“Human evolution: ‘Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.’” –Fortune Cookie
Margaret Bock
Assistant ProfessorEconomics
Margaret Bock is an applied microeconomist emphasizing urban/regional economics and public economics in her research. Her main focus of research involves topics concerning transportation. She was awarded the prestigious Benjamin H. Stevens Fellowship in Regional Science to fund her dissertation research to uncover causal links between transportation infrastructure and various economic and social outcomes in the United States. She continues this line of research, studying everything from the impact of HOV lanes on commuting times to the truck traffic caused by pork slaughterhouses. Often, she brings her research on transportation into the classroom to provide students with real-world examples of economic concepts.
Research, Scholarship, Creative Work in Progress
Margaret’s research broadly focuses on transportation and the various social and economic outcomes (both intended and unintended) from transportation-related policy in the United States. Several ongoing projects include the effects of pavement quality on traffic safety and the effect of HOV lanes on congestion.
Find her CV here.
Publications
Book Chapters
Asquith, B. and M. Bock. (2022, forthcoming). The Case for Dynamic Cities. In J.C. Hall and A.L. Kassens (eds.) Challenges in Classical Liberalism: Debating the Policies of Today Versus Tomorrow. Palgrave Macmillan.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Bock, M. (2021). The first to legalize: Demographic and spatial influences on Colorado Amendment 64. Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, 36(1), 25-40.
Bock, M. (2019). The Impact of Family on the Success of Female Entrepreneurs in Vietnam. Mid-Continent Regional Science Association 2018 Conference Proceedings, pp. 30-54.
Book Reviews
Bock, M. (2018). Review of the book Handbook on the Geographies of Innovation, by Shearmur, R., Carrincazeaux, C., & Doloreux, D., in The Review of Regional Studies 48(3), 432-434.
External Awards, Honors, Grants
External Grants
2020-2021: Benjamin H. Stevens Fellowship in Regional Science ($30,000) North American Regional Science Council
2019-2020: Economics of Transportation in the 21st Century Initiative ($76,758) National Bureau of Economic Research, National Science Foundation
Honors and Awards
2021 Cliff Hawley Award, West Virginia University
2020 Best Graduate Student Author Paper (1st Runner-Up), North American Regional Science Council
2020 Best Doctoral Student Paper Award, West Virginia University
2019 Burks Family Fund for Economic Research, West Virginia University
2019 APEE Young Scholar Program Award
Conference Papers & Panel Participation
2022: San José State University, EEA 2022, NBER New Directions in Transportation Economics (Participant)*, SEA 2022
2021: EEA 2021*, AEA CTREE (Participant)*, NBER New Directions in Transportation Economics (Participant)*, NARSC 2021
2020: Temple University Seminar*, SEA 2020*, NARSC 2020*, University of North Texas Economics Research Group Workshop*, UEA 2020*, NBER Economics of Transportation in the 21st Century*, UEA PhD Student Workshop* (Participant), WEAI 2020* Session Chair (Vehicles: Congestion, Pollution and Health), SRSA Virtual Conference*
2019: NARSC 2019 Session Chair (Transportation II), Scaled-Up Seminar at Susquehanna University, MCRSA 2019, APEE 2019
2018: MCRSA 2018 Session Chair (Entrepreneurship), AERUS 2018 Session Chair (Policy Analysis)
*online setting due to COVID-19 pandemic
Academic or Professional Associations
American Economic Association, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, Eastern Economic Association, Regional Science International Association, North American Regional Science Association, Southern Economic Association, Southern Regional Science Association, Urban Economic Association
Other Professional or Scholarly Activity
Journal referee for: Journal of Entrepreneurship and Economic Policy, Contemporary Economic Policy, Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice