Economics at the University of San Diego's Knauss School of Business

economics

AT THE KNAUSS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

KNAUSS

CENTER

FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION

INNOVATING BUSINESS FOR good

The Knauss School of Business is dedicated to developing ethical and compassionate leaders prepared to confront humanity’s urgent challenges through innovation. We embrace values-driven free enterprise that creates wealth on a fair and equitable playing field to li the standard of living for all citizens and preserve the planet for future generations.

Our approach to education is holistic. We invest in hiring and retaining a diverse faculty, both researchers

and practitioners, who are passionate about teaching and mentoring. The school cra s a personalized purpose of studies that builds on each student’s existing skill set, enhances core business skills and empowers students to become ethical and compassionate leaders. Through faculty support and mentorship, extra-curricular and study abroad programs and internships, students build extensive relationship “highways” to guide them on their career journey toward a life well-lived.

WHERE DATA SPURS INNOVATION FOR good

The Knauss School of Business’ Economics Department offers a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics (BBA), and a Minor in Economics as well as a full-suite of programs in Business Analytics: BBA in Business Analytics, minor in Business Analytics and a Master’s.

Data-driven courses are designed to adhere to the school’s commitment to “innovating business for good” by emphasizing projects that can make a positive social impact. Classes provide opportunities for students to explore a variety of social issues. One recent project investigated the relationship between standardized test score results and funding for a school district. Another looked at the relationship between racial/gender discrimination and the probability of having a mortgage application accepted or denied.

The Knauss School provides hands-on experience with numerous in-demand so ware and programming languages, including R, Python, SQL, Stata, Eviews, and offers courses with industry experts in the rapidly developing field of Machine Learning. Classes are developed in partnership with the industry through surveying of business partners on a regular basis to gauge companies’ so ware usage and data expertise needs. Teaching the skills employers value most helps prepare students for a wider range of job opportunities upon graduation.

“We are not the typical economics department that might simply teach the theory and history of economics,” says Economics Department Chair and Professor Adriana Vamosiu.

“As opposed to many economics degrees, ours is a very applied program that teaches in-depth analysis in all four types of data structures.”

While the holistic approach to learning teaches students to translate data results into business or public policy recommendations, USD's liberal arts curriculum molds them into well-rounded professionals. Students become polished professionals who are data and statistics experts and can share analytical results with nontechnical audiences, connecting those results to real-world insights that can spur innovation for good.

“Our department places a heavy emphasis on making data-driven decisions. All of our programs are very quantitative and data analytics heavy, while emphasizing the ethical implications of results,” says Vamosiu. “We are preparing the next generation of analysts who will change the world.”

“WE ARE DESIGNED TO PREPARE STUDENTS TO MAKE AN IMPACT THROUGH DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS.”

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE

real-world

At the end of four years of study and hands-on learning experiences, the senior seminar class requires economics and business economics students to apply all they have learned as part of their major to complete a comprehensive capstone project. They choose the project topic and manage it from beginning to end, with faculty guidance and input. The capstone course challenges students to adopt a broad view in identifying the steps needed to bring the project to fruition in a timely manner – a skill highly valued by employers and effectively transferable to a management role in any organization.

Past projects have analyzed a wide range of topics, including how gender may affect earnings; why variations occur in county-level vaccine rates across the U.S.; what impact parks have on housing prices, and how the location of hotels near the Las Vegas Strip affects room rates. These widely varied topics clearly demonstrate students’ creativity and critical thinking and illustrate how the Knauss School encourages students to connect learning to solving real-world problems with the goal of innovating for good.

Professor of Economics Stephen Conroy is one of many faculty who teach the Senior Seminar course. The course, a requirement for Econ majors, encompasses a review of everything students learned over the past four years. It trains them to execute every step of a project, including performing individual analyses or tasks numerous times. With that expertise, students gain the ability to see projects from a big picture perspective in order to implement needed business or policy

recommendations.

SENIOR SEMINAR CLASS

“We prepare our students for a number of different potential outcomes with our degree offering. Project management and critical thinking skills must be transferable to a business environment, to grad school, or to employment in data analytics,” says Conroy. “The capstone course requires students to demonstrate proficiency with data analytics, econometrics, and the application of basic research methods to analyze a real-world problem, as well as to know how to create a project timeline, identify the basic steps, and perform all the parts efficiently.”

