Couch

NBER Releases Research on COVID-19 Impacts on Minority Unemployment Co-authored by UConn Economics Faculty

Posted on May 26, 2020 by McConnel, Mark

A working paper has been released by the National Bureau of Economic Research that examines the impact of COVID-19 on minority unemployment through the most recent release of Current Population Survey (CPS) data for April of 2020.

The research finds that unemployment of blacks (at 16.6 percent) has not been impacted as severely as during past downturns although their unemployment rate is above the national average of 14.7 percent. In comparison, Latinx unemployment (at 18.2 percent) has been much more impacted than in recent months or the Great Recession. Historically, unemployment of blacks would be greater than that of Latinx throughout the business cycle. In the April CPS data, for the first time, unemployment of Latinx is higher. The analysis reveals that the disproportionate impact among the Latinx is related to lower levels of education, less work experience, and a concentration of employment in industries and occupations that left them more vulnerable to job loss.

The research is co-authored by Robert Fairlie of the University of California Santa Cruz, UConn Faculty member Ken Couch, and Huanan Xu of Indiana University South Bend. Xu is an alumni of the UConn Ph.D. program in economics.

The working paper can be found at this link:

https://www.nber.org/papers/w27246.pdf

JPAM, Edited by Kenneth Couch at UConn, Ranked in Economics Top 40 and Top 3 of Public Administration

Posted on October 9, 2015October 9, 2015 by McConnel, Mark

Based on Journal Citation Report data released this week, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM) is ranked 31^st within economics based on the two-year impact factor (2.58) and 37^th based on the five-year impact factor (3.03) among 333 listed journals.

JPAM is also ranked second among 46 listed journals in the field of Public Administration using either the two or five-year impact factor. University of Connecticut Professor, Ken Couch, serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal.

Ken Couch of UConn visits RAND and USC

Posted on September 30, 2015September 30, 2015 by McConnel, Mark

Kenneth Couch from UConn visited the Pardee Graduate School at RAND in Santa Monica, California in September where he made a research presentation.

While in Los Angeles, he also visited with one of his research collaborators, Julie Zissimopoulos, and a Co-Editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Elizabeth Graddy, at USC. Professor Graddy serves as Vice Provost of Academic and Faculty Affairs for USC.

Couch Serves on APPAM Strategic Planning Committee

Posted on July 28, 2015October 2, 2015 by McConnel, Mark

Professor Kenneth Couch is participating in a Strategic Planning Committee of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM).

APPAM is a scholarly association representing roughly 90 member institutions and 2000 individual members. The committee is charged with developing a five-year strategic plan for APPAM and is chaired by a Harvard Professor and the Chief Economist of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Other members of the committee include representatives of Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, Howard University, Mathematica, MDRC, Pepperdine and the University of Minnesota.