Â鶹¹ÙÍø

December 2019

Steven Fullerton, MS Economics 2019, successfully defended his thesis project on housing price fluctuations in Las Cruces.  His thesis advisory committee members included Michael Pokojovy from Mathematical Sciences, plus Jim Holcomb and Rigoberto Delgado of Economics.  Steven works Associate Director and Staff Economist for the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project.

Aaron Nazarian, MS Economics 2019, published a subset of thesis results on regional economic recession predictability in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association .  His co-author on this study is Tom Fullerton.  Aaron is an Associate Economist with the Market Research Department at  TFCU. 

Steven Fullerton, MS Economics 2019, published a subset of thesis results Mesilla Valley housing price fluctuations in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association .  His co-authors on this study are Jim Holcomb and Tom Fullerton. 

Tom Fullerton was Grand Marshall at the 2PM ceremony for the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Fall 2019 Commencement celebration.

November 2019

Felipe Mejía, MS Economics 2019, successfully defended his thesis project on residential electricity consumption in Las Cruces.  His thesis advisory committee members included Eric Boyer of Public Administration, plus John Gibson and Tom Fullerton of Economics.  Felipe works as a Corporate Economist in the real time energy trading unit of El Paso Electric Company.

October 2019

Emmanuel Villalobos, MS Economics 2010, has accepted a position as Origination Director with ArevonDC in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Emmanuel previously worked as an Energy Trader with El Paso Electric Company. 

David Ramírez, MS Economics 2013, has accepted a position as a Senior Sales Analyst with CBRE Arizona.  David previously worked as a Senior Economic Research Analyst with the Arizona Commerce Authority. 

Cindy Rubio, MS Economics 2017, has accepted a position as Economic Analyst with the El Paso County Department of Economic Development.  Cindy previously worked as a Financial Analyst with Garcia Automotive Group.

Arturo Márquez-Serrano, MS Economics 2018, has accepted a position as Director of Economic Development with the City of Eagle Pass, Texas.  Arturo previously worked as an Economic Analyst with the El Paso County Department of Economic Development. 

Roberto Coronado, MS Economics 2002, was named a Distinguished Alumnus as part of the 2019 Homecoming Celebration at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.  Dr. Coronado is a Senior Vice President at the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

MS Economics students Héctor Gutiérrez and Ignacio Santana were invited to visit the Doctoral Program in Economics at Texas A&M University.  While in College Station, Héctor and Ignacio also participated in an Economics experiment conducted by faculty from Texas A&M.

Tom Fullerton was invited by the Texas A&M Department of Economics to present Â鶹¹ÙÍø econometric research on business cycle downturn predictability in the Lone Star Republic.  While in College Station, Professor Fullerton was also invited by the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Institute to discuss yield curve flattening and the regional implications of other business cycle developments.

September 2019 

Esmeralda Muñiz, MS Economics 2018, has been promoted to Economic Analyst with United Bank of Paso del Norte.  Esmeralda was previously a Financial Analyst with United Bank.

John Gibson has been named MS Economics Coordinator.  Dr. Gibson previously taught graduate courses at Georgia State University and has an extensive publication record. 

Juan Cárdenas, MS Economics 2015, has accepted a position as an Economist with El Paso Electric.  Juan previously was an Economic Analyst with United Bank of Paso del Norte.

August 2019

John Gibson has joined the Economics faculty as an Associate Professor.  Dr. Gibson holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Florida State University.  Research completed by Dr. Gibson has been published in academic outlets such as Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization , Journal of Money Credit, & Banking , Economic Inquiry , and Journal of Economic Dynamics & Control . 

Luis Rivera, MS Economics 2017, has published a subset of his thesis results on dual credit high school enrollment credits in Volume 7 of  Texas Education Review .  The co-authors on this study include Stephen Kotok and Nathan Ashby who served as the thesis advisor for this project when Luis was a graduate student.  Luis is a Business Engineering Analyst at ADP in El Paso. 

July 2019

Aaron Nazarian, MS Economics 2019, presented “Texas Business Cycle Predictability” at the American Statistical Association Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado.  Material presented at the conference is a subset of the results reported his thesis project. 

Steven Fullerton, MS Economics candidate, presented “Las Cruces Housing Price Modeling Results” at the American Statistical Association Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado.  Fullerton also accepted a position as Associate Director and Economist with the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project where he previously worked as a Research Assistant.

June 2019

Aaron Nazarian, MS Economics 2019, successfully defended his thesis project on modeling metropolitan business cycle downturns across Texas.  Members of his advisory committee included Michael Pokojovy of the Department of Mathematical Science Department, as well as Jim Holcomb and Tom Fullerton from the Department of Economics & Finance.

Sergio Olivas, undergraduate honors student, accepted a 3-month econometrics internship at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  Sergio previously worked as an undergraduate Research Assistant for the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project and as a U.S. Congressional Intern for the 2 ^nd District in New Mexico.

May 2019

Jason Glore, MS Economics 1998, has been promoted to Senior Quantitative Risk Analyst at USAA in San Antonio.

Astrid García-Ramos, MS Economics 2019, has accepted a position as an Economic Development Specialist with the City of Sunland Park.

Jesús Mendoza, MS Economics 2017, has published a subset of his thesis results on business cycles and unauthorized migration in Volume 39 of  Economics Bulletin .  The co-author on this study is  Nathan Ashby who served as the thesis advisor for this project when Jesús was a graduate student.  Jesús is currently an Associate Economist for the City of El Paso International Bridges Department.

Aaron Nazarian, MS Economics candidate, has accepted a position as an Associate Economist with the market Research Department at  TFCU.  While a graduate student, Aaron worked as a Research Assistant and Economic Analyst for the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project.  His thesis research involves modeling metropolitan business cycle downturns across Texas. 

Luis Rivera, MS Economics 2017, has been promoted to Business Engineering Analyst at ADP in El Paso.  Luis was previously an Operations Analyst with ADP.  A subset of his thesis results were published in Volume 50 of Education & Urban Society .

April 2019

Omar Solís, MS Economics 2018, received the MS Economic 2018 Student of the Year Award as part of the annual Â鶹¹ÙÍø Honors Convocation.

Esmeralda Muñiz, MS Economics 2018, received the Dilmus D. James 2018 MS Economics Thesis of the Year Award as part of the annual Â鶹¹ÙÍø Honors Convocation.

March 2019

Mubarak Laminu, MS Economics 2007, is now Principal Statistical Modeler with RELX Group in Seattle.  Mubarak previously worked as a Statistician with the U.S. Department of Commerce and as an Estimating & Pricing Specialist with Boeing.  He also worked as a Mathematical Modeler with Boeing prior to joining RELX.

