Raphael's School of Athens depicting Plato (left) and Aristotle (right) debating whether knowledge comes from ideas or observations. This picture symbolizes the tension in science between theory and empiricism and the value of civil discourse in the pursuit of knowledge.
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  3. RESEARCH
  4. TEACHING
    1. Current Courses
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  5. CURRICULUM VITAE
  6. RELATED LINKS
    1. Department of Economics
    2. Bryan School of Business & Economics
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    2. English

Dennis Patrick Leyden, Ph. D.
Associate Professor of Economics

Research

R&D Policy and Innovation

My work on R&D policy has been particularly enjoyable because of the chance to work with colleagues. Early on, this work focused on the benefit of federal government involvement in the R&D process. However, in recent years, this work shifted to research park policy, and currently it focuses on the role that universities play in the R&D process and the implications for economic growth and entrepreneurial activity. Much of that work is still in process, but among recent published work is:

  • Layson, S. K., Leyden, D. P., & Neufeld, N. (2008). To admit or not to admit: The question of research park size. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 17(7/8), pp. 691-9. 

  • Leyden, D. P., Link, A. N., & Siegel, D. S. (2008). A Theoretical and empirical analysis of the decision to locate on a university research park. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 55(1), pp. 23-8.

  • Leyden, D. P., & Link, A. N. (2004). Transmission of risk-averse behavior in small firms. Small Business Economics, 23(3), pp. 255-9.

Public Education Funding

My work on the funding of public education focuses on the struggle to provide equitable and effective public education to children regardless of whether they live in wealthy or poor school districts. Because of a 1973 ruling by the US Supreme (San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez), this is legally a state, and not a federal, issue. Inspired by California's and Connecticut's experiences in the 1970s and 1980s, I have examined the motivations of state legislators designing public education funding structures when confronted by state supreme court rulings mandating greater equity. I have also analyzed the funding and policies of Mississipi's university structure under a mandate by the US Supreme Court (US v. Fordice, 1992) to redress a failure to fully dismantle its segretated university system. See:

  • Leyden, D. P. (2005). Adequacy, accountability, and the future of public education funding. New York: Springer.

  • Leyden, D. P. (1998/2003). A case in applied spatial voting theory: The Ayers Case and legislative constraints on judicial intervention in the university system of Mississippi/USA. Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 53(3-4), pp. 355-384.

Critical Thinking in Economics

After years of teaching economics, I am convinced that current methods of teaching economics often come up short because we never actually teach student what critical thinking is and how it is applied in economics. After years of working on materials to help students learn how to think critically in economics, I wrote an ancillary textbook, Critical Thinking in Economics, that was published by Kona Publishing and Media Works in January 2011. I am currently working on a second edition that contain improvements from my experience using the text in a number of courses over the past year.