Dr. Charles L. Baum
Professor

Departments / Programs
Degree Information
- PHD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1999)
- BA, Wake Forest University (1995)
Areas of Expertise
Labor Economics (employment trends, wages, labor force participation rates, employment benefits, retirement decisions, and worklife expectancies)
Biography
I am a professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University, where I have taught courses on labor markets, unions, and collective bargaining since 1999. I received my Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill earlier that year. I earned a B.A. in economics from Wake Forest University in 1995. From 2008 to 2014, I served as the chair of the Department of Economics and Finance.
Publications
An updated copy of my resume is available upon request (request at charles.baum@mtsu.edu).
Baum, Charles L. (2022). "Seven Careers in a Lifetime? An Analysis of Employee Tenure." Economic Inquiry, forthcoming.
Baum, Charles L. (2020). “The Effects of Medical Malpractice Tort Reform on Physician Supply...
Read More »An updated copy of my resume is available upon request (request at charles.baum@mtsu.edu).
Baum, Charles L. (2022). "Seven Careers in a Lifetime? An Analysis of Employee Tenure." Economic Inquiry, forthcoming.
Baum, Charles L. (2020). “The Effects of Medical Malpractice Tort Reform on Physician Supply: An Analysis of Legislative Changes from 2009 to 2016.” Southern Economic Journal, 87 (2): 540-575.
Owens, Mark F., Adam D. Rennhoff, and Charles L. Baum. (2018). “Consumer Demand for Charitable Purchases: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Girl Scout Cookie Sales.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 152 (1): 47-63.
Baum, Charles L. (2018). “The Implications of Medical Malpractice Tort Reform in Missouri on Physician Labor Supply.” Journal of the Missouri Bar, 74 (5): 246-249.
Baum, Charles L., and James D. Rodgers. (2018). “Maternal Household Services and Children.” Journal of Forensic Economics, 27 (1): 1-15.
Baum, Charles L. (2017). “The Effects of College on Weight: Examining the Freshman Fifteen Myth.” Demography, 54 (1): 311-336.
Gaughan, Patrick A., and Charles L. Baum. (2017). “The Accuracy of the Social Security Wage and Other Economic Projections.” Journal of Legal Economics, 23 (1): 3-29.
Baum, Charles L., and Shin-Yi Chou. (2016). “Why Has the Prevalence of Obesity Doubled.” Review of Economics of the Household, 14 (2): 251-267.
Baum, Charles L., and Christopher J. Ruhm. (2016). “The Effects of Paid Family Leave in California on Labor Market Outcomes.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 35 (2): 333-356.
Baum, Charles L., and Christopher J. Ruhm. (2016). “The Changing Benefits of Early Work Experience.” Southern Economic Journal, 83 (2): 343-363.
Baum, Charles L. (2015). “Employee Tenure and Economic Losses in Wrongful Termination Cases: A Reply of Nicholas Coleman.” Journal of Forensic Economics, 26 (1): 95-97.
Baum, Charles L. (2013). “Employee Tenure and Economic Losses in Wrongful Termination Cases.” Journal of Forensic Economics, 24 (1): 41-66.
Baum, Charles L. (2012). “The Effects of Food Stamp Receipt on Weight Gained by Expectant Mothers.” Journal of Population Economics, 25 (4): 1307-1340.
Baum, Charles L., William F. Ford, and Kevin M. Zhao (2012). “Top Five Executives’ Share of Core Earnings.” Journal of Financial and Economic Practice, 12 (2): 103-115.
Owens, Mark F., and Charles L. Baum. (2012). “The Effects of Welfare Vehicle Asset Rules on Vehicle Assets.” Applied Economics, 44 (13): 1603-1619.
Baum, Charles L. (2011). “The Effects of Food Stamps on Obesity.” Southern Economic Journal, 77 (3): 623-651.
Baum, Charles L. (2009). “The Effects of Cigarette Taxes on Obesity.” Health Economics, 18 (1): 3-19.
Baum, Charles L. (2009). “The Effects of Vehicle Ownership on Employment.” Journal of Urban Economics, 66 (3): 151-163.
Baum, Charles L. and Christopher J. Ruhm. (2009). “Age, Socioeconomic Status, and Obesity Growth.” Journal of Health Economics, 28 (3): 635-648.
Owens, Mark F., and Charles L. Baum (2009). “The Effects of Federal Housing Assistance on Exiting Welfare and Becoming Employed for Welfare Recipients.” Journal of Poverty, 13 (2): 130-151.
Zhao, Kevin M, Charles L. Baum, and William F. Ford. (2009). “The CEO Share of Earnings: A New Approach to Evaluating Executive Compensation.” Business Economics, 44 (2): 120-122.
Baum, Charles L. (2007). “The Effects of Race, Ethnicity, and Age on Obesity.” Journal of Population Economics, 20 (3): 687-705.
Baum, Charles L. (2006). “The Effects of Government-Mandated Family Leave on Employer Family Leave Policies.” Contemporary Economic Policy, 24 (3): 432-445.
