Curriculum Vita
DR. ROBERT A. BLEWETT
Contact Information
Department of Economics, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York 13617
voice: 315.229.5429 - - fax: 315.229.5819 - - email: blewett@stlawu.edu
Personal Data
Home: 7 Jay Street, Canton, New York 13617 - - phone: 315.386.2408
Citizenship: U.S.A.
Birthdate: 10 December 1951 - - Marital Status: Married, four children
Fields of Specialization
Economic Development, African Economies
Other Teaching Fields
Globalization, Public Finance, Public Choice, Urban and Regional Economics, Industrial Organization
Education
Virginia Tech, M.A., 1976; Ph.D., 1980.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona , B.Sc. with High Honors, 1974.
Honors and Awards
Eastern Economics Association’s Otto Eckstein Prize for the best article in Eastern Economic Journal in 1995 and 1996.
Fulbright Senior Lecture Grant, 1983-84.
Richard D. Irwin Doctoral Fellowship, 1976-77, Center for Study of Public Choice Fellowships, 1975-76, 1976-77.
Member of Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society in Economics, Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society.
Membership in Professional Organizations
American Economic Association, Association of Christian Economists, Western Economic Association International.
Positions Held
St. Lawrence University, Department of Economics, Professor 1997 to the present, Department Chair 2000 to 2004, Associate Professor 1987 to 1997 (tenure granted in 1987), Assistant Professor 1983 to 1987 (on leave 1983-1984).
Clarkson University, Department of Economics and Finance, Adjunct Lecturer, Spring 1992, Spring 1989, Spring and Summer 1988.
University of Maiduguri [Nigeria], Department of Economics, Fulbright Senior Lecturer, 1983-1984.
Western Illinois University, Department of Economics, Assistant Professor, 1979-1983.
Spoon River College, Adjunct Instructor, January 1981 to May 1983.
Virginia Tech, Department of Economics, Instructor, Winter 1979.
University of California, Davis, Department of Economics, Lecturer, 1977-1978.
Publications
“Institutional Constraints on Entrepreneurship in Kenya’s Popular Music Industry.” In African Entrepreneurship: Theory and Reality. Edited by Anita Spring and Barbara E. McDade. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 1998, pp. 233-250. [With Michael Farley] download
“Property Rights as a Cause of the Tragedy of the Commons: Institutional Change and the Pastoral Maasai of Kenya.” Eastern Economic Journal 21 (Fall 1995): 447-490. [Awarded the Eastern Economics Association’s Otto Eckstein Prize for best article in 1995 and 1996.] download
“When Aggregate Demand Is Not Aggregate Demand: A Pedagogical Note on the Aggregate Demand and Supply Model.” New York Economic Review 26 (Fall 1995): 45-52. [With Jeffrey T. Young] download
“Hidden Tax Preferences and the Real Costs of Tuition Tax Credits.” Public Finance Quarterly 16 (July 1988): 330-340. download
“A Public Choice and Efficiency Argument for Development Impact Fees.” In Development Impact Fees: Policy Rationale, Practice, Theory, and Issues, pp. 281-289. Edited by A. C. Nelson. Washington, DC: Planners Press, 1988. [With A. C. Nelson] download
“Development Rights and the Differential Assessment of Agricultural Land.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 (April 1988): 195-205. [With Julia Lane ] download
“Off-Budget Activities of Local Governments: A Comment.” Public Choice 42 (1984): 205-211. download
“Fiscal Externalities and Residential Growth Controls: A Theory-of-Clubs Perspective.” Public Finance Quarterly 11 (January 1983): 3-20. download
“Non-Global Social Contracts: A Note on Inefficient Social Institutions.” Public Choice 41 (1983): 441-448. [With Roger Congleton] download
“Shifting Revenue Patterns in Illinois Municipalities.” Illinois Municipal Review 61 (July 1982): 11-13. [With Norman Walzer] download
“Fiscal Illusion in Classical Economic Literature.” Journal of Economics 7 (1981): 159-161. download
“Tax Revenue Trade-offs in Illinois: Offsetting Property Taxes with Increased Income Taxes.” Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Illinois Economic Association (1981), pp. 91-98.
