Department of Economics¹
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

Department of Economics faculty members are very active in the Centers and Programs of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. In addition to the entries in those sections, and to publications listed in "Papers, Books and Chapters: Published or Forthcoming," various other projects of economics department faculty are listed below. Academic programs are described in the Office of Academic Assistance section. James Alm is Chair of the Department of Economics.

In This Section:

• Programs
• Projects
• Working Papers
• Visitors and Presentations

Highlights

• The Department hired three new faculty members - H. Spencer Banzhaf, Vjollca Sadiraj, and Jon Rork - and is planning on hiring at least five more faculty members over the next several years to create one of the largest economics departments in the country. Currently, there are 34 faculty members in the Department.
  
• The Department admitted 13 new doctoral students in Fall 2006, and there were 30 new Master of Arts in Economics and Policy Track students during the year. There are now over 100 students in the graduate programs.
• The number of undergraduate economics majors continues to grow, and is now nearly 300, up from only 100 several years ago.
  
• Georgia State University hosted the 2006 International Meeting of the Economic Science Association on June 8-11, 2006.
• In addition to its undergraduate and graduate degree programs, the Department is now offering a novel joint major with the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the undergraduate level, an interdisciplinary program that combines a foreign languages major with an international economics focus (International Economics and Foreign Languages).
• The Department is also considering a 5-year program that would lead to a BA and an MA in Economics.
• The Department also offers three unique programs: the Peace Corps Master's International Program, the South Africa Study Abroad Program, and the Summer Policy Internship Program. The Internship Program, “Undergraduate Research Experiences in Economics,” is funded by the National Science Foundation. In Summer 2006 there were over 100 applications, from which 10 offers were made and 9 offers were selected. Six of the interns were female, four were African American (two from historically black colleges), and three of the four African American interns were female. One of the interns was from Georgia State University, and one more was from the Atlanta area. The other interns come from throughout the U.S.
• Economics faculty and staff taught over 160 courses in 2006. Several new courses were also added to its curricula at all levels - undergraduate "Perspectives" courses, Law and Economics, a capstone course for undergraduate majors, and game theory.
• Faculty members continue to increase their research productivity: on average, faculty members publish about 4 papers per year. Also reflecting research productivity, the Department was ranked 10th nationally in total R&D expenditures in the most recent year for which data are available.
• The Department continued its tradition of hosting a reception for alumni and friends at the Allied Social Science Association annual meetings, held in Philadelphia in January 2006 and in Chicago in January 2007.
  

Programs

Graduate Teaching Assistant Training Program. This program was created in 2000 to help GTAs in Economics perform well in the classroom. The training in 2006 again was extensive. GTAs videotaped some portions of their lectures, which then were analyzed by faculty and the students. The responses from GTAs who participated in the program were very positive. The GTA Undergraduate Teaching Committee for 2006-2007 consists of Shelby Frost, Jon Mansfield and Paul Farnham.

Faculty Recruitment. The Department welcomed three new professors in 2006.

• Associate Professor H. Spencer Banzhaf earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Duke University, and joined us after serving as Fellow at the D.C. think tank Resources for the Future, and assistant professor at Georgetown. His specialties include environmental economics, urban and regional economics, and the history of economic thought.
• Assistant Professor Vjollca Sadiraj earned her Ph.D. from University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and is involved in research programs in public choice, public economics, individual social preferences and decision theory. She joined us from the University of Arizona.
• Assistant Professor Jon Rork earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University, and was a faculty member at Vassar College before joining the faculty at Georgia State. His research interests are in issues of interjurisdictional competition, the economics of state gaming and state lotteries, and the economics of the elderly.

Summer Intern Program. The Department continued its Research Experiences for Undergraduates summer intern program, under the supervision of Neven Valev and with funding from the National Science Foundation. Students work closely with a faculty mentor on a research project of their own choosing. Interns receive formal and systematic training in a weekly seminar that provides basic research skills, and the program culminates in a presentation and a paper related to the research experience. Two students' evaluation of the experience: “The program is a resounding success, and I hope it continues for as long as it can. It is a unique opportunity for us and there should be more programs like it;” and “I appreciated the opportunity to participate in university research as an undergraduate. The chance to work one-on-one with an economist gave me a good idea of what will be expected in graduate school.”

