Michael Donihue

Education

Ph.D. University of Michigan, 1989 (Economics)
M.A. University of Michigan, 1983 (Applied Economics)
B.A. Colby College, 1979 (Economics)

Personal Information

Work Experience
Herbert E. Wadsworth Professor of Economics, Colby College, 2014-present
Director, Colby Laboratory for Economic Studies
Professor of Economics, Colby College, 2007-2014
Economics Department Chair 2000-2003, 2011-2012, 2013-2014, 2016-2018, 2020-2022
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Associate Dean of Faculty, 2008-2011
Associate Professor of Economics, Colby College, 1996-2007
Assistant Professor of Economics, Colby College, 1989-1996
Visiting Scholar, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 2004-2005
Senior Economist, Council of Economic Advisers, Washington, D.C., 1994-1995
Dana Fellow, Yale University, 1992

Maine Health Access Foundation, Grants Committee member, 2012 – 2016
Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, 1992-2009
CEME Model Comparison Seminar, 1985-1994, 1995-1998 (chair)

Recent Research & Gray Matter Reports

Colby Laboratory for Economics Studies Founding director of a collaborative research workshop engaging students and professors with community stakeholders and policy makers to provide objective analysis, information and educational outreach on current issues and events.

Agenda for 2023-2024: Coast to Cow to Consumer Project; community vulnerability indicators dashboard; the seaweed aquaculture permitting process in Maine and Alaska; Coastal Communities Seaweed Infrastructure Database; An Assessment of the Economic Footprint of the China Lake Watershed and Final Report; 2024 Statistical Abstract for the Greater Waterville Area, Economic Impact Analysis of an Increase in the Lobster Minimum Gauge Size on Maine’s Economy.

Agenda for 2022-2023: Coast to Cow to Consumer Project; the Dairy Industry and Milk Prices; Rethinking Parole in Maine; A case study program evaluation of federal Medicare payment systems; Strategic planning retreat for the board of directors at cARTie; A program evaluation of Maine’s EMS experience with Naloxone.

Agenda for 2021-2022: Coast to Cow to Consumer Project; Blue Milk supply chain analysis; Understanding Milk Prices; Coastal Community Indicators project; Economics of Maine’s Recreational Marijuana Industry; An Artificial Intelligence Approach to forecasting the U.S. economy.

Agenda for 2020-2021: Updates for the Statistical Abstract for the Greater Waterville Area; Blue Milk supply chain analysis, part of the Accelerating Methane Suppression for Dairy Cows project with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences; Maine’s Tree Growth Properties; The Opioid Crisis in Maine, a study of Maine’s EMS experience; An econometric study of the housing market in Waterville; The Economic Impact of COVID-19 pandemic in Maine.

Agenda for 2019-2020: Updates for the Statistical Abstract for the Greater Waterville Area; “Thinking About Carbon in Maine” policy brief and educational outreach resource for the Maine Climate Council; “Accelerating Methane Suppression for Dairy Cows: Discovering Potential Methane Mitigation, Animal Health Benefits, Economic Hurdles, and Outreach Opportunities to Improve Adoption of Algae-Feed” in collaboration with Bigelow Laboratories for Ocean Sciences; Program evaluation of Maine’s distribution of naloxone with a focus on EMS first responders.

Educational Outreach

“Rethinking Parole in Maine,” 2023

“Economics of Maine’s Recreational Marijuana Industry,” 2021

“Lobsters to Dollars: The Economic Impact of the Lobster Distribution Supply Chain in Maine,” Final Report 2018

“A Community Needs Assessment & Economic Impact Analysis of the Im/migrant Population in and Around Milbridge, Maine” 2017, With Clare Murray ’18 and Professor Betty Sasaki.

Publications

Google Scholar Profile

“Maine organic dairy producers’ receptiveness to seaweed supplementation and effect of Chondrus crispus on enteric methane emissions in lactating cows,” (with D.C. Reyes, et al.), Frontiers in Veterinary Science, July 2023.

“A Case Study of the Economic Impact of Seasonal Visitors to a Lake Watershed Environment,” (with S. T. M. Dissanayake and L. O’Keeffe), Athens Journal of Tourism, Vol. 2, No. 2, June 2015, pp. 81-91.

“The Economic Impact of Shale Gas Development: A Natural Experiment along the New York and Pennsylvania Border” (with B. Cosgrove, D. LaFave, and S. T. M. Dissanayake), Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, August 2015.

“The Consumer Bankruptcy Fee Study” (with Lois Lupica and Bodie Colwell), American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, Vol. 20, Spring 2012.

“Decomposing Consumer Wealth Effects: Evidence on the Role of Real Estate Assets Following the Wealth Cycle of 1990-2002” (with Andriy Avramenko), The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics: 2007, Vol. 7: Issue 1 (Topics), Article 25.

“An Analysis of Attendance at Major League Baseball Spring Training Games,” (with David W. Findlay and Peter Newberry), Journal of Sports Economics, Vol. 8, No. 1, February 2007, pp. 39-61.

“What’s An Oscar Worth?” (with R.A. Nelson, D.M. Waldman, and C. Wheaton) Economic Inquiry, Vol. 39, 2001.

“The Troika Process: Economic Models and Macroeconomic Policy in the USA,” (with John Kitchen) Empirical Models and Policy Making: Interaction and Institutions, Frank A.G. den Butter and Mary S. Morgan, eds., Routledge Publishers, London, 2000, pp. 229-243.

“Do Faculty Salaries Rise With Job Seniority?”  (with D.A. Barbezat) Economic Letters, Vol. 58, February 1998, pp. 239-244.

“Teaching Economic Forecasting to Undergraduates,” The Journal of Economic Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, Spring 1995, pp. 113-121.

“Differential Environmental Regulation: Effects on Electric Utility Capital Turnover and Emissions,” (with R. Nelson and T.H. Tietenberg) Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 75, No. 2, May 1993, pp. 368-373.  Reprinted in Economic Costs and Consequences of Environmental Regulation, Wayne B. Gray, editor. Ashgate Publishing, 2002, pp. 377-382.

“Evaluating the Role Judgment Plays in Forecast Accuracy,” Journal of Forecasting, Vol. 12, No. 2, February 1993, pp. 81-92. Lead article in the ‘Special Issue on Structuring Knowledge and Aiding Judgment in Forecasting.’

“Using Mixed Frequency Data to Improve Macroeconomic Forecasts of Inventory Investment,” (with E. Philip Howrey) International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 26, 1992, pp. 33-41.

“The IS-LM Cores of Three Econometric Models” (with R.J. Green, B. Hickman, E.P. Howrey, and S.H. Hymans) in Comparative Performance of U.S. Econometric Models, Lawrence R. Klein, editor, Oxford University Press, 1991, pp. 89-124.

“Merging Monthly and Quarterly Forecasts: Experience with MQEM,” (with E.P. Howrey and S.H. Hymans) Journal of Forecasting, Vol. 10, No. 3, 1991, pp. 255-268.