Melissa Thomasson

Associate Dean for Faculty Excellence & Professor of Economics

Office of the Dean & Economics

Profile

Academic Background

Ph.D. University of Arizona, Economics, 1998
M.A. University of Arizona, Economics, 1993
B.S. University of Puget Sound, Economics, 1992

Academic & Professional Experience

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs & Personnel and Professor of Economics (2021-present)
Department Chair, Economics Miami University (2019-2021)
Julian Lange Professor of Economics, Miami University (2015-2021)
Associate Professor, Miami University (2005-2015)
Assistant Professor, Miami University (1998-2005)
Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research (2005-Present)
Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research (1999-2005).

Recent Publications

"School Closures During the 1918 Flu Pandemic." (with Philipp Ager, Katherine Ericksson, Ezra Karger, and Peter Nencka). Review of Economics and Statistics (forthcoming). Previous version: NBER Working Paper #28246, December 2020, doi 10.3386/w28246.
"Can pandemics affect educational attainment? Evidence from the polio epidemic of 1916" (with Keith Meyers). Cliometrica, available early online, 2020 doi:10.1007/s11698-020-00212-3.
"Votes for Women: An Economic Perspective on Women's Enfranchisement" (with Carolyn M. Moehling). Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34(2), 2020, 3-23.
"Medical Education Reforms and the Origins of the Rural Physician Shortage" (with Carolyn M. Moehling, Gregory T. Niemesh and Jaret Treber). Cliometrica, 14, 2020, 181-225.
"Revising Infant Mortality Rates for the Early 20th Century United States" (with Katherine Ericksson and Gregory T. Niemesh). Demography, 55(6), December 2018, 2001-2024. Previously NBER Working Paper #w23263, 2017.
"Hard Times in the Land of Plenty: The Effect of Childhood During the Great Depression on Adult Outcomes" (with Price V. Fishback". Explorations in Economic History, 54(1), October 2014, 64-78.
Saving Babies: The Impact of Public Health Education Programs on Infant Mortality. (with Carolyn Moehling). Demography, 51(2), April 2014, 367-386.
"The Political Economy of Saving Mothers and Babies: The Politics of State Participation in the Sheppard-Towner Program" (with Carolyn Moehling). Journal of Economic History, 72 (1), March 2012, 75-103.
Thomasson, M. A. (2008). "From Home to Hospital: The Evolution of Childbirth in the United States, 1928-1940" (with Jaret Treber). Explorations in Economic History, 45 (1), 76-99.
Thomasson, M. A. (2006). "Racial Differences in Health Insurance Coverage and Medical Expenditures: An Historical Perspective." Social Science History, 30 (4).
Thomasson, M. A. (2004). "Early Evidence of an Adverse Selection Death Spiral." Explorations in Economic History, 41, 313-328.
Collins, W. J. & Thomasson, M. A. (2004). "The Declining Contribution of Socioeconomic Disparities to the Racial Gap in Infant Mortality Rates." Southern Economic Journal, 70 (4), 746-776.
Thomasson, M. A. (2003). "The Importance of Group Coverage: How Tax Policy Shaped U.S. Health Insurance." American Economic Review, 93 (4), 1373-84.
Thomasson, M. A. (2002). "From Sickness to Health: The Twentieth Century Development of U.S. Health Insurance." Explorations in Economic History, 39 (3), 233-53.

Honors & Awards

Richard K. Smucker Outstanding Professor, Farmer School of Business, 2019
Farmer School of Business Junior Research Excellence Award, 2006
Best paper in Explorations in Economic History, 2005
EH.Net Featured Economic Historian, Fall 2004
National Bureau of Economic Research National Fellow, 2002-2003
John M. Olin Fellowship, 1997
University of Arizona Award for Outstanding Teaching, 1997
University of Arizona nominee for national Irwin Fellowship, 1996
Elmer J. Brown Fellowship for outstanding third-year graduate student paper in economics, 1995 (co-recipient)

Areas of Expertise

Econometrics
Economic history
Health economics
Microeconomics

Biography

Melissa Thomasson is Associate Dean for Faculty Excellence & Professor of Economics at Miami University. She studies the economic history of health insurance and health care. Thomasson is a Research Associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research, serves or has served on the editorial boards of four journals in her field, and is on the Board of Trustees of the Economic History Association. She is also the Executive Director and a former Trustee of the Cliometric Society. Thomasson has testified before Congress and her findings have been cited in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Yale Law Journal, in reports prepared for the U.S. Senate and the United Nations, and by Rep. Paul Ryan (R, WI). Thomasson's work has been featured on "This American Life" and "All Things Considered," and in articles in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and a Washington Post podcast in addition to numerous other outlets.