Assistant Professor
Economics, Dept of
Kyle Hall 298
Box 6952
Hello! My name is Katherine Theiss, and I am an Assistant Professor of Economics at Radford University. I joined the Department of Economics at Radford University in August 2025 after graduating from Fordham University with a Ph.D. in Economics. Currently, I teach Principles of Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory, and Global Economy and Business.
My research fields are development economics and applied microeconomics, with a focus on gender, health, public economics, and applied econometrics. Specifically, my research agenda aims to achieve two distinct, but interconnected, objectives: (i) contribute to our understanding of the causal drivers and mitigators of gender-based deprivations in low- and middle-income countries and (ii) improve the measurement of health and development indicators.
In addition to my teaching and research, I have consulted on several data-driven projects carried out by the United Nations, the World Bank, IMPAQ International, and the NORC at the University of Chicago. Outside of work, I enjoy running, hiking, watching scary movies, and spending time with friends and family.
Ph.D. in Economics, Fordham University, Bronx, New York
B.A. in Economics, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut
In my current work, I utilize rigorous econometric techniques to answer important policy questions in the areas of gender and health in low- and middle-income countries. For example, some of my works include identifying the impact of time of day on women’s propensity to self-report intimate partner violence (IPV) on household surveys in Sub-Saharan Africa, the effect of place-based policies on IPV in India, and the impacts of public works programs on child’s labor and schooling in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Recently, I have presented my research at the 2025 United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics (UNU-WIDER) Development Conference, the 2024 Society for Economic Measurement (SEM) Conference, and the 2024 Midwest International Economic Development Conference (MWIEDC).
Overall, I look forward to growing my research program by contributing to the areas of development economics, gender, health, public economics, and applied microeconomics more broadly and hope to create similar opportunities for students to conduct meaningful research of their own.
ECON 106: Principles of Microeconomics
ECON 305: Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory
ECON 340: Global Economy and Business
Mani, S., & Theiss, K. (2025). A Systematic Review of Pre-primary Education Interventions in Africa. Journal of African Economies. (Forthcoming)
Theiss, K., Carpenter, B., Hanass-Hancock, J., Kamalakannan, S., Kulchar, R.J., Murthy, G.V.S., Pinilla-Roncancio, M., Velarde, M.R., Tetali, S. and Mitra, S. (2025). Is disability prevalence higher in rural areas? Evidence from functional difficulty and nightlight data in 15 low-and middle-income countries. Disability and Health Journal, 101964.
Hervé, J., Theiss, K., & Mitra, S. (2025). Are women with disabilities more at risk of intimate partner violence?. Social Forces, soaf023.
Carpenter, B., Kamalakannan, S., Patchaiappan, K., Theiss, K., Yap, J., Hanass-Hancock, J., Murthy, G., Pinilla-Roncancio, M., Rivas Velarde, M. & Mitra, S. (2024). Data Resource Profile: The Disability Statistics - Estimates Database (DS-E Database). An innovative database of internationally comparable statistics on disability inequalities, International Journal of Population Data Science, 8(6).
Joseph Cammarosano Teaching Award, Fordham University, 2024
Alumni Dissertation Fellowship, Fordham University, 2024 - 2025
Distinguished Senior Teaching Fellowship (for excellence in teaching), Fordham University, 2023 - 2024