February 2019

Mika Laaksonen, MS Economics 1998, was named Conference USA 2019 Indoor Women’s Coach of the Year upon leading the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Lady Miners to the CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Birmingham, Alabama.  This was the seventh time that Coach Laaksonen has received a CUSA Coach of the Year award.

December 2018

Omar Solís, MS Economics 2018, accepted a position as an Associate Economist with the University of New Mexico Bureau of Business & Economic Research in Albuquerque.  Formerly an Economic Analyst with the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project, Omar was a Â鶹¹ÙÍø Presidential Scholar as an undergraduate student and a Â鶹¹ÙÍø James Foundation Scholar as a graduate student.

Michael Jaeger successfully defended his thesis project on potential NBA regular season victory determinants.  Results obtained indicate that on-court performance and human capital management in the NBA differs substantially from what has been documented for other major professional sports such as Major League Baseball or the NFL.  Members of the thesis committee included  Joshua Fan from the History Department, plus  Jim Holcomb and  Tom Fullerton from the Department of Economics & Finance.  Michael is an economics and social studies teacher at Franklin High School in El Paso. 

Aaron Grijalva successfully completed an MS Economics degree with a Finance option.  Aaron is a Senior Economist with the City of El Paso Office of Management & Budget.

Kassandra Huhn successfully completed an MS Economics degree with a Finance option.  Formerly a Research Assistant with the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Kassandra has accepted a position as Vice President for Economic Research with the Borderplex Alliance in El Paso.

Arturo Márquez-Serrano successfully completed an MS Economics degree with a Finance option.  Arturo is an Economist with the El Paso County Economic Development Department.

November 2018

Tom Fullerton  has been invited to join the  Editorial Board of  Análisis Económico , an economics journal published by Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico City.  Fullerton was also invited by the TCU Department of Economics to present Â鶹¹ÙÍø econometric research regarding the impacts of business cycle fluctuations on cross-border bridge traffic from Ciudad Juárez to El Paso.

September 2018

MS Economics students   Karla Luján and Steven Fullerton were named James Foundation Scholars.  The James Foundation Scholarships are one of the highest academic honors that the Department awards to graduate students.  The James Foundation Scholarship endowment was created in honor of legendary long-time Â鶹¹ÙÍø Economics Professor Dilmus James.

Omar Solís successfully defended his thesis project on the impacts of wait times on northbound automobile traffic flows across three international bridges to El Paso.  Omar was able to estimate a monetary equivalent for wait times on the un-tolled Bridge of the Americas and also calculate the tipping point at which wait times cause motorists to abandon one bridge in favor of another.  Members of the thesis committee included Dennis Bixler-Márquez from the Department of Chicano Studies, plus Rigoberto Delgado and Tom Fullerton from the Department of Economics & Finance. 

October 2018

MS Economics students   Aaron Nazarian and Steven Fullerton were invited by Texas A&M University to learn about the Doctoral Program in Economics in College Station.  Also invited by Texas A&M was Tom Fullerton to present research results generated as part of the thesis project completed by MS Economics student Omar Solís.

Esmeralda Muñiz successfully defended her thesis project on determinants of credit loan rates in the United States.  Among other things, business cycle downturns are found to increase loan rates, potentially due to higher delinquency costs.  Esmeralda recently accepted a position as a Financial Analyst with United Bank of Paso del Norte.  Members of the thesis committee included Daniel Scheller from the Public Administration Department, plus Rigoberto Delgado and Tom Fullerton from the Department of Economics & Finance.

August 2018

  Keighton Allen successfully defended her thesis project on commercial and small industrial electricity usage in El Paso.  Members of her advisory committee included Richard Jarvis of the Department of Geological Sciences, as well as Jim Holcomb and Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance.  Keighton is an Associate Economist with the Load Research Unit at El Paso Electric Company.

The Border Region Modeling Project (BRMP) and the MS Economics Program bid a fond farewell to Adam Walke, MS Economics 2011.  Adam has enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Economics at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.  While working as a Senior Economist with BRMP, Adam co-authored two books plus a variety of formal research articles that appeared in outlets such as Energy Economics , Annals of Regional Science , Canadian Water Resources Journal , Economic Development Quarterly , Journal of Empirical Finance , North American Journal of Economics & Finance , Empirical Economics , Applied Economics , and Journal of the American Water Works Association .  As MS Economics Advisor, Adam served on numerous thesis committees and helped an even larger number of students overcome empirical obstacles in route to successful thesis defenses.  As a Senior Economist with BRMP, Adam also helped procure a wide variety of external research funding, including 6-figure grants from the National Science Foundation, the Water Research Foundation, and the City of El Paso Office of Management & Budget.  All of his colleagues across the campus, plus multiple MS Economics alumni, wish Adam well in all future endeavors!

July 2018

David Torres, MS Economics 2002, has been named Senior Executive Budget Advisor of the City of El Paso Office of Management & Budget.  David was previously a Senior Economist with El Paso Water.  Research he has co-authored has been published in  Frontera Norte  and  International Journal of Energy Economics & Policy .

Dipanwita Barai, MS Economics 2017, has accepted a position as a Research Economist with the Digital Divide Institute in Seattle.  A subset of her thesis research on bilateral exchange rate modeling and simulation analysis for the Bangldeshi Taka was published in Volume 7 of  Eurasian Journal of Economics & Finance .

Laura Sáenz-Rojo, MS Economics 201has been promoted to Senior Economist and Location Analyst with the planning and logistics division of the S-Mart corporate regional offices in Ciudad Juárez.  A subset of Laura’s thesis research on the predictability of border metropolitan economic downturns in northern Mexico was recently published in Asian Journal of Economic Modelling .

Tom Fullerton has been invited to join the  Editorial Board of  Estudios Fronterizos , a regional science and public policy journal published by Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. He has also been interviewed in recent weeks about higher energy prices and the US-China trade war by Channel 4 News in London, UK, by Bloomberg News in New York, NY, and by The Texas Standard Radio Network in Austin, TX.

June 2018

Nicole Cote, MS Economics 2009, has been named Director of the City of El Paso Office of Management & Budget.  Nicole was previously a Senior Economist with the El Paso Fire Department.  A subset of her thesis research on commercial property valuation modeling and simulation analysis was published in International Journal of Business & Economics Perspectives .

Andrew Yurachek, MS Economics candidate, has accepted a position as an Associate Economist with the  Real Time Energy Trading Department at El Paso Electric Company. 

