EDUCATION
Ph.D., Economics, University of Kentucky, Lexington,
KY, 2012
Dissertation: Essays on the
Persistence of Poverty
Advisor: Dr. James P. Ziliak
M.A., Economics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville,
TN, 2008
B.A., Economics and Business Administration,
Transylvania University, Lexington, KY, 2006
ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT Assistant Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Elon University, Elon, NC (Fall, 2014 – present) Assistant Professor of Economics (tenure track), Urban and Regional Studies Program, University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, Green Bay, WI (Fall, 2012 – Spring, 2014) Visiting Research Scholar, The George Washington University, Washington, DC (Summer, 2012) Research Assistant, University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research (UKCPR) (May, 2009 – April, 2012) Research Assistant, National Bureau of Economic Research and Vanderbilt University (Summer, 2007 – Summer, 2008)
NON-ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT Short-term
Consultant, South Asia Region, The World Bank, Washington
DC (Summer, 2012; 2016 – 2017)
RESEARCH
INTERESTS
Labor
Economics, Economics of Poverty, Empirical Econometrics, Regional Economics
PUBLISHED
PAPERS “International Comparisons of Poverty in South Asia.” (with
David Newhouse and Monica Yanez-Pagans) Asian Development Review. Vol 38, No. 1, March 2021. (also
available as World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 8683) "The impact of population agglomeration of an area on its neighbors: evidence from the USA" Annals of Regional Science. Vol 65, Issue 1, August 2020: 1-26 “Multidimensional Human Opportunity Index” (with Shabana Mitra) Social Indicators Research.Vol 130, Issue 2, January 2017: 523-535 “Investigating Inequality of Income in the United States” Journal of Income Distribution. Vol. 25, No. 3-4, 2016 “Estimating the Elasticity of
Growth in the US Using the Generalized Means of Income” Social Indicators Research. Vol 129, No. 1, October, 2016: 95-112 “On Persistent Poverty in a Rich Country” (with Jenny Minier and James Ziliak) Southern Economic Journal. Vol. 81, Issue 3. January, 2015: 653-678 “An Exercise to Evaluate an Anti-Poverty Program with Multiple Outcomes Using Program Evaluation” Economics Letters Vol. 122, No. 2. February, 2014: 365-369 “Childhood
Neighborhood Conditions and the Persistence of Adult Income” Regional Science and Urban Economics
Vol. 43, No. 4. July, 2013: 684-693
WORKING
PAPERS “College
Readiness of GED Degree Holders Compared to High School Graduates – the Case of
Kentucky (with Katy Rouse) "Despairing Communities in the United States" (with Tom Tiemann) "Dictatorship and the Provision of Public Goods" (with Shabana Mitra and Anirban Mitra) “Home-based
Work Decisions among Bangladeshi Women” (with Aphichoke Kotikula, the World
Bank) “Exploring the Factors Affecting Differences in Height Between Infant
Boys and Girls in Bangladesh” “The
Impact of Foreign Aid on Growth” (with Brandon Sheridan)
POLICY
PAPERS Solotaroff,
Jennifer L.; Kotikula, Aphichoke; Lonnberg, Anna Tara; Ali, Snigdha; Pande,
Rohini P.; Jahan, Ferdous. 2019. Voices to Choices: Bangladesh's
Journey in Women's Economic Empowerment (English). Washington, D.C.:
World Bank Group. (Provided technical assistance for the project) “Islam, Tonmoy; Newhouse, David; Yanez-Pagans, Monica. 2018. "International Comparisons of Poverty in South Asia." Policy Research Working Paper No. 8683. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. 2018. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31085 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
A Decade
of Progress in Reducing Poverty, 2000-2010. Eds.Gimenez,
L., Faiz Ahmed, Iffath Sharif, I. and Dean Jolliffee, Bangladesh Development
Series. No. 31. Washington, DC: The World Bank. 2013. (Research Assistance Provided) Ziliak, James P. Alternative Poverty Measures and the
Geographic Distribution of Poverty in the United States. Report Prepared
for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. 2010 (Research Assistance: Bradley
Hardy, Charles Hokayem, and T M Tonmoy Islam).
