In Good Company

Trustees’ Research Scholar 2016-Present

For Dr. Ben Kyer, the Benjamin Wall Ingram III Professor of Economics at Francis Marion University, research was just what he did.

A native of a small town in rural West Virginia, Kyer chose to settle at FMU and in Florence in 1989, in large part because of the opportunity to continue teaching and studying the subjects he loved. Since that time, he’s published more than 30 scholarly articles, many in concert with Dr. Gary Maggs of St. Fisher’s University in Rochester, N.Y., a friend and colleague since their days in graduate school at the University of West Virginia.

“Research and teaching in my area — that’s what I wanted to do and that’s worked out pretty well,” says Kyer.

Kyer, who is also the recipient of FMU’s J. Lorin Mason Distinguished Professor Award, says earning Trustees’ Research Scholar status validated his career choice and made him feel part of a great company of scholars.

“I am humbled by and honored with the award itself and very proud to be associated with such an esteemed group of accomplished people,” says Kyer. “It does indeed demonstrate that Francis Marion University is dedicated to scholarly research, publication and achievement, and rewards such with the Trustees Research Program.”

Kyer’s research focuses primarily in macroeconomics. That area focuses on the relationships between output, unemployment, and inflation. He’s also studied performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of economies as a whole.

In recent years, he and Maggs have focused on aggregate demand theory and research that demonstrates the influence of aggregate demand elasticity on the foreign exchange rate when inflation occurs. That’s been a timely topic of late. Of course, like much research, Kyer’s most recent research has piggybacked on work done long before.

Papers by Kyer and Maggs include “On the Keynes and Pigou Effects in Aggregate Demand Theory,” “Monetary Policy Rules, Supply Shocks, and the Price Level Elasticity of Aggregate Demand: A Graphical Examination,” “Supply Side Economics and the Price Level Elasticity of Aggregate Demand,” “Economic Expansion and the Balance of Trade: The Role of Aggregate Demand Elasticity,” and “Club Formation and Response to Natural Disaster: An Example From South Carolina.”

The latter dealt with a decidedly micro issue: how homeowners in a South Carolina community responded to the ravages of Hurricane Matthew in 2016. The example Kyer cited was literally right in his own backyard. He lived in the community, and on the lake, affected by the storm and a subsequent dam failure there.

Kyer teaches a variety of courses in the FMU School of Business, including Principles of Macroeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, History of Economic Thought, Public Finance, and Economic Analysis for FMU’s MBA program. His research has appeared in The Journal of Macroeconomics, The Atlantic Economic Journal, Public Finance Quarterly, Journal of Economic Education, International Advances in Economic Research and The American Economist.