News Archives
2006-2007
Dr. Floyd K. Harmston passes away
Dr. Floyd K. Harmston, a former MU professor of economics, passed away Friday, June 22, 2007. He was 89. Dr. Harmston retired with professor emeritus status in 1983. Dr. Harmston published two textbooks: “The Community as an Economics System” and “Input-Output Analysis for Small Communities.” Funeral services were held Monday, June 25th at the Highlands Ward Chapel, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Columbia, MO. Memorial contributions can be made to the American Diabetes Association, 1900 N. Providence Road, Columbia, MO 65202 or the Alzheimer’s Association’s Mid-Missouri Chapter, 1121 Business Loop 70 E., Columbia, MO 65201 (573-443-3173). Acknowledgements can also be made online at Memorial Funeral Home (opens new window)
Other Press
Scholarship supports students and honors MU grad who died on 9-11
Intern Hires for Summmer 2007
Congratulations to Samantha Dalton, Alan Simpson, Alyssa Stinson and Adam Swadley.
Samantha has been hired as an intern at the Kauffman Foundation this summer. She'll be working on entrepreneurship research. Alan, Alyssa and Adam have been awarded Undergraduate Research Mentorships for the summer. Alan will be working with Dr. Emek Basker on the topic "How does the Wal-Mart's 4-Dollar Generic Prescription Drug Plan affect drug pricing?", Alyssa will be working with Dr. Peter Mueser on the topic "Testing the Effects of Missouri Minimum Wage on Low-Wage Industry Employment" and Adam will be working with Dr. Joe Haslag on the topic "An Examination of Section 529 College Savings Plans across the US".
Michael Podgursky: co-investigator in two major national education policy research centers
Michael Podgursky is a co-investigator in two major national research centers in area of education policy. Both of these were just launched by major research grants from the Institute for Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. The Center for Analysis of Longitudinal in Education Research (CALDER) is based at the Urban Institute in Washington DC. This center brings together researchers who use econometric methods to analyze massive longitudinal student-level achievement data files in several states. This research team includes economists from Stanford, Duke, University of Washington, and University of Florida. The second center, the National Center for Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University, will explore the use of performance-based compensation in K-12 education in several states. It will also conduct randomized experimental studies linking pay bonuses to student achievement gains in two school districts. Along with Professor Podgursky, this research team includes economists and statisticians from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and RAND.
Joseph Haslag and Xinghe Wang promoted to Full Professor!
Department of Economics faculty news: Congratulations to Joseph Haslag and Xinghe Wang on their promotions to Full Professor!
Douglas J. Miller joins the faculty
Douglas J. Miller joins the faculty for Academic Year 2006-07 as Associate Professor of Economics. His primary field is econometrics and he conducts research on applications of information theory and other statistical tools to a wide range of problems in economics and other social sciences. Recent work focuses on developing robust estimation methods for binary choice models, non-stationary Markov chains, asset pricing, and risk measurement. His primary teaching assignments include econometrics and microeconomics, and his co-author of two econometrics books, Maximum Entropy Econometrics (Wiley,1996) and Econometric Foundations (Cambridge, 2000).
Gunjan Sharma joins the department
Gunjan Sharma joins the department as Assistant Professor. Her primary research interests, theoretical and empirical, are in international trade and development. Her current research investigates the relationship between regulatory institutions and trade reforms; the impact of regulatory institutions and trade reforms in India on the incentives of firms to become productive as well as their impact on poverty and on the household decision to send children to school. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland-College Park in 2006.
International Economic Research Institute welcomes scholars
The International Economic Research Institute welcomes scholars from journalism, government, academia, and business. IERI - within the Economic Policy & Analysis Research Center (EPARC) - is intended to facilitate the ongoing education of leading professionals in the areas of economics and finance by enabling visiting scholars to conduct research in their areas of interest. See EPARC.
Fall 2005
The Department of Economics welcomes Sheila Akers back to the department. She assumed the duties of the department's fiscal officer and office manager on Oct 27, following the departure of Mary Critchlow to greener pastures in St. Louis. After completing ten years of dedicated service, Michael Podgursky has stepped down as Chair of the Economics Department. David Mandy assumed the Chair's duties on August 1.
Oksana Loginova joins the Department as Assistant Professor after completing her Ph.D. from Duke University in 2005. Her primary research interest is microeconomic theory, with particular emphasis on industrial organization, contracts, and e-commerce. Her current project applies the theory of consumer memory for advertising, developed in the psychology literature, to a setting of oligopolistic firm rivalry to gain insight into advertising strategies in imperfectly competitive markets.
J. Isaac Miller joins the department as Assistant Professor. His research focuses on theoretical and applied time series econometrics, with emphasis on non stationary models. Recent work includes modeling long memory processes with nonlinear transformations of thick-tailed random walks and testing for purchasing power parity under target zone exchange rate regimes. Current projects include a random coefficient model with nonergodic coefficients driven by nonlinear functions of random walks. He received his Ph.D. from Rice University in 2005.
Vitor Trindade joins the department as Associate Professor after five years on the economics faculty at Syracuse University. His research and teaching focuses on issues in International and Development Economics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego in 2000.
Douglas J. Miller joins the Department for Academic Year 2005-06 as Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics. His primary field is econometrics, and he conducts research on applications of information theory and other statistical tools to a wide range of problems in economics and other social sciences. Recent work focuses on developing robust estimation methods for binary choice models, non-stationary Markov chains, asset pricing and risk measurement, and ecological inference and aggregate voting models. He has taught graduate econometrics for the past eleven years and is co-author of two econometrics books, Maximum Entropy Econometrics (Wiley, 1996) and Econometric Foundations (Cambridge, 2000). Professor Miller was previously at Purdue University.