The project also enhances resumes and provides each student an opportunity to discuss their experience when interviewing with potential employers. Some see elements of their projects incorporated into their employer’s company procedures, proving that the critical thinking and problem-solving abilities developed at the Knauss School definitely “innovate for good.” Others have seen their work published in professional or industry journals with Conroy’s assistance.

“There is an immense amount of learning that takes place in publishing a research paper, much more than earning an ‘A’ in an undergraduate class,” says Conroy, who was awarded a University Professorship, USD’s highest faculty recognition award, in 2012 and again in 2022. “That is why I am on a mission to mentor and publish more research with my students. I feel this opportunity contributes so much to their careers and life upon graduation.”

Conroy believes putting the student in charge of choosing the capstone research topic is critical for establishing ownership. It also allows students to focus on the type of analysis that interests them most. In return, students recognize the value of this class –perhaps more a er they graduate – and enjoy learning and working alongside Knauss School faculty members.

“Our low student-to-faculty ratio affords USD faculty an opportunity to invest in each student’s success. It signals to prospective students and their parents that a USD education will be qualitatively different,” Conroy says. “And how this is operationalized for Knauss School of Business Econ and Business Econ students is through providing students an opportunity to write a high-quality, supervised research paper of their choosing. O entimes, students will consult with other faculty in the Department of Economics whose research may parallel the student’s research topic. The capstone project is intentionally creative and original, not fitting within defined constructs. As such, it sits at the top of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives pyramid. It also fits well with USD’s educational paradigm.”

In spring 2022, Conroy mentored 31 students in two Senior Seminar classes. He assisted some students with data set acquisitions, reviewed data sets, assisted others with data cleaning and analysis and then reviewed and commented on project dra s.

“I tell parents who are considering USD that their student will get a lot of faculty attention all the way through, especially the last semester when they take the capstone class. In ECON 497, students put everything together — economic theory, business statistics and analysis, econometrics, etc. — and apply it to a specific business or policy research question. Students must draw on many skills, and it requires a lot of personal attention by faculty members to help them master these skills to be prepared for the real world.”

A HOLISTIC EXPERIENCE TOWARD A REWARDING CAREER IN DATA ANALYSIS AND A LIFE WELL-LIVED

Knauss School of Business’ economics and business analytics students enjoy resources that support and stimulate a holistic learning experience. It starts with move-in weekends when Economics faculty meet their first-year students and families and become their advisors and professors in the Living Learning Communities program.

Students benefit from small class sizes and unparalleled access to highly valued faculty members. Faculty welcome office visits from students to answer questions, provide industry context, offer advice on career paths or share tips on how to be successful in college and beyond.

The new Knauss Center for Business Education building also offers a plethora of resources to make the journey toward graduation enriching and beneficial. Among the amenities designed specifically with economics and business analytics students in mind is a state-of-the-art Data Analytics Lab offering leading-edge technologies to hone their analytical skills.

A degree from the Knauss School of Business includes many opportunities to network and further skills. The Econ Club and Business Analytics Club provide guest speakers and discussions that enrich knowledge of the world beyond the classroom. The department also provides a year-long interview prep workshop series that helps students polish their personal selling skills and target jobs in industries that interest them. Econ and business analytics students are also paired with a dedicated career advisor with deep connections to potential employers. This holistic approach to preparing our students ensures a near-perfect job placement rate within three months of graduation.

Students who push themselves to excel can become members of the International Honor Society Omicron Delta Epsilon. And all students can take advantage of study abroad opportunities, study abroad courses with our USD faculty and company tours that further enhance each student’s rich, holistic learning experience.

These unique opportunities come together to provide students with a guided journey toward an enriching career in data analysis and a life well-lived.

DIAMOND INNABI

’16 (BA) Vice President, So ware Equity Group

Innabi is a proud USD alumna. She enjoyed her time at the university and the small class sizes that enhanced her relationships with faculty and colleagues. Her economics degree started her on a career path with So ware Equity Group (SEG) as a sophomore. SEG was one of three internship opportunities available to her at the time. A year-and-a-half into her internship, Innabi enrolled in the semester-long capstone course under Professor Alyson Ma.

