The Economics Faculty
The faculty in the Department of Economics are some of the very best the university has to offer. The diversity enables students to study a wide spectrum of subject matter. Their congeniality, dedication to teaching and concern for students are the primary reasons why economics is traditionally one of the most sought after degrees at Furman. Our faculty publish regularly in top academic journals, author textbooks, and write articles on teaching economics to undergraduates. The department is routinely ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in per capita research productivity.
Full-Time Faculty
Bruce Brown (Ph.D., University of South Carolina) joined the Furman economics faculty in 1984. He has teaching interests in the areas of macroeconomics, growth theory, money and banking, financial institutions, business finance, and personal finance. Professor Brown is a familiar personality on the airwaves, having done numerous interviews for the local media on economic topics of regional and local interest. His course in personal finance is popular among Furman students, and he has recently led study away programs in Brussels and Edinburgh.
Select publications:
"There's No Free Lunch: Funding Social Security is More Than a Matter of Money," in David E. Redburn and Robert P. McNamara (eds.), Social Gerontology, 1998, 237-240.
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Nathan Cook, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Economics
Office: RLY 109 A
Phone: 294.3026
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Nathan Cook (Ph.D, Michigan State University) joined the Furman economics faculty in 2008. His teaching interests include international trade, microeconomic theory, economic growth and development, and applied microeconomics. Professor Cook's recent research has focused on trade policy and foreign direct investment, knowledge and attitudes related to globalization, and competition. He has been a capable advisor of the Furman Economic Society and has participated in Furman’s study away program in Southern Africa.
Select publications:
"Using Trade Policy to Influence Firm Location," with John Douglas Wilson, Economics Letters, 119(1), April 2013, 45-47.
Competition in Economics, with Kailash Khandke, in Competition: A Multidiscplinary Analysis, Wade B. Worthen, A. Scott Henderson, Paul R. Rasmussen, and T. Lloyd Benson, eds. Boston: Sense Publishers, 2009.
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Melanie Cozad, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Economics
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Melanie Cozad (Ph.D., University of Tennessee) joined Furman in 2012. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in economics at the United States Naval Academy with honors and distinction (2002), an MBA from Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma (2007), and an MA and PhD in economics from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (2010, 2012). She served as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps from May 2002-June 2007. Her research focuses on quantifying the behavioral responses of individuals, firms, and states to health and environmental policies. Currently, she is examining the ways in which health insurance expansion might impact the efficiency of health care delivery at the state level, the effects of a health insurance mandate on hospital utilization and input decisions, and responses to fuel price increases.
Select publications:
"Fuel Price Increases and the Timing of Changes in Household Driving Decisions," with Jacob LaRiviere.
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, forthcoming.
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Jessica Hennessey, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Economics
Office: RLY 109 B
Phone: 294.3556
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Jessica Hennessey (Ph.D., University of Maryland at College Park) joined the Furman economics faculty in the fall of 2009. Her research focuses on causes and consequences of institutional change within a fiscal federalism framework. Her teaching interests include public finance, economic history, microeconomics, and econometrics. A talented and dedicated advisor, Professor Hennessey is a deserving recipient of the Alester G. Furman, Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Advising, and she has been a co-advisor of the Furman Economic Society.
Select publications:
"The Adoption of Constitutional Home Rule: A Test of Endogenous Policy Decentralization," working paper.
Mary Jean Horney, Ph.D.
Frederick W. Symmes Professor of Economics
Office: RLY 109 H
Phone: 294.3315
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Jean Horney (Ph.D., Duke University) joined the Furman economics faculty in 1979. Professor Horney's teaching interests include microeconomic theory, labor economics, research and statistical methods, and the economics of gender. She has also been active in the leadership and governance of the interdisciplinary Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor. A respected scholar, Professor Horney's article on "Nash-Bargained Household Decisions" is seminal to the field. Her more recent research has focused on the employed job search behavior of young women. In fall 2012, she served as the chair of the Economics Department.
Select publications:
"Employed Job Search Among Young Workers: The Role of Marriage and Children," with Jeffrey Yankow, working paper.
"The Household Allocation Problem: Empirical Results from a Bargaining Model," with Marjorie McElroy in Paul T. Schultz (ed.), Research in Population Economics, Volume 6. Greenwich, Conn. and London: JAI Press (1988): 15-38.
"Nash-Bargained Household Decisions: Toward a Generalization of the Theory of Demand," with Majorie McElroy. International Economic Review 22(2), June 1981, 333-349.
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Jason Jones, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Economics
Office: HH 201 S
Phone: 294.3024
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Jason Jones (Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) joined the Furman economics faculty in 2008. His current research focuses on issues related to budgetary balances and restrictions in the European Monetary Union. His teaching interests include macroeconomics, international macroeconomics, monetary and fiscal policy, forecasting, and European integration. Professor Jones has also been the faculty advisor to the Furman Fed Challenge Team and co-advisor of the Furman Economic Society, and he offers a popular May course titled The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy.
Select publications:
“Cross-border banking in the expanded EU.” Eastern European Economics, forthcoming.
“Discretionary fiscal policy in the European Monetary Union.” Modern Economy 3(6), October 2012, 742-751.
"External influences on business cycle synchronization in the euro area," (with Nora Collins and Lauren Scribnick). International Advances in Economic Research, 18(1), Feb. 2012, 28-40.