Mike Podgursky presented a paper on teacher pay adequacy at a conference held at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard -- “Adequacy Lawsuits: Their Growing Impact on American Education” October 13-14, 2005. Attending were scholars in law, political science, and economics.
Ronald Harstad, J. Rhoads Foster Professor in the Economics of Regulated Industries, presented "Rational Participation Revolutionizes Auction Theory" at the Econometric Society World Congress at University College London.
Xinghe Wang and Vitor Trindade attended the Midwest Trade and Theory Meetings in Lawrence, KS, on October 14-15. Xinghe presented “Why are firms reluctant to reduce costs?” and Vitor presented “Neckties in the Tropics: a Model of International Trade and Cultural Diversity.”
Passing of Professor Emeritus David Loschky
We are saddened to report that Professor Emeritus David Loschky passed away on September 8, 2005. David was known for his gentle but persistent efforts to make students think critically about the scientific method as it applies to economics. He was a dedicated teacher and researcher in the Economics Department for 31 years before retiring in 1998. The family has announced that there will be no burial ceremony or rites. For those who may wish to send a card or contact the family, the address is:
Oksana Kirina
212 West Boulevard S
Columbia 65203
Michael Podgursky has been appointed to the National Research Council Study on Teacher Preparation Programs committee. This committee of the National Academy of Sciences is charged to put together a report to Congress on this complex and contentious area of enquiry. Congratulations, Mike! more information on the committee is available at: http://www7.nationalacademies.org
Michael Podgursky has been appointed a scholar-in-residence at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City for the 2005-06 academic year. The foundation funds a wide range of programs in education and operates the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. More information on the foundation is available at: www.kauffman.org. This prestigious appointment is a tribute to Mike’s continuing research accomplishments in the economics of education.
Congratulations, Peter Mueser, on his promotion to Full Professor!
Timothy Kaine, Economics Department is proud to count Timothy Kaine, Democratic Lt. Gov., and now Governor-elect of Virginia, among our graduates. Mr. Kaine earned his degree in economics at MU in 1979.
Winter 2005
A&S Week Scholarship Reception
The reception was held on February 14, in Mark Twain Ballroom, University of Missouri-Columbia. The University of Missouri and A&S Awards Banquet was held Friday, February 18, at Stoney Creek Inn.
Fall 2004
First Annual MaxLab Day
Ronald M. Harstad gave the Inaugural Address for the First Annual MaxLab Day, which also inaugurated the center for research in Economic Theory and Behavior at the University of Magdeburg in Germany, historically the top university in the former East Germany. His talk was on "Normative Evaluation of Experimental Markets." That was the highlight of a research trip featuring seminars at the Universities of Bonn and Copenhagen, Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and Berlin's Humboldt University, all discussing the theory of auctions with entry of potential competitors.
Undergraduate Orientation
An informational orientation for all students interested in pursing a career or have declared a major in Economics was held in Memorial Union, Statler Lounge III, on Tuesday, September 28, from 11:30pm to 1:30 pm.
Summer 2004
New Professors
Ronald M. Harstad joined the Department as the J. Rhoads Foster Professor of the Economics of Regulated Industries. Ron's areas of specialty include game theory, auctions, laboratory economics, microeconomic theory, industrial organization, financial markets, and operations research. His research has been published in the leading journals in economics. Recent studies include: making the number of bidders an endogenous variable in auction models, analyzing a seller's options in disclosing appraisals to some or all bidders, finding the determinants of the ability of competitive auctions to aggregate diversely held informaiton about asset value, and designing methodologies to extend laboratory economics techniques to field observations. Professor Harstad was previously at Rutgers University.
Jeffrey D. Milyo joined the department as Associate Professor of Economics. His areas are applied microeconomics, health economics, law and economics, political economics and public economics. Recent work includes an investigation of the price consequences of informative advertising published in the American Economic Review, studies of campaign finance published in the Journal of Law and Economics and Public Choice, and several investigations of social determinants of health appearing in the American Journal of Public Health, Health Services Research, Journal of Human Resources and the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law. Current projects include an analysis of the political and policy consequences of state campaign finance reforms over the last fifty years and an investigation of the efficacy of social capital for individual well-being. Professor Milyo was previously at the Harris Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Chicago.
Emek Basker received a Research Board grant for $10,600 to study equilibrium price dispersion within and across cities. This research will be joint with David Parsley of Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School. The objective of this project is to quantify, and explain, the degree of intra-market prices dispersion for typical retail purchases in the United States, and the degree pv overlap in price distributions across proximate cities. The analysis will be done using a unique new data set of store-level prices of specific goods (such as toothpaste and canned tuna) at 5-10 stores per city, for hundreds of US cities over the period 2001-2003.
2003
Statistical Abstract of Missouri (SAM)
The Economic and Policy Analysis Research Center (EPARC) has released the 2003 Statistical Abstract of Missouri (SAM). This 13th edition of the SAM is now available exclusively online. It contains the latest state and county-level economic and demographic statistics for Missouri including statistics on population, health, education, income, employment, prices, transportation, finance, energy, agriculture, natural resources, communications, media, and public sector revenue collections and expenditures. SAM also provides an excellent historical perspective by reporting statistics in some tables for 10 years or more. With all these facts in one location, the SAM is an excellent reference source for all you need to know about Missouri. SAM 2003 may be viewed on the EPARC website.