My CV
Education
Ph.D. Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, 2007 Dissertation: “Evaluating the Equilibrium Welfare Impacts of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.”
Advisors: Ted McConnell, Antonio Bento, Maureen Cropper
M.S. Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, 2005
B.A. Economics, summa cum laude, California State University, Chico, California, 2002
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
University of Nevada – Las Vegas, NV, Associate Professor of Economics and Associate Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, July 2013 – present
University of Nevada – Las Vegas, NV, Assistant Professor of Economics and Associate Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, July 2007 – June 2013
The World Bank Group (Development Economics Research Group), Washington DC, Consultant, 2005
University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Graduate Assistant, 2004 – 2006
PUBLICATIONS
Tra, Constant. 2015. “Have Renewable Portfolio Standards Raised Electricity Rates? Evidence from U.S. Electric Utilities.” Contemporary Economic Policy, Forthcoming.
Tra, Constant, Anna Lukemeyer and Helen Neil. 2013. “Evaluating the Welfare Effects of School Quality Improvements: A Residential Sorting Approach.” Journal of Regional Science, 53(4), 607-630.
Tra, Constant. 2013. “Measuring the General Equilibrium Benefits of Air Quality Regulation in Small Urban Areas.” Land Economics, 89(2), 291-307.
Towe, Charles, and Constant Tra. 2012. “Vegetable Spirits and Energy Policy.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 95(1), 1-16.
Tra, Constant. 2011. “Nonlinear Income Effects in Random Utility Models: Revisiting the Accuracy of the Representative Consumer Approximation” Applied Economics, 45(1), 55-63.
Tra, Constant. 2010. “A Discrete Choice Equilibrium Approach to Valuing Large Environmental Changes.” Journal of Public Economics, 94(1-2), 183-196.
Lichtenberg, Erik, Constant Tra and Ian Hardie. 2007. “Impacts of Land Use Regulation on the Provision of Open Space in Residential Subdivisions”. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 54, 199-213.
WORKING PAPERS
Tra, Constant and Charles Towe. 2014. “The implications of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard Program for Farm Structure.” In submission.
Hitaj, Claudia, Lori Lynch, Ted McConnell, and Constant Tra. 2015. “The Benefits of the 1990 Clean Air Act in Los Angeles. Evidence from Renters.” In submission.
RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
Tra, Constant and Charles Towe. “The Value of School Quality: Evidence from Housing Booms and Busts.”
PEER-REVIEWER FOR JOURNALS
Journal of Public Economics, Land Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Economic Inquiry, Journal of Regional Science, Journal of Urban Economics
RESEARCH GRANTS
USDA-ERS. Land Values, Urban Influence, and Biofuels – An Analysis of the Farmland Value. 2009 -2011. Award: $17,000. Principal Investigator.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Econ 102, Principles of Microeconomics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2013
Econ 190, Global Economics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Summer 2014
Hon 200B, Honors in Microeconomics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Fall 2010, Fall 2012
Hon 261, Principles of Statistics I, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Spring 2014
ECON 307, Environmental Economics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Spring 2009, Spring 2012
ECON 309, Natural Resources Economics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Spring 2011
ECON 707, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Graduate Course, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Fall 2011, Spring 2015
ECON 709, Regional Economic Analysis, Graduate Course, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Fall 2013
SPONSORED REPORTS
“The Economic Impact of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Southern Nevada: 2014.” October 2014. Prepared for: UNLV Office of the President.
Brown, Stephen P. A., Rennae Daneshvary, Constant Tra, C. Jeffrey Waddoups and Jinju Lee. 2014. An Updated Economic Analysis of the Education Initiative. Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (September 2).
Brown, Stephen P. A., Rennae Daneshvary, Constant Tra, C. Jeffrey Waddoups and Jinju Lee. 2014. An Economic Analysis of the Education Initiative. Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (July 31).
“Population Forecasts: Long Term Projections for Clark County, Nevada 2014-2050.” July 2014. Prepared for: Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, and members of the Forecasting Group.
“The Economic Impact of UNLV Entrepreneurship Graduates.” October 2013. Prepared for: UNLV Center for Entrepreneurship.
“Population Forecasts: Long Term Projections for Clark County, Nevada 2013-2050.” July 2013. Prepared for: Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, and members of the Forecasting Group.
“The Economic Impact of a hypothetical EB5 Project.” May 2013. Prepared for: Harrison James, LLC.
“The Economic Impact of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Southern Nevada: 2012.” July 2012. Prepared for: UNLV Office of the President.
“Population Forecasts: Long Term Projections for Clark County, Nevada 2012-2050.” June 2012. Prepared for: Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, and members of the Forecasting Group.
“The Economic Impact on Nevada of Sourcing Construction Crews from Inside or Outside the State.” August 2011. Prepared for: Nevada Energy
“Population Forecasts: Long Term Projections for Clark County, Nevada 2011-2050.” June 2011. Prepared for: Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, and members of the Forecasting Group.
“NSHE Economic Impact Study.” January 2011. Prepared for: Nevada System of Higher Education.
“The Economic Impact of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Southern Nevada: 2010.” December 2010. Prepared for: UNLV Office of the President.
“2010 Southern Nevada Mid-Year Economic Outlook.” June 2010. Prepared for: UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research.
