Kenneth W. Smith

August 2007

 

Addresses

 

Millersville University                                                                                                         216 Saddleback Drive

Economics Department                                                                                                     Marietta, PA 17547

P.O. Box 1002                                                                                                                      USA

Millersville, PA 17551

USA                                                                                                                       

 

tel: (717) 872-3582                                                                                                            

fax: (717) 871-2326

e-mail: Kenneth.Smith@millersville.edu

 

Date of Birth: November 9, 1963

 

Citizenship: U.S.

 

Personal: Married (Nina Johanna), two children (Matias Aidan – born March 31, 1998 and Laura Miranda – born Sept. 23, 2002)

 

Academic Background

 

Degrees:                 B.Sc. (Economics), University of Minnesota, June 1986

 

                                M.Sc. (Economics), University of Wisconsin - Madison, December 1989

 

                                Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison, August 1993, Major Field: Public                                                                             Minor Fields: Labor/Econometrics

 

Dissertation

 

Social Security in Periods of Demographic Uncertainty: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

Major Professor: Martin H. David

Reading Committee: J. Karl Scholz and Robert H. Haveman

Date of Completion: August 5, 1993

 

Academic Interests

 

Primary: Labor Economics, Transition Economics

Secondary: Public Economics, Applied Econometrics

 

Academic Positions

 

Central European University - Visiting Assistant Professor, Prague, Czech Republic (Fall Semester 1993)

 

Civic Education Project - Lecturer: Universities - Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania (Fall 1994 - Spring 1995), Tartu University, Tartu, Estonia (Fall 1995 - Spring 1997)

 

EuroFaculty - Economics Development Coordinator, Riga, Latvia (August 1995 - June 1998). Primary responsibilities include teaching Economics and coordinating the EuroFaculty Economics Program in the three Baltic States.  EuroFaculty is a consortium of universities in Western Europe, Poland, and the Baltic States dedicated to curriculum reform and academic development in Economics and other social sciences in the Baltic States

 

Academic Positions (continued)

 

Center for European Integration Studies - University of Bonn - Senior Research Fellow (Resident: July 1998 – July 2000, Nonresident: July 2000 – 2005)

 

Millersville University – Assistant Professor (August 2000 – July 2005)

                                                Associate Professor (August 2005 – Present)

                                                Department Chair (June 2007 – Present)

 

Courses Taught

 

Principles of Microeconomics, Introduction to World Economy, Comparative Economic Systems, Econometrics, Labor Economics, Seminar in Economics

 

Consulting Services

 

Estonian Ministry of Education – Served on the Higher Education Quality Assessment Council of the Estonian Committee to Evaluate Study Programs in Economics and Business (1996 – 1997). 

 

Latvian Ministry of Education – Served in the same capacity for the Higher Education Quality Evaluation Council of Latvia (1997 – 2000).

 

World Bank – Served as a short-term consultant on a World Bank project concerning the reform of economics education in the Baltic States.  Produced the report, “An Evaluation of Economic Education and Research in the Baltic States” (World Bank Background Paper 1999).

 

USAID (subcontractor – Aguirre International) – Research Consultant.  Coauthored a report concerning public pensions, unemployment, and unemployment insurance in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (2004).

 

Workshop/Conference Organization

 

“Trade, Labour Markets, and Integration,” sponsored by the Center for European Integration Studies and Tartu University, Tartu, Estonia, February 1999 (funded by a European Union Phare-ACE grant)

 

“Labour Markets, Work, and Welfare During the Transition and Integration Processes,” sponsored by the Center for European Integration Studies and CEPR, Vilnius, Lithuania, April 2000 (Event #1 – supported by a European Union 5th Framework grant)

 

“Labour Markets, Work, and Welfare During the Transition and Integration Processes,” sponsored by the Center for European Integration Studies and CEPR, Riga, Latvia, March 2001 (Event #2 – supported by a European Union 5th Framework grant)

 

“Labour Markets, Work, and Welfare During the Transition and Integration Processes,” sponsored by the Center for European Integration Studies and CEPR, Tartu, Estonia, May 2002 (Event #3 – supported by a European Union 5th Framework grant)

 

Pennsylvania Economic Association 2005 Annual Conference, Millersville, Pennsylvania (responsibility for local arrangements)

 

Pennsylvania Economic Association 2006 Annual Conference, Indiana, Pennsylvania (responsibility for program organization)

 

Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies 20th Conference on Baltic Studies, June 2006, Washington, DC (responsibility for organization of economics program) 

Paper Presentations

 

 “Understanding Labour Market Diversity, Mobility, and Change,” OECD Workshop - The Use of Labour Force Surveys in Policy-Making, Tallinn, Estonia, October 1997

