"My research expertise lies generally in the field of applied microeconomics, with an emphasis in the areas of education and crime—particularly on questions exploring how the quality, duration, or location of education may help explain criminal behavior."
Asha Shepard
Associate ProfessorEconomics
Asha Shepard is an applied microeconomist who specializes in education policy and criminal behavior. His dissertation studies the effect of education policies on the behavior of individuals—particularly the criminal behavior of juveniles. This involved exploring questions such as how the age at which an individual begins school, as determined by a school starting age policy, can affect their probability of committing crime. At Goucher College, Asha teaches courses in introductory economics and microeconomics.
Research, Scholarship, Creative Work in Progress
Predicting the determinants of criminal behavior is done through many avenues. Asha’s research focuses specifically on how school-related policies may affect an individual’s propensity to commit crime. Currently, Asha is exploring the effect of school quality, based on a school rating policy, on the behavioral and criminal outcomes of juveniles. The aim of this project is to highlight some of the non-academic consequences of attending a low-performing school relative to a high-performing school.
External Awards, Honors, Grants
Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2012-2017
Conference Papers & Panel Participation
Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) California Regional Student Conference, 2017
University of California, Santa Cruz Economics Department Brown Bag Seminar, 2017
University of California, Santa Cruz Applied Microeconomics Workshop, 2017
Academic or Professional Associations
American Economic Association, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management