Dr. Kathleen Reid
Dr. Kathleen Reid, associate dean, College of Business since 2018, and chair, Department of Economics and Finance, will serve as interim dean for the College of Business beginning on June 1, 2021.
Dr. Reid prepared the reaffirmation of accreditation self-study and led the College of Business through a successful site visit in February of 2020. The IACBE accreditation has been approved through 2027. The leadership required for this successful reaffirmation process demonstrates her level of understanding, both academic and professional, to be successful in this role.
Reid received her B.A. in mathematics from SUNY Plattsburgh and her Ph.D. in economics from Pennsylvania State University. She has served as chair of the Department of Economics since 1990, leading the change from the Department of Economics to the Department of Economics and Finance and helping develop a concentration in financial economics. She has been associate dean of the College of Business since August 2018. Reid prepared the reaffirmation of accreditation self-study and led the College of Business through a successful site visit in February of 2020. The IACBE accreditation has been approved through 2027. The leadership required for this successful reaffirmation process demonstrates her level of understanding, both academic and professional, to be successful in this role.
Dr. Kyle Hoy
Dr. Hoy joined the department in 2017. He received his PhD in Environmental Economics from Penn State. He has recently published research in Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Ecological Economic, and Energy Economics. His recent work focuses on energy and regional topics, such as the shale boom and energy taxes. During the summer of 2018, he presented at the NAREA Conference.
He enjoys developing and teaching econometrics and game theory.
Dr. Amanda Mandzik
Dr. Mandzik is a Shepherd University graduate, and is excited to be at Shepherd as a professor.
Dr. Mandzik recently received acceptance for her peer-reviewed article, “Once Upon an Economics Course: Using Fairy Tales to Teach Economics” from the Journal of Economics Teaching. She presented her work at the Robert Morris Teaching Conference in February 2021. She continues working on concepts in teaching innovation in economics for both her classes and future publications.
In the summer of 2019, she wrote a chapter for a book titled, “Superheroes and Economics: The Shadowy World of Capes, Masks and Invisible Hands” (Routledge Economics and Popular Culture Series). The book is intended for both instructors and comic book fans, who will enjoy the connections between Economics and pop culture.
Dr. Mandzik plans to continue her research in the field of international/ development economics, and is enthusiastic to continue developing teaching resources for the field of Economics.
Dr. Yuying Xie
Dr. Xie published a peer-reviewed article in January 2021, titled “Channel structure and differential pricing strategies in dual-channel e-retail considering e-platform business models” in IMG Journal of Management Mathematics. Below is the abstract of the article:
“Although online business has been growing for some time, third-party e-platforms and their impact on e-channels are an under-explored area in the literature on dual-channel supply chains. Considering different combinations of open and self-support e-platform, this paper develops dynamic game models in four dual-channel e-retail structures to study pricing strategies and channel preference for manufacturers. The results provide interesting insights.
First, a manufacturer’s optimal prices vary in different e-channels.
Second, e-retail prices on the self-support e-platform and open e-platform are both affected by the e-platform’s service quality and commission fee. Regardless of the channel structure, a better service quality by one e-platform leads to an increase in its own e-retail prices and forces the competing e-platform to either improve its service quality or take a lower price.
Lastly and more importantly, we compare the manufacturer’s pricing strategies and performances in different dual-channel e-retail structures and identify its preferences. Specifically, if the commission fee is dynamic, we find that the manufacturer always prefers to use two e-channels provided by different e-platforms, and at least one of the e-channels is the self-support model, although it is a sub-optimal strategy.”
Dr. Xie also published two other peer-reviewed articles in 2020, titled “The cost of capital: US-based multinational corporations versus US domestic corporations” in the Global Finance Journal and “Per Capita Income Convergence among Provinces in China” in the International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues.
Dr. Xie is currently working on multiple papers that are in the pipeline towards publication.
Professor Laurie Cohen
Professor Laurie Cohen has taught as an adjunct professor at Shepherd University since 2017. She started out teaching Economics 123, as she was interested in enticing non-economics majors to see the relevance of understanding economics for both their personal and professional lives.
Laurie spent the majority of her professional career as a futures and options trader on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. She witnessed too many very successful traders poorly manage their personal finances and end up in economic ruin. When the department introduced Financial Literacy and Well-being as a core course, Laurie immediately saw the value of teaching this course and has been teaching it since its inception in 2019. The focus in the course is teaching financial tools which the students will use throughout their lives in managing their income, building wealth and protecting their assets. Laurie’s objective is to motivate the students to embrace the idea of managing their own finances and making their own investment decisions. Most of all, Laurie feels very passionate about the value of financial literacy and tries to teach in a way that the students adopt her enthusiasm for the topic.
Laurie hopes the financial literacy program will extend further into the Shepherd community through specific workshops and possible lectures. The financial planning division of the department plans to bring in high school students for financial literacy workshops, in order to inculcate the practices and tools at an early stage in one’s life.
Dr. Robert Szarka
Dr. Szarka joined the department in Fall 2023. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Connecticut in 2017, and recent publications include “The Effect of Economic Freedom on Civil Liberties in the Short Run: Physical Integrity Rights (2000–2011)” and (with Oskar Harmon) “Using Google Drawings to Create Homework Exercises.” He is currently at work on a textbook for Principles of Microeconomics and a “semi-technical” introduction to Bitcoin for researchers.
Rob’s non-academic experience includes three decades of hosting Internet services for the public. When not teaching economics, configuring a Linux server, or running his Bitcoin Lightning Network node, he can be found at a local live music or swing dance event—sometimes behind the mixing board or in the DJ booth.