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Travis Roach, Ph.D.

Associate Professor/Chair

University of Central Oklahoma
troach2@uco.edu (405) 974-2934 Economics THH 221 , Box 103
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About

Travis Roach, Ph.D., is an associate professor and chairperson of the Department of Economics, and an MBA faculty member. He is also the founding director of the Central Policy Institute - an interdisciplinary research center housed in the College of Business.

Roach originally hails from Austin, Texas, and made his way to Oklahoma by way of Lubbock, Texas, where he completed his doctorate in economics. After completing his doctorate, Roach served as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Wind Institute where he taught courses on wind energy economics, policy and law. Prior to living on the windy plains of West Texas, he attended the University of North Texas where he received a B.A. in music and a B.S. in economics.

Roach's research interests are in the fields of economic policy, environmental economics, labor economics and industrial organization. His research has focused on carbon dioxide emissions from energy use, alternative energy sources including wind and biofuels, and the unintended consequences of energy production and consumption. This research has been published in top field journals including Energy Economics; Economics Letters; Economic Inquiry; Energy Policy; Education Economics; Climate Change Economics; Journal of Economics, Race and Policy. Additionally, this work has been featured in newspapers locally and around the world including the Oklahoman and the Journal Record in Oklahoma City, the Sydney Morning Herald of Australia, and the Tyee in British Columbia, Canada. Roach has been awarded a grant through the NSF Oklahoma EPSCOR program to study the economic effects of induced seismicity, and he has worked with the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs on the prevalence of suicide among veterans. Roach has led many workshops on economic pedagogy statewide through the Oklahoma Council on Economic Education, and was invited to the University of Nottingham in Ningbo China for a two-day lecture series on active learning and flipped classrooms.

In his free time, he likes to work in the garden with his wife, Anna, and visit local craft breweries with his rambunctious dog.

Classes Taught

Undergraduate: Economics of Social Issues, Introduction to Economics, Principles of Microeconomics, Game Theory, Introduction to Energy Economics, Electricity Economics, Renewable Energy Economics, Economics of Crime

Graduate: Managerial Economics, Game Theory, Advanced Business Statistics, Energy Economics

Research, Published Work, and Scholarly Activities

Published Research

  1. Pham, L. Roach, T. (2023) Particulate Pollution and Learning, Economics of Education Review ​92.
  2. Roach, T., Hicks, R. (2022) Hot, Cross, Guns. Climate Change Economics 13(2).
  3. Roach, T., Maisch, J., Oller, J. (2022) "Frackers" of the Flower Moon: How Oil and Gas Production has Affected Indigenous Labor Outcomes. Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy 5.
  4. Noel, M., Roach, T. (2022) Accounting for Aversion: Costs of the Renewable Fuel Standard after Reaching the Blend Wall. Review of Regional Studies 52(2).
  5. Jog, C., Roach, T. (2022) How Have COVID-19 Case Rates Impacted Retail Gasoline Price Markups? Evidence From Daily Prices and Transportation Choices. Energy Research Letters, 3. 
  6. Roach, T., Whitney, J. (2021) Heat and Learning in Elementary and Middle School, ​Education Economics.
  7. Roach, T. (2021) Dynamic Carbon Dioxide Taxation with Revenue Recycling, Journal of Cleaner Production 289.
  8. Roach, T., Maisch, J. Pokhrel, S. (2020) Bidding in Competition: Wholesale Alcohol Markups under Changing Liquor Laws, Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy 50(1), 83-95.
  9. Gittings, K. R., Roach, T. (2020) Who Benefits from a Resource Boom? Evidence from the Marcellus and Utica Shale Plays, Energy Economics 87.
  10. Roach, T. ​(2019) Market Power and Second Degree Price Discrimination in Retail Gasoline Markets: The Case of Ethanol-Blended Gasoline, Energy Economics 84. 
  11. Roach, T. (2019) Renewable Energy Policy, chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Energy Economics.
  12. Maisch, J., Roach, T. (2019) 21st Century Bootlegging: Unlawful Wine Shipments and Direct-to-Consumer Laws, Applied Economics Letters. 
  13. Roach, T. (2018) Oklahoma Earthquakes and the Price of Oil, Energy Policy 121, 365-373.
  14. Roach, T. (2017) Behavioral Economics and the Trade-off between Coal and Renewable Energy Capacity Additions, IAEE Energy Forum.
  15. Metz, N. E., Roach, T., Williams, J. A. (2017) The Costs of Induced Seismicity: A Hedonic Analysis, Economics Letters 160, 86-90.
  16. Noel, M. D., ​Roach, T. (2017) Marginal Reductions in Vehicle Emissions Following a Dual-Blend Ethanol Mandate: Evidence from a Natural Experiment, Energy Economics 64, 45-54.
  17. Roach, T. (2017) Renewable Energy and Low-Carbon Policy Spillover Effects on Natural Gas Demand, Applied Economics Letters 16, 1143-1147.​
  18. Noel, M. D., Roach, T. (2016) Regulated and Unregulated Substitutes: Aversion Effects of an Ethanol Mandate, Economic Inquiry 54(2), 1150-1166. 
  19. Roach, T. (2015) Hidden Regimes and the Demand for Carbon Dioxide from Motor-Gasoline, Energy Economics 52, 306-315.
  20. Ginn, V., Roach, T. (2015) An Oil-Producing State's Ability to Cope after a Regional Free Trade Agreement: The Case of Texas and NAFTA, The International Trade Journal 29(4), 309-336.
  21. Roach, T. (2015) The Effect of the Production Tax Credit on Wind Energy Production in Deregulated Electricity Markets, Economics Letters 127, 86-88.
  22. Roach, T. (2014) Student Perceptions toward Flipped Learning: New Methods to Increase Interaction and Active Learning in Economics, International Review of Economics Education, 17, 74-84.
  23. Roach, T. (2013) A Dynamic State-Level Analysis of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the United States, Energy Policy, 59, 931-937.
  24. Roach, T. (2013) On the Nature and Causes of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the United States, Applied Economics Letters 20, 1023-1026.
  25. Roach, T. (2013) The Benefits of Asynchronous Discussion in a Hybrid Course: Evidence From a Large Enrollment Economics Course, Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research 15(2).

Funded Research Grants

  1. Roach, T., “Veteran Populations and Suicide Rates” (external grant) Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, $5,000.00. (August 2020 - present).
  2. The Impact of Climate Change on Crime and Violence, Sponsored by STLR, University of Central Oklahoma, $2,400.00. (November 2019 - May 2020).
  3. Morals Aside (2018) Role: PI, Faculty Mentor, Undergraduate Research Project. Funding Agency: STLR. Funding amount: $1,6000
  4. Applications of Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Modeling in Supply Chain Management Research,”University of Central Oklahoma, $2,140.00. (August 2016 - May 2017) with Mwangola, W.
  5. The Costs of Induced Seismicity: A Hedonic Analysis (2016) Role: PI. Funding Agency: EPSCoR ROA+.  Funding amount: $12,326.
    • Also supported by STLR grant, Funding amount: $3,000.
  6. Price Discrimination at the Pump: Competitive Effects of Ethanol and Ethanol Blended Gasoline (2015) Role: PI. Funding Agency: STLR. Funding amount: $6,400
    • Also supported by UCO New Faculty Start-up grant, Funding amount: $641.
Portrait

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