ASSESSING READINESS TO OFFER A NEW DEGREE PROGRAM IN ECONOMICS
Part One: Need for the Program
Units should provide detailed information regarding linkages to the strategic plan and the impact of the
proposed program on other unit programs on the UNC-OP planning and establishing documents.
Need for the Program

Provide detailed information regarding linkages to the university mission, vision, and strategic plan, and
the impact of the proposed program on other unit programs.
The proposed program is directly responsive to the university’s strategic directions to advance research
and creative activity to enhance economic development of the region, and to take a leadership role in
solving regional problems. To advance toward these goals, the program will train research economists
who can use modern analytic tools to design, analyze, and implement policies for risk mitigation and
managing uncertainties. The program will concentrate on risks concerning health of populations, natural
hazards, and natural resource development. These areas are of global importance but of particular
importance to eastern North Carolina.
More specifically, the focus of the proposed program is consistent with many of the University’s goals as
specified in the East Carolina University UNC Tomorrow Response Phase I Report (May 1, 2008):
 The University has a commitment to “Expand and apply its expertise, research and outreach
functions to address … the economy, environment, and energy and water, among others.” (p.
4)
 The University plans to “Increase faculty and student knowledge … (for) research and
development.” (p. 4)
 The University desires to be a “birthplace and destination for innovation-driven industryacademic government collaborations.” (p. 5)
 “ECU recognizes the strong link between graduate education, the production of knowledge,
and economic and social prosperity.” (p. 15)
 The vital role of understanding “Coastal Hazards and Economic Development” is stressed.
(pp. 18-19)
 The University is vital to meet “the future public health needs of North Carolina.” (pp. 22-23)
 A focus on “Inequality Research” is a “Visionary Idea” for the University. (p. 24)
 “Natural hazards research” is a priority for the University. (p. 25)
The proposed program will have an impact on several existing programs.
 Mathematics department: This program will make use of 4 existing mathematics courses, and will
expand the statistics/econometrics course offerings available to graduate students in
mathematics. It will complement any future PhD program in statistics that the mathematics
department might offer.
 CRM PhD Program: This program will expand the economics and analytic course offerings
available to CRM PhD students, strengthening their social science and policy track. It will place
no instructional burden on the CRM program.
 Geography department: Students in the economics PhD may take technical courses, such as
GIS training, that are offered in Geography. Geography graduate students may also take
advantage of some topics courses relevant to their research, such as spatial econometrics.
 College of Business, finance department, BS in risk management: This program will only be
impacted only by virtue of the economics PhD providing a natural continuation for graduate
training following students’ graduation with the business BS degree.

What is the societal need for the proposed program? Project the current and future need for graduates
with this degree at the regional, state, and national levels.
1
The U. S. Department of Labor projects steady growth in the job opportunities for economists in general
through 2018.i For those with PhD training the best job opportunities are expected for those candidates
with skills in quantitative techniques and their application to economic modeling and forecasting. These
are precisely the types of skills that will be stressed in the proposed program in economics with a
research focus on risk. Two federal agencies have issued a joint memorandum that stresses the need for
precisely the type of risk analysis that is the central focus of the proposed degree. ii The Chief
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget
and the Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy on September 19, 2007, urged
all heads of executive departments and agencies to integrate risk analysis into all of their regulatory
activities: “Agencies should recognize that risk analysis is a tool…in the regulatory tool kit.” iii The
memorandum also stresses the need for trained professionals with the requisite skills for risk assessment:
“Risk assessors and economists are responsible for providing decision-makers with the best technical
information available or reasonably attainable…”iv
The program responds specifically to the national need for PhD economists with analytic and econometric
skills required for the analysis and management of risk and uncertainty for decision making in areas such
as natural hazards, environmental assessment and mitigation, and public policy and regulation. The
majority of new PhDs in economics typically enter the academic market.v The proposed program is
instead primarily designed to train research economists who can apply modern skills to the design and
implementation of policy, as well as teach such skills and evaluate their use by others. Federal agencies,
such as the Environmental Protection Administration and the Federal Communications Commission, and
state agencies, such as the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the
Office of State Budget and Management, routinely recruit for professionals with these skill sets.
