Rate My Professor Michael Donihue

Michael Donihue is the Herbert E. Wadsworth 1892 Professor of Economics at Colby College, a position he has held since 2014. He joined Colby in 1989 as an assistant professor, advancing to associate professor in 1996 and full professor in 2007. Donihue earned his B.A. in Economics from Colby College in 1979, M.A. in Applied Economics from the University of Michigan in 1983, and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1989, specializing in econometrics and labor economics with a dissertation titled "On the Use of Mixed Frequency Data to Improve Macroeconometric Forecasts." His extensive administrative service includes five terms as Chair of the Economics Department (2000–2003, 2011–2012, 2013–2014, 2016–2018, 2020–2022), Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Associate Dean of Faculty (2008–2011), Director of the Colby Laboratory for Economic Studies since 2019, and Interim Director of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence (2024–2025). Earlier roles encompass Senior Economist for macroeconomics and forecasting at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (1994–1995) and Visiting Scholar in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (2004–2005).

Donihue's scholarship centers on macroeconometric modeling, policy analysis, forecasting, and applied econometrics, with recent applications to AI in education, sustainable agriculture, environmental impacts, and regional economics. Key publications include “Generative AI in Liberal Arts Education: A Comparative Analysis of Student Experiences” with Micah Margolis, Anna Mackey, and Isabella Kuhr (Journal of Writing With and About AI, 2025); “Maine organic dairy producers’ receptiveness to seaweed supplementation and effect of Chondrus crispus on enteric methane emissions in lactating cows” with D.C. Reyes et al. (Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2023); “The Economic Impact of Shale Gas Development: A Natural Experiment along the New York and Pennsylvania Border” with B. Cosgrove, D. LaFave, and S.T.M. Dissanayake (Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 2015); “Decomposing Consumer Wealth Effects: Evidence on the Role of Real Estate Assets Following the Wealth Cycle of 1990-2002” with Andriy Avramenko (The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, 2007); “What’s An Oscar Worth?” with R.A. Nelson, D.M. Waldman, and C. Wheaton (Economic Inquiry, 2001); and “Differential Environmental Regulation: Effects on Electric Utility Capital Turnover and Emissions” with R. Nelson and T.H. Tietenberg (Review of Economics and Statistics, 1993). He has received major grants such as a $10 million USDA Sustainable Agricultural Systems Coast to Cow to Consumer grant as co-PI (2022–2027), NSF grants, and the Dana Fellowship at Yale University (1992), and served on the Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission by gubernatorial appointment (1992–2009).