Department of Economics

Çağdaş Ağirdaş Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics cagirdas@colby.edu Diamond 374 859-5247 Office Hours Fall 2012: M 12:15-1:15, T 4:30-6, W 12:15-1:15 Professor Ağirdaş’s research focuses on political economy, public choice and development economics. Before coming to Colby, he worked on empirical issues related to media bias, economically self-interested voting and negative campaigning in U.S. Elections. He taught courses in Game Theory, Statistics, Econometrics, Principles of Micro and Macroeconomics. At Colby, he teaches Development Economics, Game Theory and Principles of Macroeconomics.

Debra A. Barbezat Mitchell Family Professor of Economics; Chair dabarbez@colby.edu Diamond 367 859-5239 Professor Barbezat, Professor James Hughes (Bates College) and many students have spent the past two years working on “The Jockey Project.” They have created a census of over 4,000 thoroughbred jockeys for the years 1880 to 1930, verifying more than 600 African American jockeys. This unique data base is already serving as a reference for the National Museum of Racing at Saratoga, Keeneland Library in Kentucky, and authors of record books on the racing industry.  Current economic research focuses on determinants of the decline in African American jockeys in the early 20th century and various aspects of the jockey labor market.

Sahan Dissanayake Assistant Professor of Economics Sahan.Dissanayake@colby.edu Diamond 347 859-5241 Office Hours Fall 2012: T 4-5, W 10-11:30 & 1:30-3, Th 1-2:30 Professor Dissanayake’s research is focused on ecosystem services, biodiversity and land conservation and uses choice experiment surveys to understand preferences and mathematical programming models to study optimal resource allocation.

Michael R. Donihue Professor of Economics Michael.Donihue@colby.edu On Sabbatical 2012-13 Areas of Expertise: Macroeconomic policy, Economic forecasting

Finley C. Edwards Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics fedwards@colby.edu Diamond 350 859-5236 Professor Edwards did his undergraduate work at Wheaton College in Illinois and completed his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Illinois.  Professor Edwards’ research interests are in labor economics and the economics of education.

David W. Findlay Pugh Family Professor of Economics dwfindla@colby.edu Diamond 345 859-5233 Office Hours Fall 2012: M/W 1-3 Professor Findlay’s current research examines the effects of payday lending on individual behavior and on the precautionary demand for money. His research interests also include the ability of the yield curve to predict regional economic activity, the economics of sports, and discrimination in sports. At Colby, he has taught courses in introductory macroeconomics, intermediate macroeconomics, Money and Banking, Presidential Economics, and Open Economy Macroeconomics. Professor Findlay is also Colby’s liaison for the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.

Patrice M. Franko Grossman Professor of Economics pmfranko@colby.edu On Sabbatical 2012-13 Professor Franko teaches international economics, Latin American economic policy, and microeconomics. She currently serves on the boards of the Mid-Maine Global Forum, The AIDS Responsibility Project and the Global Studies Foundation. Her many publications include The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development 3rd edition, (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Toward a New Security Architecture in the Americas: The Strategic Implications of the FTAA (CSIS Press, 2000), and The Brazilian Defense Industry (Westview, 1992). She is currently working on a project on corporate social responsibility in Latin America and a book for Rowman & Littlefield: The Puzzle of 21st Century Economic Globalization.

Samara R. Gunter Assistant Professor of Economics srgunter@colby.edu On Sabbatical 2012-13 Professor Gunter’s research focuses on public finance and labor economics. Her interests include child support enforcement, tax evasion, and informal labor markets. One current project examines how using paid tax preparers affects taxpaying behavior. At Colby, she has taught courses in introductory and intermediate microeconomics, public finance, and economics of crime.

Timothy P. Hubbard Assistant Professor of Economics Timothy.Hubbard@colby.edu Diamond 365 859-5242 Office Hours Fall 2012: M 2:30-3:30, T 9-10:30, Th 9-10:30 Professor Hubbard’s research focuses on modeling firm behavior, particularly in markets where strategy is important.  As an applied economist, his research often marries economic theory with real-world data to estimate the structural elements of the model.  He is particularly interested in studying bidding strategies and optimal policies in auction settings.

Lori G. Kletzer Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty; Professor of Economics Lori.Kletzer@colby.edu Eustis 305A 859-4770 Dean Kletzer completed her Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley and received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College. She joined the Colby community in July 2010, from an 18-year affiliation with the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her primary field of research is labor economics.  Dean Kletzer maintains a research interest on the domestic labor market effects of globalization, specifically understanding and measuring the scope and consequences of services trade and offshoring.

Daniel R. LaFave Assistant Professor of Economics Daniel.LaFave@colby.edu Diamond 351 859-5243 Office Hours Fall 2012: W 9-10:30, Th 2:30-4 Professor LaFave’s research interests lie at the intersection of development, labor, and health economics. His dissertation work examined the microeconomics of family decision making in Indonesia, and he is currently working on projects related to the economics and demography of aging throughout Asia.

Donghyun Lee Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics donlee@colby.edu Diamond 361 859-5245 Office Hours Fall 2012: M 10-11, T 10-11, W 10-11, Th 10-11 Professor Lee’s current research focuses on international trade, specifically foreign direct investment (FDI) and cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the presence of firm heterogeneity and multinationals.

Randy A. Nelson Douglas Professor of Economics and Finance; Chair, Administrative Science ranelson@colby.edu Diamond 373 859-5238 Office Hours Fall 2012: M 1:30-3:30, W 1:30-3:30, F 1-3 Areas of Expertise: Applied or empirical microeconomics, Industrial organization, Corporate finance, Aviation safety.

Guillermo J. Vuletin Assistant Professor of Economics gvuletin@colby.edu Diamond 359 859-5235 Office Hours Fall 2012: W 3:30-5:30 Areas of Expertise: Fiscal and monetary policies, and exchange rate regimes with a particular interest in macroeconomic policy in developing countries.

Andreas Waldkirch Associate Professor of Economics; Associate Chair Andreas.Waldkirch@colby.edu Diamond 353 859-5244 Office Hours Fall 2012: T 2:30-3:45, W 11:30-1, Th 11-12:15 Professor Waldkirch’s research focuses on economic integration and foreign direct investment (FDI). His recent projects have explored the effect of NAFTA on FDI, the employment and productivity effects of FDI in Mexico, the possibility of productivity spillovers in Ghana and the spatial dimensions of FDI into U.S. states. The Ghana paper is joint with Andra Ofosu ’07 and is published in World Development, one of Economics’ leading development journals. Prof. Waldkirch has recently also been a visiting researcher at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics in Stockholm/Sweden and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany.

Faculty Emeriti

Henry A. Gemery
Pugh Family Professor of Economics, Emeritus
hagemery@colby.edu
Areas of Expertise: American economic history, Immigration, Technical change in economic growth

Jan S. Hogendorn
Grossman Professor of Economics, Emeritus
jshogend@colby.edu
Areas of Expertise: International Trade, Economic Development, African Economies

James W. Meehan Jr.
Herbert E. Wadsworth Professor of Economics, Emeritus
jwmeehan@colby.edu

Clifford E. Reid
Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics, Emeritus
cereid@colby.edu

Thomas Tietenberg
Mitchell Family Professor of Economics, Emeritus
thtieten@colby.edu