Moreover, private research organizations, non-governmental organizations, and foundations are also
potential employers for those who complete the program. The current and anticipated demand for all
groups will be more than sufficient to secure placement of the number of PhDs projected.

What are the expected enrollment patterns for the proposed program over the next five years; what is the
enrollment target within five years of establishment? What evidence is there that the proposed program
and this unit can attract quality students?
The basic program structure will admit up to seven students every alternate year. Three graduates are
projected at the end of the fourth year. By the fifth year the total enrollment will average fifteen students
per year and the number of graduates will alternate between two and four per year. The program design
will be sufficiently flexible to permit the occasional off-year admission of exceptionally strong candidates
on a limited basis.
The economics department’s current master of science in applied and resource economics has
successfully trained students who have continued their economics training in strong PhD departments at
other universities. Three to four such students would find the proposed program an attractive one. We
expect that the uniqueness of the proposed PhD in economics with a research focus on risk, public
health, and natural hazards will allow us to attract even more highly qualified students from outside East
Carolina University. Specialized economics programs (e.g., Syracuse University and the University of
Wyoming) regularly attract entering cohorts of twelve to twenty qualified PhD students, and we anticipate
selecting from such a pool.
Comparison to Similar Programs at Other Universities

How common is this type of program nationally and what about the proposed program would enable it to
particularly stand out from the others? What would it take to become a nationally recognized program in
this area?
There are several PhD programs nationally which emphasize a focus on some aspect of risk, such as the
Departments of Insurance in the business schools at Georgia State University, the University of Georgia,
2
Florida State University, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of
Wisconsin, and in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. However,
these programs focus almost exclusively on financial risk and its mitigation through the use of
sophisticated financial instruments in well-functioning markets. Although the basic mathematical tools
behind the analyses are similar, the proposed program in economics differs from each of these in that it
will apply modern statistical and analytical techniques of risk management to issues of regional concern
such as hazard mitigation, environmental resource utilization, and public sector risk. In each of these
focus areas, financial considerations relate to only a part of the problems and issues involved. Other
programs with an environmental/resource or regional focus, such as those at Middle Tennessee and
Virginia Tech, do not emphasize the analysis of risk and uncertainty or the development of the specialized
tools for such analysis. The proposed program will be a natural extension of the University’s existing and
continuing commitments in all these areas. Our goal is to develop a program that will achieve national
visibility within five years.
Our focus on public health is concerned with population health issues within a public sector decisionmaking framework. Although it bears some similarities to other PhD programs in health economics, its
central focus on public policy and community health interventions will complement and enhance the
proposed programs in ECU’s developing School of Public Health. A rigorous quantitative approach
typical of economic analysis will balance with the applied programs in the School of Public Health. The
result will be a university endeavor in public health where the total impact will be greater than the sum of
the parts and will gain ECU national recognition.
Accreditation Standards

Are there accreditation standards or requirements that will affect this program? Is so, describe in detail
how the proposed program will meet those standards or requirements.
The economics department is part of the Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. The program will be
evaluated along with other East Carolina University graduate programs during the periodic review by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Part Two: Assessing Readiness of Current Faculty
Complete the Faculty Information Sheet (Appendix B) (attached, with instructions for downloading from
Sedona) for each individual who will serve as a core faculty member, actively involved in delivering the
proposed program.
● Provide a summary of faculty readiness in the unit to include the cumulative totals of the following:
o Number of core faculty at each rank who will be actively engaged in this program.
Professors:
seven
Associate Professors: five
Assistant Professors: three
{Note: One of the Professors and one of the Assistant Professors arrived in the past three years, and
have substantial scholarly activities of record predating their arrival at ECU.}
o Number of core faculty with experience directing theses/dissertations: 7 – PhD; 14 – MA Theses
o Number of scholarly and professional activities related to proposed degree (with emphasis on the
past 5 years): 591 – past five years; 1248 – cumulative.
{Note: These include conferences, review panels, outside presentations of research and lectures,
editorial boards, journal refereeing, academic program reviews, review of program proposals and
funding, grant proposal reviews, editor selection committees, officer positions in national and
international organizations, etc.}
o Number of publications related to proposed degree; 163 – past five years; 453 – cumulative.
