Two students receive Best Thesis award from Department of Economics

The Martha and Spencer Love School of Business’ Department of Economics acknowledged Andrew Brailey ’17 and Ken Crew ’17 for writing the best economics theses of the year.

Brailey, an economics and political science double major, and Crew, an economics major, were selected to receive the Best Thesis award out of 29 seniors majoring in economics or international economics who successfully completed undergraduate research theses this year.

The senior thesis serves as the culmination of the students’ required comprehensive evaluation in economics. Students work individually with a faculty mentor to research further topics and ideas that were discussed in class.

In “Import Competition in South Africa: The Effect of the Chinese Manufacturing Shock on the South African Labor Market,” Brailey analyzes variation in import exposure across the nine provinces of South Africa. Additionally, the paper looks at the effects of exports from South Africa to China. Brailey was mentored by Assistant Professor Andrew Greenland.

Crew’s thesis, “Congestion Makes it Harder to Breathe: Do High-occupancy Toll Lanes Reduce Emissions?” discusses the different forms of road infrastructure investments that the U.S. government engages in. Specifically, Crew sought to find if high-occupancy toll lanes are successful at alleviating congestion and thereby reducing carbon emissions. Crew was mentored by Assistant Professor Tonmoy Islam.

Crew presented his thesis at the Eastern Economic Association Annual Meeting and at Elon’s Student Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF).

After graduation, Brailey will attend the Institute of World Politics to receive his M.A. in Statecraft and National Security Affairs. Crew will serve as an acquisition analyst at Toll Brothers Subsidiary: Gibraltar Capital in Horsham, Pennsylvania.