Dr. Sean E. Mulholland

Dr. Sean E. Mulholland is the Director of the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise and a Professor of Economics at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina where, in 2022, he and his colleagues successfully resurrected the Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He is dedicated to cultivating a curious, creative, and compassionate intellectual community devoted to seeking truth and beauty through freedom of thought and expression. He has published research articles on a wide variety of topics, including human capital and economic growth, white supremacist groups and hate crimes, school competition and student performance, and the connection between the rise of Uber and the decline of drunk driving incidents.

His research has appeared in many journals, including the Journal of Economic Growth, Public Choice, Economics Letters, and Economics of Education Review. His co-authored paper, “Ride-Sharing, Fatal Crashes, and Crime” was awarded the Georgescu-Roegen Prize for the best academic article published in the Southern Economic Journal in 2018. His work has been covered by Ballotpedia, Politifact, National Review, and Tyler Cowen on marginalrevolution.com.

Dr. Mulholland was awarded the 2019 College of Business Faculty Excellence Award, the 2018 & 2022 Honors College Board of Directors Faculty Excellence Award, and the 2018 College of Business Excellence in Research Award. He has held faculty positions at Boston College, Stonehill College, and Mercer University. He has served as a faculty mentor at seminars sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) and the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and led discussions at the Center for Excellence in Education’s Research Science Institute at MIT.

Born and raised in Anderson, South Carolina, Mulholland earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from Clemson University. He lives in Franklin, North Carolina with his wife, Western Carolina University economist Angela K. Dills, their three children, Julian, Porter, and Ryn, and their Siberian Husky, Kyra.

If you recall, what influenced your decision to become a member of the International Atlantic Economic Society?

There are many reasons why I joined the IAES. The three that stand out are the journals, my experience at my first conference, and its support of undergraduate research. As a young scholar, I remember first learning about the journal from my colleague, Peter von Allmen, when I was an assistant professor at Moravian College (now Moravian University). He noted that he received valuable feedback that improved his co-authored paper, “The Influence of Structural Changes and International Players on Competitive Balance in the NHL”. Upon learning about the journal, I recognized that the Atlantic Economic Journal published accessible empirical papers that I found interesting and enlightening.

Given the journal’s accessibility, I attended an IAES conference to present a working paper. I received valuable feedback from scholars in my session. But what I remember the most about the conference is that executive director Dr. Katherine S. Virgo introduced herself and took time out of her busy conference schedule to chat with me. She asked about my research and why I attended the IAES meetings. She also asked about future research questions I was considering. As a relatively new scholar at the time, I appreciated that the director wanted to know about me and my work. But now, as a more seasoned scholar, I realize how incredibly rare it is for a conference director to ask about a new member’s scholarly endeavors. It is one reason why I recommend the conference to others.

Finally, IAES encourages and supports undergraduate research. I encourage and support creative, curious, and dedicated students who wish to conduct their original research. The IAES’s competitive undergraduate research paper award provides outstanding undergraduate scholars the opportunity to present their work in a plenary session at the annual conference. Finalists are also allowed to publish a summary of their work. The winner earns a monetary award and the Atlantic Economic Journal publishes their entire paper. These papers and presentations are always outstanding!

What types of projects/research are you currently working on and what inspired/motivated you to pursue these interests?

Motivation comes from many sources. One paper, “Don’t TREAD on Anyone? The Political Economy and Effectiveness of Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems”, recently accepted by the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, was inspired by the works of Jerry Ellig and Bruce Yandle. I had the pleasure of working with Jerry Ellig on the regulatory report card project at George Mason University. He was always asking unique and creative questions about the often-overlooked effects of regulations. I also had the pleasure of being a student of Bruce Yandle who always provided insight into why regulations are crafted in often high-cost, command-and-control manners.

Another paper began as a conversation about how university administrators view college sports performance with Boston College economist, Sasha Tomic. Coauthored with Sasha and Seton Hall economist, Kurt Rottoff, we find that the peer assessment score of the U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings is associated with an appearance in the sweet sixteen of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Specifically, our results show that reaching the Sweet Sixteen is associated with a peer score increase of 0.3 percent for National Universities, which is almost equal to the average decline witnessed by National Universities. Peer scores increase by 2.2 percent for National Liberal Arts Colleges earning a Sweet Sixteen birth, which is 6.1 times the average decline in our National Liberal Arts Colleges sample. The paper is in the second round of revisions.

Many paper ideas come from conversations with our undergraduate students. Ally Thompson and I began talking about student debt. We wondered if the move to test-optional admissions (pre-pandemic) affected prices and student debt. We find that private college graduates admitted under a test-optional policy borrow $1,028 (2016$), or 4 percent, more than those required to submit their scores. Using the Callaway and Sant’ Anna (2021) estimator with multiple time-period treatments, we find debt is 2.4 to 6.9 percent higher for those admitted under a test-optional policy. We find evidence that this larger debt is not a result of pricing power through market segmentation but by selective institutions using price as an additional screening process in response to less information about applicants.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering entering your line of work/field of study?

Persistence. Throughout your career, you will receive many rejections. Though they often sting, if you listen to the feedback, seek ways to improve, and keep at it, you will find open doors.  

Going forward, what other projects/research are you planning to or hoping to pursue?

I am increasingly fascinated by the changing landscape in college athletics. Much of the discussion centers on NIL, the portal, and how this affects team composition and performance. However, I am interested in how colleges might change the number and composition of teams they sponsor under the new rules. How might this alter the number of athletic roster spots at D1, D2, D3, and NAIA schools?

I am also increasingly interested in undergraduate-focused schools. We see more and more students interested in the R1s through increases in the number of applications to their undergraduate programs, but the goals and incentives of R1 faculty cause them to increasingly focus on research, grant funding, and graduate student performance. How might the greater focus on graduate programs, grants, and research affect the undergraduate experience at R1s? How has this changed relative to undergraduate focused schools?

What’s your favorite hobby?

I enjoy watching my children compete in athletics and am a fan of musical theater, from Broadway to local productions, especially when one of our kids is performing. I also have a passion for automobile racing and try to attend one NASCAR Cup race and one IndyCar race annually. I’m particularly looking forward to the 2025 Indy 500 with Southern Methodist University economist Robert Lawson and investment guru Marshal Stocker. Additionally, I enjoy working on classic cars, like my 1973 Volvo 1800ES.