{Note: These include all economics publications and firm acceptances (books, articles, proceedings,
reports, reviews, and other publications), including those produced prior to arrival at ECU.}
o Number of external grants & contracts submitted and awarded related to proposed degree:
Submitted: 70 – past five years; 131 – cumulative.
Awarded: 33 – past five years; 75 – cumulative.
3
{Note: These include submissions/awards to organizations other than ECU in which the economics
faculty members were/are co-PIs or subcontractors, as well as activity at ECU. Some faculty
members have substantial activity prior to arrival at ECU.}
o Invited research presentations outside ECU: 158 – past five years; 329 – cumulative.
o Patents/disclosures/copyrights: N/A
o Participation in scholarly collaborations with other universities, laboratories, & centers: 121 – past five
years; 183 – cumulative.
o Service on related national/international boards or committees: 46 – past five years; 77 – cumulative.
Part Three: Assessing Adequacy of Instructional/Research Facilities and Personnel to Support the
Program
Instructional and Research Facilities
● Describe existing space and specialized equipment to be devoted to the proposed program within the
context of the space and equipment currently assigned to the unit/s.
The Department of Economics currently uses eight to ten classrooms, assigned as needed by the
registrar, including six electronic classrooms in Brewster. It controls one small conference room, one
mobile instructional computer lab on a cart, stored in the conference room, seventeen faculty offices, two
small student offices, a three-room department office suite, a shared (with CNHR) administrative office,
and one equipment room. The electronic classrooms are regularly shared with other units.

How will assignment of this space to the proposed program impact existing programs?
The addition of the program will have no impact on existing programs. It will not prevent any other
program from continuing to utilize the department space to which it has access, as there is currently some
excess classroom and graduate student office capacity. The department currently utilizes an HCAS
Conference Room (BB-104) for seminars, as its conference room is too small. Existing rooms and
equipment will be used more completely and efficiently with a small PhD program, such as we are
proposing, in place.
●
Describe additional facilities or specialized equipment that would be needed over the next five years.
Six additional rooms will be needed for the new Doctoral program: (i) two faculty offices for new hires; (ii)
one office for PhD Program staff; (iii) one additional office for PhD students; (iv) one Department seminar
room; and (v) one room for PhD computer laboratory. The current conference room cannot seat the full
faculty together with our master’s students and so is seriously inadequate as a seminar room (only one of
its current uses). With a PhD program, a true seminar room will be required.
.
●
Describe current holdings in library resources in the proposed program and projected library resources
needed to support the proposed program.
Library holdings and access to electronic journals and basic data resources were adequate prior to recent
cancellations of journal subscriptions and data bases. Joyner Interlibrary Loan is efficient and able to
support specialized needs of the program over the first five years, but restored access to basic economic
data, including IMF data bases, will be required. Basic PhD-level texts and reference volumes and
additional specialized datasets will also need to be acquired, but the cost should be less than $15,000.
Once PhD students have reached their third year in the program, it will be highly desirable to subscribe to
the Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) interface to facilitate access to data for graduate student
and faculty research; that will cost about $40,000 per year. Half of this will come from the UNC funding
model library revenues (see accompanying budget template) and the other half from external grant funds,
both IGERT and faculty research grants.
●
Describe the adequacy of unit computer resources. If additional resources are needed, give a brief
explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition. Include classroom, laboratory, and other facilities
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that are not currently used in the capacity being requested. (Collaborate with ITCS to determine feasibility
of adding these resources, particularly in the areas of mainframe computer usage, networking
requirements, statistical services, network connections, and student computer labs.)
The Department currently utilizes a mobile instructional computer lab which is equipped and configured
primarily for undergraduate teaching and market simulation experiments. Training PhD students will
require equipment and software with greater capabilities. The room listed above for a PhD computer
laboratory should be equipped with six top-line workstations with appropriate statistical software. Initial
cost of the hardware and software will be $8,500 with continuing costs of $2,000 per year for software
licenses. We do not anticipate the need for additional mainframe computer resources.
●
Provide e-mail verification of consultation with Office of Space Management about the feasibility of new or
additional space needs for the proposed program.
Please see attached message from OSM (Appendix C).