Elisabeth Downs, MS Economics 2017, received the 2017 MS Economics Student of the Year Award at the Spring 2018 Â鶹¹ÙÍø Honors Convocation.  Lisa is a Corporate Economist with CBRE in El Paso.  A subset of her thesis results on testing and developing a regional business cycle index for Midland-Odessa using dynamic single factor modeling with Kalman filtering was published in Econometrics Letters .

Macie Subia, MS Economics 2017, received the 2017 MS Economics Thesis of the Year Award at the Spring 2018 Â鶹¹ÙÍø Honors Convocation.  Macie is a Corporate Economist with the Real Time Energy Trading Department at El Paso Electric Company.

May 2018

Jesús Mendoza, MS Economics 2017, has accepted a position as an Economic Analyst with the City of El Paso International Bridges Department where he will help model and forecast southbound traffic flows across the tolled bridges managed by the City.  As a graduate student, Mr. Mendoza worked as an Intern at the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and as a Research Assistant with the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Center for Education Research & Policy Studies.

April 2018

Keighton Allen, MS Economics candidate, has accepted a position as an Associate Economist in the Load Research unit at El Paso Electric Company where she will help model and forecast MWH sales and peak loads.  Keighton is making good progress on her MS Economics thesis project which employs flexible time series procedures to analyze a formal microeconomic model of metropolitan energy usage specified using duality theory.  As an undergraduate student, Keighton played soccer for the Miners and was selected as a Top Ten Senior when she completed her BBA in Economics in 2016.

March 2018

Francisco Pallares, MS Economics 2012, has accepted a position as an Economist in City of Las Cruces Department of Economic Development.  Subsequent to graduating from Â鶹¹ÙÍø, Francisco obtained a Doctorate in Economic Development from NMSU.  Upon finishing his doctoral studies, Francisco worked for two years as a Visiting Professor at NMSU.

February 2018

Jacky Charles, MS Economics 2012, accepted a position as a Senior Economist with the South Australian Government Department of State Development.  Subsequent to her graduation from Â鶹¹ÙÍø, she worked as an Economist for the St. Lucia Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs.  She later enrolled in the doctoral program in Economics at the University of Adelaide.  The dissertation research completed by Dr. Charles was awarded the Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence.  That award comes as no surprise, a subset of her MS Economics thesis research at Â鶹¹ÙÍø was published in Tourism Economics .

January 2018

MS Economics alumnus Arturo Bujanda, Class of 2014, has been promoted to a Senior Transportation Economist position with Mercator International in Seattle, WA.  A subset of his thesis results on the use of geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis techniques for modeling single-family residential property values was published in Volume 49 of Applied Economics.  A second subset of his thesis results that employs GWR to analyze commercial property values is forthcoming in Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science .

December 2017

MS Economics alumna Macie Subia, Class of 2017, has accepted a Corporate Economist position in the Real Time Energy Trading Department at El Paso Electric Company.  A subset of her thesis results on the use of Kalman filter techniques for modeling a coincident business cycle index for the Lubbock metropolitan economy has been published in Volume 4 of Journal of Economics & Political Economy .

October 2017

Tom Fullerton was invited to Austin to present Â鶹¹ÙÍø econometric research on “Determinants of International Migration to the United States” as part of the  Texas in a Changing World Economy Conference hosted by the Texas 2030 program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. 

MS Economics alumnus  Ernesto Duarte Ronquillo, Class of 2017, has accepted an Economic Analyst position with Grupo Imperial.  Grupo Imperial is an energy and metals conglomerate with offices in several metropolitan economies in Mexico, including Ciudad Juárez.

MS Economics alumnus  Victor Aragonés Zamudio, Class of 2004, has accepted a Senior Transportation Economist position with the World Bank in Washington, DC.  Prior to joining the World Bank, Victor worked as a Transportation Economist with the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration and as an Economist with the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization.

September 2017

Tom Fullerton was invited to College Station present Â鶹¹ÙÍø econometric research on “Trade Cluster Effects on Transportation Costs along the Southern Border” as part of the  Texas A&M University Conference on Economic Issues Affecting Hispanic and African-American Communities.  That study is co-authored with M.S. Economics alumnus Ernesto Duarte Ronquillo.  Also invited by Texas A&M to attend the conference, visit the campus, and learn about the A&M doctoral program were MS Economics students Raúl Estrada and Christian Martin.

July 2017

Elías Sáenz-Rojo has accepted a position as an Financial Analyst with Hanon Automotive Systems in Ciudad Juárez.

Ernesto Duarte Ronquillo successfully defended his thesis project on the relationships between trade clusters and transportation costs along the border between the United States and Mexico.  Members of his advisory committee included Jim Peach of the NMSU Department of Economics & Applied Statistics,  Adam Walke of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project, and Tom Fullerton of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Economics & Finance.

Dipanwita Barai successfully defended her thesis project on nominal exchange rate dynamics between the Bangladeshi taka and the dollar.  Members of her advisory committee included Somnath Mukhopadhyay of the Department of Marketing & Management,  Adam Walke of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project, and Tom Fullerton of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Economics & Finance.  Previously a Data Analyst with the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, a subset of her thesis results have been published in Volume 4 of Turkish Economic Review.

June 2017

Luis Rivera has accepted a position as an Operations Analyst with ADP in El Paso.

José Moreno has accepted a position as a Research Economist with the Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.

Jesús Mendoza has accepted a position as a Research Associate with the Center for Education Research & Policy Studies at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.

Tom Fullerton presented econometric results from an analysis of the 2016 Major League Baseball season at the 92 ^nd Annual Conference of the Western Economic Association held in San Diego.

May 2017

Jesús Mendoza successfully defended his MS Economics thesis project on the information provided by consular identification cards regarding migration from Mexico to the United States.  Members of his advisory committee included  Nathan Ashby of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Economics & Finance, plus   Roberto Coronado  of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Eduardo Saucedo of Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM).  During his graduate studies, Jesús worked as an Intern at the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Luis Rivera successfully defended his MS Economics thesis project on dual enrollment high school education outcomes in the United States.  Members of his advisory committee included  Nathan Ashby and  Tim Roth of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Economics & Finance, plus  Steven Kotok of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø College of Education.  Part of the research results obtained by Luis are forthcoming in the academic journal Education & Urban Society.

José Moreno successfully defended his MS Economics thesis project on the “manifiestos” sales tax rebate program for residents of Mexico who purchase retail goods in Texas.  Members of his advisory committee included  Nathan Ashby and  Jim Holcomb of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Economics & Finance, plus Patrick Schaefer of the Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness.  José has accepted a full-time position as a Research Economist with the Hunt Institute at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.

Mika Laaksonen, MS Economics 1998, was named Conference USA 2017 Outdoor Women’s Coach of the Year upon leading the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Lady Miners to their first ever CUSA Outdoor Track & Field Championship at the friendly confines of Kidd Field on the Â鶹¹ÙÍø campus in El Paso.  This was the sixth time that Coach Laaksonen has received a CUSA Coach of the Year award.

