Michael Hicks
Michael Hicks
George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research
Curriculum Vitae

Phone:765-285-5926

Fax:765-285-8024

Room:WB 149


Michael J. Hicks, PhD is the George and Frances Ball distinguished professor of economics and the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University. He previously served on the faculty of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management and at research centers at Marshall University and the University of Tennessee.

Hicks’ research interest is in state and local public finance and the effect of public policy on the location, composition, and size of economic activity. He has authored three books and more than 50 scholarly papers and is best known for his work on tax incentives and the impact of Walmart. 

Hicks received research and teaching awards from Tennessee, Marshall, AFIT, and Ball State, and his work has been highlighted in such outlets as Rolling Stone, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Washington Post. He has appeared nationally on CSPAN, MSNBC, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and Fox Business News, and his weekly column on economics and current events is syndicated in several outlets across the state. 

Hicks earned doctoral and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Virginia Military Institute. He is a retired Army reserve infantryman having served in combat and peacekeeping operations in North Africa, Southwest Asia, Korea and Japan.

Hicks makes his home in Yorktown, Indiana, with his wife Janet, and three overactive kids.

Since its inception in 1970, Ball State's Center for Business and Economic Research, formerly the Bureau of Business Research, has supported business faculty and provided Indiana’s business community with research resources.

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