Personnel
● What additional personnel would be needed to make the proposed program successful for growth and
development over a five-year period?
o Faculty: three, two replacing positions lost to budget cuts 2008-2011, one at a senior (tenured)
level
o Post-doc associates:
none
o Research technicians: none
o Graduate assistants:
eleven
o Other staff:
none
●
What will be needed to recruit such individuals and what is the recruitment market like?
The focus of the program will be to produce economic specialists trained to apply advanced analytical
and econometric skills to the management of risk in areas such as public health and natural hazards.
These skills are essential in carrying out the missions in a variety of federal and state government
agencies and non-governmental organizations. This limited pool is NOT the one from which we will
largely be recruiting. The job market in which the Department of Economics will recruit for the two
additional faculty is distinctly different from this in that we obviously must recruit from the set of PhDs
seeking positions in an academic setting. The Department of Economics has been highly successful in
this market in that we have attracted strong faculty at both the junior and senior levels. For example, in
each of the past years in which we have been allowed to recruit at the junior level, we have had 100-180
qualified applicants for the one or two positions available. Several of our applicants were sufficiently
advanced to be considered at the Associate level, particularly in the environmental risk and hazard areas.
Our newly hired junior faculty members have quickly established significant publication records and are
well qualified to teach PhD level courses in their areas of expertise. The newly recruited faculty has
augmented a core of productive research faculty. Our senior faculty members have extensive research
and teaching experience within research extensive institutions with successful PhD programs. Our
existing academic environment and the prospect of the PhD program will attract an even stronger pool of
applicants for future positions.
Part Four: Assessing Financial Resources to Support the Program
Describe existing financial resources to be devoted to the proposed program.
o Four out-of-state tuition remissions (~$60,000)
o About $88,000 out of $109,000 in current GA/graduate stipend/ support
o About $30,000 in Foundation Endowment funds, raised by the economics department
Advancement Council for graduate student support
o Troxler Endowment, currently over $230,000 and growing toward $600,000
5
●
Describe what additional financial resources would be needed over the next five years and their proposed
sources of funding.
o Three additional Faculty at the tenure-track or tenured level, replacing 2 positions lost over the
past 3 years and completing the PhD faculty; these positions must be allocated by Academic
Affairs and HCAS.
o Three additional graduate out-of-state tuition remissions, and about 17 in-state remissions
(steady state; initially only 6 needed); this is needed support from DRGS and the College.
o Three FTE dedicated to TA support, eventually financed from FTE generated by PhD SCH
(~$240,000 in year 5 and beyond); These should come from unused salary lines in HCAS or
Academic Affairs.
 A five-year (renewable) NSF IGERT Grant would provide full support for 3 U.S. students
initially, and up to 6 in Years 3 and beyond. This would reduce the need for in-state
remissions, and the need for FTE to support graduate student teaching by 1.5.
o $35,000 to $45,000 for graduate student support from externally supported research of faculty.
●
What new financial resources will come to the university based on the projected increase in enrollment?
About $200,000 per year directly from State Funding Model, and about $223,000 per year in Funding
Model “Other Academic, Library, General Institutional Support” revenues.
●
Will the program students contribute to the financing of the program through teaching, research, and
clinical practice?
All students will serve as Teaching Assistants, unless fully supported by external funds; advanced
students will also teach regular courses for the department’s undergraduate degree programs. All faculty
external grant proposals will routinely include a line for graduate student support. Students will be
required every year (after the first) to apply for external funding in order to be eligible for internal support.
We expect students in the program to be strong candidates for support from external agencies, such as
the Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowships from the Social Science Research Council. We
anticipate an occasional self-financed student, i.e. requiring no support from the program. All students in
good standing in the program, however, will be supported from the third year, through teaching in the
department if not on a faculty or IGERT research fellowship.
●
What are your plans for the program if the financial resources anticipated for the program (enrollment,
external support, etc.) are 25% lower and 50% lower than expected?
Currently available resources in the department, together with the expected external grant support,
provide over 50% of the full annual costs of the program; see the needs discussion below. Thus a 50%
cut in available resources can arise only if the college and university provide absolutely no additional
support, and a 25% cut would be equivalent to providing only half of what we are requesting, e.g. no
additional tuition remissions plus a 20% cut in lapsed salary funds to support graduate student
assistantships.