Ten students from around the country attended the seven-week program, which ran from May 31 to July 18, 2006. Interns were from Bennett College for Women, Elizabeth City State University, Georgia State University, Swarthmore College, DePauw University, St. Vincent College, University of Georgia, University of Rhode Island, George Washington University, and New York University. Research projects included HIV prevention, structure factors for financial systems, social economic disparities in Namibia, municipal crises, insurance experiments, Atlanta's economy, fiscal decentralization, tax compliance, economic development in transition countries and Medicaid in Georgia. Students attended lectures by AYSPS faculty and visited the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

The program is very competitive with over 100 applicants. Many graduates of the program have enrolled in top Ph.D. programs in Economics such as Princeton, Minnesota, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

Indonesian Masters Program. Several students from the Indonesian Masters Program moved from the M.A. program to the Ph.D. program. These five students are currently working on their doctoral degree, and expect to finish in the near future. The program is co-directed by James Alm and Jorge Martinez-Vazquez.

South Africa Study Abroad. The May 2006 economics study abroad program, South Africa: Its Evolving Socio-Political Economy, was a success. Nine students from Georgia State, Spelman College and Morehouse College traveled to South Africa for a 2-week study abroad program, under the direction of Glenwood Ross of Morehouse College.

This was the fifth running of the Economic Studies Abroad in South Africa Program since 2001. This program is designed as a follow-on to the spring semester course, The Economy of South Africa. Both the study abroad program and the semester course are joint projects between the economics departments of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University and Morehouse College. The aim of the Study Abroad Program is to present students with a broad understanding of the workings of the South African economy, its infrastructure, its environment and its governance. Through a series of lectures, in-country discussions with industry and public officials, and site visits, the program participants examine the process of economic and social development, as well as South Africa’s role in the global marketplace. The program also addresses South Africa’s current socio-economic challenges, such as unemployment, poverty, economic inequality and the AIDS epidemic. In addition, the program is designed to introduce the students to cultural traditions and important moments in South African history and political development.

The program started off with a historical overview of South Africa and a pre-departure lecture on the general state of the South African economy. The following two weeks were spent in South Africa. While in South Africa, time was split between the Pretoria/Johannesburg area in Gauteng Province, the industrial center of the country, and the Cape Town area of the Western Cape Province. During the course of our stay, we attended seven formal lectures and had numerous site visits and cultural/historical experiences. The lectures dealt with various aspects of the economy of South Africa and were presented by the economics faculty at the University of Pretoria, the director of the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town and economic advisor to President Thabo Mbeki, and senior officials at the South African Department of Trade and Industry. This aspect of the study abroad program was particularly rewarding for the students who had taken the spring course. It helped to bring into focus their understanding of the numerous challenges that this resource-rich economy faces.

Tours included visits to Sun City, Shimansky Diamonds, the winelands of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and Paarl, the Lesedi Cultural Village, the Cape of Good Hope, penguin colonies at Boulders Beach, and the Pilanesberg Game Reserve. In addition, we had extensive city tours of Pretoria, Soweto, and Cape Town where we were exposed to much of the history and diverse culture of the country. Particularly interesting were visits to Nkosi’s Haven, an AIDS orphanage, where students were confronted with the direct impact of the disease, and to three museums that highlighted the anti-apartheid struggle: the Hector Peterson Memorial Museum, the District Six Museum and the Apartheid Museum. In addition, we had the privilege of visiting the informal settlements in the Langa Township.

The 2006 Economic Studies Abroad in South Africa Program was a great learning experience for all, and the 2007 version promises to be just as interesting as its predecessor. The 2007 Program will take place during the Georgia State Maymester.

