Rate My Professor Timothy Bersak

Timothy A. Bersak serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at Wofford College, a role he assumed in 2020 following his tenure as Assistant Professor from 2015 to 2020. He joined Wofford College in 2015 after completing his Ph.D. in Economics from Clemson University in 2015 and earning his M.A. in Economics from the same institution in 2012. Bersak holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Health Science, both from Boston University in 2007. His promotion to Associate Professor coincided with receiving tenure in 2020, recognizing his contributions to teaching and scholarship.

In the classroom, Bersak teaches introductory microeconomics, microeconomic theory, and applied microeconomics in areas such as health, labor, and public economics. He focuses on fostering students' intuitive grasp of decision-making tradeoffs. His research centers on the intersection of health, labor, and public economics, with studies on public health programs and policy effects. Notable publications include "The impact of WIC on infant immunizations and health care utilization" co-authored with L. Sonchak in Health Services Research (2018); "Prenatal care: Mechanisms and impacts on infant health and health care utilization" with L. Sonchak-Ardan in Contemporary Economic Policy (2022); "Marginal changes, marginal impacts: the limits of changes to WIC and their ability to influence breastfeeding rates" with L. Sonchak-Ardan in Children and Youth Services Review (2021); "Identification of job lock and inefficient labor market mobility" in Southern Economic Journal (2019); and "CBD as a cure-all? The impacts of state-level legalization of prescription cannabidiol (CBD) on opioid prescriptions" with R. Gearhart and N. Michieka in Southern Economic Journal (2024). Additional works cover topics like Tobacco-21 laws' impact on maternal smoking, mobile sports betting's effects on mental health, and Giffen behavior in sports. His dissertation, "Essays on Health, Health Care Utilization, and Public Insurance" (Clemson University, 2015), underpins his empirical analyses of health policy interventions. Bersak also mentors undergraduate research and chairs the Economics Department.