The anticipated program is lean in its resource requirements, and can only be successfully run for the first
five years with annual funding at levels very near those outlined above. To attract quality students into a
PhD program we must offer at least $22,000 plus tuition and fees per year, a cost to the department of
around $40,000/student for the first year, and in the second year and beyond for foreign students, and
about $32,000 per domestic student following the first year. We anticipate that those funds will be
generated in part from an NSF IGERT Grant, and by using the students as teaching and research
assistants after the first year, if appropriate FTE are allocated to support teaching by PhD students. Thus
insufficient funding of the program could be temporarily met by some reduction (up to 2 in the first cohort)
in the number of supported students admitted, by reducing the number of foreign students allowed in the
program, and by some reduction in the stipend granted per student. Some cost savings can also be
achieved through the reduction in computers/workstations made available to the PhD students, and the
elimination of the technical reference room. And some further student support funds might be raised by
the Department Advancement Council. Such adaptations could cover shortfalls in funding for a few
years, but are not a viable permanent situation. The department is committed to a serious effort to raise
research funding for graduate students, but the preparation of competitive proposals requires some
6
access to such students already in place. Thus, after five years, with a second and third cohort of PhD
students moving through the program, it will be much better placed to increase the level of student
funding through faculty research, than if a shortfall in anticipated funding should occur during the first few
years of the program.
Part Five: Assessing External Support and Collaboration

List active grants/contracts specifically related to the proposed program.
Department of Commerce, Northern Gulf Institute (NOAA) “Toward an Understanding of Gulf Coast
Resident Preferences and Perceptions on Risk and Restoration” with Mississippi State University,
subaward total $35,000, 2009-2011. Landry (subaward PI)
Department of Commerce, North Carolina Sea Grant “Economic Values of Coastal Erosion
Management”, total support $77,000 ($60,000 to ECU), 2012 – 2014, Landry (PI)
Department of Commerce, National Institute for Standards and Technology, “Modeling Natural Disaster
Risk Management: a stakeholder perspective,” with University of Delaware, subaward total $125,000,
2010-2013. Kruse/Ericson (subaward PI).
Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) IPA Chief
Economist, total $160,000, 2010. Kruse.
Michigan Center for African American Aging Research “A Multilevel Analysis of Contextual Risk
Factors in African American Health” with ECU College of Human Ecology, $2500, 2010-2011. Liu (co-PI).
National Institutes of Health “School Choice, Maternal Employment and Child Achievement” with
University of Clemson, total support $900,000 ($350,000) to ECU, 2006-2010. Liu (PI).
National Science Foundation, “Development of a quantitative model for measuring regional economic
resilience to hurricanes,” with Texas Tech, sub award total $91,360, 2010-2012. Kruse (subaward PI).
National Science Foundation “Coastal Sustainability and Resiliency Research Network” – cooperative
pre-proposal to establish cyber research network with Texas A&M, Florida International University,
University of Delaware, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, $6 million, 2012 – 2016.
Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) RENCI@East Carolina University, Coastal Systems
Informatics and Modeling (C-SIM) Cooperative Agreement with Renaissance Computing Institute, total
support $1.7 mil, 2006-2009. Renewal 2009-2012 with year-to-year funding. Landry and Kruse are
research associates of the center.
US Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management “Welfare Economics of
Beach Nourishment Projects Using OCS Sand Resources”, total support $150,000, 2012 – 2014. Landry
(PI).
Other
Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Graduate Sciences
Program Fellow, Hillary Huffer, Coastal Resources Management Doctoral student supervised by Kruse.
Four years of graduate support.
Active ECU Development Grants:
Center for Natural Hazards Research (CNHR) Seed Grant “Modeling Storm Surge and Flood Losses in
NC Coastal Communities”, 2010. Bin (PI)
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
Describe existing collaborative efforts related to the proposed program with community or state agencies,
other institutions of higher education, federal laboratories or agencies, national centers, or other external
organizations.
The Center for Natural Hazards Research (CNHR) is actively involved with the North Carolina
Department of Emergency Management to produce the NCEM/ECU Hurricane Workshop. We are
planning our third annual workshop scheduled for May 23, 2012. We started with mainly emergency
managers but are now getting participation from county information officers, department of transportation,
the military and weather media people as well. Attendance has averaged 125-150 registered
participants. Bill Reade (National Hurricane Center) is our planned lunch speaker for this year.
