Bio:

Lea-Rachel Kosnik is a Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She received her BA and MA from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and her PhD from the University of California-Los Angeles, after having spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Ankara, Turkey studying hydroelectric power and renewable energy in the Middle East. Professor Kosnik's research focuses primarily on energy and environmental issues, including climate change and electricity generation, and she is a considered a leading expert on the topic of hydroelectric energy production in the U.S., and hydropower regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In recent years her research has expanded to include important analyses of the academic economics profession itself, including studies that focus on gender issues, DEI initiatives, and retirement and research productivity. Methodologically, her skill set includes textual analysis and natural language processing, along with traditional econometric techniques. In 2016 she received an honorable mention for Article of the Year from Contemporary Economic Policy, and in 2022 she gave the keynote address to the Illinois Economics Association. She has also served in a number of important service capacities, including as Midwest Representative and Regional Co-ordinator for the Association of Enironmental and Resource Economists' (AERE) environmental sessions at the annual MEA meetings, as an AERE Board Member, as President, Past-President, and Board Member of the Transportation and Public Utilities Group (TPUG), and as Department Chair.

 

 

CV:

     CV - Abbreviated (January, 2024)
     

 

Publications:

     Kosnik, L.R., and Daniel S. Hamermesh.  2024.  "Aging in Style: Seniority and Sentiment in Scholarly Writing."  

        Southern Economic Journal  In Press.

        [Data File]  [Do File]  [Tables]

     Bellas, Allen, and L.R. Kosnik.  2024.  "When is the Ark Getting Here? The Impact of the Media on Threatened

        and Endangered Species' Time to Listing and Long-Term Sustainability."  In Press.

     Hamermesh, Daniel S., and L.R. Kosnik.  2024.  "Why Do Older Scholars Slow Down?"  Economic Inquiry

        62(1):488-499.

     Kosnik, L.R.  2023.  "Additional Evidence on Gender and Language in Academic Economics Research."  

        Scientometrics  128:5949-5968.

     Hamermesh, Daniel S., and L.R. Kosnik.  2023.  "Why Do Older Scholars Slow Down?"  NBER Working

        Paper Series.

     Kuminoff, Nicolai V., Katherine Ciaramello, Hanna M. Dooley, Martin Heintzelman, Neha Khanna, Lea-Rachel

        Kosnik, Lynne Lewis, and Eric. Trimble.  2023. "New Evidence on Diversity in Environmental and Resource

        Economics."  Review of Environmental Economics and Policy.  17(1):178-187.

     Kosnik, L.R., and Daniel S. Hamermesh. 2023. "Aging in Style: Does How We Write Matter?"  IZA

        Working Paper Series.

     Bellas, Allen, and L.R. Kosnik.  2023.  "The Local and Aggregated Impacts of Stay-at-Home Orders

        on State Level Unemployment Outcomes."  Eastern Economic Journal  49(2):142-155.

        [Online Graphs Appendix]

     Kosnik, L.R. 2022. "Who Are the More Dismal Economists?  Gender and Language in Academic

        Economics Research."  AEA Papers and Proceedings 112:1-5.

     Kosnik, L.R., and Allen Bellas.  2020.  "Drivers of COVID-19 Stay at Home Orders:  Epidemiologic,

        Economic, or Political Concerns?"  Economics of Disasters and Climate Change  4(3):503-514.

     Fogarty, B., Kimball, D.C., Kosnik, L.R. 2020.  "The Media, Voter Fraud, and the U.S. 2012 Elections."

          Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties  10.1080/17457289.2019.1711383

     Bellas, Allen and L. Kosnik.  2020.  "A Retrospective Benefit Cost Analysis on the Elwha River Restoration

          Project." Journal of Benefit Cost Analysis  11(1):76-100.. 

     Kosnik, L.R.  2018.  "Cap-and-Trade versus Carbon Taxes:  Which Market Mechanism Does the Public

        Favor?"  (26 pgs.)  Climatic Change  151(3):605-618.

     Bellas, Allen and L. Kosnik. 2018. "Which Leading Journal Leads?  Idea Diffusion in Economics Research

        Journals."  Empirical Economics  57:901-921.

     Kosnik, L.  2018.  "JEL Codes - What Do They Mean and Are They Used Consistently?"  (36 pgs.)  Journal of

        Economic Surveys  32(1):249-272.

     Kosnik, L.  2016.  "In Tandem or Out of Sync?  Academic Economics Research and Public Policy

        Measures."  Contemporary Economic Policy  34(1):190-202.

     Kosnik, L.  2015.  "What Have Economists Been Doing for the Last 50 Years?  A Text Analysis of

        Published Academic Research from 1960-2010."  Economics  9:1-38.

     Kosnik, L.  2014.  "Determinants of Contract Completeness:  An Environmental Regulatory Application."

        International Review of Law and Economics  37:198-208.

     Kosnik, L (Associate Editor).  2014.  Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: An Encyclopedia,

        eds. by Tim Haab and John Whitehead.  Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

     Kosnik, L.  2014.  "Energy - Alternative Sources."  Entry In: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics:

        An Encyclopedia, eds. by Tim Haab and John Whitehead.  Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

     Kosnik, L.  2014.  "Elinor Ostrom."  Entry In: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: An Encyclopedia,

        eds. by Tim Haab and John Whitehead.  Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

     Kosnik, L.  2012.  "The Anticommons and the Environment."  Journal of Environmental Management.  

        101:1-12.

     Kosnik, L. and Ian Lange. 2011.  "Contract Renegotiation and Rent Re-Distribution: Who Gets Raked Over

        the Coals."  The Journal of Environmental Economics and Management  62:155-165.

     Kosnik, L.  2010.   "The Potential for Small Scale Hydropower Development in the U.S."  Energy Policy  

        38(10):5512-5519.

     Kosnik, L.  2010.  "River-Basin Water Management in the U.S.: A Regulatory Anticommons."  Environmental

        & Energy Law & Policy Journal  5(2):183-213.

     Kosnik, L.  2010.  "Balancing Environmental Protection and Energy Production in the Federal Hydropower

        Licensing Process."  Land Economics  86(3):444-466..

     Kosnik, L.  2010.  "Time to Pick a Fight? Interest Group Decision Making to Enter the Hydropower Regulatory

        Process."  Eastern Economic Journal  36(1):11-32.

     Kosnik, L. 2009.  "Letter: Regarding Voting for Charity's Sake."  The Economists' Voice  6(3):Article 4.

     Kosnik, L. 2008.  "The Potential of Water Power in the Fight Against Global Warming in the U.S."  

        Energy Policy  36(9):3252-3265.

     Kosnik, L.  2008.  "Refusing to Budge: A Confirmatory Bias in Decision Making?"  Mind and Society  

        7(2):193-214.

     Kosnik, L.  2008.  "Consolidation & Ownership Trends of Nonfederal Hydropower Generating Assets,

        1980-2003."  Energy Economics  30(3):715-731.

     Kosnik, L.  2007. "The Greening of Higher Education."  Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

        Newsletter 27(2):22-25.

     Kosnik, L.  2006. “Sources of Bureaucratic Delay: A Case Study of FERC Dam Relicensing.”  Journal

        of Law, Economics, and Organization  22(1):258-288.

     Meiners, R.E. and Kosnik, L. 2003. “Restoring Harmony in the Klamath Basin.” PERC Policy Series 27:1-28.

     Anderson, T.L. and Kosnik, L. 2002. “Sustainable Skepticism and Sustainable Development.” Case Western

        Reserve Law Review 53(2):439-48.

     Yandle, B., Morriss, A.P. and Kosnik, L. 2002. Regulating Air Quality Through Litigation: The Diesel

        Engine Episode Bozeman: PERC.

