Economics

Economics is the study of how societies organize production, distribution, and the exchange of goods and services and about choices on how scarce resources are allocated to satisfy human wants. Who wins? Who loses? Why? Economists use models that are substantiated by statistical analysis to study important issues such as economic growth, unemployment, productivity and efficiency, poverty and inequality, international trade, and the effects of government policy.

The Economics Department offers two undergraduate degrees, one through the College of Arts & Sciences, and the other through the Leavey School of Business. Students have the option to choose a concentration in data analysis or mathematical economics. The department also provides foundational courses for the graduate programs.

Our faculty produce rigorous state-of-the-art research. Students often serve as research assistants to faculty, gaining hands-on exposure to modern research questions and methods, and occasional opportunities for co-authorship.

The economics degree provides graduates with a strong foundation to work in a wide variety of careers and provides excellent preparation for a broad range of career possibilities from management and finance to public policy and nonprofit work as well as prepares students for graduate study in economics, business, and law.

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Submissions from 2022

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Effects of education on political engagement in rural Burkina Faso, Elodie Djemaï and Michael J. Kevane

Submissions from 2021

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Improving reverse correlation analysis of faces: Diagnostics of order effects, runs, rater agreement, and image pairs, Michael J. Kevane and Birgit Koopmann-Holm

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Towards smallholder food and water security: Climate variability in the context of multiple livelihood hazards in Nicaragua, Christopher M. Bacon, William A. Sundstrom, Iris Stewart-Frey, Edwin P. Maurer, and Lisa C. Kelley

Submissions from 2020

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The relative income effect: an experiment, John Ifcher, Homa Zarghamee, Dan Houser, and Lina Diaz

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Behavioral economic phenomena in decision-making for others, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

Submissions from 2019

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Préférences économiques mesurées par des jeux expérimentaux au Burkina Faso : Confiance, bien public, risque et patience, Michael J. Kevane, Alain Joseph Sissao, and Félix Compaoré

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Income inequality and well-being in the U.S.: evidence of geographic-scale- and measure-dependence, John Ifcher, Homa Zarghamee, and Carol Graham

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Experiencing Poverty in an Online Simulation: Effects on Players’ Beliefs, Attitudes and Behaviors about Poverty, Pedro Hernandez-Ramos, Christine M. Bachen, Chad Raphael, John Ifcher, and Michael Broghammer

Submissions from 2018

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The rapid evolution of homo economicus: Brief exposure to neoclassical assumptions increases self-interested behavior, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

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The Great Recession and Life Satisfaction: The Unique Decline for Americans Approaching Retirement Age, John Ifcher, Homa Zarghamee, and Amanda Cabacungan

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Local neighbors as positives, regional neighbors as negatives: Competing channels in the relationship between others’ income, health, and happiness, John Ifcher, Homa Zarghamee, and Carol Graham

Submissions from 2017

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Local neighbors as positives, regional neighbors as negatives: Competing channels in the relationship between others’ income, health, and happiness, John Ifcher, Homa Zarghamee, and Carol Graham

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International reserves and global interest rates, Gonçalo Pina

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The Saving & Loan Insolvencies and the Costs of Financial Crisis, Alexander J. Field

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California Water Reallocation: Where'd You Get That?, Damian Park

Submissions from 2016

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Beware dodgy data analysis, Xiaojing Dong and John M. Heineke

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Pegxit Pressure: Evidence from the Classical Gold Standard, Kris James Mitchener and Gonçalo Pina

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The increasing happiness of US parents, Chris M. Herbst and John Ifcher

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Pricing Competition: A New Laboratory Measure of Gender Differences in the Willingness to Compete, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

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The Earned Income Tax Credit, Mental Health, and Happiness, Casey Boyd-Swan, Chris M. Herbst, John Ifcher, and Homa Zarghamee

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Real and Financial Investment: A Review of Jack Rasmus, 2016, Systemic Fragility in the Global Economy, Alexander J. Field

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Do Gender-Variant Preferences for Competition Persist in the Absence of Performance?, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

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Inequality of Happiness: Evidence of the Compression of the Subjective-Well-Being Distribution with Economic Growth, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

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Experimental Economics’ Ethics, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

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Correlation or Causality?: The Sorry State of Empirical Modeling, Xiaojing Dong and John M. Heineke

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Altruism, Alexander J. Field

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Reading fiction and economic preferences of rural youth in Burkina Faso, Michael J. Kevane

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Public libraries and political participation, 1870-1940, Michael J. Kevane and William A. Sundstrom

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State promotion of local public goods: The case of public libraries, 1880-1929, Michael J. Kevane and William A. Sundstrom

Submissions from 2015

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The recent growth of international reserves in developing economies: A monetary perspective, Gonçalo Pina

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California’s Flawed Surface Water Rights, Michael Hanemann, Caitlin Dyckman, and Damian Park

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Gold Mining and Economic and Social Change in West Africa, Michael Kevane

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Availability of Higher Education and Educational Outcomes: Quantifying the Impacts of College Openings and Cohort Size, Teny Maghakian Shapiro

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Cognitive Function and Human Capital Accumulation Across the Day: Evidence from Randomized School Schedules, Teny Maghakian Shapiro, Kevin M. Williams, and James E. West

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Changing Access To Land For Women In Sub-Saharan Africa, Michael Kevane

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Decision Making and Underperformance in Competitive Environments: Evidence from the National Hockey League, Gueorgu I. Kolev, Gonçalo Pina, and Federico Todeschini

Submissions from 2014

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Trends in the Happiness of Single Mothers: Evidence from the General Social Survey, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