Projects

Undergraduate Research Experiences in Economics (National Science Foundation). James Alm and Neven Valev. (2005-2007, $160,000)

Disseminating Experiments in Economics with the Econport Digital Library. (National Science Foundation). James C. Cox, PI, and J. Todd Swarthout, Co-PI. The grant is for implementing a national dissemination of EconPort through workshops conducted at the home university and in association with professional conferences. This is the second funded component of a planned long-term commitment to developing and maintaining this state-of-the-art teaching and research facility. (July 1, 2005-June 30, 2008, $900,000)

Collaborative Proposal: [AOC]: IT-Enhanced Market Design and Experiments. (National Science Foundation). James C. Cox. This grant will be funded by the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems. It is a collaborative grant that is linked to grants to Daniel Friedman, Director of the Learning and Experimental Economics Projects Lab at UC Santa Cruz, and James C. Spohrer, Director of Almaden Research Services at IBM. The central topics are concerned with theory and experiments in the intersection of microeconomics and information technology. This is the first funded component of a planned long-term collaboration with Almaden Research Services. (December 2005-2006, $250,000)

Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Paul G. Farnham. (2005-06, $66,146)

IPA-HIV/AIDS Prevention (Federal grant). Paul G. Farnham, PI. (July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007, $67,000)

Evaluation Design and Pilot Evaluation for the ECSEL Program. Paul G. Farnham, co-PI. (January 1-December 31, 2006, $13,274)

Evaluating the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Sea Turtle Conservation. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Paul J. Ferraro, PI. (July 1, 2004-June 30, 2007, $54,040)

Private Provision of Public Goods: Applying Matching Estimators to Evaluate 'Direct Payments' for Tropical Forest Conservation. (National Science Foundation). Paul J. Ferraro, Erin Sills and Subhrendu Pattanayak, co-PIs. (July 1, 2005-June 30, 2007, $31,000)

Agricultural Water Policy for Georgia. Paul J. Ferraro, co-PI. (Through June 30, 2007, $129,215)

Empowerment Zones, Neighborhood Change and Owner Occupied Housing. Douglas Krupka, PI. (December 7, 2006-December 31, 2007, $10,000)

Local Economic Development (Georgia State University Research Program Enhancement Grant). Douglas Krupka, co-PI. (July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007, $30,111)

Choosing Among Risky Alternatives: An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Insurance Markets on Biases in Decision-Making. (National Science Foundation). Susan K. Laury with Melayne Morgan McInnes, University of South Carolina. (August 2002-July 2006, $177,895 – GSU Portion $89,157)

Game Theory and Social Interactions: A Virtual Collaboratory for Teaching and Research. (National Science Foundation). Susan K. Laury with Lisa Anderson, Catherine Eckel, Jean Ensminger, Jacob Goeree, Charles Holt, David Reiley, Thomas Palfrey, Alvin Roth, and Rick Wilson. (June 2001-May 2006, $2,498,479 – GSU portion: $200,348)

Public Sector Pay and Bribery: Measuring Corruption in Post-Soviet Republics and Southeastern Europe (National Council for Eurasian and East European Research). Klara Peter. ($40,000)

Conducting Laboratory Experiments on the Effects of Appearance on Sorting into Groups. (Georgia State University). Ragan Petrie. Research Initiation Grant. (2005-2006, $9,500)

Ethnic and Social Barriers to Cooperate: Experiments Studying the Extent and Nature of Discrimination in Urban Peru. (Inter-American Development Bank). Ragan Petrie, Co-Principal Investigator, with Marco Castillo, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Maximo Torero, International Food Policy Research Institute. (2006, $40,000)

A Panel Study of Elderly versus Nonelderly Migration Flows and State Fiscal Policy. Jon Rork, co-PI. (July 1, 2006-June 30-2008, $15,000)

An Econometric Investigation of the Relationship between Small Business Activities and Economic Growth among the States: 1988 through 2002. Jon Rork, co-PI. (October 1, 2005-October 1, 2006, $68,000)

Economic Impact Module (Georgia State University Research Foundation). Bruce Seaman. A research grant from the Georgia Department of Economic Development, awarded to create an economic impact module to be used to evaluate the regional effects of cultural and sporting events throughout the state of Georgia. Product was delivered in November 2006, and is being introduced into use in early 2007 following trial runs with potential users throughout the state.  

