Kent F. Kovacs, Ph.D.
Economist


Kent Kovacs has a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis and a B.A. in Economics from Vassar College. His dissertation entitled Natural Amenity Benefits and Residential Development Patterns looks at the relationships between open spaces, such as parks, lakes, or agricultural land, and residential development. The initial chapters of his dissertation describe a spatial city model with simulations that illustrate the importance of the different kinds of open space benefits, the creation of additional open space, the durability of housing, the sensitivity of residential development to the benefits and costs of recreation, and the presence of two income groups. The later chapters of his dissertation use the revealed and stated preference methods of non-market valuation to understand the relationships between open space and residential development empirically with Assessor, Geographic Information Systems, and survey data from Portland, OR.

While Kent was in graduate school, he interned at the Economic Research Service, the research agency for U.S.D.A., where his research examined the environmental consequences of land use change across the entire nation. He also interned at the Property Rights and Environment Research Center: The Center for Free Market Environmentalism in Bozeman, MT where he conducted research supervised by Senior Fellows.

Kent's answers and reflections on some of life’s more important questions:

Claim to fame: While touring the Southwest during one summer in high school, I hiked nearly everyday except while on the road, and I did not take a shower for nearly a month and a half. I take showers more frequently now.

Curious about: Is there another museum for the arms and legs of the sculptures you see in art museums...

Why Bellingham: Beautiful, great access to the outdoors, and a nice community.

Click here for Kent's full resume.