Meg Blume-Kohout

Assistant Professor

Economics

Contact

Email

mblumeko@gettysburg.edu

Phone

(717) 337 - 6659

Box

Campus Box 0391

Address

339 Carlisle St.
Room 108
300 North Washington St.
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400

Education

PhD Pardee RAND Graduate School, 2009
MS University of California, Berkeley, 2002
BA Williams College, 1996

Academic Focus

Applied Econometrics, Public Policy Analysis, Health Economics, Science Policy, STEM Higher Education and Workforce, Entrepreneurship

Government legislation, policies, and regulations—however well-intentioned—often result in unintended consequences. Professor Blume-Kohout is an economist, public policy analyst, and data scientist who employs theory and quantitative modeling approaches drawn from multiple disciplines—economics, psychology, sociology, statistics, and computer science—to answer public policy questions. Her research examines how government interventions impact STEM workforce participation, higher education, scientific R&D efforts and innovation, and entrepreneurial outcomes.

Courses Taught

Massive data collection and sophisticated “Big Data” methods are used in marketing and recruiting, teacher evaluation, criminal justice, national security, and many other fields. These methods have potential to improve social outcomes, but can also perpetuate historical socioeconomic injustices, reinforce biases, and paint a veneer of rational objectivity over erroneous assumptions. This course introduces relevant statistical and computational concepts through lab activities, while also reflecting critically on these methods’ limitations and ethical implications through discussion of specific case studies. Prerequisite: Previous credit or concurrent registration in one of: CS 107 or 111; OR Math 107 or equivalent; OR DS 256.
Application of economic theory and empirical analysis to gender and LGBT issues, focusing on the US economy. Course explores how changes in family structures, gendered social norms, and macroeconomic conditions affect labor force participation, considers evidence regarding discrimination by identity and related differences in earnings, and evaluates how intersections of gender identity with race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social class impact individuals’ economic choices and the effects of public policies. Prerequisite: Economics 103. ECON 252 and WGS 252 are cross-listed.
Application of economic theory and empirical analysis to gender and LGBT issues, focusing on the US economy. Course explores how changes in family structures, gendered social norms, and macroeconomic conditions affect labor force participation, considers evidence regarding discrimination by identity and related differences in earnings, and evaluates how intersections of gender identity with race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social class impact individuals’ economic choices and the effects of public policies. Prerequisites: ECON 241 and ECON 245. ECON 350 recommended.

Article The Affordable Care Act and Women's Self-Employment in the United States Feminist Economics (2022): online ahead of press
Article The Case of the Interrupting Funder: Dynamic Effects of R&D Funding and Patenting in U.S. Universities Journal of Technology Transfer (2022): online ahead of press
Article Incentivizing STEM Participation: Evidence from the SMART Grant Program with Jacob Scott. Southern Economic Journal (2022): online ahead of press
Book On What Basis? Seeking Effective Practices in Graduate STEM Education Commissioned Paper for National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine
Chapter Gender and Postgraduate Training Environments in STEM Fields Entrepreneurship In Gender and Entrepreneurial Activity, ed. Albert N. Link. Edward Elgar.
Article Training the Scientific Workforce: Does Funding Mechanism Matter? with Dadhi Adhikari. Research Policy, 45(6): 1291-1303.
Article Why Are Some Foreign-Born Workers More Entrepreneurial Than Others? Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(6): 1327-1353.
Article Analyzing NIH Funding Patterns over Time with Statistical Text Analysis AAAI Workshops, March 2016.
Book When Going Gets Tough: Barriers and Motivations Affecting Arts Attendance with Sara R. Leonard & Jennifer Novak-Leonard. National Endowment for the Arts Report no. 59.
Article Effects of Federal Research Funding on Formation of University-Firm Biopharmaceutical Alliances with Krishna Kumar, Chris Lau, & Neeraj Sood. Journal of Technology Transfer, 40(5): 859-876.
Article University R&D Funding Strategies in a Changing Federal Funding Environment with Krishna Kumar & Neeraj Sood. Science & Public Policy, 42(3): 355-368.
Article Are Graduate Students Rational? Evidence from the Market for Biomedical Scientists PLoS ONE 8(12): e82759.
Article Market Size and Innovation: Effects of Medicare Part D on Pharmaceutical Research and Development with Neeraj Sood. Journal of Public Economics, 97:327-336
Article Does Targeted, Disease-Specific Public Research Funding Influence Pharmaceutical Innovation? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 31(3): 641-660