David C. Rose, Ph.D.

Professor; Department Chair
Department of Economics

Professor Rose received his Ph.D. in 1987 from the University of Virginia. He is currently chair of the department and previously served as the department’s director of graduate studies for four years. He regularly teaches principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics, intermediate microeconomic theory, graduate microeconomic theory, mathematical economics, and a course in the theory of the firm. His areas of research interest are behavioral economics, organization theory, and the role culture – particularly moral beliefs – play in supporting market institutions. He is particularly interested in the role that firms play in fostering economic development through their efforts to innovate. His latest paper, “The Neighboring Farmer Effect” (under review at the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization) explains how cooperation can emerge spontaneously to promote technology adoption even among rival firms in a highly competitive market. He has another paper, “The Dynamics of Small Industries: Market Size and Knowledge Spillovers,” (with Serguey Braguinsky, Salavat Gabdrakhmanov, and Atsuhsi Ohyama under review at the Journal of Development Economics) that explores the developmental implications of the trade-off between strong incentives and a high rate of technological diffusion. Professor Rose is writing a book titled The Moral Foundation of Economic Behavior. He is also working with Barbara Flowers (Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education) to develop the first economic curriculum that spans all of K-12 education.