Review of The Economic Theory of State by David K. Whynes and Roger A. Bowles. Journal of Behavioral Economics 10 (Summer 1981): 135-138.
Review of Public Choice, by Dennis C. Mueller. Journal of Behavioral Economics 9 (Summer 1980): 111-113.
Review of Phase II in Review: The Price Commission Experience, by Robert F. Lanziolotti, Mary Hamilton, and R. Blain Roberts. Industrial Organization Review 4 (1976): 64-65.
Refereeing and Reviewing:
Refereed for African Studies Review, Eastern Economic Journal, Public Finance Quarterly, International Journal of the Economics of Business, Journal of the American Planning Association, Contemporary Policy Issues.
Reviewed textbooks for Addison-Wesley; HarperCollins Publishers; West Publishing.
Center for International and Intercultural Studies Fellow, St. Lawrence University, “Globalization, Labor Standards, and Dualistic Labor Markets in China.” Funded study travel with Dorothy Cao ’09, Dipesh Mainali ’09, and YiLun Wang ’09 to Shanghai, Fuzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu, P.R.C., July and August 2007.
“The Many Economic Growth Miracles” presented to the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China, June 2006.
Participant, Council on International Educational Exchange’s International Faculty Development Seminar, “China’s Southwest: Culture, Society, and Environment,” June 2006.
Grant Recipient, Asian Studies Initiative at St. Lawrence University. Funded research and travel with a student (Peter Rahmer) to Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Guangdong Province, PRC, December 2003 and January 2004.
Chair, Session "the Economics of Education" at the annual meetings of the Western Economic Association International, San Francisco, CA, July 2001.
Participant, 39th Central Banking Seminar, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, January 1999.
“Pocket Money and Le Grand Maitre: The Popular Music Industries of Kenya and Zaire Contrasted,” presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Bloomington, IN, October 1998. [With Michael Farley]
Participant, Ford Foundation Summer Seminar, “Crossing Borders: Revitalizing Area Studies,” Innis College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, June-July 1998.
Participant, Council on International Educational Exchange’s International Faculty Development Seminar, “Ghana and the Dynamics of Economic Development,” hosted by the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana, January 1997.
Chair, Session, “African Rhythms in the Diaspora” at the annual meetings of the African Studies Association, San Francisco, CA, November 1996.
“Institutional Environment in the African Popular Music Industry: Kenya and Zaire Contrasted,” presented at the annual meetings of the African Studies Association, San Francisco, CA, November 1996. [With Michael Farley]
“Institutional Constraints on the Development of the Popular Music Industry in Kenya,” presented at the Eighth Annual Carter Lecture Series Symposium: African Entrepreneurship, University of Florida , Gainesville , November 1995. Also presented at the annual meetings of the African Studies Association, Orlando , Florida, November 1995. [With Michael Farley, a revised version later published.]
“Cultural Encounters and the Tragedy of the Commons,” an invited paper presented at Teaching Cultural Encounters as General Education, a National Institute of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, New Orleans, LA, March 1995. [This paper was adapted from an earlier paper, “Property Rights as a Cause....”]
“Jua Kali: Economic Progress, Liberty, and the Informal Sector in Kenya,” presented at the annual international convention of the Association for Private Enterprise Education, San Antonio, TX, April 1994.
“Property Rights as a Cause of the Tragedy of the Commons: Institutional Change and the Pastoral Maasai in Kenya ,” presented at the annual meetings of the Eastern Economics Association, Boston , MA , March 1994. Revised and presented at the annual meetings of the Public Choice Society, Austin, TX, April 1994. [Another revised version later published.]
Grants Recipient, The Ford Foundation African Studies Faculty Development Fund at St. Lawrence University. Funded research and travel to Kenya, 1994; Kenya and Tanzania, 1993.
“Economic Impact Studies of Universities: Trading Academic Integrity for Political Expediency,” presented at the annual meetings of the Western Economic Association International, San Francisco, CA, July 1992. Revised and presented at the annual meetings of the Eastern Economic Association, Washington, DC, March 1993.
A Chief Principal Investigator, “Business Costs and Labor Productivity in the North Country,” North Country University Consortium, 1990-1991. Funding sources: NYS Urban Development Corporation Regional Economic Development Partnership Program; Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation.