Colin Powell School
Economics Professor Marta Bengoa: “The Students Are the Heart and Soul of the Institution”
Professor of Economics Marta Bengoa is the first woman to achieve full professor status in Economics at CCNY, and as such values her role as a mentor, particularly for women in Economics and Business.
Please share something about your personal and professional background, and what brought you to CCNY and the Colin Powell School.
I am a Professor of Economics; my field is international economics with international trade specialization. I am the first woman to become a Full Professor in Economics in the history of City College and part of the elite of women across the country who are Full Professors in Economics (only 14% of the women who start a Ph.D. in Economics achieve the highest professorship level in Academia). I first came here as a visiting professor in 2008 and I was immediately haunted by the thriving community, its potential, and the kind of impact and influence I could develop at CCNY, especially for women in Economics and Business, as a mentor.
My time at the City College of New York has been extremely productive and rewarding. It has allowed me to flourish in my field and be internationally recognized by my peers through national and international research collaborations. The Colin Powell School is a thriving institution, and the school ranks top in the country in promoting social mobility. I am very proud to be a faculty member of CCNY and I have seen myself grow in parallel with the latest renascence of the school.
How did you decide to pursue a PhD and discover a passion for your field?
I studied a bachelor's degree of five years in Business Management in Spain, and I was always more interested in the econ subjects than in the business ones. When I graduated in 1995, there was a huge recession in Spain, hitting households very hard and with an unemployment rate above 25%. I was worried about my country, about my peers and thought about what kind of policies could be implemented to try to ease out the hardship. I did work in the corporate world after graduation, in large multinationals, but was never fulfilled. Then, after a thoughtful discussion with the father of one of my friends (who was a professor) I decided that a PhD could be what I was looking for. And the rest is history.
Can you please briefly describe your scholarly work and findings? What’s most meaningful to your field — and to you — about your work?
A common methodological theme of my work is the use of detailed micro- and administrative data, at the firm and individual level, to econometrically estimate the effect of policies and responses to policy changes on a variety of economic outcomes. My research focuses on four major areas of specialization, in which I do combined theoretical and empirical research in fields that are intertwined: i) Trade integration, foreign direct investment (FDI), and home bias effect ii) Innovation, productivity, and technical progress. Iii) Migration and innovation, iv) Economic growth and inequality: Theoretical and empirical analysis.
With respect to my contribution to the subfield of international trade, I have published an important set of papers that have allowed us to have a better understanding of the magnitude of the home bias of trade (one of the puzzles in International Economics), as well as its influence on the distribution of foreign direct investment across Europe. This work is ground-breaking as it quantifies the size of the border effects of trade at a very disaggregated level to help understand why consumers and firms prefer to purchase local “home” goods and inputs in a globalized world. It happens that the size of the home bias is of significant magnitude and affects foreign investment placements, employment, and industrial development.
Can you say a bit about what you like about CCNY and the Colin Powell School? Perhaps speak to your work with students. What do you like about CCNY?
I love the intellectual environment and enjoy the many discussions with students and colleagues across fields. Critical thinking is encouraged because the institution is interdisciplinary, cosmopolitan, and diverse (so it allows me to constantly learn from others). It is a thriving environment, and I am always happy to come to work. After 13 years of working for CCNY, I still find it extremely exciting and intellectually stimulating. The mission and vision of the CPS align with my view of the world, and I love being part of a community that is proud of educating and shaping the next leaders of the country and the world at large. What could be more exciting than that?
Share something about your plans — regarding research, teaching, engagement — for the next couple of years?
I am currently working on a project with colleagues at CCNY and from other institutions about international migration in the US and what makes those migrants to be entrepreneurs. We are also focusing on how local and federal policies affect entrepreneurship decisions for natives versus migrants. This is still an undeveloped topic in the entrepreneurship and migration fields and given the increasing flows of migrants coming to the US, we think that shedding some light on the topic can help understand the migration dynamics and the economics behind it. I am always excited about teaching, especially in person. I am a passionate person and that translates into how I teach.
What would you want to make sure everyone knows about what makes the Colin Powell School special?
The people: the staff, the students, the faculty…we all face many hurdles working here as this is a public institution with structural barriers (bureaucratic and budget-wise). However, we are always creative in finding ways to overcome those with the objective of giving the best of us to our students. The students are the soul and heart of the institution, and we thrive when they excel inside and outside of the walls of our institution. We are in the business of creating well-rounded new leaders and in my opinion, we are doing a stellar job.