“The Economic Impact of the EB5 Investor Visa Program in Nevada.” August 2010. Prepared for: RCI FirstPathways Partners.
“The Economic Impact of the EB5 Investor Visa Program in Clark County.” May 2010. Prepared for: Clark County Regional Immigrant Investor Center.
“Population Forecasts: Long Term Projections for Clark County, Nevada 2009-2050.” June 2010. Prepared for: Regional Transportation Commission, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Clark County Comprehensive Planning, and members of the Forecasting Group.
“Las Vegas Housing Market Conditions. 1st Quarter 2010.” May 2010. Prepared for: UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research.
“The Economic Impact of the EB5 Investor Visa Program in Clark County.” May 2010. Prepared for: RCI FirstPathways Partners.
“The Economic Impact of the Wilderness Designation of Gold Butte.” May 2010. Prepared for: Western Conservation Foundation.
“Las Vegas Housing Market Conditions. 4rd Quarter 2009.” February 2010. Prepared for: UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research.
“Las Vegas Housing Market Conditions. 3rd Quarter 2009.” December 2009. Prepared for: UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research.
“Population Forecasts: Long Term Projections for Clark County, Nevada 2009-2050.” 2009. Prepared for: Regional Transportation Commission, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Clark County Comprehensive Planning, and members of the Forecasting Group.
“Population Forecasts: Long Term Projections for Clark County, Nevada 2008-2035.” 2008. Prepared for: Regional Transportation Commission, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Clark County Comprehensive Planning, and members of the Forecasting Group.
“The Economic Impact of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Southern Nevada: 2008.” 2008. Prepared for: UNLV Office of the President.
“The Impact of the Succeed in: Math!® Tutorial Program on High School Proficiency Rates 2008.” 2008. Prepared for: Interactive Technologies of Nevada.
“The Labor Impact of the Clark, Lincoln, and White Pine Counties Groundwater Development Project.” 2008. Prepared for: Nevada Partners.
“Report On The Centrum Healthiest Cities Study.” 2007. Prepared for: City of Las Vegas.
HONORS AND ACADEMIC AWARDS
Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, American Agricultural Economics Association, 2008
Dr. and Mrs. Bill V. Lessley Award for Best Dissertation in Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, 2007
Rhona Lantin Scholarship Award for the Best First-year Research Paper in Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, 2003
John Smale Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Economics, California State University, Chico, 2002
Lt. Robert Merton Rawlins Merit Award for Outstanding Scholarship, California State University, Chico, 2001
PRESENTATIONS
2013 North American Regional Science Conference, Atlanta, GA, November 2013; Presentation on The Value of School Quality: Evidence from Housing Booms and Busts.
2013 Allied Social Science Annual Meetings, San Diego, CA, January 2013; Presentation on Measuring the General Equilibrium Benefits of Air Quality Regulation in Small Urban Areas.
2011 North American Regional Science Conference, Miami, FL, November 2011; Presentation on Evaluating the Welfare Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act: A Residential Sorting Approach.
2011 International Energy Workshop, Stanford, CA, July 2011. Presentation on Have Renewable Portfolio Standards Raised Electricity Rates? Evidence form U.S. Electric Utilities.
2011 Southern Nevada Economic Outlook, December 2010. Presentation on Environmental Quality and Economic Growth.
2010 CU Environmental and Resource Economics Workshop, Vail, CO, September 2010; Presentation on The effectiveness of Renewable Electricity Standards. Evidence for U.S. Utilities.
2010 Southern Nevada Mid-Year Economic Outlook, June 2010. Presentation on Southern Nevada Outlook.
2010 Southern Nevada Economic Outlook, December 2009. Presentation on Modeling the Economic Crisis in Southern Nevada.
Fall 2009 CBER Sponsors Seminar, September 2009. Presentation on Modeling the Economic Crisis in Southern Nevada.
2009 Southern Nevada Mid-Year Economic Outlook, June 2009. Presentation on Overview of CBER Research Projects.
2009 Western Economic Association Meetings, Vancouver, Canada, July 2009. Presentation on Have Renewable Portfolio Standards Raised Electricity Rates? Evidence form U.S. Electric Utilities.
Department of Economics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, February 2009. Presentation on Have Renewable Portfolio Standards Raised Electricity Rates? Evidence form U.S. Electric Utilities.
2008 CU Environmental and Resource Economics Workshop, Vail, CO, September 2008; Presentation on Land Values, Urban Influence, and Biofuels: An Analysis of the Farmland Value.
Las Vegas Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association, Las Vegas, NV, February
2008; Presentation on Evaluating Economic Benefits of Air Quality Improvements in the Los Angeles Basin
2007 North American Regional Science Conference, Savannah, GA, November 2007; Presentation on Equilibrium Welfare Impacts of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments in the Los Angeles Area.
2006 CU Environmental and Resource Economics Workshop, Vail, CO, September 2006; Presentation on Evaluating the Distributional Welfare Impacts of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments in the Los Angeles Area: An Equilibrium Approach.
School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, March 2005; Presentation on Valuing Local Public Goods in An Equilibrium Framework.
Camp Resources XII, Wilmington, NC, August 2004; Presentation on Impacts of Land Use Regulation on the Provision of Open Space in Residential Subdivisions.
