Hi, my name is Soomi Lee. I am a Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Director to oversee the Master of Public Administration program (MPA) at the University of La Verne. I study, research, and teach public policy, microeconomics, public finance, and urban/regional economics.
My research interests include state and local public finance, fiscal institutions, redistributive policies, and economic resilience. Current research projects concern property taxes, intra- and inter-regional fiscal disparities, and basic income guarantees.
My work appeared in Urban Studies, Urban Affairs Review, Regional Studies, Journal of Socioeconomics, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Public Finance Review, Basic Income Studies, and other journals.
I am an associate editor for the Annals of Regional Science and an editorial board member for the Regional Science Policy & Practice. I serve on the executive board of the Western Regional Science Association. and the advisory board of the United States Basic Income Guarantee. I am an affiliated researcher at the Homeless Policy Research Institute of the University of Southern California.
I earned a Ph.D. in Economics and Political Science from the Claremont Graduate University.