The effects of access to information technology on disparities in academic productivity among tiers of institutions and between men and women (Andrew W. Mellon Foundation). Paula Stephan with co-PIs Sharon Levin and Anne Winkler of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. (2.5-year grant, $203,000)

Using the SRS Human Resource Data workshops (National Science Foundation). Paula Stephan. (Grant in support of two workshops, $78,974)

Improving Student Learning through the use of Class-based Economics Experiments. Todd Swarthout, PI. Improving student learning and student retention at the undergraduate level. (July 1,2006-June 30, 2007, $49,000)

Financial Development and Economic Growth in Bulgaria. Neven Valev, PI. (January 1, 2006-January 31, 2007, $20,000)

Bright from the Start. Sally Wallace. ($149,000)

Atlanta Women’s Foundation. Sally Wallace. ($19,000)

Proposals Under Review

Evaluating the effectiveness of protected areas. Paul Ferraro, PI. ($15,000)

Confidentiality and Tax Compliance. Susan Laury, co-PI. ($40,700)

Collaborative Research: Competitive Market Experiments for the Microeconomics Curriculum. Todd Swarthout, PI. ($79,000)

Ecology and Economics of Freshwater Ecosystem Services. Laura Taylor, co-PI. ($600,000)

Investigating the Link between Child Maltreatment and Crime. Erdal Tekin, co-PI. ($402,000)

Working Papers

James Alm

• with Roy Bahl and Bayar Tumennasan, “Fiscal Decentralization, Corruption, and Tax Effort”
• “Assessing the Ukraine Tax System”
• “The Determinants of State Government Tax Structure”
• “How Should Individuals Be Taxed?”
• with Patricia Annez, “Analyzing the Effects of Indian Stamp Duties”
• with David L. Sjoquist, “The Tax Gap in Georgia”
• with Brian Erard, “Developing a Methodology for Estimating the Informal Supplier Tax Gap”
• with William H. Kaempfer and Edward Sennoga, “Baseball Salaries and State Income Taxes: The ‘Home Field Advantage’ of Income Taxes on Free Agent Salaries, Baseball, and Income Taxes”
• with Edward Sennoga, "The Incidence of Tax Evasion: A General Equilibrium Analysis"
• with Asmaa El-Ganainy, “The Value-added Tax and Economic Growth”
• with Artidiatun Adji, “Testing for Ricardian Equivalence in Indonesia”

H. Spencer Banzhaf

• “Public Benefits of Undeveloped Lands on Urban Outskirts: Non-Market Valuation Studies and their Role in Land Use Planning,” Jan. 2007 
• and Eleanor McCormick, “Moving Beyond Cleanup: Identifying the Crucibles of Environmental Gentrification,” Dec. 2006
• and Garima Bhalla, “Do Households Value Competition Among Public Schools? A Natural Experiment,” Nov. 2006
• and Wallace Oates, James Sanchirico, and Randall P. Walsh, “Conservation Voted: What is the American electorate revealing?” June 2006
• and Smith, V. Kerry, Mary F. Evans, Christine Poulos, and Carol P. Mansfield, “Rehabilitating Weak Substitution,” Feb. 2006
• and Randall P. Walsh, Nicholas E. Flores, and Joshua Sidon, “Estimating Preferences for Neighborhood Location,” Dec. 2005 
• “Consumer Surplus with and without Apology,” Nov. 2005
• “Quality Adjustment for Spatially-Delineated Public Goods: Theory and Application to Cost-of-Living Indices in LA,” June 2005

Paul G. Farnham

• "Primary HIV Infection: Cost-Effectiveness of New Strategies for Detection," with Angela B. Hutchinson and Stephanie L. Sansom
• "The Cost-Effectiveness of Routine Rapid HIV Testing in Emergency Room Settings," with Angela B. Hutchinson, Bernard M. Branson and Sheryl Lyss
• "The Cost-Effectiveness of Conventional and Rapid HIV Screening in Healthcare Settings," with Angela B. Hutchinson, Stephanie L. Sansom and Bernard M. Branson
  

