Student Fellows (Summer 2008)

Valenta Kabo

Valenta Kabo is a PhD Candidate in the Joint Program of Political Science and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Prior to entering the PhD program, Valenta obtained a Master's degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, where she concentrated on economics and foreign policy.  She also obtained a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan, and practiced law for several years before returning to school for her doctorate.  Her current research interests are economic policy, political economy and development, judicial independence and theories of law.  Her dissertation research focuses on the relationship between property rights and economic development.  Specifically, she analyzes the relationship between the presence of different elements of the property rights bundle and economic growth, proposing that variation in specific elements of the property rights bundle that states enact in their laws can help to explain different economic growth trajectories.

Daniel Katz

Daniel Katz is a PhD Candidate in the Joint Program of Political Science and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, dividing his study between the two.  Dan’s research interests include Judicial Politics, Institutional Economics, Network Analysis, American Politics, Comparative Law and Federalism.  Prior to entering the program, he earned a both a J.D. (cum laude) and an M.P.P. from Michigan.

Dan’s work is scheduled for presentation at the Law and Society Annual Meeting, the American Political Science Association and the 2008 Networks in Political Science Conference (NIPS).  His other work can be found in the Journal of Law and Politics (2006), The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change (2007) and the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy (2008).

Currently, he is crafting a social network mapping of the American Federal Judiciary and the American Law Professoriate.  For more information about his research, please visit: http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/dankatz.

Brian Rowe

Brian Rowe is an Economics PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan.  He is working on two papers about the enforcement of traffic laws.  Motivated by the fact that male drivers are more likely to receive a traffic ticket, the first paper develops a method of testing for gender discrimination in traffic enforcement.  It shows that gender discrimination exists but can only explain a small fraction of the gender disparity in traffic tickets.  The second paper asks whether traffic law enforcement may be inefficient because the police frequently give stopped drivers a warning instead of requiring them to pay a fine.  It shows that when traffic stops detect other crimes, giving warnings for breaking traffic laws can be efficient, even if drivers do not change their behavior in response to warnings.

Brian has a bachelor's degree in Economics from James Madison University, and worked for the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. before going to graduate school.  During the academic year he works as a Graduate Student Instructor, and he spent a summer at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California.

Student Fellows (2007-2008) 

Paul’s research argues that optional compliance with the internal control requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 is an economically preferable rule for smaller public companies than the current rule of mandatory compliance. His research suggests that investors’ interests will be better served when smaller companies are allowed to choose whether to comply. Moreover, companies that are more prone to fraud—and hence most in need of strict internal controls—will be more highly rewarded by the market if they choose to comply. One consequence of this market mechanism is that optional compliance is more cost-effective than the current mandatory rule, and it produces internal controls in precisely those companies that need it most.
 

Yan Xiao

Yan Xiao is a third year law student at the University of Michigan, where she is a recipient of the International Institute Individual Fellowship. She graduated magna cum laude in Economics and Politics (with department honors), from New York University. Yan proposes to use market mechanism to solve China's water problems, namely water shortage and pollution. Her research will analyze China's current water rights system, creative ways Chinese local governments have come up with suggestions to deal with their own water problems, and deficiencies of those approaches.

Student Fellow (Summer 2007)

Daniel Katz

Daniel Katz is a third year student in the Joint PhD program and divides his study between Political Science Department and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.  Daniel's research interests include Judicial Politics, Institutional Economics, Network Analysis, American Politics, Comparative Law and Federalism.  Prior to entering the program, he earned a both a J.D. (cum laude) and an M.P.P. from Michigan.

Dan recently presented a paper at the VII World Congress of the International Association of Constitutional Law (Athens, Greece 2007).  His other work can be found in Journal of Law and Politics (2006), The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change (2007) and the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy (2008 forthcoming).

Currently, he is interested in crafting a social network mapping of the American Federal Judiciary.  For more information about his research, please visit: http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/dankatz.
 

Student Fellows (2006-2007)

Tanya Bayeva

Tanya Bayeva is a second year law student at the University of Michigan.  She graduated summa cum laude in Finance, with minors in Economics and Psychology, from Yeshiva University.  Her research will propose reforms in securities law in Belarus, a former Soviet Republic, which hopefully will lead to the development of securities markets there.  Suggestions for the reforms will be based on the relevant experiences of other Eastern European countries.
 

Yang Wang

Yang Wang is a second year law student at the University of Michigan, where he is a recipient of the Clarence Darrow Fellowship.  He graduated summa cum laude in Economics and magna cum laude in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park.  He also holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Maryland.

Yang's current research focuses on the use of discount rates in the economic analysis of law.  He is studying the implications of applying asymmetric discount rates in the cost-benefit analysis of nuisance remedies and federal regulations.  His research indicates that some remedies and regulations must be postponed even if they pass the cost-benefit analysis, and that certain others must be adopted even though they fail the traditional cost-benefit analysis.