Past Winners

Barry M. Moriarty Student Paper Winner, 2015

George Mawuli Akpandjar, Ph.D. Candidate, Economics, University of Mississippi

Paper Title: “The Effect of Homeowner on Unemployment: Outcomes and Implications"

Faculty Sponsor: Santiago Pinto, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

George is a graduate instructor and a research assistant at the Economics Department, University of Mississippi. His research areas include applied microeconomics, applied econometrics, and development economics. His current research centers on how the housing market affect the labor market. Specifically, how homeownership affects labor market outcomes for instance unemployment rate, unemployment spells and job search.

Barry M. Moriarty Student Paper Co-Winners, 2014

Zheng Tian, Ph.D. Candidate, Economics, West Virginia University

Paper Title: “Exploring the Space-Industry Filter in Regional Industry Models"

Faculty Sponsor: Brian Cushing, Economics, West Virginia University

Tian is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Regional Research Institute, WVU, where he is currently working with Professor Randall Jackson on a project of Incorporating Energy Price Changes and Regionalization in an ECIO Model. His research interests are in regional and urban economics, spatial econometrics, and the input-output model. His current research focuses on integrating spatial econometrics and the input-output model to study inter-regional and inter-industry dependence of regional industry activity using the space-industry filter.

Marian Manic, Ph.D. Candidate, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina

Paper Title: “The Impact of Remittances on Regional Consumption and Investment in Moldova"

Faculty Sponsor: Douglas P. Woodward, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina

Marian is an Economics Ph.D. candidate at University of South Carolina were he is doing research in the fields of regional and international economics, with an emphasis on the impact of remittances on economic growth and development. His research fields also include urban economics, macroeconomics, international monetary economics, and political economy. Marian has taught courses in economics and finance at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has participated in various research projects led by Dr. Douglas P. Woodward at the USC Division of Research. In addition to the academic and research experience, Marian also holds an International MBA degree from USC and has professional experience in corporate finance and management consulting.

Barry M. Moriarty Student Paper Winner, 2013

Annie Walker, Ph.D., Economics, West Virginia University

Paper Title: “An Empirical Analysis of Resource Curse and the Educational Attainment Channel in the Appalachian Region"

Faculty Sponsor: Amanda Ross, Economics, West Virginia University

Annie is a recent graduate of Ph.D. Economics program at West Virginia University. During her graduate studies, she taught several undergraduate courses including microeconomics, macroeconomics, and business statistics, and worked for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Her primary research interests include economic growth and development, and natural resource economics. Her current research focuses on issues related to natural resource development in the Appalachian Region, particularly educational attainment. Anne will be a Visiting Professor at the University of Colorado Denver beginning in fall 2013.

Barry M. Moriarty Student Paper Winner, 2012

Christa Jensen, Ph.D. candidate, Economics, West Virginia University

Paper Title: “Examining Sub-national Hazardous Waste Flows in the United Kingdom: A Spatial Interaction Approach"

Faculty Sponsor: Randy Jackson, RRI, West Virginia University

Jensen is a Graduate Research Fellow at the Regional Research Institute, where she is currently working with Randall Jackson on multiple projects, including a simulation model designed to analyze the system-wide implications of expanding the geographic boundaries of waste management and remanufacturing production loops. Previously, she was a GRA on externally funded projects entitled, "Materials Flow Modeling in Sustainable Industrial Systems within Urban Centers"; "Economic Impact of Domestic Fossil-based Resources"; and "Valuing Domestically Produced Natural Gas and Oil". Her research interests are in hazardous waste, spatial interaction modeling, environmental accounting, and applied spatial econometrics.

Barry M. Moriarty Student Paper Winner, 2011

Carlianne Patrick, Ph.D. candidate, Economics, The Ohio State University

Paper Title: “The Economic Development Incentives Game: An Imperfect Information, Heterogeneous Communities Approach."

Faculty Sponsor: Mark Partridge, The Ohio State University,  Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics

Patrick has developed an independent doctoral research program through the support of the Susan L. Huntington Distinguished University Fellowship. Her research areas include economic growth and development policy, interjurisdictional competition for mobile capital, public finance impacts on the spatial allocation of economic activity, applied econometric methods, and consistency in the presence of unobserved heterogeneity and productivity shocks. Her current research centers on the economic development policy of using incentives to attract firms to an area. Patrick is also an International Council of Economic Development Certified Economic Developer (CEcD). Her experience as a local economic development practitioner helps to ground her research in a ‘real world’ institutional framework and gives it a decidedly policy-oriented focus.

Barry M. Moriarty Student Paper Winner, 2010

Juan Sebastian Leguizamon, Ph.D. candidate, Economics, West Virginia University

Paper Title: "Yardstick Competition and Government Political Structure: Evidence From State Welfare Spending"

Faculty Sponsor: Donald Lacombe, Research Associate Professor, West Virginia University

Leguizamon worked for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at WVU for 2 1/2 years as a research assistant where he co-authored several reports, including two on the work experience of college graduates in West Virginia. He has been teaching undergraduate courses in economics for WVU for three semesters. His research interests are public economics, urban/regional economics, and applied econometrics.