“I can’t say enough about her, she’s incredibly intelligent and cares so much about her students’ success,” Innabi says. “I had Dr. Ma for econometrics and senior seminar, and I loved both classes because of her. They are extremely challenging courses, but she made it simple to understand. If you were interested in learning, she would work with you for hours to make sure you understood what she was trying to get across.”

The support, combined with the work Innabi invested in the classroom, benefitted her greatly at SEG.

“I wrote my capstone paper on the impact of research and development investment on public and private so ware company valuations. It centered on my work at SEG, which involved determining the value of a company and the factors that affect value.”

Her thoroughly researched paper convinced SEG to implement elements of it into its business practices, particularly in its established scorecard for valuing companies. She was hired a er graduation as a data analyst, then moved to associate and senior associate roles before becoming vice president. Her duties now center on managing her team and being the deal leader from start to finish. The company now prefers to hire USD students as interns whenever possible given the success they have seen with Innabi.

UNIQUE AT USD IS THAT YOU LEARN HOW TO APPLY YOUR EDUCATION AND SKILLS TO REAL-LIFE AND TO THE WORKPLACE.”

“An economics degree is applicable to many different jobs and industries. Students with an economics degree from USD come up to speed quickly, using their analytical skills to dig in deeply and see the bigger picture.”

Ma admires Innabi’s academic prowess. It’s also gratifying to know that her capstone work was recognized by the company and contributed to her rise within it. Ma also appreciates how one of her star students gives back to current Toreros.

“She was the first intern they hired, and a few years later she’s a VP. She hires a lot of USD students now and, to me, that’s the essence of what we do — a full circle.”

“WHAT’S

ECONOMICS PROFESSOR in demand

Alan Gin, PhD, is a Knauss School economics professor in demand. When reporters need an expert opinion on real estate, housing, unemployment, inflation, recession, or gas prices, they seek out Gin. When the stock market experiences ups and downs, he gets the call. When a new business year arrives, Gin is the preferred expert contact for many media outlets.

San Diego reporters regularly call on Gin for guest appearances, adding up to more than 1,000 interviews to local and national media sources over the years. His quotes have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Daily Transcript, San Diego Business Journal, Newsweek and many others.

Gin gained recognition as an economics expert through his monthly Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County. For 25 years, the index analyzed multiple economic categories, including real estate, the stock market, consumer confidence and even help-wanted advertising, to paint a picture of the overall health of the local economy. He detailed trends going up,

ALAN GIN, PHD Associate Professor of Economics

down, or remaining steady, providing a critically valuable planning guide for businesses, nonprofits and government alike.

When the index’s 20th anniversary arrived in 2011, both the city and county of San Diego honored him with “Alan Gin Economic Indicators Day.”

“As I started making media appearances concerning the economy in the 1990s, someone in the local Asian business community told me he loved seeing an Asian on television talking about something other than the Chinese New Year,” said Gin. “That suggested that Asians had previously been relegated to talking about Asian things, and that I helped a little in moving Asians into the mainstream by talking about something as important as the economy.”

His keen interest in the business environment of Asia led to membership on boards for the Asian Business Association (ABA) of San Diego and the Hong Kong Association of Southern California’s San Diego chapter. He received the Business Leadership Awards from the

ABA and the Union of Pan Asian Communities (UPAC). In 2022, Gin was recognized as one of the San Diego Business Journal’s “Top 50 Asian Pacific Islander Leaders of Influence.”

Since 1988, Gin has served with distinction as an associate professor of economics in the Knauss School of Business, teaching both undergrad and graduate-level classes. He has also served as a regular study abroad program professor for business classes in Hong Kong and Beijing/Shanghai.

He recently turned his attention and expertise to contribute to a new Jobs Without Borders Report in collaboration with economics faculty member Pedro Paulo Orraca Romano from Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF) in Tijuana. Part of an interdisciplinary USD faculty group effort, the report provided significant updated data to the CaliBaja regional economy. Graduate students from USD and COLEF also contributed to the report. It was the first project in the Move Forward Program launched by the Knauss School’s Ahlers Center for International Business. Student involvement resulted from a request by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, and since its release, the report has been widely distributed to state and federal lawmakers to inform policies promoting inclusive regional economic growth.

Gin’s value to the Knauss School of Business includes many honors bestowed on him. He is a two-time winner of the University Professorship, the most prestigious award available to faculty members for outstanding scholarly achievements in teaching and research. Gin won the Award of Excellence from the USD Parents’ Association and was selected as Professor of the Year by USD graduate business students.

Clearly, Gin’s expertise, experience and knowledge all combine to make him an asset not only to USD students, but also to many people and organizations around the world.

JORDAN JADALLAH ‘14 (BA)

Real Estate Agent; TYTO, Finance and Strategy

Economics and the dynamics associated with it — data, factors and theories — served Jordan Jadallah during his student days in the Knauss School of Business and continue to be an asset today as an Idaho real estate agent and a financial, sales and strategy expert for a new product venture.

“USD greatly increased my grasp of analysis and analytics tools,” says Jadallah, a 2014 graduate. “I used every excuse to spend more time looking at everything I was learning in class. It strengthened my critical thinking skills and polished me for the real world.”

He found many classes enjoyable, particularly those taught by economics professors Stephen Conroy and Steve Sumner, who emphasized classroom discussion among students as well as with the professor. The school’s commitment to active learning and small class sizes encourages vibrant classroom discussions.

“My favorite class was managerial economics with Dr. Conroy. He provided helpful insights on how to run a business, what’s important to look for, and how to manage your own economics. I learned how to think from a business manager’s perspective.”

In school, Jadallah focused on learning what it takes to create a business and run it. He and classmate Morgan Schwanke won $15,000 in the 2013 Venture Vetting (V2) Pitch Competition, a campus-wide competition where USD students pitch their business concepts or operating enterprises for cash awards. Their idea, OnMyBlock, was designed to help college students find the best place to live.

“We spent 50 to 60 hours just practicing our pitch for the competition. We had a good business model and that’s why we won V2. When you spend so much time on your pitch deck, it makes you look at your own business more critically because you want to be prepared for any questions judges may ask.”

Later, as a business analyst for TCG Advisors in San Francisco, he built financial and business models for executive clients, including Cisco, Rackspace and GE. His passion for cars then led to a job as a driving instructor for Simraceway Performance Driving Center for a year before moving to EV manufacturer Tesla as a product specialist and then a sales operations analyst where he and his team were responsible for managing the CRM so ware and backend operations for over 200 stores. Tesla afforded him a chance to give back and support USD students.

“Dr. Conroy contacted me when I was at Tesla about possible projects for the Student International Business Council (SIBC). I convinced my director to provide USD students a chance to work as consultants on one of our many projects. Dr. Conroy had done so much for me, and

this was a way to give back. I felt USD students deserved the opportunity, and Tesla’s project gave them a direct connection and an opportunity to practice their business skills in the real world.”

Conroy is proud of Jadallah, both as a top student and for supporting his alma mater.

“What struck me about Jordan as a student was that he was interested in everything! He was good at theory but seemed most interested in the practical applications of economics to business,” Conroy says. “Later, when we reconnected through the SIBC project while at Tesla, I think he was teaching himself SQL and had some great suggestions for improving our Business Analytics Minor.”

Jadallah le Tesla a er nearly three years and gained further experience with Samsara, an IoT company, and ChargePoint. In 2020, he le Silicon Valley for Idaho and got engaged.

“I couldn’t be happier,” he says of his new life in Idaho. “My knowledge with statistics is a skill that not many have as a real estate agent. Understanding what’s going on with the economy as an agent and having a conversation at a technical level is quite valuable.”

“Knowing Jordan, he is probably already working on a way to data-transform the real estate industry in Idaho,” says Conroy. “He looks at things as they are and wonders if there is a better way to do it. I’m sure he’ll figure it out!”

Thanks to the support and knowledge gained at USD, Jadallah relies on his economic skills, entrepreneurial thinking, experience and knowledge to lead him confidently through any future business endeavor.

THE BUSINESS ANALYTICS

MAJOR: CREATED TO MEET employer needs

Analytics transforms data into insights that help organizations thrive. It’s an in-demand tool for every college student preparing to join the workforce today. In designing the business analytics major at the Knauss School of Business, faculty members studied industry gaps and listened to what organizations were looking for from higher education institutions. As a result, they created not only a major, but also a minor and a master’s degree program in business analytics.

