The annual Levin Lecture sponsored by the Wayne State University Economics Department will be held on Friday, April 19 at 3 p.m. in the Spencer Partrich Auditorium at the Wayne State Law School, 471 W. Palmer in Detroit.

This year's lecture will be presented by Robert W. Staiger, professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin, an international authority on the World Trade Organization (WTO). The title of Staiger's talk is, "The International Organization and Enforcement of Labor Standards." He will discuss the role the World Trade Organization can play in determining the labor standards of its member governments.

The annual lecture is given in honor of Samuel M. Levin, first chair of the department, and is open to the public.

Professor Staiger received his B.A. degree from Williams College in 1980and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1985. He joined the Stanford University faculty in 1985, and in 1993 he became a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin. In addition, he has served as visiting professor, The European University Institute, Florence, Italy; fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences; Associate Editor, The Journal of International Economics; senior staff economist, Council of Economic Advisers; national fellow, The Hoover Institution; visiting fellow, Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm, Sweden; and faculty research fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research.

An award is presented each year at the Levin Lecture for the best paper submitted by a graduate student in the economics department. This year's winner is Xiao Xu, a third-year student from the People's Republic of China. Her paper is entitled, "What Makes for a Long Life? Health Production Functions for the Elderly in OECD Countries."

Wayne State University is a premier institution offering more than 350 academic programs through 14 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.