Ph.D. Fellows Defend Dissertations and Pursue New Opportunities

Michael Makovi will graduate with a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Texas Tech University in August 2020, and will join Northwood University in Michigan as an assistant professor of economics this fall. 


Michael earned a B.A. in economics from Loyola University New Orleans in 2015, and also studied at the Machon Meir rabbinical seminary and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel prior to joining Texas Tech. 

Michael's Ph.D. dissertation includes a three-chapter study titled, 'Three Essays in Applied Economics,' on racial discrimination in the property tax in the Atlanta, GA metropolitan area, a modification to legislative voting rules to better protect minorities from adverse policies, and the effect of synagogue proximity on residential property values.

Jorge Romero-Habeych will graduate with a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources at Texas Tech University in August 2020, and will start his new position as an assistant professor of economics at Western New Mexico State University this fall. 


Jorge earned a B.S. (2005) and M.S. (2006) in economics from the University of Central Florida and an M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Texas Tech University in 2018. Jorge also served in the U.S. Army, worked as a financial analyst in the natural gas industry, and taught undergraduate economics prior to joining Texas Tech. 

Jorge's Ph.D. dissertation involves a study on the interaction of crop insurance and the irrigation adoption decisions made by cotton farmers.

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