Kathleen Thomas PhD

 Kathleen Thomas PhD

Title:

  • Department Chairperson; Professor of Economics

Contacts:

mkt27@msstate.edu
Office: (662) 325-2561
312-H
M. Kathleen Thomas on ResearchGate">Visit Website for Kathleen Thomas

Overview

Summary:

Dr. M. Kathleen Thomas is the Department Head of Finance and Economics at Mississippi State University and a Professor of Economics. She specializes in public finance and education policy. Prior to joining the faculty at MSU, Dr. Thomas was a researcher with the Texas Schools Project at The University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Thomas’ research has been published in numerous peer reviewed journals including Economics Letters, Social Choice and Welfare, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Cultural Economics, and Economics of Education Review. Her research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Thomas earned her Ph.D. in economics from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University in 2000.

Education:

  • Ph D, Economics, Georgia State University, 2000
  • MA, Economics, The University of Alabama, 1995
  • BS, Economics, Birmingham-Southern College, 1992

Publications

Book, Chapter

  • Savoir évaluer des programmes d’enseignement artistique: le cas de Little Kids Rock.. Évaluer les politiques publiques de la culture.. Ed. Yann Nicolas and Olivier Gergaud. Paris, France: Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication. 2016
  • Advanced Placement Participation: Evaluating the Policies of States and Colleges. AP: A Critical Examination of the Role of the Advanced Placement Program in Education. Ed. Sadler, P., Tai, R., Klopfenstein, K. and Sonnert, G.. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. 2010

Journal Article

  • Practice What You Preach and Be a Control FreakApplied Economics. Volume 52, Issue 42. 2020
  • Voluntary taxation and the artsJournal of Cultural Economics. Volume 44, Issue 4, Pages 589-604. 2020
  • Giving to Poverty Relief Charities: The Impact of Beliefs and Misperceptions Toward Income Redistribution in a Real Donation Experiment. Social Choice and Welfare. Volume 49, Issue 2, Pages 387-409. 2017
  • Arts Education and the High School Dropout ProblemJournal of Cultural Economics. Volume 39, Issue 4, Pages 327-339. 2015
  • Monetary incentives versus class credit: Evidence from a large classroom trust experiment. Economics Letters. Volume 123, Pages 232-235. 2014
  • Access to High School Arts Education: Why Student Participation Matters as Much as Course AvailabilityEducation Policy Analysis Archives. Volume 21, Issue 83. 2013
  • Teaching Macroeconomic Principles Using Animated Cartoons. The American Economist. Volume 56, Issue 1, Pages 38-47. 2011
  • Testing the Economic Literacy of K-12 Teachers: A Statewide Baseline Analysis. American Secondary Education. Volume 38, Issue 3, Pages 4-20. 2010
  • Simpsonomics: Teaching Economics Using Episodes from the Television Show The Simpsons.. Journal of Economic Education. Volume 41, Issue 2, Pages 136-149. 2010
  • The Impact of Education Histories on the Decision to Become Self-Employed: A Study of Young, Aspiring Minority Business Owners. Small Business Economics. Volume 33, Issue 4, Pages 455-466. 2009
  • The Link Between Advanced Placement Experience and Early College Success. Southern Economic Journal. Volume 75, Issue 3, Pages 873-891. 2009
  • District Level Mandates and High School Students' Understanding of Economics. Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research. Volume 9, Issue 2, Pages 3-16. 2008
  • Developing an Intervention Bridging Program for At-Risk Students Before the Traditional Pre-Freshman Summer Program. College Student Journal. Volume 41, Issue 1, Pages 151-159. 2007
  • Teacher Training and Market Attitudes in Transitioning Economies. The American Economist. Volume 50, Issue 2, Pages 32-41. 2006
  • Seeking Every Advantage: The Phenomenon of Taking Both the SAT and ACT. Economics of Education Review. Volume 23, Issue 2, Pages 203-208. 2004
  • The SAT II: Majority/Minority Test Score Gaps and What They Could Mean for College Admissions. Social Science Quarterly. Volume 85, Issue 5, Pages 1318-1334. 2004
  • Where College-Bound Students Send Their SAT Scores: Does Race Matter?. Social Science Quarterly. Volume 85, Issue 5, Pages 1374-1389. 2004
  • The Mississippi Budget: An Overview of Selected Revenue and Expenditure Patterns. State Tax Notes. Volume 30, Issue 11, Pages 849-66. 2003

