Sean Mulholland

Professor Western Carolina University

  • Cullowhee NC

Sean Mulholland research interests include human capital and economic growth, white supremacist groups and hate crimes.

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Western Carolina University

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Biography

Mulholland is a Professor of Economics at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He has published research articles on a wide variety of topics, including human capital and economic growth, white supremacist groups and hate crimes, school competition and student performance, and Uber and drunk driving. His research has appeared in many journals, including the Journal of Economic Growth, Public Choice, Economics Letters, and Economics of Education Review. His co-authored paper, “Ride-Sharing, Fatal Crashes, and Crime” was awarded the Georgescu-Roegen Prize for the best academic article published in the Southern Economic Journal in 2018. His work has been covered by Ballotpedia, Politifact, National Review, and Tyler Cowen on marginalrevolution.com. Mulholland was awarded the 2018-2019 College of Business Faculty Excellence Award, the 2017-2018 Honors College Board of Directors Faculty Excellence Award, and the 2017-2018 College of Business Excellence in Research Award. He has held faculty positions at Boston College, Stonehill College, and Mercer University. Mulholland has guided more than a dozen undergraduate research projects. He has served as a faculty mentor at seminars sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) and the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and led discussions at the Center for Excellence in Education’s Research Science Institute at MIT. Born and raised in Anderson, South Carolina, Mulholland earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from Clemson University. He lives in Franklin, North Carolina with his wife, Western Carolina University economist Angela K. Dills, and their three children.

Industry Expertise

Writing and Editing
Education/Learning
Research

Areas of Expertise

Drunk Driving
Hate Crimes
Economic Growth
White Supremacist Groups
Student Performance

Accomplishments

College of Business Faculty Excellence Award

2018-2019

Western Carolina University

Georgescu-Roegen Prize

2018

Southern Economic Journal

Honors College Board of Directors Faculty Excellence Award

2017-2018

Western Carolina University

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Education

Clemson University

Ph.D.

Applied Economics

2004

Clemson University

M.A.

Economics

2001

Clemson University

B.S.

Economics

1997

Affiliations

  • American Economic Association
  • Eastern Economic Association
  • North America Association of Sports Economists
  • Public Choice Society
  • Southern Economic Association
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Languages

  • English

Media Appearances

Fed's rate hike in attempt to offset inflation comes with higher costs for many

WLOS  online

2022-05-04

“The intent here is to kind of slow down this increase in spending that we've seen in the last year and a half or so that prices don't continue to accelerate,” said Professor Sean Mulholland, at Western Carolina University’s School of Economics.

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The NAFTA fight: How Canada can win

The Globe and Mail  online

2017-07-07

As U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to tear up the key trade agreement, Greg Keenan travels to the industrial heartland of North Carolina and discovers Canada's secret weapon

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Fact check: Do ridesharing services reduce drunk driving and related fatalities?

Ballotpedia  online

2017-02-15

Researchers with Western Carolina University, in a study titled “Ride-Sharing, Fatal Crashes, and Crime,” analyzed data from 2007 to 2014 to study whether Uber’s entry is associated with arrest rates for DUIs and the number of fatal crashes. They analyzed rates between counties with and without Uber, and within counties before and after Uber entry.

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Articles

The Value of Forensic Anthropology in Undergraduate Anthropology Programs

American Anthropologist

2021

Anecdotally, it has been suggested that undergraduate anthropology students are more interested in forensic anthropology than any other specialty but that forensic anthropologists are less desired as colleagues in academia due to the nature of their work. The goal of this project was to examine two related questions: Does having a forensic anthropologist, or an undergraduate concentration in forensic anthropology, increase the number of majors in anthropology programs?

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Covid-19 prevalence and empty college seats

Applied Economics

2021

Using the National Association for College Admission Counselling’s annual list of colleges with open seats and Covid-19 cases and deaths at the county level, this paper provides a first look at how Covid-19 has altered enrolment at four-year colleges. I find that a one standard deviation increase in deaths per 100,000 is associated with a 61% increase in the probability that a school reports available seats, housing, and aid for first-year students.

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Test-Optional Admissions and Student Debt

SSRN

2020

Applicants who forgo submitting standardized test scores signal that they have fewer enrollment options. Facing fewer competitors, test-optional schools can charge more. We find that graduates admitted under a test-optional policy borrow $1,358 (2016$) more than those required to submit their scores.

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