The Department of Economics at the Sam M. Walton College of Business will host the 2025 Economic Analytics Poster Session from 12:30-2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 25, in Willard J. Walker Hall 203 (Hembree). Students from the Master of Science in economic analytics program will present their innovative capstone research projects, which apply advanced statistical and machine-learning techniques to economic and social issues.

This annual event attracts alumni eager to witness breakthrough research from current students.

Solving Tomorrow's Challenges Today

This year's session features six unique projects using sophisticated data analysis to address complex problems across diverse fields:

• Natalie Brown's "The Price of Talent" examines how companies leverage wage premiums in competitive job markets, analyzing data from 2 million job postings to optimize recruitment strategies.

• Judy Kamau investigates the impact of daylight-saving time transitions on mental and physical health using a differences-in-discontinuities approach with nearly 1 million national health observations.

• Grant Jackson applies Generative Adversarial Networks to extract environmental factors from 35,000+ satellite images, evaluating the effectiveness of wildlife crossing structures in reducing vehicle collisions.

• Madison Settlage explores how wind energy investment across 45 states affects municipal bond yields and trading volumes in local government financing.

• Jake Ransom evaluates the performance of traditional financial models against machine learning algorithms for equity valuation across various market sectors.

• Rafid Zaman Pranto employs causal machine learning to analyze how different insurance coverage types and plan structures influence healthcare utilization patterns.

Shaping the Future of Economic Analytics With Advanced Data

These diverse projects share a common foundation in sophisticated methodology. Moving beyond conventional statistical techniques, these students employ machine learning algorithms, causal inference methods and large-scale data analysis to uncover insights that would otherwise remain hidden. Their work demonstrates how economic analytics continues evolving to address complex challenges with greater precision.

The poster session serves a dual purpose: showcasing student achievement while facilitating valuable networking opportunities with alumni and industry professionals. As these students prepare to enter the workforce or pursue doctoral studies, their research illustrates the power of combining economic theory with digital analysis techniques to inform more effective policy and thoughtful business decisions in our increasingly data-driven world.

All undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to the event. Please RSVP to hj020@uark.edu.