Undergrad Student’s STAR Research Project Accepted for Publication

Undergraduate student Robert Madak and Maria Olivero, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics, had their paper “Financial Integration Within Europe and the International Transmission of Business Cycles Among Industrialized Countries” accepted for publication by the prestigious academic journal Applied Economics.

Olivero says it is extremely uncommon for an undergrad student to publish in a journal like Applied Economics, and that Madak’s participation in this research was very active. Madak started working on the research with Olivero as part of STAR, a LeBow College summer internship that promotes research experiences for undergraduates.

“His contribution consisted mainly of conducting a literature review at the initial stages of the project, data gathering and processing, and running the empirical simulations later on.” She says that during this project, Madak built his expertise in Econometrics.

Olivero says she was impressed by Madak’s engagement with the research project and the responsibility with which he managed his role, as well as his creativity.  “He came to me with suggestions and ideas,” Olivero says of Madak, who is currently completing a co-op at Goldman Sachs in Washington, D.C. “He did not limit himself to merely following my instructions.”

Inspired by Drexel University’s philosophy of experiential education, STAR offers Drexel LeBow students the opportunity to participate in research activities the summer between their freshman and sophomore years. Participants develop research plans, write proposals, conduct research, analyze data, and present results in oral and written form.