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Capital in the Twenty-First Century: A Review Essay, Alexander J. Field

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Prosociality and the Military, Alexander J. Field

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The Interwar Housing Cycle in the Light of 2001-2012: A Comparative Historical Approach, Alexander J. Field

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Schelling, von Neumann, and the Event that Didn’t Occur, Alexander J. Field

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Affect and Overconfidence: A Laboratory Investigation, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

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The Development of Public Libraries in the United States, 1870–1930: A Quantitative Assessment, Michael Kevane and William A. Sundstrom

Submissions from 2013

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Economic Growth and Recovery in the United States, 1919-1941, Alexander J. Field

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John Kenneth Galbraith, Alexander J. Field

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Mellon Banks, Alexander J. Field

Submissions from 2012

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Gendered production and consumption in rural Africa, Michael Kevane

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The Adversity/Hysteresis Effect: Depression Era Productivity Growth in the U.S. Railroad Sector, Alexander J. Field

Submissions from 2011

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Happiness and Time Preference: The Effect of Positive Affect in a Random-Assignment Experiment, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

Spend or Save? Study or Party? Smoke or Quit?, John Ifcher and Homa Zarghamee

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A's from Zzzz's? The Causal Effect of School Start Time on the Academic Achievement of Adolescents, Scott E. Carrell, Teny Maghakian, and James E. West

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The Happiness of Single Mothers after Welfare Reform, John Ifcher

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Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane

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Dim Delobsom, Michael Kevane

Submissions from 2010

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General Assistance Recipients and Welfare-To-Work Programs: Evidence from New York City, John Ifcher

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The Procyclical Behavior of Total Factor Productivity in the United States, 1890-2004, Alexander J. Field

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Identifying the Effect of a Welfare-to-Work Program Using Capacity Constraint: a New York City Quasi-Experinmet, John Ifcher

Submissions from 2009

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Post-2011 scenarios in Sudan: What role for the EU?, Damien Helly, Suliman Baldo, Maria Gabrielsen, Fabienne Hara, Damien Helly, Fouad Hikmat, Michael Kevane, Roland Marchal, Tim Murithi, and Luke Patey

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Habitudes de lecture et performances scolaires, Félix Compaoré, Michael Kevane, and Alain Joseph Sissao

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The Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Current Crisis, Alexander J. Field

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U.S. Economic Growth in the Gilded Age, Alexander J. Field

Submissions from 2008

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Fuel-Efficient Stove Programs in IDP Settings Summary Evaluation Report Darfur, Sudan, Academy for Educational Development and Michael Kevane

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Why Multilevel Selection Matters, Alexander J. Field

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Biological and Cultural Group Selection: Comments on Landa's paper, Alexander J. Field

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The Impact of the Second World War on U.S. Productivity Growth, Alexander J. Field

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Darfur: Rainfall and Conflict, Michael Kevane and Leslie C. Gray

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Economic History, Alexander J. Field

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Productivity, Alexander J. Field

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Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane

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Economic Systems in Africa, Michael Kevane

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Diminished Access, Diverted Exclusion: Women and Land Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa, Michael Kevane and Leslie C. Gray

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Land Tenure and Rental in Western Sudan, Michael Kevane and Leslie C. Gray

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How Much do Village Libraries Increase Reading? Results of a Survey of 10th Graders in Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane and Alain Joseph Sissao

Submissions from 2007

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Beyond foraging: behavioral science and the future of institutional economics, Alexander J. Field

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From Quasi-Private to Quasi-Public: The Development of Local Libraries in the United States, 1870-1930, Michael Kevane and William A. Sundstrom

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Habitudes de lecture au Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane and Alain Joseph Sissao

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The Origins of U.S. Total Factor Productivity Growth in the Golden Age, Alexander J. Field

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The Equipment Hypothesis and U.S. Economic Growth, Alexander J. Field

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Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane

Submissions from 2006

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Official Representations of the Nation: Comparing the Postage Stamps of Sudan and Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane

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Women’s Access to Credit in Sub-Saharan Africa: Sudan, Michael Kevane and Endre Stiansen

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Communications, Alexander J. Field

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Technological Change and U.S. Productivity Growth in the Interwar Years, Alexander J. Field

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Douglass North, Alexander J. Field

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Technical change and US economic growth: the interwar period and the 1990s, Alexander J. Field

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Dim Delobsom: French Colonialism and Local Response in Upper Volta, Michael Kevane

Submissions from 2005

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Social Preferences in Small‐Scale Societies, Alexander J. Field

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Résultats préliminaires d’une enquête sur la lecture à Ouagadougou, Michael Kevane and Alain Joseph Sissao

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Reflections on the Joint Assessment Mission, Michael Kevane

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Freedom, Servitude and Voluntary Labor, Michael Kevane and Jonathon Conning

Submissions from 2004

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Sudan: 2001-2002: From war to the possibility of peace in the south and then to new conflict in Darfur, Michael Kevane

Altruism, Alexander J. Field

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Understanding Sudan: An Introduction, Michael Kevane

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The Cost of Getting Books Read in Rural Africa: Estimates from a Survey of Library Use in Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane

Submissions from 2003

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The Most Technologically Progressive Decade of the Century, Alexander J. Field

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Why Isn't There More Financial Intermediation in Developing Countries?, Michael Kevane and Jonathon Conning

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Comment on Bergstrom, Alexander J. Field

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Land Ordinances, Alexander J. Field

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Economics, Biology, and Culture: Hodgson on History, Alexander J. Field

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Mirowski’s Machine Dreams, Alexander J. Field