April 2017

Tom Fullerton provided invited testimony on the “International Trade and the Economy of Texas” to the Texas House Committee on International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs in Austin.  Fullerton’s report was at the invitation of Texas State Representative César Blanco of District 76 in El Paso.

Wesley Miller, MS Economics 2016, received the 2016 MS Economics Thesis of the Year Award from the Department as part of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Honors Convocation.  Wesley currently works as an Economic Research Analyst with the Texas A&M Real Estate Center in College Station.

March 2017

Elisabeth Downs  successfully defended her MS Economics thesis project on testing and developing a regional business cycle index for Midland-Odessa using dynamic single factor modeling with a Kalman filter.  Members of her advisory committee included Karl Putnam from the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Accounting & Information Systems Department, plus   Tim Roth and   Tom Fullerton  of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Economics & Finance.  Elisabeth is a Corporate Economist with CBRE in El Paso.  Prior to joining CBRE, Elisabeth was an Economic Intern with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

February 2017

Macie Subia successfully defended her MS Economics thesis project on testing and developing a regional business cycle index for Lubbock using dynamic single factor modeling with a Kalman filter.  Members of her advisory committee included Jim Peach from the Department of Economics & Applied Statistics at New Mexico State University, plus Adam Walke of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project and Tom Fullerton of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Economics & Finance.

Mika Laaksonen, MS Economics 1998, was named Conference USA 2017 Indoor Women’s Coach of the Year upon leading the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Lady Miners to their third consecutive CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Birmingham, Alabama.  This was the fifth time that Coach Laaksonen has received a CUSA Coach of the Year award.

January 2017

MS Economics Alumnus Roberto Coronado has been promoted to Vice President of the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Before joining the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in 2001, Roberto worked as a Business Analyst with Deloitte Touche Komatsu in Ciudad Juárez.

December 2016

Tom Fullerton was invited to Lubbock to present “Business Cycles, Rivalries, Weather, and Collegiate Football Attendance in El Paso” as part of the Texas Tech University Applied Economics Seminar Series.  That study is co-authored with M.S. Economics alumnus Wesley Miller.  

November 2016

MS Economics alumnus Laura Sáenz-Rojo has accepted a position as a Corporate Economist with the planning and logistics division of the SMart corporate regional offices in Ciudad Juárez.  Laura’s thesis research examined the predictability of border metropolitan economic downturns in northern Mexico.

MS Economics alumnus Raúl Muñoz has accepted a position as a Business Analyst with the revenue management unit at the Texas Tech Health Science Center offices in El Paso.  Raúl was previously a Labor Economist with Upper Rio Grande Workforce Development and a Corporate Economist with Hewlett-Packard.

Tom Fullerton was invited to Ames, Iowa to present “NAFTA at 22,” as part of the  Iowa State University World Affairs Lecture Series.  Fullerton also presented guest lectures on applied econometrics at the Iowa State College of Business and at the Department of Economics.

October 2016

Tom Fullerton provided invited testimony on “Trans-Pacific Partnership & El Paso Economic Performance” to the  Congressional Town Hall Meeting on International Trade sponsored by U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke in El Paso.

Tom Fullerton was invited to College Station to present “Business Cycles, Rivalries, and Collegiate Football Attendance in El Paso” as part of the  Texas A&M University Conference on Economic Issues Affecting Hispanic and African-American Communities.  That study is co-authored with M.S. Economics alumnus Wesley Miller.  Also invited by Texas A&M to attend the conference and visit the campus was MS Economics honors student and Border Region Modeling Project RA Omar Solis.

September 2016

Tom Fullerton presented “Business Cycles and Collegiate Football Attendance in El Paso,” as part of the New Mexico State University Economics & Applied Statistics Seminar Series in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  The study summarizes a subset of the thesis results obtained MS Economics alumnus Wesley Miller.

August 2016

Tom Fullerton presented “Collegiate Football Attendance in El Paso,” at the American Statistical Association Conference in Chicago.  Co-author on that study is MS Economics alumnus Wesley Miller.

July 2016

Adam Walke presented “Border Region Business Cycle Prediction Efforts,” at the  Western Economics Association International Conference in Portland, Oregon by.  Co-authors on that study include MS Economics alumnus Elias Sáenz-Rojo and Tom Fullerton.

June 2016

Jim Holcomb served as a Deck Referee and as a Video Replay Referee at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the second time he has officiated at the Olympic trials. He served as a Deck Official in 2012. Jim is also Chairman of the USA Swimming National Officials Committee.

May 2016

Keighton Allen, BBA Economics 2016, was named a Top 10 Senior at the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Spring Commencement. A member of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Soccer team, Keighton was also a Conference USA Academic Medal recipient. She will matriculate in the MS Economics program during the Summer 2016 session at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.

April 2016

Juan Cárdenas, MS Economics 2015, has accepted a position as a Financial Analyst with United Bank of Paso del Norte in El Paso. Juan also received the 2015 MS Economics Student of the Year from the Department as part of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Honors Convocation.

March 2016

Jessie Felix, MS Economics 2013, has accepted a position as a Business Analyst with Amazon Web Services in Seattle, Washington.  Mr. Felix was previously a Portfolio Analyst with Merrill Lynch in El Paso and a High Net Worth Representative with Vanguard in Phoenix.

Adam Walke, MS Economics 2011, presented research results on modeling municipal water consumption in Phoenix at the 2016 Water Resource Foundation Sustainable Water Management Conference held in Providence, Rhode Island.  The work presented by Mr. Walke was externally financed by a WRF multi-year research grant to investigate short-term water forecast accuracy.  One of the co-authors on the Phoenix study is  Juan Cárdenas, MS Economics, 2015.

Wesley Miller Successfully defended his thesis project on modeling and forecasting NCAA football game attendance in El Paso.  Members of his advisory committee included Karl Putnam of the Accounting & Information Systems Department, plus  Tim Roth and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance.  Wesley, formerly of the Buffalo Bills, in the NFL travelled to Germany this week to join the Saarland Hurricanes in the GFL.

February 2016

Alejandro Ceballos, MS Economics 2015, received the 2015 Â鶹¹ÙÍø Thesis of the Year Award from the Graduate School.  A subset of the water demand thesis results obtained by Alex appear in Volume 108 of  Journal of the American Water Works Association .

Mika Laaksonen, MS  Economics 1998, was named the Conference USA 2016 Indoor Women’s Coach of the Year for leading the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Lady Miners to its second consecutive conference title at the CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Birmingham, Alabama.  This was the fourth time that Coach Laaksonen has received a CUSA Coach of the Year award.

