Research Archive
Browse all research papers and working papers
The Golden Ratio
Tracking gold's fluctuations through global crises and its mission for balance in today's landscape
So the million-dollar question is what led to golds meteoric rise this past year and what led to its fall. Simply put, politics. Now, this is not the only reason, but it is one of the main catalysts that helped gold perform so well. From April 2nd of 2025 to January 26th of 2026...
How UH’s Athletics Spending Functions as Economic Development for Houston
Economic development is often associated with infrastructure projects or corporate investment, but at the University of Houston, athletics spending has increasingly...
How Financial Crises Spread Like Diseases
The Epidemic Economics of the 2008 Crash
By 1997, 49% of financial crisis transmission was global. The same math that tracked COVID-19 explains why Lehman Brothers' collapse infected the global economy. Epidemiological models allow economists to study market crises...
A Brigher Horizon
Positive Economic Trends Taking Shape for 2026
With the current state of the economy, the future may seem daunting. It is easy to infer that the current disasters in every aspect of the economy will extend well into the new year–but I am pleased to say that is not the case...
Houston's Seasonal Employment Patterns
How contract cycles create predictable job losses twice a year
In January, Houston typically loses 1-2% of its employed non-farm workforce. Using monthly, non-seasonally adjusted employment data from FRED, I analyzed the employment patterns of 35 years of Texas metro areas. The data reveal a consistent "double-dip" seasonal pattern...
University of Houston Historical Tuition
How the up-front cost of attending UH has changed over the years
Using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, I analyzed how UH tuition has changed since fiscal year 2009. Three trends emerge: a relatively constant increase of 2-3% most years, a large jump (~38%) between FY2012 and FY2013, and no tuition increases since FY2022. Comparing costs for an undergraduate student taking 12 credits in FY2009...
Sleep During Finals Week
During finals week, students often forgo sleep to prepare for their exams. All of a sudden, the night is seen as a potential study period, and students start to treat sleep like it is a luxury. Little do they know, sleep is not only a necessity, but it is one of the factors that promotes academic performance.
The Economics of Finals Week
How exam scheduling and work hours impact student performance
Research shows that exam spacing and working hours significantly impact student performance. This analysis explores how finals week structure affects outcomes and what students can do to optimize their performance.
Instructor Grade Comparison Dynamic
Compare grade distributions between two instructors for any UH course
Interactively compare how two instructors grade in the same course, with hypothesis testing to determine if differences are statistically significant.