“We wanted to bring business analytics to all students in the Knauss School of Business,” says Alyson Ma, professor of economics and previous department chair of economics.

“The ability to offer real individualized attention in a small class setting is crucial in business analytics. The in-class environment is a quasi-computer lab setting, and at USD we help each student troubleshoot specific so ware issues,” says Clinical Professor of Economics and Business Analytics Steven Levkoff who was instrumental in the development of Knauss School’s business analytics curriculum.

“When designing the major, we conducted a survey to find out what so ware other institutions were teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level,” he added. “We then consulted the job task analysis survey (JTA) from the premier Certified Analytics Professional (CAP®) licensure requirements to determine the skillsets companies sought in top certified analysts. This helped us model the curriculum in our core class offerings to fulfill specific, high-demand skills. Our curriculum is broad-based. We want students to have a well-rounded understanding and a well-developed toolkit when they come out of our program.”

The major, a first in the San Diego region, debuted in fall 2019 and has emerged as a popular area of study for USD. It is a win-win with companies that need workforce-ready business analytics graduates. Reputation matters and companies know that Knauss School students are trained by expert faculty, have hands-on learning opportunities and are well-versed in multiple analytical so ware programs.

The business analytics major is not geared toward one type of so ware tool. Students learn some Tableau for data visualization in their introductory statistics course. They get introduced to SQL in their descriptive analytics data management course as well as some R programming. And they learn some Python in the analytics strategy course.

“Our students have a good working knowledge and evidence in terms of portfolios and projects they’ve created by leveraging these industry tools,” says Levkoff. “It's a huge benefit for our students, and it makes them very competitive upon graduation.”

“I SAW THAT THE INDUSTRY WAS DEMANDING MORE OF OUR GRADUATES, AND WE OWED IT TO THEM TO PROVIDE THE TOOLS THAT WOULD MAKE THEM STAND OUT.”

RESEARCH THAT ENCOURAGES INNOVATION FOR good

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has substantially increased Americans’ access to healthcare. Since its passage in 2010, the law has helped decrease social and economic barriers to obtaining medical care that disproportionately affected low-income households and members of racial and ethnic minority groups.

The law also significantly impacted how patients from these communities select and engage with care providers. Many choose doctors whose racial and cultural background matches their own. Researchers call this a “race-concordant medical relationship.”

Professors Alyson Ma and Alison Sanchez undertook a study on the nature of race-concordant relationships to determine how they impact the healthcare system. In a published report, The Impact of Patient-Provider Race/Ethnicity Concordance on Provider Visits: Updated Evidence from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, they detailed findings that illuminate broader issues related to race and healthcare utilization, including how diversity in the health workforce could encourage minority groups to seek care.

Through their analysis of a sample of more than 25,000 individuals from various racial and ethnic backgrounds, they uncovered new insights into how race and ethnicity can influence patients’ health decisions and whether to seek medical treatment. They note that while the ACA may have eased part of the financial burden that reduced access to healthcare, several social obstacles continue to deter some individuals from using various types of health services.

“It’s not just about throwing insurance access at people,” Sanchez says. “There are a lot of other structural inequalities within the system that need to be addressed.”

The study found that patients in minority groups who were in race-concordant relationships with their doctors were more likely to seek and receive healthcare, compared with patients who self-identified as white. This connection was especially strong among Hispanic and Asian patients. People in these groups who saw doctors of the same race had a higher probability of receiving treatment for preventive care, ongoing health issues and new medical conditions.

“Race concordance is a statistically significant factor that increases the likelihood of patients visiting their provider,” the authors stated. “Our results demonstrate that racial disparities in healthcare utilization can be partially explained by race concordance.”

Ma and Sanchez’s work provides important context for the future of health care policy, particularly with regard to how changes to the law could affect minority communities. Armed with these research findings, policy makers and health care providers can adapt their service offerings in ways that encourage race concordance to ensure more patients will seek medical and preventative care. As with all teaching, research and data analysis projects undertaken by the Knauss School of Business faculty members, they combine to create and sustain the momentum to innovate for good.

PROFESSORS ALISON SANCHEZ AND ALYSON MA