Baum, Charles L., William F. Ford, and Jeffrey D. Hopper. (2006). “The Obese Smoker’s Wage Penalty.” Social Science Quarterly, 87 (4): 863-881.
Baum, Charles L. (2005). “The Effects of Employment while Pregnant on Health at Birth.” Economic Inquiry, 43 (2): 283-302.
Baum, Charles L. (2004). “Has Family Leave Legislation Increased Leave-Taking?” Journal of Law and Policy, 15 (1): 93-114.
Baum, Charles L. (2004). “The Long-Term Effects of Early and Recent Maternal Employment on a Child’s Academic Achievement.” Journal of Family Issues, 25 (1): 29-60.
Baum, Charles L., and William F. Ford. (2004). “The Wage Effects of Obesity: A Longitudinal Study.” Health Economics, 13 (9): 885-899.
Baum, Charles L., F. Lee Sarver, and Thomas Strickland. (2004). “EVA, MVA, and CEO Compensation: Further Evidence.” American Business Review, 22 (2): 82-87.
Baum, Charles L. (2003). “The Effects of State Maternity Leave Legislation and the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act on Employment and Wages.” Labour Economics, 10 (5): 573-596.
Baum, Charles L. (2003). “The Effects of Maternity Leave Legislation on Mothers’ Labor Supply Patterns after Childbirth.” Southern Economic Journal, 69 (4): 772-799.
Baum, Charles L. (2003). “Does Early Maternal Employment Harm Child Development? An Analysis of the Potential Benefits of Leave-Taking.” Journal of Labor Economics, 21 (2): 409-448.
Baum, Charles L. (2002). “A Dynamic Analysis of the Effect of Childcare Costs on the Work Decisions of Low-Income Mothers with Infants.” Demography, 39 (1): 139-164.
Baum, Charles L. (2002). “The Effect of Work Interruptions on Women’s Wages.” Labour, 16 (1): 1-36.
Baum, Charles L., Richard L. Hannah, and William F. Ford. (2002). “The Effect of the Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act of 2000 on Employer-Provided Pension and Medical Plans.” Benefits Quarterly, 18 (2): 65-72.
Baum, Charles L., and William F. Ford. (2001). “The Effect of ’The Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act of 2000’ on Delayed Retirement Incentives.” The Labor Law Journal, 52 (1): 3-9.
Presentations
"Employee Tenure Projections for Calculating Economic Losses in Wrongful Termination Cases," American Economic Association Annual Meetings, San Diego, California, January 2020.
“The Economic Impacts of Wrongful Incarceration,” National Association of Forensic Economists Winter Meetings, Cancun, Mexico, 2017.
“The Accuracy of Social Security Wage Projections,” National Association of Forensic Economists Winter Meetings, Key West, FL, 2016.
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Read More »"Employee Tenure Projections for Calculating Economic Losses in Wrongful Termination Cases," American Economic Association Annual Meetings, San Diego, California, January 2020.
“The Economic Impacts of Wrongful Incarceration,” National Association of Forensic Economists Winter Meetings, Cancun, Mexico, 2017.
“The Accuracy of Social Security Wage Projections,” National Association of Forensic Economists Winter Meetings, Key West, FL, 2016.
“Employee Tenure and Economic Losses,” National Association of Forensic Economists Winter Meetings, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2015.
Research / Scholarly Activity
My field in economics is labor economics, and I study employment trends, earnings and wages, labor force participation rates, retirement decisions, worklife expectancies, and employment benefits.
In the Media
My research has recently been cited in the news by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, U.S. News and World Report, and the New York Times. The U.S. Department of Labor used results from my research on state legislation providing paid parental leave from work at the 2015 White House Summit on Working Families. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth presented results from my research on female employment rates and trends before the U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth on December 8, 2021.
Courses
ECON 2410 Principles of Economics, Macroeconomics
ECON 2420 Principles of Economics, Microeconomics (on-campus and online)
ECON 2420 (Honors) Principles of Economics, Microeconomics
ECON 4420 Labor and Human Resource Economics (on-campus and online)
ECON 4510 Unions and Collective Bargaining (on-campus and online)
ECON 4650 Comparative Economic Systems (on-campus and online)
ECON 5420 Labor and Human Resource Economics (on-campus and online)
ECON 5510 Unions...
ECON 2410 Principles of Economics, Macroeconomics
ECON 2420 Principles of Economics, Microeconomics (on-campus and online)
ECON 2420 (Honors) Principles of Economics, Microeconomics
ECON 4420 Labor and Human Resource Economics (on-campus and online)
ECON 4510 Unions and Collective Bargaining (on-campus and online)
ECON 4650 Comparative Economic Systems (on-campus and online)
ECON 5420 Labor and Human Resource Economics (on-campus and online)
ECON 5510 Unions and Collective Bargaining (on-campus and online)
ECON 6120 Microeconomics I
ECON 7120 Microeconomics II
ECON 7121 Microeconomics III
ECON 7520 Advanced Labor Economics II