January 2016

Kenny Nweke, MS 2015, has accepted a position as a Corporate Analyst with Dobi Healthcare Systems in Shreveport, Louisiana.

November 2015

Arturo Bujanda, MS Economics 2014, has accepted a position as a Transportation Economist with Mercator international in Kirkland, WA. Arturo was previously an Associate Economist with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

Juan Cardenas successfully defended his thesis project on modeling and forecasting municipal water usage in Phoenix.  Members of his advisory committee included José Ablanedo of the Marketing & Management Department, plus  Adam Walke and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance. 

October 2015

Tom Fullerton was a keynote speaker at the 25th Mexican Colloquium on Mathematical Economics & Econometrics held in Guadalajara, Jalisco.  Fullerton was invited to participate at COLMEME XXV by the Quantitative Methods Department of Universidad de Guadalajara.  His presentation summarized econometric research results obtained at Â鶹¹ÙÍø for modeling municipal water usage in El Paso.

Adam Walke was invited by the Department of Economics at Texas A&M University to present water economics research as part of a conference series on economic issues affecting Hispanic American communities.  Also attending the event was Â鶹¹ÙÍø MS Economics student Macie Subia, who was invited to a series of presentations on the doctoral economics program at Texas A&M.

August 2015

Kenny Nweke successfully defended his thesis project on Dutch Disease and the Nigerian economy.  Members of his advisory committee included Godwin Udo of the Accounting & Information Systems Department, plus  Nathan Ashby and  Yu Liu of the Department of Economics & Finance.  Kenny is the 150th alumnus to successfully complete the M.S. Economics program at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.

July 2015

Felipe Galán, MS Economics 2013, has accepted a position as an Energy Economist with Desarrollo Económico de Chihuahua.  Felipe also holds a position as a Economics Lecturer with Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ).

Shwetima Joshi, MS Economics 2014, has accepted a position as a Business Analyst with Capital Marketing Company in New Jersey.

June 2015

Alejandro Ceballos successfully defended his thesis project on short-run water forecasting analysis for the El Paso metropolitan economy.  This research was supported by a multi-year grant from the Water Research Foundation in Denver.  Members of his advisory committee included José Ablanedo of the Department of Marketing & Management, plus  Jim Holcomb and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance.

May 2015

Angel Molina, MS Economics 2007, successfully completed his doctoral studies in Public Administration at Texas A&M University.  Dr. Molina has accepted a position at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M where he will teach applied statistics and public policy.  His most recent research effort is forthcoming in  Public Organization Review.

Wesley Miller, BBA Economics 2014, received the CUSA Commissioner’s Academic Medal for graduating with a cumulative GPA of greater than 3.75.  Currently an MS Economics student who is working on a thesis project in applied econometrics, Wesley was recently signed as a defensive back and special teams player for the Buffalo Bills in the NFL.

April 2015

Arturo Bujanda, MS Economics 2014, received the Dilmus D. James Award for Outstanding MS Economics Thesis at the Spring 2015 Honors Convocation.  Mr. Bujanda is a Research Economist with the El Paso offices of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

Ericka Méndez-Carrillo, MS Economics 2014, received the MS Economics Student of the Year Award at the Spring 2015 Honors Convocation.  Her thesis results regarding electricity consumption in Ciudad Juárez were published in a recent issue of  International Journal of Energy Economics & Policy .

February 2015

Mika Laaksonen, MS Economics 1998, was named the Conference USA 2015 Indoor Women’s Coach of the Year for leading the Â鶹¹ÙÍø women’s team to its first conference title at the CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Birmingham, Alabama.  Coach Laaksonen also lead the Â鶹¹ÙÍø men’s team to a second place finish in Birmingham.  This was the third time that Mika has received a CUSA Coach of the Year award.

January 2015

Tom Fullerton and Arturo Bujanda presented Â鶹¹ÙÍø econometric research at the National Academies of Science 94th Annual Transportation Research Board Conference in Washington, DC.  The material presented by Bujanda and Fullerton examines the impact of transportation infrastructure facilities on single-family housing values in El Paso.

First year MS Economics student  Wesley Miller completed his NCAA football career with a flourish.  For his exploits on the playing field, he was named to the CUSA All-Conference Honorable Mention Team.  In recognition of his academic achievements, he was named to the CUSA Conference Academic 1st Team and to the Capital One All America Academic 2nd Team.

December 2014

First year MS Economics student  Wesley Miller was named Conference USA Defensive Football Player of the Week. A team captain for the Miners, Wesley tied his career high with 11 tackles against the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders. This was the sixth game of the 2014 season in which Wesley led the Miners in tackles. He also made his second interception of the season as Â鶹¹ÙÍø secured a 7-5 winning season for the first time since 2005 and a bowl berth for the first time since 2010.

November 2014

First year MS Economics student  Wesley Miller was named to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-District Football Team for District 7 within NCAA Division I athletic programs. District 7 encompasses Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming. Wesley is a team captain for the Miners football squad and currently leads the team in tackles.

October 2014

Arturo Bujanda successfully defended his thesis project on the impacts of transportation infrastructure accessibility on multiple categories of real estate property values in the El Paso metropolitan economy.  More than 352,000 data observations were collected for the geographically weighted regression analysis employed in the study, the single largest data bank ever assembled for an MS Economics thesis project at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.  Members of his advisory committee included Raed Aldouri of the Civil Engineering Department, plus  Adam Walke and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance. Mr. Bujanda is an Associate Research Economist with the Texas Transportation Institute in El Paso.

September 2014

Diana Villavicencio successfully defended her thesis project involving an econometric analysis of population change in the Las Cruces metropolitan economy. Members of her advisory committee included Charles Martin of the History Department, plus  Adam Walke and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance. Ms. Villavicencio has accepted a position as a Field Economist with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Chicago.

August 2014

Ileana Resendez successfully defended her MS Economics thesis on residential electricity consumption in Arkansas. The members of her advisory committee included Charles Martin of the History Department, plus Tim Roth,  Doyle Smith, and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance. Ms. Resendez is a Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Technical Manager at Heifer International.

July 2014

Shwetima Joshi successfully defended her M.S. Economics thesis project entitled “Cointegration Approach towards Causality of Foreign Direct Investment and Gross Domestic Product in India.”  Members of her advisory committee included Miguel Ramos of the Department of Marketing & Management, plus  Jim Holcomb and  Nathan Ashby of the Department of Economics & Finance.