Kailash Khandke, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean for Study Away and International Education
and Professor of Economics
Office: TSC 209 N
Phone: 294.3316
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Kailash Khandke (Ph.D., University of California at Davis) joined the Furman economics faculty in 1995. His teaching interests include international trade, macroeconomics, and economic growth and development with a particular specialization in the economies of Asia. Besides his involvement with the interdisciplinary Asian Studies program at Furman, Professor Khandke is also the Assistant Dean for Study Away and International Education. Excellent in the classroom, Professor Khandke was awarded the Alester G. Furman, Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching in 2007.
Select publications:
"The Tangency Requirement Between Average Revenue and Average Cost Curves" with Ken Peterson, Atlantic Economic Journal 30 (2), June 2002, 219.
"From Rhythm and Blues to Broadway: Using Music to Teach Economics," with Frank D. Tinari, Journal of Economic Education 31(3), Summer 2000, 253-270.
Economics: An Honors Companion (written to accompany David Colander's Economics, 2nd Ed.) with Sunder Ramaswamy, Jennifer Gamber and David C. Colander, Maxipress, 1995.
Kenneth D. Peterson, Ph.D.
John D. Hollingsworth, Jr. Professor of Economics
and Department Chair
Office: HH 201 U
Phone: 294.3043
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Ken Peterson (Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook) joined the Furman economics faculty in 1990. His teaching interests include microeconomic theory, urban economics, population economics, environmental economics, and research methods in economics. An outstanding teacher and mentor, Professor Peterson was the recipient of the Alester G. Furman, Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching. His recent research interests have been in the areas of hedonic house pricing, parking policies and environmental impacts, and social capital. Professor Peterson has also supervised numerous undergraduate research projects through the Economics Department's summer research program, and he is in his ninth year as department chair.
Select publications:
"Estimating Hedonic House Price Models: Do Results Vary by Data Source and Sample Characteristics?" with Joseph Von Nessen, working paper.
"The Tangency Requirement Between Average Revenue and Average Cost Curves" with Kailash Khandke, Atlantic Economic Journal 30(2), June 2002, 219.
"Using a Geographic Information System to Teach Economics." Journal of Economic Education 31(2), Spring 2000, 169-178.
R. David Roe, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Office: HH 201 H
Phone: 294.3320
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David Roe (Ph.D., Duke University) joined the Furman economics faculty in 1977. An outstanding teacher, Professor Roe's recent classroom interests have focused on statistics, law and economics, and introductory economics. An avid sports enthusiast, he also developed and taught the popular economics of sports class, and he serves as general manager of the Furman faculty softball team, the Whippets. Professor Roe has received multiple teaching and advising awards, including the Alester G. Furman, Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Advising. He is a former department chair and current editor of the Economics Department newsletter, Ceteris Paribus.
Jeffrey J. Yankow, Ph.D.
David C. Garrett, Jr. Professor of Economics
Office: HH 201 Q
Phone: 294.3321
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Jeff Yankow (Ph.D., The Ohio State University) joined the Furman economics faculty in 1999 and has held the David C. Garrett, Jr. Chair in Economics since 2008. His extensive research agenda has focused on the pecuniary returns to geographic mobility, the effect of neighborhoods on work behavior, the patterns of job search among young workers, and the impact of advertising on mutual fund asset flows. He regularly teaches courses in labor economics, applied microeconomics, history of economic thought, and a freshman seminar on Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations. He was instrumental in the creation of the Adam Smith Prize, which celebrates the research and writing efforts of Furman students by recognizing the best paper written on an economics topic in a given year.
Select publications:
"Why Do Cities Pay More? An Empirical Examination of Some Competing Theories of the Urban Wage Premium," Journal of Urban Economics 60(2), September 2006, 139-161.
"Do Neighborhoods Affect Hours Worked? Evidence from Longitudinal Data," with Bruce A. Weinberg and Patricia B. Reagan, Journal of Labor Economies 22(4), October 2004, 891-924.
"Migration, Job Change, and Wage Growth: A New Perspective on the Pecuniary Return to Geographic Mobility." Journal of Regional Science 43(3), August 2003, 483-516.
Emeritus Faculty
Richard A. Stanford, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Economics
Office: HH 201
Phone: 294.3473
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Dick Stanford (Ph.D., University of Georgia) joined the Furman economics faculty in 1968. An internationally-renowned scholar and traveller, Dick has participated in academic seminars in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Cuba, Russia, China, Turkey, and West Africa. He has co-directed Furman's Fall Term in Europe study abroad program on many occasions. Although Professor Stanford retired from Furman in 2008, he still remains active in his scholarship on the nexus between economics and theology.
Select publications:
Economy and Christianity in the Postmodern Era, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-257-03750-4.
An Economist's Meditations on Economy and Christianity, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-257-13162-4.
Economy and Government in the Postmodern Era, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-257-64070-6.
Visiting and Adjunct Faculty
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Robert Arden, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Office: HH 201 B
Phone: 294.3309
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Bob Arden (Ph.D., Vanderbilt University) left a tenured position at Seton Hall University to work in the telecommunications industry. After relocating to Greenville, Professor Arden began teaching for the economics department on a regular but often part-time basis. His research is focused on U.S. telecommunications industry, public finance, and public policy. His teaching interests include the economics of poverty, public finance, and the economics of strategy.
Selected publications:
Why Build a Dedicated ITS Communications System?: A Private-Sector Perspective," with Padmanabhan Srinagesh, in Converging Infrastructures: Intelligent Transportation and the National Information Infrastructure, (1996): 148-174.
Staff
Ashlee Bullock
Department Assistant
Office: HH 201 Front Desk
Phone: 294.3473