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS Presenter, The 46th Annual
Meeting of The Eastern Economic Association, Boston, MA (March, 2020) Presenter, The 89th Annual
Meeting of The Southern Economic Association, Fort Lauderdale, FL (November,
2019)
Invited Speaker, Davidson College,
Davidson, NC (November, 2019) Presenter, The 45th Annual Meeting of The Eastern Economic Association, New York, NY (February-March, 2019) Presenter, Conference on Long-run
Perspectives on Home-based Industrial Work, Huddinge, Sweden (May, 2018) Presenter, The 92nd Annual
Meeting of The Western Economic Association International, San Diego,
CA (June, 2017) Presenter, The 43rd Annual
Meeting of The Eastern Economic Association, New York, NY (February, 2017) Invited Speaker University of Wisconsin
– La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin (November, 2016). Participant, Workshop on “The Roles and
Opportunities for Private Sector in Agro-processing Industry of Bangladesh”, Dhaka,
Bangladesh (June, 2016) - Hosted by Innovision, Katalyst,
and Swisscontact; funded by UKaid and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Presenter, The 85th Annual Meeting of The Southern Economic Association, New Orleans, LA (November, 2015) Presenter, The 83rd Annual Meeting of The Southern Economic Association, Tampa, FL (November, 2013) Invited Speaker, St. Norbert College,
De Pere, Wisconsin (February, 2013)
Invited Discussant, Drivers of Poverty
Reduction in Asia and the Pacific: Workshop on Poverty
Dynamics and Inclusive Growth Measurement, George Washington University, Washington,
DC (December, 2012) - Hosted by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) in collaboration with Institute for International
Economic Policy (IIEP, George Washington University) and Oxford Poverty and
Human Development Initiative (OPHI, University of Oxford).
Presenter, The 82nd Annual Meeting of The Southern Economic
Association, New Orleans, LA
(November, 2012)
Presenter, The 2012 Association for
Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Fall Research
Conference, Baltimore, MD (November, 2012)
-
presented a poster in a poster session and it was judged to be
the best poster
Presenter, International Conference on
"The Economics of Ultra-poverty: Causes and Remedies,"
George Washington University, Washington, DC (March, 2012)
Presenter, The 81st Annual Meeting of The Southern Economic
Association, Washington, DC (November,
2011)
Presenter, International Poverty
Solutions Collaborative Conference, The Ohio State University,
Columbus, OH (October, 2011)
Presenter, Kentucky Economic
Association, Frankfort, KY (October, 2011)
Presenter, The 80th Annual Meeting of The Southern Economic Association, Atlanta, GA
(November, 2010)
Presenter, Kentucky Economic
Association, Lexington, KY (October, 2005)
PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES
Referee, Applied Economics
Letters; Contemporary Economic Policy; Economic Alternatives; Economics
Bulletin; Economic Inquiry; Economic Modelling; Journal of Biomedical
Analytics; Journal of Economic Studies; Journal of Population Economics; PLOS
ONE; Population Research and Policy Review; Social Indicators Research; Southern
Economic Journal; World Development
Member,
American Economic Association; Association for Economic and Development Studies on Bangladesh
SERVICE Member, Residential Life Advisory Committee, Elon University Member, Honor Board, Elon University Member, Undergraduate Research Program Advisory Committee (URPAC), Elon University Member, Advisory Board of Peace Corp Prep Steering Committee, Elon University Volunteer, The Village Project, Burlington, North Carolina (run by Elon University) Faculty Advisor, Elon Microfinance Initiative (EMI), Elon University Faculty Advisor, Circle K – Elon University Chapter Member, Advisory Board of the International Studies Major, Elon University Member, Principles
of Economics (ECO 111) Content Areas Update Committee, Elon University (Fall,
2018 - ) Volunteer Teacher,