June 2014

Krystal Sánchez-Osio successfully defended her M.S. Economics thesis project involving an econometric analysis of higher education and direct foreign investment across the 32 states in Mexico.  Members of her advisory committee included Miguel Ramos of the Department of Marketing & Management, plus  Jim Holcomb and  Nathan Ashby of the Department of Economics & Finance.  Ms. Sánchez-Osio has accepted a position as a Supply Chain Manager at Protrans International, a North American logistics company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Edward Pallarez, MS 2014, has accepted a position as a Corporate Analyst with UC Synergetic.  UC Synergetic is a national engineering and public utility consultancy headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

David Ramírez, MS Economics 2014, accepted a position as an Economic Research Analyst with the Arizona Commerce Authority in Phoenix. At that post, David will conduct applied research on the Arizona state economy, its metropolitan economies, and its different regional economies.

Tom Fullerton received the 2013 Outstanding Performance in Extramural Funding Award for the College of Business Administration from the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Office of Research and Sponsored Projects. The co-principal investigator on each of the externally funded research grants obtained by the Border Region Modeling Project in 2013 is  Adam Walke.

May 2014

Erika Méndez successfully defended her M.S. Economics thesis project involving an econometric analysis of electricity consumption dynamics in Ciudad Juárez.  Members of her advisory committee included Heidi Taboada of the Industrial Engineering Department, plus  Adam Walke and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance.

Edward Pallarez successfully defended his M.S. Economics thesis project involving an econometric analysis of parking meter demand in downtown El Paso.  Members of his advisory committee included Santiago Ibarreche of the Marketing & Management Department, plus  Adam Walke and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance.

Alan Jiménez successfully defended his M.S. Economics thesis project involving an econometric analysis of retail gasoline prices in El Paso.  Members of his advisory committee included Gaspare Genna of the Political Science Department, plus  Adam Walke,  Yu Liu, and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance.

April 2014

Miguel Martínez successfully defended his M.S. Economics thesis project involving an econometric analysis of short-run price dynamics in Guatemala.  Members of his advisory committee included Gary Braun of the Accounting Department, plus  Doyle Smith and  Tim Roth of the Department of Economics & Finance.

March 2014

Mika Laaksonen, MS Economics 1998, was named Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year after he lead the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Miners men’s team to the 2014 CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Birmingham on Sunday 2 March 20014. This is the second CUSA team title and Coach of the Year Award for Coach Laaksonen.

November 2013

David Ramírez successfully defended his M.S. Economics thesis project on an econometric analysis of population change in Arkansas. Members of his advisory committee included Dennis Bixler-Marquez of the Chicano Studies Program, plus  David Schauer, Adam Walke, and  Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance. Mr. Ramírez is an Associate Economist with the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Institute of Policy and Economic Development.

September 2013

The Border Region Modeling Project received a $25,000 El Paso Water Utilities research grant to investigate metropolitan business cycle fluctuation impacts on municipal water consumption. The research will be conducted by  Tom Fullerton and  Adam Walke.

May 2013

Jessie Felix successfully defended his M.S. Economics thesis project on REITs and Stock Market Cointegration. Members of his advisory committee included Erik Devos and Jim Upson of the Department of Economics & Finance, plus Desmond Tsang of McGill University in Montreal. Mr. Felix is an Associate Economist with Vanguard in Scottsdale, AZ.

August 2013

Felipe Galán successfully defended his M.S. Economics thesis project on the determinants of international migration to the United States. Members of his advisory committee included Dennis Bixler-Marquez of the Chicano Studies Program and Doyle Smith and Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance. Mr. Galán is an Economic Consultant in Ciudad Juárez and a Lecturer with the Economics Department at UACJ.

The Border Region Modeling Project received a $10,000 Hunt Communities research grant to investigate metropolitan business cycle fluctuations. The research will be conducted by  Tom Fullerton and  Adam Walke.

July 2013

Wesley Miller, BBA Economics 2014, received the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal for a second consecutive year as a member of the Miners football team. Wes is a Cardwell Scholar at Â鶹¹ÙÍø who has two years of eligibility left and will join the MS Economics program in 2014.

Avilia Bueno successfully defended her MS Economics thesis. Her research topic is "A State to State Analysis of Mexican Migration to the U.S." Members of her advisory committee included Miguel Ramos of the Marketing & Management Department, plus Doyle Smith and Nathan Ashby of the Department of Economics & Finance. Ms. Bueno is an Assistant Research Economist with the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Tom Fullerton received an applied econometric research award from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. The $400 cash award was for an empirical analysis of reverse dollarization in the form of peso payment acceptance by retail micro-enterprises in El Paso. Co-author of the study and co-recipient of the award is Mike Pisani, a Professor of International Business at Central Michigan University.

May 2013

David Macias successfully defended his M.S. Economics thesis entitled “El Paso Residential Electricity Demand.” Members of his advisory committee included Dennis Bixler-Marquez of the Chicano Studies Program and Doyle Smith and Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance. Mr. Macias is a Financial Analyst with El Paso Electric Company.

Mika Laaksonen, MS Economics 1998, was named Conference USA Track & Field Coach of the Year after he lead the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Miners men’s team to the 2013 CUSA Track & Field Championship in Houston on Sunday 12 May 20013. As a Â鶹¹ÙÍø undergraduate, Coach Laaksonen was an NCAA Champion in two separate events for the Miners - the Hammer Throw and the Weight Throw.  As a Â鶹¹ÙÍø graduate student, his MS Economics thesis results were published in International Journal of Forecasting.  He also worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Border Region Modeling Project and was named to the Beta Gamma Sigma honors fraternity for his academic achievements.

Richard Olsson, BBA Economics 2013, was a Silver Medalist in the javelin throw at the Conference USA Track & Field Championship held in Houston on Sunday 12 May 20013. An honor roll student at Â鶹¹ÙÍø, Richard is also a C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal holder.  He will enroll in the Â鶹¹ÙÍø MS Economics program this summer and still has one more year of eligibility for the Miners Track & Field team.

January 2013

The Border Region Modeling Project co-hosted the   on 16 January 2013 with the El Paso Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Speakers at the Forum included Dr. Diana Natalicio, Â鶹¹ÙÍø; John Balliew, El Paso Water Utilities; Bob Hoy, Hoy Fox Automotive Group; Josh Hunt, Hunt Companies & Mountain Star Sports Group; Jacob Cintron, Del Sol Medical Center; Jody Mullings, JPMorgan Chase Bank; Justin Chapman, Hunt Companies; Matt McElroy, City of El Paso; Dr. Roberto Coronado, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Dr. Tom Fullerton, Â鶹¹ÙÍø. The electronic version of the presentations of each participant are available  .