Presentations

Demonstration

  • "Using Active Learning Lessons Developed for High Schools Students in the College Classroom." 13th Annual Economics Teaching Workshop, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, Wilmington, NC. 2013

Paper

  • "Perceptions on Income Inequality." 90th Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association, Southern Economic Association, New Orleans/virtual. 2020
  • "Designing and Implementing Program Evaluations in Arts Education: The Case of Little Kids Rock." 85th Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association, Southern Economic Association, New Orleans. 2015
  • "Designing and implementing program evaluations in arts education: The case of Little Kids Rock." 7th Conference on Cultural and Media Economics, French Ministry of Culture and Communication; Department of Studies, Forward-Looking Analysis and Statistics; KEDGE Business School; Sciences Po, Paris, France. 2015
  • "Arts Education and the High School Dropout Problem." 84th Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association, Southern Economic Association, Atlanta, GA. 2014
  • "Arts Education and the High School Dropout Problem." Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Research Seminar Series, Center for Human Capital Studies, Atlanta. 2013
  • "Access to High School Arts Education." Southern Economic Association, , Atlanta, GA. 2010
  • "College Major Choice of Student Athletes." The Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting, Southern Economic Association, Washington, DC. 2008
  • "Simpsonomics: Teaching Economics Using Episodes from The Simpsons." The Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting, Southern Economic Association, Washington, DC. 2008
  • "District Level Mandates and High School Student's Understanding of Economics." The Allied Academy of Economics and Economic Education Spring Conference, Allied Academy of Economics and Economic Education, Tunica, MS. 2008
  • "District Level Mandates and High School Students' Understanding of Economics." The National Association of Economic Educators Meetings, The National Association of Economic Educators, Denver, CO. 2007
  • "AP Participation: Evaluating the Policies of States and Colleges." Synthesis of Research on Advanced High School Coursework in Science and Mathematics Symposium, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. 2007
  • "Establishing a Baseline Measure of Teacher Economic Literacy in Mississippi." The American Economic Association Annual Meetings, The Allied Social Science Association, Chicago, IL. 2007
  • "The Impact of Education Histories on the Decision to Become Self-employed: A Study of Young, Aspiring, Minority Business Owners." Annual meetings of the Southern Economic Association, Southern Economic Association, Charleston, SC. 2006
  • "Teacher Training and Market Attitudes in Transitioning Economies." National Association of Economic Educators Meetings, National Association of Economic Educators, New York, NY. 2006
  • "Testing the Economic Literacy of K-12 Teachers: A Baseline Analysis for Mississippi." The Southern Economic Association Annual Meetings, Southern Economic Association, Washington, DC. 2005
  • "The Advanced Placement Performance Advantage: Fact or Fiction." American Economic Association meetings, American Economic Association, Philadelphia, PA. 2005
  • "The Advanced Placement Performance Advantage: Fact or Fiction?." Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association, Eastern Economic Association, . 2004
  • "Do Teacher Attitudes Become More Pro-Market After Teachers Participate in Training Programs in Transition Economies?." Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association, Southern Economic Association, . 2004
  • "The Advanced Placement Performance Advantage: Fact or Fiction?." Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association, Southern Economic Association, . 2004
  • "The Advanced Placement Performance Advantage: Fact or Fiction?." Research Seminar, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS. 2004
  • "The Advanced Placement Performance Advantage: Fact or Fiction?." Research Seminar, Department of Economics at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. 2004
  • "." Research Seminar, University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, . 2003
  • "." Research Seminar, Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management, . 2002
  • "." Southern Economics Association Annual Meetings, Southern Economic Association, . 2002