CNHR also provides support and coordination for natural hazard research endeavors. Research
associates include faculty members across many disciplines at ECU, NC State, Appalachian State
University, UNC–Wilmington, UNC-Charlotte, and Texas Tech. Kruse is the Director of CNHR; Landry is
Assistant Director, and Bin, Bishop, Ericson, Liu, Jahan-Parvar, Keeler, and Zeager are associates.
CNHR resources (administrative support, graduate student work space, course buy-outs, existing
research networks) can be leveraged to support grant writing in the area of economics of natural hazards
risk.
Professor Kruse is a research associate of the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center
(WISE) at Texas Tech University. WISE conducts research and outreach concerning severe wind events
and their impacts on the built environment. WISE includes researchers from civil engineering,
atmospheric science, economics, mathematics, and operations research.
RENCI@East Carolina University is a regional engagement center of the Renaissance Computing
Institute that is dedicated to using state-of-the-art computing technology to improve the quality of life and
economic well-being of the citizens of North Carolina. It is part of a network of North Carolina Centers
based at UNC-CH, NCSU, UNC-Charlotte and UNC-A. Although the funding stream has been wound
down in recent years, the infrastructure and human network relationships still exist.
Coastal Studies Institute, Director for Human Dimensions of Sustainability, Dr. Andrew Keeler holds a
joint appointment with the Department of Economics. With the completion of the new campus at Manteo
in summer 2012, coursework, research and student support will be a joint initiative.
Professor Liu is an adjunct faculty member with ECU’s Department of Public Health at the Brody School
of Medicine. He serves as a guest instructor to the research methodology class for their graduate
students of Public Health. The research collaboration with Department of Public Health has been focused
on engaging in community-based research with linkages throughout North Carolina.
The Department of Economics and CNHR have developed a Memorandum of Understanding with
Columbia Consortium for Risk Management (CCRM), including Columbia University and the
University of Grenoble, in which the parties commit to develop opportunities for sharing information and
research collaboration relating to the management of natural hazards risk and uncertainty, the exchange
of research visits for collaboration, and joint grant submissions.
CNHR is a collaborator with University of South Carolina, University of Iowa and Princeton on a proposed
National Flood Center, NSF Science and Technology Center. Kruse (economics), Montz and Gares
(geography) are listed on the proposal. Total budget for these large integrative centers is $30 million for
the first year with an initial commitment of five years under cooperative agreement.

How do you plan to use external funding to support the proposed program? To what agencies or
programs would proposals be submitted and with what timeframe?
National Science Foundation (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) Proposal is in
preparation. Letter of Intent submitted by May 1, 2012, and full proposal submitted by July 2, 2012. If
funded the five-year award will start July 1, 2013. Award is up to $3.3 million with the primary purpose to
support graduate students. If successful, the IGERT will be administered jointly between the proposed
Risk Economics PhD program and the existing Coastal Resources Management PhD program.
8
National Science Foundation offers dissertation fellowships, which faculty members will assist graduate
students in applying for. Other options include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s STAR
graduate fellowships, and NOAA’s Graduate Sciences Fellowship Program (through which a current CRM
student - mentored by Kruse - has received full graduate support).
Faculty members in the Department of Economics regularly seek research funding from federal and state
government sources – such as National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, - as well as private
foundations (such as The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Rural Assistance Center). These
grant applications will include support for graduate students, including tuition remission, health insurance,
fees, and stipend.

What indications are there that the proposed program addresses significant problems of stated interest to
funding agencies?
The National Science Board issued a draft report, “Hurricane Warning: The Critical Need for a National
Hurricane Research Initiative,” calls for an additional $300 million per year to be allocated to hurricane
related research. The draft report dated September 29, 2006, calls for National Science Foundation to
co-lead the initiative with NOAA, NASA and other organizations. More recently, a report dated
November 2011, entitled “Rebuilding the Mosaic: Fostering Research in the Social, Behavioral, and
Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation over the Next Decade” calls for expanded
research efforts with respect to “risk, decision making, and vulnerabilities” and calls “for integration of
combinations of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, economics, sociology, political science, and
technology” in that regard. These are precisely the types of applied research for which the proposed
program will educate economic analysts. Indeed, this describes the current research that the Center for
Natural Hazards Research (CNHR) is pursuing. With its history of research on hurricane mitigation,
CNHR is well positioned to further its research agenda and support graduate students under this initiative.
In concert with the operations of the Center for Natural Hazards Research and the existing PhD
program in Coastal Resources Management, the proposed PhD in economics would help to address
emerging interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research needs in risk, decision making, and social and
economic vulnerability.
A recent study by researchers at UNC Chapel Hill (American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2009) has
concluded that economic analysis is very critical in deciding the allocation of scarce public health
resources while there is a gap of such analysis among public health researchers. After surveying 300
scholars, practitioners, and community representatives, they found the majority of these public health
researchers and policy makers desire more collaboration with health economists and they also
anticipated that opportunities for such collaborations will continue to rise in the future. In addition, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention employs more than 60 doctoral level health economists to conduct
public health economics related research projects and at the same time provides a growing number of
grant opportunities to external proposals in the realm of public health economics.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has specifically designed grants to increase the number and diversity
of Ph. D. graduates with formal training in the fields of public health economics by creating Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy and providing funding opportunities such as the Health
Policy Partnerships in Diversity.

How well does the proposed program align with state and national initiatives as stated by the indicated
governmental agencies?
National Sea Grant and North Carolina Sea Grant Program are logical sources of external funds
because of their concern with issues of coastal development. The focus of the proposed program on
topics such as regulation, human behavior and risk, and coastal development are a direct response to
these issues. Funds have been secured from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, and NC Sea Grant for two different studies of the recreation, property, and environmental
effects of coastal erosion risk management. A letter of Intent has been submitted to the National Sea
9
Grant Law Center to study the relationship between building codes, land use regulation and coastal land
values. Future topics of research dealing with economic development and risk management in the
coastal zone will be developed in proposals to both the state and national Sea Grant offices. All
proposals will routinely include graduate student support.
The strategic plans of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) both call for risk analysis of the type the proposed program will provide. One of
USGS’s strategic directions is entitled “A National Hazards, Risk and Resilience Assessment Program:
ensuring the long-term health and Wealth of the nation.” Kruse was an invited speaker at the June 2011
USGS workshop, “The Role of Economics: Integrating Economics into the USGS Research Portfolio.” In
NOAA’s Next Generation Strategic Plan vision for the future, a “Weather-ready Nation” and “Resilient
Coastal Communities and Economies” are two or the four NOAA objectives. Both objectives require the
ability to analyze weather and coastal hazards in the context social and economic consequences under
risk and uncertainty.
How well does the proposed program align with state and national initiatives as stated by the indicated
foundations or other non-governmental sources?
Our primary targets for external support will be federal and state funding agencies such as those
described above.
What kind of university investments will be needed to leverage external support and over what time
period?
The primary university investments required are the provision of sufficient space, of initial faculty, and an
allocation of three FTE dedicated to the support of PhD students until they can be sufficiently trained to
provide qualified research support in externally funded projects. This is largely an up-front investment,
although continuing graduate student support will be required as two to three years of course work are
necessary. Given alternating year admissions to the program, it will require at least four years before two
cohorts of graduate students are adequately trained to contribute to grants. At that point we would expect
that one FTE of the university contribution could be replaced by external research funding. The
remaining university contribution will be compensated for by graduate student teaching in their second
and third years, and beyond for those not working on an externally funded grant.
i
Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2010-11 Edition, http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm
U.S.Office of Management and Budget (OMB), MEMORANDUM M-07-24, “Updated Principles for Risk
Analysis,” September 19, 2007, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2007/m07-24.pdf
ii
iii
Op. cit., p. 3.
iv
Op. cit., p. 5 (emphasis added).
John J. Siegfried and Wendy A. Stock, “The Market for New PhD Economists in 2002,” American Economic
Review Papers and Proceedings, May 2004, pp. 272-285. The most recent survey of the job market for new
PhD economists reveals that 67% of new PhD economists took academic positions in fall 2006. See “Survey of
The Labor Market for New PhD Hires In Economics 2006-2007,” Center for Business and Economic Research,
University of Arkansas, p. 32, http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf00319/pdf/nsf00319.pdf.
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