March 2013

Dr. Eugenio Alemán, Director & Senior Economist at Wells Fargo Securities, presented a seminar entitled “Prospects for the U.S. Economy and Lingering Fiscal Issues” on 11 March 2013 to the Department of Economics & Finance. F

• Alemán - Prospects for the U.S. Economy and Lingering Fiscal Issues (PDF)

December 2012

Pedro Niño successfully defended his MS Economics Thesis. His research examines the cross-border impacts of crime in Ciudad Juárez on the El Paso economy. Members of his advisory committee included Roberto Coronado of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Charles Bohmer of the Department of Political Science, and Tom Fullerton of the Department of Economics & Finance. Mr. Niño is an Economics Instructor at Anamarc College in El Paso.

September 2012

On September 20th, Dr. Pia Orrenius of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas presented a research seminar at the College of Business Administration. Her topic was “Did Operation Streamline Slow Illegal Immigration?” One of the co-authors of the study is Â鶹¹ÙÍø MS Economics Alumnus Jesús Cañas, also an Eoconomist with the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

On 26 September, the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Department of Economics & Finance, in conjunction with the Border Region Modeling Project and the Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade, will host a session of the 22nd Annual Mexico Colloquium on Mathematical Economics & Econometrics. The Â鶹¹ÙÍø session will include presentations from faculty members from both Â鶹¹ÙÍø and New Mexico State University. It will be simulcast to the electronic conference rooms at Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, the sponsor of this year’s conference.

Teodulo Soto successfully defended his MS Economics Thesis. His research examines the impacts of oil price shocks on the metropolitan economies of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Members of his committee included Tom Fullerton and Doyle Smith of the Department of Economics & Finance and Gaspar Genna of the Department of Political Science. Formerly an Associate Economist with Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project, Mr. Soto is a Corporate Economist in the planning department of El Paso Electric Company.

Border Region Modeling Project releases latest  .

May 2012

Carlos R. Morales successfully defended his thesis project in May. His research investigated the impacts of educational attainment and public infrastructure investment on regional income performance in Missouri. His thesis committee included Tom Fullerton and Doyle Smith from the Department of Economics & Finance, and Dennis Bixler-Marquez from the Department of Chicano Studies. Carlos will relocate to Western Michigan University in August in order to begin a doctoral program in the area of applied economics.

April 2012

Francisco J. Pallares successfully defended his thesis project in April. His research investigated price differences between online pharmacy brand name medicines sold in the United States and Mexico. His thesis committee included Tom Fullerton and Nathan Ashby from the Department of Economics & Finance, and Tony Payan from the Department of Political Science. Francisco will relocate to New Mexico State University in August in order to begin a doctoral program in the area of economic development.

January 2012

Border Region Modeling Project Releases New Borderplex Outlook Report.

December 2011

Azucena Gonzalez accepted a position as an Economic Analyst in the Market Research Department at GECU in El Paso. Azucena also holds a part-time position as an Economics Lecturer at El Paso Community College.

November 2011

Adam G. Walke successfully defended his MS Economics thesis project in November. His research utilized three-staged least squares and linear transfer function methods to quantify the impacts of cross-border business cycle fluctuations on mass transit demand in three Texas metropolitan economies. His thesis committee included Tom Fullerton and Doyle Smith from the Department of Economics & Finance, and Sal Hernandez from the Department of Civil Engineering. Adam accepted a position as an Associate Economist with the Border Region Modeling Project and resides in El Paso.

October 2011

Mary De Leon, MS Economics 2007, has accepted a postion as an Economist with Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, PA. Moody's Economy.com is one of the leading economic forecasting and consulting firms in the world. Prior positions Mary has held include Assistant Economist with El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization and Associate Economist with Greater Houston Partnership. Her research has been published in International Journal of Transport Economics and Applied Economics & International Development .

September 2011

Carolina Cerda successfully defended her thesis in August. Her research examines the effects of gender on inequality aversion and altruism. Her committee members included Jim Holcomb and Nathan Ashby from the Department of Economics & Finance, and Peeter Kirs from the Department of Information & Decision Sciences.

August 2011

Raul Anton Munoz, MS Economics 2010, has accepted a position as a Labor Market Analyst with the El Paso office of Upper Rio Grande Workforce Solutions.

July 2011

Azucena Gonzalez Monzon successfuly defended her MS Economics thesis project in July. Her research utilized error correction, cointegration, vector autoregression, and vector error correction time series methods to quantify the linkages between public infrastructure investment and economic growth in El Paso. Linear programming analysis was utilized to estimate initial physical infrastructure stocks at the beginning of the sample period. Her thesis committee included Tom Fullerton and Jim Holcomb from the Department of Economics & Finance, and Joe Guthrie from the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Azucena will relocate to the University of Delaware in August in order to complete her doctoral studies in Economics.

June 2011

Tom Fullerton received an applied econometric research award from Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon. The $400 cash award was for empirical analyses of maquiladora payroll dynamics in northern Mexico.

May 2011

Enedina Licerio received the MS Economics Outstanding Thesis Award at the Spring 2011 Honors Convocation.

Emmanuel Villalobos received the MS Economics Outstanding Student Award at the Spring 2011 Honors Convocation.

Tom Fullerton has been appointed by the El Paso City Council to a two-year term on the Border Relations Committee.

April 2011

Mario Elizalde successfuly defended his MS Economics thesis project in April. His research utilized a cointegration time series framework to examine gasoline consumption patterns in Mexico. His thesis committee included Tom Fullerton and Doyle Smith from the Department of Economics & Finance, and Soheil Nazarian from the Department of Civil Engineering. Mario currently works as a Research Associate at the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Center for Institutional Evaluation Research and Planning.

Teodulo Soto, MS Economics student, has accepted a position as an Economist with the Corporate Planning Department at El Paso Electric Company. Teodulo previously worked as an Associate Economist with the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Border Region Modeling Project.

David Macias, MS Economics student, has accpeted a position as an Economist with the Energy Trading Department at El Paso Electric Company. David previously worked as a Customs Broker with Melek in El Paso.

February 2011

Katherine White successfuly defended her MS Economics thesis project in February. Her research utilized an error correction framework to examine water consumption patterns in Halifax, Canada. Her thesis committee included Tom Fullerton and Jim Holcomb from the Department of Economics & Finance, and Gary Braun from the Department of Accounting.

January 2011

David Juarez successfuly defended his MS Economics thesis project in January. His research utilized an error correction framework to examine residential electricity consumption in Seattle. His thesis committee included Tom Fullerton and Doyle Smith from the Department of Economics & Finance, and Joe Guthrie from the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

October 2010

Dr. Tom Fullerton named to Editorial Board of  Applied Econometrics & International Development.