Paul J. Ferraro

• "Know Thyself: incompetence and overconfidence"
• "Opportunities and Pitfalls in Using Economic Incentives for Ecosystem Services," with Stephen Farber, Paul Morling, Robin Naidoo, Janis Paavola, Douglas Yu, Rolf de Groot and Sean Mowatt
• "The Insurance Value of Biodiversity," with Brendan Fisher, Paul Morling and Shahid Naeem
• "Do Investors Really React to Information from the Toxics Release Inventory? An econometric reassessment," with Jason Delaney
• "Using Virtual Agents to Differentiate among Altruism, Strategic Behavior and Error in the Ultimatum Game," with Ju Hsieh
• "Testing Game Theory with Nash agents"
• "Adolescent Time Preferences and Educational Outcomes," with Marco Castillo, Jeffrey Jordan and Ragan Petrie
• "Costa Rica's Payments for Environmental Services: using matched samples, linked surveys and remote sensing to evaluate program effectiveness," with Erin Sills, Rodrigo Arriagada, Subhrendu Pattanayak, Silvia Cordero, Luis Carrasco, and Kwaw Andam

Julie L. Hotchkiss

• and John C. Robertson, "Asymmetric Labor Force Participation Decisions over the Business Cycle: Evidence from U.S. Micro Data"
• with M. Melinda Pitts and John C. Robertson, "Wage Gains Among Job Changers Across the Business Cycle: Insight from State Administrative Data"
• with M. Melinda Pitts and John C. Robertson, "The Push-Pull Effects of the Information Technology Boom and Bust: Insight from State Administrative Data"
• with Brian S. Armour and M. Melinda Pitts, "Smoking, Labor Force Attachment, and the Wages of Middle-Aged Women in the U.S."
• with M. Melinda Pitts and Mary Beth Walker, "Working with Children? The Probability of Mothers Exiting the Work Force at Time of Birth"
• and Robert E. Moore, "Catching Up: an Update on the Welfare of Two-earner Families"
• and Robert E. Moore, "Impact of Trade Policy on Employment in Georgia"
• with Mary E.Graham and Augustine Lado, "Equal Employment Opportunity in the Executive Ranks"
• Christopher Cunningham and M. Melinda Pitts, "Labor Force Participation, Retirement, and Retirement Wealth"  

Yuriy Kitsul

• “Common Liquidity Factor and Cross-Autocorrelations of Stock Returns,” with Reza Mahani (Department of Finance, RCB), working paper, 2006, Georgia State University
• "Do Macroeconomic Variables and Non-linear Pricing Kernels Help in Forecasting Bond Returns?" with Ai-ru Cheng (Department of Economics, University of California – Santa-Cruz), working paper 2006, Department of Economics, Georgia State University
• “A Semi-nonparametric Model of the Pricing Kernel and Bond Yields,” working paper, 2006, Department of Economics, Georgia State University
• “Empirical Implementation of the Eigenfunction Approach to Modeling Stochastic Volatility,” working paper, 2005, Department of Economics, Georgia State University
• "Do Americans Really Not Save Enough?" with Adam Speight, Department of RMI, Georgia State University
• "Empirical Risk Aversion in Experimental Financial Markets"
• "Fiscal Policy and State Growth Revisited," with Mark Rider and Mary Beth Walker

