Dr. Anita Alves Pena

Assistant Professor
anita.pena@colostate.edu
C 312 Clark Building
970.491.0821
970.491.2925 Fax
Website
Curriculum Vitae

B.A., Economics, The Johns Hopkins University
M.A., Economics, Stanford University
Ph.D., Economics, Stanford University

Teaching Philosophy

The art in teaching economics lies in the ability to relate the subject to the experiences of students. Teaching students why economics matters to their lives changes their understanding of the world around them. This not only ensures a next generation of economists to extend the field, but also can result in positive externalities such as changes in students' compassion for the poor, ethics in business, and personal responsibility for household finances. The best economics classes elucidate supply and demand relationships and engage students mathematically, analytically, intuitively, and verbally while encouraging informed citizenship and decision-making.

Research

My current research focuses on the effects of public policies on the locational choices and economic outcomes of illegal and legal immigrants in the United States. I am particularly interested in how policy instruments such as benefit program generosity and availability, minimum wage laws, and state and local law enforcement efforts curb or promote migration to certain areas within the U.S. and how these migrant flows impact local labor market conditions.

Recent Work

"Immigration, Legal Status, and Public Aid Magnets." Stanford Center for International Development Working Paper No. 331, June 2007.

"Locational Choices of the Legal and Illegal: Mexican Agricultural Workers in the U.S." Stanford Center for International Development Working Paper No. 332, June 2007.

"Legalization and Immigrants in U.S. Agriculture." Stanford Center for International Development Working Paper No. 348, October 2007.

Policy Reform and Chinese Markets: Progress and Challenges (co-edited with Belton M. Fleisher, Nicholas C. Hope, and Dennis Tao Yang), Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008.