Bates Econ

Welcome to the Bates Economics website, where you can find information on the department curriculum, faculty, events, and more.

Recent News:

  • Data Science for Economists Hackathon Tackles Lewiston’s Lead Abatement Efforts

    In the final week of classes this December, 15 students in Professor Kyle Coombs’ Data Science for Economists course dedicated 48 hours of their unscheduled time to a collaborative hackathon. The project, conducted in partnership with the City of Lewiston, offered students a chance to work with real-world data while advancing the city’s Transformation Plan—a resident-led, city-adopted initiative aimed at improving the community.

    For more details about the hackathon and its outcomes, check out here.

  • Professor Sen’s Opinion Piece Published in the Bangor Daily News

    Professor Sen recently published an opinion piece in the Bangor Daily News titled “Presidential candidates offer very different plans to tackle child care costs.” To read the full article, click here.

  • Professor Coombs’ Research Cited in the 2025 Economic Report of the President

    Professor Coombs and coauthors’ paper, “Early Withdrawal of Pandemic Unemployment Insurance: Effects on Employment and Earnings,” was cited in the 2025 Economic Report of the President, a prestigious acknowledgment of the research’s relevance and impact on policy discussions.

    Originally published in the AEA Papers and Proceedings in 2022, the study provides critical insights into the economic implications of the sudden withdrawal of expanded pandemic unemployment benefits in June 2021. Utilizing anonymized bank transaction data for 16,253 individuals who were receiving unemployment insurance (UI) in April 2021, the research employs a difference-in-differences approach to compare states that withdrew expanded UI benefits to those that retained them. Interested readers can find the article here.

    We congratulate Professor Coombs and the research team for this outstanding achievement and their ongoing contributions to the field of economics.

  • Renewable Energy in Maine and New England

    Students in the short-term course Renewable Energy in Maine and New England, taught by Professor T.J. Rakitan, visited the college’s Shordtridge facility at Bates-Morse Mountain. The group toured the facility to learn about the renewable energy sources used to provide energy to the property.

  • Last-class Celebration for the Retirement of Professor Lynne Lewis from Bates

    Students celebrate the retirement of Dr. Lynne Y. Lewis, the Elmer W. Campbell Professor of Economics, in her last class at Bates.