Summer in the Village Program, Elon University (Summers 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019) Member, Enrollment
for the Future Community Working Group (part of 2030 Strategic Planning) Elon
University. Spring, 2019 External
Dissertation Reviewer, Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore. Member, Distinguished University
Professor Selection Committee, Elon University (Spring, 2017) Member, Economics Faculty Search
Committee, Elon University (Fall, 2016) Member, “FR&D Reassigned Time
Sub-Committee” Elon University (Fall, 2016) Guest Speaker, “Poverty and Inequality in the United States” United Church of Chapel Hill (October 9, 2016) Presenter, “Tobacco Farmers of
Appalachia/North Carolina” Elon University (September 5, 2016) Guest Speaker, Symposium for Students of
Physician Assistant Studies, Elon University (October 22, 2015) Panelist, “Forced Migration, Violence, and Poverty in a Global Society: A Panel Discussion” Elon University (March 4, 2015) Moderator on economic inequality, filming
of “Southern District (Zona Sur)” Elon University (November 21, 2014) Panelist, “Living on a Dollar a Day”
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay (February 18, 2014) Interview on President Obama’s Proposal for
Minimum Wage Increase, CBS affiliate in Green Bay, WI (January 29, 2014) Senator, University of Wisconsin –
Green Bay Faculty Senate (Winter, 2013)
COURSES
TAUGHT
At Elon University ECO 111:
Principles of Economics (in-class and online) ECO 317: Gender and Development ECO 347:
Introduction to Econometrics ECO 440: Urban Economics and Planning ECO 499:
Advanced Research in Economics MBA/MScM 643: Analytics I: Quantitative Methods
At the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
ECO 202: Macroeconomic
Analysis
ECO 310: Introduction to
Quantitative Methods and Econometrics
ECO 342/URS 342: Community
Economic Development UR RE ST 205: Urban Social Problems
UR RE ST 100:
Introduction to Urban Studies
At
the University of Kentucky
ECO 391: Economics
and Business Statistics
ECO 202: Principles
of Microeconomics
FELLOWSHIP AND HONORS CATL Diversity and Inclusion Grant, Elon University (Fall, 2020) - $5,000 grant (with Kate Upton, Brandon Sheridan, Margarita Kaprielyan, and Adam Aiken) CATL Diversity and
Inclusion Grant, Elon University (Fall, 2018) - $5,000 grant (with Kate Upton,
Brandon Sheridan, Margarita Kaprielyan, and Adam Aiken) Love School of Business
Summer Research Award, Elon University (Summer, 2018) - $3,750 grant (with
Brandon Sheridan) Faculty Research and Development Summer Fellowship, Elon University (Summer, 2017) - $8,700 grant Best Practices in Writing Pedagogy Grant, Center for Writing Excellence, Elon University (Spring, 2017) - $1,000 grant Faculty Research and Development Summer Fellowship, Elon University (Summer, 2016) - $8,000 grant Best
Practices in Writing Pedagogy Grant, Center for Writing Excellence (with
Jennifer Platania, Katy Rouse and Douglas Redington), Elon University (Spring,
2016) - $4,000 grant New Faculty Summer Research Fund, Elon University (Summer, 2015) - $4,500 grant Love School of Business Summer Research Award, Elon University (Summer, 2015) - $3,000 grant
Teaching Sabbatical, Elon University (Fall, 2015) 2013 Online Teaching
Fellowship, University of Wisconsin – Green Bay (March, 2013) The 2011 Graduate Student
Award, Southern Economic Association (November, 2011) Dissertation Year Fellowship,
University of Kentucky (Summer, 2011 - Summer, 2012) Director’s Research
Assistantship Award, University of Kentucky (Fall, 2009 – Summer, 2011) Kentucky Opportunity
Fellowship, University of Kentucky (Winter, 2009) Kentucky Graduate
Scholarship, University Of Kentucky (Fall, 2008) Tuition Scholarship,
Vanderbilt University (Fall, 2007 – Winter, 2008) University Fellowship
Vanderbilt University (Fall, 2006 – Winter, 2007) David and Betty Jones Faculty
Development Fund, Transylvania University (Summer, 2005) Morrison Scholarship, Transylvania University (Winter, 2003 –
May, 2006)
LANGUAGES KNOWN Bengali (excellent), English (excellent), Hindi (very good), Urdu (very good) |