 

“The Wage Effects of Ethnicity in Estonia,” 1998 ASSA Meetings, Chicago, January 1998 (with Charles Kroncke)

 

“Gender Wage Differences During the Transition Period in Estonia,” 1998 European Association of Labour Economists Annual Conference, Blankenberge, Belgium, September 1998 (with Charles Kroncke)

 

“Age/Earnings Profiles in Transition Economies: The Estonian Case,” 1999 European Society for Population Economics, Torino, Italy, June 1999 and 1999 European Association of Labour Economists Annual Conference, Regensburg, Germany, September 1999

 

“Determinants of Soviet Household Income,” European Integration and Economies in Transition, Chios, Greece, December 1999

 

“Determinants of Household and Labor Income in the Baltic States: Soviet and Post-Soviet Results,” Pennsylvania Economic Association Meetings, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, June 2001 and the 2002 Association for Comparative Economic Studies (ACES) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, January 2002

 

“Earnings, Human Capital and Ethnicity in the Baltic States,” Human Development in EU Accession Countries, Riga, Latvia, June 2003 and 5th Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe, Turku, Finland, June 2003

 

“Earnings, Age, Education and Ethnicity in the Baltic States,” 19th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, Toronto, June 2004 and Pennsylvania Economic Association Meetings, Pittsburgh, PA, June 2004

 

“Flipping Burgers or Flipping Pages? Student Employment and Academic Attainment in Post-Soviet Latvia” (with Daunis Auers and Toms Rostoks), Pennsylvania Economic Association Meetings, Indiana, PA, June 2006 and the 20th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, Washington, DC, June 2006

 

“Labor Force Participation in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Baltic States,” Pennsylvania Economic Association Meetings, Williamsport, PA, June 2007

 

Invited Presentations

 

Keynote Address, Economics Pennsylvania International Dinner Seminar, May 16, 2006

 

“Demographics, Migration, and Development,” 9th Annual Hot Topics in Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, October 25, 2006

 

Journal Publications

 

A Financial Appraisal of Public Pension Systems in Lithuania and Estonia, Baltic Journal of Economics, October 1997

 

The Wage Effects of Ethnicity in Estonia (with Charles Kroncke), The Economics of Transition, January 1999

 

Gains and Losses from the Latvian Public Pension Reform, Baltic Journal of Economics, April 2000

 

Income Distribution in the Baltic States: A Comparison of Soviet and Post-Soviet Results, Baltic Economic Trends, April 2001

 

Age/Earnings Profiles in Transition Economies: The Estonian Case, Post-Communist Economies, December 2001

 

 

Journal Publications (continued)

 

Ethnic Russians in Baltic Labor Markets: Preliminary Evidence on Wages and Unemployment, Baltic Economic Trends, January 2002

 

Gender Wage Differences During the Transition Period in Estonia (with Charles Kroncke), Baltic Journal of Economics, December 2002

 

Individual Welfare in the Soviet Union, Social Indicators Research, October 2003

 

Earnings, Age, Education, and Ethnicity in the Baltic States, Baltic Economic Trends, January 2004

 

Can Money Buy Happiness? Student Satisfaction in Latvian Higher Education (with Daunis Auers and Toms Rostoks), Baltic Economic Trends, February 2007

 

Determinants of Household and Labor Income in the Baltic States: Soviet and Post-Soviet Results, The European Journal of Comparative Economics, June 2007

 

Flipping Burgers or Flipping Pages? Student Employment and Academic Attainment in Post-

Soviet Latvia (with Daunis Auers and Toms Rostoks), forthcoming Communist and Post-Communist Studies

 

Book Chapter

 

Getting Econometric Students to Evaluate Student Evaluations, Shaping the Learning Curve: Essays on Economic Education, iUniverse Publishing, 2004 (also a Social Science Research Network Working Paper)

 

Mass Media

 

Stradat vai Studet (Work or Study), Diena (in Latvian with Daunis Auers and Toms Rostoks)

 

Editorial and Book Reviews

 

Editor, Baltic Journal of Economics, symposium issue – “Labour Markets, Work and Welfare During the Transition and Integration Processes,” October 2003

 

Book Review, Reforming Economics and Economics Teaching in the Transition Economies: From Marx to Markets in the Classroom, edited by Michael Watts and William B. Walstad, in the Baltic Journal of Economics, October 2003

 

Book Review, Handbook on Economics, Political Science and Sociology (1989-2001): Three Social Science Disciplines in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Max Kaase, Vera Sparschuh, and Agnieszka Wenninger, in the Baltic Journal of Economics, October 2003

 

Editor, Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Economic Association 2006 Conference, May 2007

 

Working Papers

 

