discounted hotel block of rooms, please click here. Please RSVP by April 24, 2024, to assist in our planning.

A Program Committee of esteemed U-M alumni will decide on the conference program: Kate Ambler (chair), James Allen, Emily Beam, Jessica Goldberg, Caroline Theoharides, and Hang Yu.

Conference funding is from the University of Michigan’s Department of Economics, Population Studies Center (Institute for Social Research), and International Policy Center (Ford School of Public Policy). Most attendees should expect to pay their own travel and lodging expenses, but we may be able to cover some travel expenses of speakers who have no other source of funding.

Questions? Please write to the MDev email address, [email protected], or reach out to any of us on the organizing committee.

MDev Organizing Committee: James Allen, Kate Ambler, Emily Beam, Kevin Carney, Jessica Goldberg, Yusuf Neggers, Emma Riley, Caroline Theoharides, Dean Yang, and Hang Yu

MDev Administrative Coordinators: Rachael Hamilton (PSC), Jessica Yen (Department of Economics), Eesha Acharya and Ann Yang (DevLab)

RSVP Here

Hotel Information

6:30PM onwards: Dinner at Blue Nile (221 E.Washington Street)

8:00AM – 8:30PM: Breakfast

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM: Introductions

9:00 AM – 10:20 AM: Session 1: Education

10:20 AM – 10:50 AM: Break and Discussion of Short Presentations

10:50 AM – 12:50 PM: Session 2: Poverty and Programming I

12:50 PM – 2:20 PM: Lunch and discussion of short presentations

2:20 PM – 4:00 PM: Session 3: Firms and Labor

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Break and discussion of short presentations

4:30 PM – 4:40 PM: Group Photo

4:40 PM – 5:45 PM: Group Discussion and Networking

6:30 PM onwards: Dinner at Pretzel Bell (226 S. Main St.)

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM: Breakfast

9:00 AM – 10:40 AM: Session 4: Governance, Politics, Conflict

10:40 AM – 11:10 AM: Break and Discussion of short presentations

11:10 AM – 12:40 PM: Session 5: Poverty and Programming II

12:40 PM – 2:00 PM: Lunch

6:30 PM: Dinner and Karaoke at Dean Yang’s residence (701 Green Rd.)

Faculty

Kevin Carney, Assistant Professor

Justin Holz, Assistant Professor

Emma Riley, Assistant Professor

Tanya Rosenblat, Professor

Dean Yang, Professor

Visiting Faculty

Joan Martinez, University of California, Berkeley

Enrique Seira, Michigan State University

Mehrab Bakhtiar, International Food Policy Research Institute

Jack Jacobs, Penn Development Research Initiative 

Staff

Rita Neves, Research Area Specialist Associate

Current Students

Eesha Acharya, Undergraduate student

John Ahlin, Undergraduate student

Christabel Akhigbe, Ph.D. student

Olga Aristova, Ph.D. student

Paul Brimble, Ph.D. student

Saheel Chodavadia, Ph.D. student

Brian Daza, Ph.D. student

Joaquin Endara, Ph.D. student

Alexander Fertig, Ph.D. student

Mariany Fuentes, Ph.D. student 

Maximilian Huppertz, Ph.D. student

Mika Inoue, Ph.D. student

Heesung Kim, Ph.D. student

Seongyoon Kim, Ph.D. student

Aladdin Ko, Ph.D. student

Jana Kontar, Ph.D. student

Thomas Lloyd, Ph.D. student

Paula Lopez, Ph.D. student

Magdalena Martin, Ph.D. student

Russell Morton, Ph.D. student

Dablin Mpuuga, Ph.D. student

Aneesha Parvathaneni, Ph.D. student

Nirina Randrianarisoa, Ph.D. student

Johar Arrieta Vidal, Ph.D. student

Willem Wilken, Ph.D. student

Ann Yang, Undergraduate student

Tianyu Zheng, Ph.D. student

Edgar Zhu, Undergraduate student