Imuetinyan Aiguwurhuo

I majored in economics at the Nigerian Turkish Nile University. For my final thesis I wrote a paper on the impact of inflation on the economic growth of Nigeria (1981-2012). Throughout my undergraduate years I wrote various papers on the topic of economic development. Being from a developing country but studying in the United States has allowed me to observe first hand differences and similarities on how developed and developing countries institutions operate, knowledge that will serve me well in my future career as an economist. Currently I am working towards my Master's degree in International Development Economics at the University of San Francisco. My ultimate goal is to use the tools that I have been learning to contribute to devise policies to help developing countries, like mine, to come out of poverty.

I am interested in carrying out the current project because gender gaps are a major problem everywhere, but especially in developing countries like mine (Nigeria). Women across the world face extremely high levels of discrimination and abuse. They are often seen as unequipped for taking a full part in society and political and economic decision-making. I believe the process of empowering women in a society has the potential to boost economic growth and development. I am trained to carry out this research project by having studied econometrics, field research methods, experimental economics and development microeconomics.

April 2017