July 2010

David Juarez has accepted a position as a Compliance Consultant with Wells Fargo Bank in El Paso. David is in the process of completing his MS Economics thesis on metropolitan area residential electricity consumption.

Raul Munoz successfully defended his MS Economics thesis. A Graduate TA and former James Foundation Scholar, Mr. Munoz thesis topic is "Premium and Discount Exchange Rates for Retail Sector Peso Purchases in El Paso."

Jacky S. Charles, MS 2010, has accepted a position as an Economist with the Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs in St. Lucia.

June 2010

Deborah Martinez was selected to the All-Conference USA Women's Golf Team for the third consecutive year. A Senior Economics major, Deborah finished among the top 3 Â鶹¹ÙÍø players in scoring average for a fourth consecutive year. Her scoring average was sub-80 every season she played for the lady Miners and dropped each year, reaching 76.9 in her final sojourn as an NCAA collegiate golfer. An honor roll student at Â鶹¹ÙÍø, Deborah was also been named to the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll during her first three seasons as a Lady Miner and was twice named to the C-USA Women's Golf All-Academic during her Sophomore and Junior years. With her classroom performance this past year, more academic accolades are likely. Deborah is scheduled to enroll in the Â鶹¹ÙÍø MS Economics program during the Summer 2010 session.

May 2010

Enedina Licerio successfully defended her MS Economics thesis on international regulatory burden income impacts. Enedina also accepted a position as an Economist with the Load Research Department at El Paso Electric Company.

Emmanuel Villalobos successfully defended his MS Economics thesis on housing attribute preferences in El Paso. Emmanuel is an Energy Trader with El Paso Electric Company.

April 2010

Jacky Charles successfully defended her MS Economics thesis. The subject of her research was an error correction analysis of tourism flows to the Bahamas.

Emmanuel Villalobos, MS Economics student, has accepted a position as an Energy Trader with El Paso Electric Company.

January 2010

Teodulo Soto, David Juarez, and  David Rodriguez have been named James Foundation Scholars for the 2009/2010 academic year.

November 2009

Mark Freeman, a graduate student in the MS Economics program, has been selected for a prestigious international economics intenship with the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service in the Dominican Republic for the Spring 2010 semester.

October 2009

David A. Schauer was named Principal Investigator for a research project to investigate the El Paso Regional Growth Management Plan.  This technical study is funded by the City of El Paso and Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

Nathan Ashby has been named to a two-year term as a  Western Hemispheric Trade Professor by the Â鶹¹ÙÍø College of Business Administration.

Doyle Smith,  Tom Fullerton, and Sergio Contreras received the  Best Paper Award for Economics & Finance Research at the 51st Annual Mountain Plains Management Conference held in Grand Junction, Colorado.  Their study examines regional patterns in commercial electricity consumption in the United States.

Nathan Ashby was awarded a $10,500 grant from the Charles G. Koch Foundation for a new honors course and lecture series for the Spring 2010 semester.  The course will be titled “Institutions and Economic Development” and is listed as ECON 4330.  All interested students must turn in an application, essay, and letter of recommendation.  Qualifying students will be recognized as Koch Scholars and receive $300 stipends.  The deadline to apply is 30 October 2009. Applications are available in Room 236 of the College of Business Administration.

Nathan Ashby was awarded a $10,745 grant from the Fraser Institute to manage the Economic Freedom of North America project.

September 2009

Tom Fullerton was invited by the Department of Economics at Texas A&M University to present “Peso Acceptance Patterns in El Paso,” at the Hispanic & African American Economic Issues Conference in College Station, Texas.

August 2009

Tom Fullerton presented “Precisión de Pronósticos Econométricos de Consumo Municipal de Agua en la Región Fronteriza” as part of the Foro de Resultados de Investigación Conference at Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez.

Angel Molina presented “Municipal Water Forecast Accuracy” at the Joint Statistical Meetings sponsored by the American Statistical Association in Washington, DC.

July 2009

Tom Fullerton presented “Restaurant Price and Exchange Rate Interactions” at the 84th Western Economic International Association Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

May 2009

Nathan Ashby presented “Economic Freedom and Entrepreneurship in North America” at the Kauffman Hispanic Entrepreneurship Conference held at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.

Tom Fullerton presented “Peso Acceptance Patterns in El Paso” at the Kauffman Hispanic Entrepreneurship Conference held at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.

April 2009

Nathan Ashby presented “Freedom and International Migration” at the Association of Private Enterprise Education in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Nathan Ashby presented “Economic Freedom in the Mexican States” to students at the University of Texas-Pan American in McAllen, Texas.

Tom Fullerton presented “Empirical Evidence regarding International Bridge Tolls” as part of the New Mexico State University Department of Economics & International Business Seminar Series in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

February 2009

Nathan Ashby presented “NAFTA: Balancing Security and Trade” at the National Center for Border Security and Immigration symposium hosted by Â鶹¹ÙÍø.

Nathan Ashby was awarded a $3,635 University Research Institute Grant for work on economic freedom in the Mexican states

December 2008

Tim Roth concluded a 24-month speaking tour of Texas during which he addressed 43 civic and other organizations in El Paso, Austin, Borger, Dallas, Houston, Kerrville, Midland, New Braunfels, Odessa, San Antonio, Tyler, and Weatherford.  Topics covered included several public policy themes, including constitutional issues involving Federal government overreach.

November 2009

Tim Roth, recipient of the University’s 2005 Faculty Achievement Award for Research, continued to make guest speaking appearances related to the award.  In his nominating letter, Nobel prize winning Economist James M. Buchanan said that “Roth is doing some of the most interesting, and ultimately most important, work being done in economics at this time.”   Professor Buchanan has favorably reviewed a number of Dr. Roth’s books.  His review of Dr. Roth’s 2007 book,  Morality, Political Economy and American Constitutionalism  stated, among other things, that “This book should be required reading for any aspirant to public office, whether executive, legislative, or judicial.”  Dr. Roth’s eleventh book,  Politicians, Economists and the Supreme Court at Work: The Founders Betrayed  will be published in 2010 by Edward Elgar Publishing.

David A. Schauer was named Principal Investigator for a research project to investigate The Economic Impact of Museums and Cultural Activities in El Paso, Texas.  This technical study is funded by the City of El Paso and Americans for the Arts.

Tom Fullerton presented “Borderplex Recessionary Prospects” at the Del Sol Medical Center Senior Management Retreat in El Paso.

Nathan Ashby presented “Freedom and International Migration” at the Southern Economic Association Conference in Washington, DC.

Nathan Ashby presented “Economic Freedom in the United Mexican States” at the Coloquio Internacional de Desarrollo Económico y Globalización held at Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez.