Clinical Assistant Professor at
University of South Carolina’s
Darla Moore School of Business
Ph.D. Economics, Colorado State University 2017
M.A. Economics, Colorado State University 2013
M.S. Physics, University of Arkansas 2007
B.S. Physics, University of Arkansas 2005; B.S.Mathematics, University of Arkansas 2005
I am an applied theorist whose research fields are public policy and environmental economics. Broadly, I am interested in the policy problems that arise from inconsistencies in decision-making under risk and uncertainty. Currently, I am modeling fracking policy as a risky and uncertain investment-timing problem using numerical methods to find an empirically grounded solution. Previously, I was an astrophysicist who worked on ground-based, extra-solar planet searches.
In my dissertation, An Option Value Analysis of Hydraulic FracturingI explore a class of investment-timing problems by juxtaposing an empirically grounded computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, a finite horizon dynamic programming framework, and Bayesian learning. This allows for the data-driven monetary estimates of the economic benefits and option values of a public project whose effects span many sectors, is irreversible, and with uncertainty that resolves over time.
joshuahhess.wordpress.com 