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Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere

Assistant Professor
Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere joined the School of Economics as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2006. Ruth holds a Ph.D. in Agriculture and Resource Economics from University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests are in Education, Development Economics, Labor Economics, Immigration and Institutional Economics. Her recent research in education, labor and development has focused on: consistently estimating returns to education in an African country; testing for winners and losers post democracy in select African countries; understanding low returns to education in some African countries; testing for gender disparities in the benefits of democracy in Africa and testing for geopolitical difference in economic and labor market outcomes in Nigeria. In addition Dr. Uwaifo's recent research on immigration relates to evaluating the Diversity Visa lottery program and brain drain in select African countries.

Currently, she is evaluating the impact of education programs and policy on labor market outcomes. In addition, she is working jointly on a research project to gain understanding on the role of institutions and culture on economic outcomes like self employment and savings for African Americans. Dr. Uwaifo Oyelere was a short-term research consultant for the World Bank, and her research relates to problems and challenges facing youths in Africa especially with respect to their school to work transition. She was recently appointed a research fellow for the Institute for the Study of Labor Economics (IZA) Bonn Germany.

Dr. Uwaifo Oyelere teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in Development Economics. She also teaches classes in intermediate microeconomics and special topics in development. She is a member of the American Economic Association (AEA) , American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA), The Society of Labor Economists (SOLE) and the African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA).

Published Papers

• "Disparities in Labor Market Outcomes across Geopolitical Regions in Nigeria. Fact or Fantasy?" Forthcoming 2008 in Journal of African Development
• "Brain Drain, Waste or Gain? What we know about the Kenyan Case" Forthcoming 2008 in Journal of Global Initiatives

Selected Working Papers

• "Africa's Education Enigma? The Nigerian Story," November 2007.
• "Economic and Econometric Evidence for and against Private Income and Employment Benefits of Education in Africa," December 2006.
• "Winners and Losers Post Democracy in Nigeria: A Look at Labor Market Outcomes," July 2007.