     Yandle, B., Morriss, A.P. and Kosnik, L. 2002. “Regulation by Litigation: The Diesel Engine Episode.”

        PERC Policy Series 25:1-27.

 

 

Working Papers:

     Kosnik, L.R.  2024.  "Picking Up the PACE: An Estimate of the Environmental Benefits to 'Set the PACE'

        Projects in St. Louis."  Under Review.

     Haab, Tim, L.R. Kosnik, and John Whitehead.  2024.  "What Do Environmental and Resource Economists

        Think? An Update."  Working Paper.

     Kosnik, L.R.  2024.  "The Cat and His Hat: A Contingent Valuation on the Value of a Statistical Cat Life."

        Working Paper.

     Kosnik, L.R.  2023.  "Small-Scale Hydropower, An Update: Production, Potential, and Global Environmental

        Justice Implications."  Working Paper.

     Bellas, Allen, and L.R. Kosnik.  2021.  "COVID-19 Extension."  Working Paper.

     Karig, M., Kosnik, L.R., Nayak, S., and Douglas Smith.  2020.  "Assessing Residential Customer Satisfaction

        for Large Electric Utilities."  (35 pgs.)   Revise and Resubmit.

     Kosnik, L.R.  2018.  "RGGI Auction Prices and Tone."  Working Paper.

     Kosnik, L.R.  2018.  "Extended Producer Responsibility Laws by State.."  Working Paper.

     

 

Ghost Papers (that appear to have died a spooky, inexplicable death):

     Kosnik, L. and L. Collingwood.  2013.  "Automated Text Classification of Legal Contracts Using

        Supervised Learning Methods."

     Kosnik, L., Mark Jamison, and Ted Kury.  2012.  "Quantifying the Effects of Carbon Dioxide Emissions

        Limits on the Electricity Market in China."  (6 pgs.)

     Kosnik, L.  2011.  "The National Security Benefit to Domestic Energy Production."

     Kosnik, L.  2007.  "Hydropower: A Comparative Regulatory Analysis of the U.S., New Zealand, and China."

     Kosnik, L.  2004.  "An Aggregation Effect in Behavioral Decision-Making."  (30 pgs.)

 

 

Interviews/Write-Ups/The Popular Press (Selected):

     VoxEU, May 24, 2023.  "Economists Growing Old."  The Center for Economic Policy Research.

     St. Louis Public Radio-NPR, November 11, 2021.  "Spire is Warning of Winter Gas Shortages."

     UMSL Daily , February 8, 2021.  "Ask An Expert - Faculty Spotlight."

     UMSL Daily, April 13, 2020.  "UMSL Faculty, Students Featured on St. Louis Fed's 'Women

        in Economics Podcast."

     Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, March 30, 2020.  "Women in Economics: Marie Mora and

        Lea-Rachel Kosnik."

     LA Times, January 7, 2020.  "Why Do Gas Prices Rise Quickly, and Come Down Really, Really

        Slowly?"

     St. Louis Public Radio-NPR, November 18, 2018.  "Climate Change to Bring Missouri Heavier Rains, Hotter

        Days and Major Costs."

     The Christian Science Monitor, May 13, 2016.  "Hydropower's Next Act: Becoming a Less-Controversial

        Renewable."

     E&E News, February 23, 2015. "Net Metering Produced a Benefit in MO., Report Says."

     Alternatives Economiques, December 2014.  "C'est prouve scientifiquement: les economistes ont la grosse tete!"

     UMSL Daily, December 8, 2014, "UMSL Economist Publishes Novel on Judith Shakespeare."

     Investor's Business Daily, June 3, 2014, "Energy Employers Can't Find Enough Young Job Seekers."

     KWMU St. Louis Public Radio interview, December 19, 2013, on the economy and extending government

        unemployment benefits.

