St. John's University well represented at economics conference

An impressive delegation of four students and five faculty were prominently featured at the Eastern Economic Association Conference held in midtown Manhattan from February 21-23, 2025.

The Eastern Economic Association is a not-for-profit corporation whose objective is to promote educational and scholarly exchange on economic affairs. Towards that end, the Association encourages freedom of research and discussion. In pursuit of these goals, it publishes the Eastern Economic Journal and holds an annual conference and meeting of members.

Student presentations included

• Samit Bin Alam (BS in Risk Management) Title: Cyber Insurance Pricing Dynamics: Economic Modeling Post High-Profile Attacks 
• Laia Barro (MBA candidate in Business Analytics, BA in Econ from SJC) Title: Monopsony and the Economic Lives of Motherhood
• John Gaynor (BS candidate in Business Analytics) Title: Measuring the Economic Costs of Privacy
• Jack Ippolito (BS candidate in Economics) Title: Discussing the Merits of the United States Returning to the Gold Standard

Faculty highlights included 

• St. John’s Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan: Primary Commodity Exports and All Debt: A Conversation on Economic Development Models AND Dominant Currency Shocks and Foreign Exchange Pressure in the Periphery (with Tarron Khemraj, New College of Florida)
• St. John’s Ronnie Qi:  Geopolitics and Taiwan’s Outward Direct Investments. (with Steven Chang, Long Island University, Zhaohui Zhang, Long Island University, Alex Chung, SUNY Maritime College, Yu-Ching Chiao, National Chung Hsing University)
• St. John’s Tracey Freiberg: Debt Crises in a Gendered Economy: Paid Leave as a Social Safety Net for Vulnerable American Households. (with Ning Li, Salisbury University)
• St. John’s Tansel Schiavone: Establishing Stylized Facts of Concentration in US Regional Labor Markets AND Labor Share Convergence across US States and Sectors” (with Codrina Rada, University of Utah) 
• St. John’s Vaibhav Anand: Forecast-Based Financing for Climate Adaptation. 

Student Testimonials

“Presenting at the EEA Conference pushed me out of my comfort zone. Seeing my research spark discussions reminded me why I chase knowledge—this is just the beginning.”

Samit Alam, a Junior Risk Management major from Cumilla, Bangladesh. 

“The EEA Conference was an extremely valuable experience; in that I was able to present my research and get feedback that I’ve considered moving forward with my work.”

John Gaynor, Senior Business Analytics major, Maspeth, Queens

"My conference experience was impactful for my professional and educational journey. It was enjoyable, and I felt supported by St. John's faculty and peers."

Laia Barro, Business Analytics junior from Philippines