Jorge Martinez-Vazquez

• and Yongsheng Xu with Baoyun Qiao, “Pocketing and Deceiving: The Behavior of the Delivery Agency in a Donor - Delivery Agency - Recipient Organization,” ISP Working Papers, February 2006
• and Li Zhang with Timothy Goodspeed, “Are Other Government Policies More Important Than Taxation in Attracting FDI”, ISP Working Papers, March 2006
• with Wasseem Mina, “Contract Enforcement, Institutional Stability, and the Level and Maturity of International Debt,” ISP Working Papers, May 2006
• and Richard M. Bird with Pierre-Pascal Gendron, “Is VAT the Best Way to Impose a General Consumption Tax in Developing Countries?,” ISP Working Papers, May 2006
• and Andrey Timofeev, “Regional - Local Dimension of Russia's Fiscal Equalization,” May 2006
• with Cristian Sepúlveda, Gabriel Leonardo, and Benjamin Miller, “Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Romania: Challenges and Options for Reform,” ISP Working Papers, June 2006
• and Mark Rider, Riatu Qibthiyyah, and Sally Wallace, “Who Bears the Burden of Taxes on Labor Income in Russia?” ISP Working Papers, August 2006
• and Juan Luis Gomez, and Guevera Yao, “Fiscal Decentralization in the People's Republic of Lao,” ISP Working Papers, September 2006.
• with Julio Lopez-Laborda and Carlos Monasterio, “The Practice of Fiscal Federalism in Spain,” ISP Working Papers, October 2006
• “Pakistan: A Preliminary Assessment of the Federal Tax System,” ISP Working Papers, November 2006
• Alternative Methods of Taxing Individual Income, with James Alm (ed.)
• and Jamie Boex, with Javier Arze del Granado. Fighting Corruption in the Public Sector, forthcoming.

Klara Sabirianova Peter

• “Skill-Biased Transition: The Role of Markets, Institutions and Technological Change,” IZA Discussion Paper, No. 893, October 2003
• “Firm Survival and Growth under Soviet Planning and During the Transition to a Market Economy” (with Jan Svejnar)
• “Community Norms and Organizational Practices: The Legitimization of Wage Arrears in Russia, 1992-1999,” IZA Discussion Paper, No. 1006, February 2004 (with John Earle and Andrew Spicer)
• Flat Tax, Tax Evasion, and Income Inequality (with Jorge Martinez-Vazquez)

Ragan Petrie

• and Paul Ferraro (with Marco Castillo and Jeffrey Jordan). "Time Preferences in Children: Experimental Evidence from Georgia"

Inas Rashad

• (with Gregory Colman). “Obesity and Depression: Establishing Causality,” working paper
• "Cycling: An Increasingly Untouched Source of Physical and Mental Health,” working paper
• (with Sara Markowitz). “Health Insurance and Obesity: Results Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,” working paper
  

Mark Rider

• “Are Errors in Official Budget Receipts Forecasts Just Noise?” (Robert McNab, Mark Rider, and Kent Wall)
• “Who Bears the Burden of Taxes on Labor Income in Russia?” (Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Riatu Qibthiyyah, Mark Rider, and Sally Wallace)

Bruce A. Seaman

• “The Atlanta Beltline Redevelopment Project: Urban Salvation or Expensive Hype,” to be presented at a conference on The City of Atlanta: Recent Trends and Future Prospects, Georgia State University, February 23, 2007.
• "Interdisciplinary Contributions to Cultural Economics: The Case of Performing Arts Audiences and Demand Analysis”
• “The Relationship Among Regional Economic Impact Models: The Case of Cultural Assets,” Nonprofit Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, NP: 06-05, November 2006; and an updated version was also submitted as part of the Department of Economics SSRN Working Paper Series as “The Relationship Among Regional Economic Impact Models: Contingent Valuation versus Economic Impact in the Case of Cultural Assets.”
• “The Supply Constraint Problem in Economic Impact Analysis: An Arts/Sports Disparity,” submitted as part of the Department of Economics SSRN Working Paper series

Paula Stephan

• “Capitalizing the Human Capital of University Scientists: The Case of Biotechnology IPOs,” with Matthew Higgins and Jerry Thursby

Laura Taylor

• "The Economic Value of Cleaning Contaminated and Noxious Sites: A Meta Analysis," with John Braden and Doohwan Won
• "Proximity as a Proxy for Exposure in Hedonic Models: Theory and Evidence," with John Braden and Doohwan Won
• "Experimental Tests of Provision Rules in Choice Surveys," with Mark Morrison and Kevin Boyle
• "Of Cab Drivers and Coal Miners: Risk Heterogeneity and the Value of a Statistical Life," with Carol Scotton

Visitors and Presentations

The Economics Department was excited to host a variety of speakers during 2006.

Economics, Applied Econometrics, Experimental Economics & Microeconomics Seminar Series and Workshops:

The Economics Club and Graduate Student Economics Club arranged and hosted the following presentations: