M. Garrett Roth

M. Garrett Roth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Finance and Economics at the Dahlkemper School of Business, Pennsylvania Western University. He teaches core courses including Introduction to Microeconomics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Public Finance, and Game Theory while actively serving on university committees such as the Dahlkemper School of Business Curriculum Committee (previously as chair) and the Political Economy Discussion Group (current co-leader). Roth holds the presidency of the Pennsylvania Economic Association for 2024-2025.

His educational background comprises a PhD in Economics from SUNY Binghamton (2010; dissertation: Political Candidates as Dynamic Optimizers), an MS in Economics from Lehigh University (2005), and a BS in Business Economics from Lehigh University (2004).

Roth's research applies economic logic across political science, law, philosophy, psychology, and finance. Key interests include public opinion's relationship with fiscal policy, political determinants of pork barrel spending, and time preference in political institutions. Much of his work emerges from collaboration with William McAndrew, yielding interdisciplinary insights through empirical and theoretical frameworks.

His publication record (2011-2023) reveals consistent engagement with political economy and institutional analysis. Dominant themes include congressional pork barrel dynamics, media discrimination patterns, political candidate marketing strategies, polarization mechanisms, economics pedagogy, property rights systems, academic labor markets, forensic science organization, prison gang structures, and multicandidate electoral models. Methodologically, his work blends empirical testing with game-theoretic modeling to examine institutional behavior.