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By Susan Williams
Editor's note: In this new column, "IU Home Pages" will profile the teaching and research focuses of newer faculty on the campuses of Indiana University.
For a good number of us, "economics" means making a reasonable effort to live within our means, putting away some money for retirement and keeping our checkbooks balanced. These are not activities normally associated with the word "fun."
 Una Okonkwo Osili has studied the economic relationship migrants maintain with their communities of origin, a topic she also explored in her doctoral dissertation. |
"Economics can be a lot of fun," she said, "because it deals with everyday issues and influences policy debates. I find it fascinating that the tools of economic analysis can be used on so many topics. Why do vendors charge higher prices for goods at airport locations? Why are some countries growing more rapidly than others? How can crime rates in major cities be reduced? The list goes on."
Osili's academic interests include economic development, labor economics, applied econometrics and international trade, which means that her area of expertise is far more serious and complicated than the cost of a double espresso at the airport.
Born in New York, Osili grew up in southeastern Nigeria, where she says her interest in economics began. "I developed a keen interest in how households in developing countries make consumption, production and investment decisions in the face of low incomes and highly variable incomes," she said. "Families and communities perform a central role in organizing economic production in the presence of uncertainty and market imperfections.
"In developing countries, households tend to depend on family members and community resources to cope with adverse economic shocks," said Osili. "Private income transfers are of particular interest because public transfer programs tend to be limited in scope."
A severe drought, for example, would greatly affect a household's income, said Osili. Most economic models are based upon organized markets that are working well, but what happens in a drought-stricken household when there are no formal insurance systems to protect against crop loss or banks to issue loans? In the case of developing countries, relocating one or two family members is the solution in many cases. Osili's dissertation explored the economic relationship in such instances using information collected in Chicago from Nigerian immigrants and from their families at home in Nigeria.
As a member of the International Scientific Panel of the "Real Economies of Africa" program, sponsored by the Council for Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)/MacArthur Foundation, Osili traveled to Mombassa, Kenya, last July where she worked with a team of researchers to design a project to collect data on private income transfers. And she currently is involved with a project that explores community-level transfers and institutions in Indonesia, and their roles in economic development.
"My long-term goal is to combine an involvement in research with excellence in teaching," said Osili. "I hope to develop theory and analyze empirical evidence that can inform economic policy in developing countries. I also enjoy teaching and am committed to improving the quality of undergraduate education."
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