People

James E. Hartley is Professor of Economics, regularly teaching courses on Macroeconomics, Money and Banking, Leadership, and the Great Books of Western Civilization. He earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Davis. He spent six months as a Fulbright Fellow in Kolkata, India, and returned to India a second time, lecturing throughout northeastern India in events organized by the U.S. Consulate. Hartley is currently at work on a NEH-funded project, “Is Business Moral?”

As an applied microeconomist, Sarah Adelman works with data rather than theory. Her research focus is health and nutrition in developing countries and she spent time in Uganda researching her thesis, and has also worked in Malawi and Liberia.

Satyananda Gabriel's dedication to improving the world is visible not only in his commitment to education but also through his numerous community development projects, which have included positions with the Urban League of Portland, Oregon; the First Nations Development Institute; and the United Nations Development Program. Gabriel is currently involved in the Rural Development Leadership Network, which is designed to train rural professionals to be more effective leaders.

Eva Paus teaches and publishes on critical issues in economic development and globalization. She has authored and edited/co-edited 6 books and more than 40 refereed articles and book chapters. Her current research focuses on the middle-income trap, the implications of the rise of China, and innovation strategies in the age of globalization. Paus has received numerous national grants, has consulted with international organizations, and been a visiting faculty at institutions in Costa Rica, Germany, Ireland, Peru, and South Korea.

Margaret J. Lay’s research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of public finance, the economics of aging, and macroeconomics. In particular, she studies how financial provisions for older workers influence firm and household decisions over the business cycle. Her recent work builds new models to study the design of employer-sponsored pensions and uses regulatory, administrative, and survey data to measure their impact on firm and household decisions. Lay teaches courses in public economics and macroeconomics.

Johannes Norling studies economic history, development economics, and demography. He uses survey and administrative data and computational techniques to measure the presence of sex preferences around the world, to track the role of family planning in explaining South Africa’s fertility transition, and to answer other applied economics questions. He teaches courses in introductory economics, economic history, and poverty, inequality, and population growth.

As an applied econometrician, Mike Robinson uses economic analysis to answer questions about the world. The author of many articles, book chapters, and reviews, Robinson is primarily interested in labor economics. Much of his research has centered on wages and income, with a focus on the economics of discrimination.

Katherine Schmeiser analyzes the export decisions of firms, focusing on destination selection and how decisions change over time. Her approach uses firm level modeling and empirical methods to analyze the learning behaviors of firms, regional agglomeration effects, and liberalization policies - particularly in developing and emerging economies. Schmeiser teaches courses on microeconomics, international economics, industrial organization and international trade. She has published in journals such as The Journal of International Economics and The Annals of Regional Science.

Steven Schmeiser uses game theory and microeconomic theory to study a wide variety of topics including group formation, regulation, internet advertising, consumer behavior, and corporate law. Schmeiser has published in journals such as The International Journal of Industrial Organization, The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and Economics Letters. At Mount Holyoke, Schmeiser teaches courses on game theory, accounting, and corporate governance.

Lucas Wilson focuses much of his work on the philosophy and methodology of economics, Marxism, the political economy of race, and exploring the various economic and noneconomic conditions that restrict opportunities and inhibit social progress for African-Americans.

Hendrik Van den Berg teaches economic growth and development as well as international economics. He received B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from the State University of New York at Albany and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to obtaining his PhD, Van den berg served as a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua in the position of Commercial Officer, and at the U.S. Trade Center in São Paulo, Brazil, as Market Research and Promotion Officer. Hendrik has published many articles and is currently examining the biases of neoclassical economics and the influence of the neoclassical paradigm on the fields of international economics and economic development.