SCHOLARSHIP 

            Without pursuing an ongoing research agenda it becomes very difficult to keep current with the latest trends in the discipline.  Students who complete courses that convey the latest developments have a distinct comparative advantage over those who have had relatively outdated courses.  As a result, I firmly believe that formal research is an essential component of college teaching.  Although the principal focus of my research is mathematical modeling of issues in international economic development, I recently completed two working papers in forensic economics with Dr. Frank Slesnick.

            Having been formally trained in mathematics, but deeply interested in history and politics, I eventually completed my dissertation in the field of mathematical economics.  Mathematical economics focuses on the advancement of theory and methodology, through qualitative mathematical modeling.  My first opportunity to engage in "applied theory" came in 1998 when I was asked to help construct a mathematical model of rural finance markets in Nepal in order to analyze why the effectiveness of financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank has appeared inconsistent.  During this time, I also served as a volunteer to a small group of consultants to the Asian Development Bank.  As a member of this “Nepal Field Group,” I participated in a dialogue on the restructuring of financial markets in Nepal.  The mathematical model I developed eventually resulted in a major publication.   

Finally, I directed a student research project on the impact of the availability of credit on economic development in Appalachian Kentucky.  The idea stemmed from my own research interests at the international level.  Two students presented the paper at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Lexington.  I have also advised several student research projects that were presented at the Eastern Economics Association Conference in New York and Washington D.C.  Two student papers were eventually published in Issues in Political Economy, an undergraduate economics journal.  This only reinforces the importance of the link between teaching and research.

PUBLICATIONS

•  “Is Sustainable Development Compatible with Rawlsian Justice?” Contributions to Theoretical Economics, forthcoming.
• “Interactions of Informal ande Formal Agents in South Asian Rural Credit Markets: An Analysis of Information Asymmetries and Adverse Selection with Heterogeneous Credit Services" with J. Adams and H.P. Brunner, Review of Development Economics, 7(3), 2003.
•  “Endogenous Sustainability: A Note on the Dynamics of Averting Doomsday," Pennsylvania Economic Review, 11(1), 2002.
• "A Means of Encouraging Women in Mathematical Sciences," with Anne M. Raymond, Contemporary Education, 69(3), 1998.

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

• “Immiserizing Credit, Microfinance and the Logic of Peasant Households,” with John Adams, to be presented at the annual meetings of the Eastern Economic Association, Philadelphia, PA, February, 2006.
• “Utilizing Assurance of Learning to Improve Undergraduate Programs,” presented at AACSB International Graduate, Undergraduate and Emerging Curricula Conference, Tampa, FL, November, 2005
• “Earning Capacity:  An Options Approach,” presented with Frank Slesnick at the annual meetings of the American Economics Association, Philadelphia, PA, January, 2005.
•  “Earning Capacity:  A Mathematical Approach,” presented with Frank Slesnick at the annual meetings of the Eastern Economic Association, Washington, DC, February, 2004.
• "The Role of Environmental Uncertainty in Determining the Evolution of Property Rights Regimes," presented at the annual meetings of the Eastern Economics Association, NY, NY, February, 2003.
• "The Role of Technology in Understanding Mathematical Concepts in Intermediate Economic Theory:  a Rationale and Demonstration Using MAPLE," presented with Anne Raymond at the annual meetings of the Kentucky Economics Association, Lexington, KY, October, 2002.
• "Hotelling's Rule For Complete Competitive Markets."  Presented at the annual meetings of the Eastern Economics Association, Boston, MA, March, 2002.
• "Hotelling's Rule For Complete Competitive Markets."  Presented at the annual meetings of the Kentucky Economics Association, Lexington, KY, October, 2001.
• "Using Maple to Complement Pedagogy for Intermediate Economic Theory."  Presented at the Seventh Annual University of Kentucky Economics Teaching Workshop, Lexington, KY, April, 2001
• "Establishing the Foundation of Modern Growth Theory:  An Inquiry into the Motivation and Methodology of F.P. Ramsey."  Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Economics Association,  Cleveland, OH, March, 2001.
• "Breaking the Gridlock; The Interaction of Formal and Informal Rural Finance Markets in South Asia, and the Need for Policy Reform,"  with J. Adams and H.P. Brunner.  Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association,  Boston, MA, March, 1999.
• "Sustainable Endogenous Growth"  Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association,  New York, NY, February, 1998.
• "Endogenous Sustainable Growth:  The Case for Nonrenewable Resources."  Presented at the Southeastern Conference on Economic Theory and International Economics, Chapel Hill, NC, November, 1997.
• "Sustainable Endogenous Growth: The Case for Renewable Resources."  Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association,  Washington, DC, April, 1997.

 

MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW.

• “Earning Capacity:  A Mathematical Approach,” with Frank Slesnick (Submitted to American Law and Economics Review).

• "Establishing the Historical Foundations of Modern Growth Theory: Discerning the Possible Motives of           Frank P. Ramsey" (Revise & Resubmit- History of Economic Ideas).

•  "The Role of Technology in Understanding Mathematical Concepts in Intermediate Economic Theory:  A Rationale and Demonstration Using MAPLE," with Anne Raymond and Myra McCrickard. 

WORKING PAPERS.

• “Earning Capacity:  An Options Approach,” with Frank Slesnick.
• "A Competitive Multisector Hotelling's Rule".
• "Immiserizing Credit:  Microfinance and the Logic of Peasant Households", with John Adams.
• "The Role of Environmental Uncertainty in Determining the Evolution of Property Rights Regimes" .