Welcome to my Webpage!
PhD Candidate at Ohio State University
Greetings from Alexander J. Ryan!
I am a PhD candidate in Applied Economics at Ohio State University.
My research is at the intersection of regional, financial, real estate, and climate change economics. My ongoing projects use empirical and structural approaches at the frontier of staggered difference-in-differences and Spatial Equilibrium modeling.
For those interested in connecting, I will be attending the 2026 AAEA conference in Kansas City and am open to meeting.
Augmenting my academic research, I am a frequent panelist, coauthor, and consultant for the American Bankers Association's Office of the Chief Economist on the residential housing market, insights from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act releases, and climate-related financial risks.
I graduated from John Carroll University in January 2019 with dual majors in economics and finance. Before joining OSU, I interned at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and spent 3 years as a senior associate on KPMG Chicago's Economic & Valuation Services team.
When I am away from the office, I enjoy visiting the Columbus Park of Roses, listening to records, playing disc golf or volleyball, writing about my hometown, and binging Balatro.
Working Papers
Job Market Paper: The Role of Access to Community Bank Capital in Place-Based Policies (draft available upon request)
To assist policymakers and economic developers in measuring the effectiveness of using firm-specific incentives to attract large manufacturing investments and catalyze broader economic development, I study the role of access to community bank capital in catalyzing spillovers from large manufacturing plants to small business development. I construct a novel dataset of large manufacturing plant openings between 2010 and 2018 and estimate the impact of these openings on small business lending, creation, and expansion in the local economy, using difference-in-differences designs with multiple control groups. The results suggest that community banks drive post-opening increases in small business lending, which translates to higher growth rates in small business creation and expansion. Small businesses in complementary industries experience the largest growth, while small businesses that may compete for labor and other resources do not. Using a calibrated Quantitiatve Spatial Equilibrium Model, the availability of local community bank credit contributes as much as 25\% of the post-MDP growth in small business establishments. These findings will inform policymakers evaluating which places will benefit from place-based policies and financial regulators monitoring the consolidation of the banking industry.
Financial Risks in Flooding: Bank Response to Climate-Induced Natural Disasters
Fall 2026
Agricultural Management Practices and Water Pollution: An Application to the Maumee River Watershed (with Dr. Yongyang Cai)
Winter 2026
Publications/Books
Education
Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
M.S.: Applied Economics
August 2022 - May 2024
John Carroll University (Cleveland, OH)
Majors: Economics and Finance
August 2015 - Decemver 2018
August 2015 - Decemver 2018
Overall GPA: 3.85 | Major GPAs (Economics & Finance): 3.85
Member of JCU Honors Program
Dean's list all 7 semesters
Recipient of the Economic Department’s Omicron Delta Epsilon Award, which is awarded to the top student in the junior class
Invited to join the Jesuit Honor Society (Alpha Sigma Nu) and the Business Honor Society (Beta Gamma Sigma)
Certifications
Certified Business Economist®
National Association for Business Economists
January 2020
Technical Skills
Econometrics
Python, R, STATA
Structural Modeling
MATLAB, Julia, GAMS
Data Analysis
Python, R, MS Office Suite,Alteryx
Volunteer Activity
Late Night Scholarships Inc.
Founder and Trustee
February 2020 - present
Founded the 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation to offer scholarships for high achieving students in Northeast Ohio and coordinate an alumni network/mentoring program for student applicants.
Designed the unique online scholarship web-based application and manages fundraising campaigns that collect over $1,500 in annual donations for the organization's scholarship award.
Organizes the selection of three annual scholarship recipients by coordinating with 35+ donors to select the top applicants.
Massillon Girls Flag Football Booster Club
Treasurer
February 2025 - present
Treasurer for the inaugural season of the Massillon High School girl's flag football team.
Fayetteville Mafia Press
Financial Analyst
February 2020 - present
Assists Fayetteville Mafia Press, a small publishing company, with preparing monthly financial reports. I have automated most of this process by designing a program that performs financial analysis on monthly reports generated by FMP's distributor.
Discusses pricing strategies and marketing campaigns with the FMP founders/executives.