Labor Force Participation in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Baltic States

 

Student Ratings of Faculty and Faculty Incentives (Social Science Research Network Working Paper)

 

Does Geography Matter in Economic Growth (with Osman Suliman and Charles Geiger)

 

 

 

 

Research in Progress

 

Income and Welfare in the Soviet Union

 

Empirical Research of Labor Market and Education Issues in Transitional Economies

 

Professional Membership

 

American Economic Association

Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies

Pennsylvania Economic Association

 

Other Professional Service

 

Member (January 2002)                                    Ph.D. Thesis Committee for Kaia Philips, The Changes in Valuation of Human Capital During the Transition Process in Estonia, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Referee                                                                  Baltic Journal of Economics, Comparative Economic Studies, Journal of Comparative Economics, Southern Economic Journal, European Journal of Political Economy

Member (2002 - present)                                   Editorial Board – Baltic Journal of Economics

Treasurer (2002 - present)                                  Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies

Member (2002 – present)                                  Board of Directors – Pennsylvania Economic Association

Vice President, Publicity     (2004-2005)         Pennsylvania Economic Association

Vice President, Program (2005-2006)              Pennsylvania Economic Association

President-Designate (2006-2007)                     Pennsylvania Economic Association

President (2007-2008)                                        Pennsylvania Economic Association

Member (2006 – present)                                  Editorial Board – Pennsylvania Economic Review

                               

Millersville University Economics Department Service

 

Presenter (April 26, 2001)                                  CEE Teacher Training Workshop, “Bringing Home the Bacon”

Member (Spring 2001)                                       Departmental Honors Thesis Committee for Brian Hanks, “The Relationship Between Athletic Participation at Millersville University and Post Graduation Income”

Member (Spring 2001)                                       Departmental Honors Thesis Committee for Kelly Appleman, “Valuing Water Quality Improvements in the Chesapeake Bay”

Member (Fall 2001 – Spring 2002)                  Economics Colloquium Series

Chair (Fall 2001 – Spring 2002)                       Departmental Honors Thesis Committee for William Stadden, “Identification and Analysis of Significant Industry Clusters and Employment Trends in Lancaster County”

Chair (Fall 2001 – Spring 2002)                       Departmental Honors Thesis Committee for Terry Doherty, “Evaluation of Union Membership: 1800 – 2001”

Member (Fall 2001 – present)                           Departmental Honors Committee

Chair (Fall 2002 – present)                                                Economics Colloquium Series

Chair (Fall 2002 – Spring 2003)                       Departmental Honors Thesis Committee for Lauren Williams, “The Economics of Happiness: A Comparison of the U.S. and Japan”

Member (Spring 2003)                                       Departmental Honors Thesis Committee for Stephen Elliker, “Business Ethics as a Measure of Performance”

Member (Spring 2003)                                       Departmental Honors Thesis Committee for Jesse Ellis, “Stock Typology and the S&P Game”

Chair (Fall 2003 – Fall 2004)                            Christie Lectureship Committee

Chair (Spring 2005 – Fall 2005)                       Departmental Honors Thesis Committee for Brenda Chavez, “Clustering the Economy”

Millersville University Economics Department Service (continued)

 

Chair (Fall 2005 – Spring 2006)                       Program Review Committee

 

Millersville University & School of HMSS Service

 

Senator  (Fall 2001 – present)                           University Faculty Senate

Representative (Fall 2001 – present)                               APSCUF

Member (Fall 2001 – Spring 2002)                  Associate Dean Search Committee – School of HMSS

Member (Fall 2002)                                            Departmental (Psychology Department) and University Honors Thesis Committee for Phuong Tran, “The Economic Psychology of Consumer Spending and Saving Behavior”

Member (Fall 2002 – Spring 2005)                  University Wide Advising Council

Advisor (Spring 2004 – present)                       Exploratory Program

Member (Fall 2004 – present)                           Undergraduate Student Research Conference Committee

Chair (Spring 2007 – present)                           Undergraduate Student Research Conference Committee

 

Community Service

 

Member (July 2001 – present)                          Steering Committee, Lancaster County Community Audit Grant Project (administered by the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board)

Advisor (Spring 2004 – present)                       Millersville University Helping Paws

 

Grants Awarded

 

MU Special Academic Activities Grant – 2006 AABS Conference travel-to-present grant, $400

 

MU Special Academic Activities Grant – 2003 Human Development in EU Accession Countries and 5th

Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe travel-to-present grant, $450 (not used due to alternative funding source)

 

MU Special Academic Activities Grant – 2002 ASSA Meetings travel-to-present grant, $500

 

EU 5th Framework Grant – Labour Markets in Transition, EUR 85,000 (2000-2002)