     KWMU St. Louis Public Radio interview, August 1, 2013, "Jury Still Out on Missouri Sales Tax Holidays -

        Are You Shopping This Weekend?"

     The Tribune-Star, March 2, 2013, "Environmental Economist to Speak on River-Basin Regulation,

        Small-Scale Hydropower."

     The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 16, 2012, "Boeing, Wash U., Others Play 'What If' with the Fiscal

        Cliff."

     UMSL Daily, January 12, 2012, "Economist Discusses Future of Ethanol Industry, Gas Prices."

     KWMU St. Louis Public Radio interview, January 10, 2012, "The Future of Ethanol."

     The Current, November 28, 2011, "Climate Scientists' Warning to Prepare for Extreme Weather

        Follows Record-Setting Summer."

     KDHX radio interview, November 10, 2011, "Earthworms: Environmental Economics and Energy Markets."

     HEC-TV, July, 2011, "Impact: Environmental Mom/Economist."

     Jewish Light, April 21, 2011, "UMSL Professor Combines Environment and Economics."

     The Current, March 8, 2011, "UMSL Professor Plays an Active Part in EPA's 2011 Clean Air Act."

     The Current, March 1, 2011, "UMSL Economist Kosnik, Movie Star Portman Join."

     KMOX/CBS St. Louis media interview (print), February 24, 2011,  "Missouri Mom Combats Pollutant."

     KMOX/CBS St. Louis media interview (radio), February 24, 2011,  "Missouri Mom Combats Pollutant."

     UMSL Newsroom Blog, February 22, 2011, "Economist Joins Natalie Portman, Scientist Moms to

        Reduce Toxic Pollution."

     The Current, October 18, 2010, "Who is Big in Science on Campus?"

     The St.Louis Post-Dispatch, August 10, 2010, "Saggin Income Signals Tough Road Ahead ":

        http://www.stltoday.com

     UMSL Newsroom Blog, June 29, 2010, "Environmental Economist Overcomes Obstacles, Now in

        High Demand."

     Science Matters Blog, December 9, 2009, "During Copenhagen, Scientists Speak on What We

        Should Do About Climate Change."

     The Current, September 8, 2009, "Lea-Rachel Kosnik's Knowledge Combines Environment and

        Economics".

     The St.Louis Post-Dispatch, May 7, 2009, "The 'Paradox of Thrift': We're Saving More Now and the

        Timing Couldn't Be Worse": http://www.stltoday.com

     The Current, April 27, 2009, "Summit Discusses Energy Sources."

     KWMU media interview, April 23, 2009, for a local piece on the UM-Energy Summit

     KFRU news talk radio interview, April 22, 2009, "Simon Rose and Renee Hulshof" 10 am program

     The St.Louis Post-Dispatch, February 16, 2009, "As Economy Sours, it's Sweet to be an Economist":

        http://www.stltoday.com

     The Current, February 2, 2009, "Faculty Spotlight: Lea-Rachel Kosnik": Environmental Economist

        pushes "second-effect thinking."

     Miller-McCune, January 22, 2008, "Hydro Doesn't Have to be Big":

        http://miller-mccune.com/main/article/142

     Miller-McCune, January 23, 2008, "Reducing the Big Problem of Climate Change by Adding

        Little Hydroelectric Plants ": http://miller-mccune.com/main/article/143

     Miller-McCune, January 24, 2008, "Big Hydro is Dead! Long Live Big Hydro!":

        http://miller-mccune.com/main/article/144

     Ethical Corporation, November 10, 2007, "Greening Campuses":  pages1&2

     Business First, December 15, 2005, "Agreement Addresses Range of Development Issues":  

        page 1  page 2

 

 

Upcoming Conference/Seminar Attendance/Presentation:

     November, 2023
         Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting

     January, 2024
         American Economic Association Annual Meeting

     March, 2024
         Midwest Economics Association Annual Meeting

     May, 2024
         AERE Summer Conference