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The University of Tennessee | Institute of Agriculture

Department of Agricultural Economics

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Dr. William Park
Professor & Undergraduate Coordinator

Department of Agricultural Economics

The University of Tennessee
321 Morgan Hall
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-4518
Phone: (865) 974-7231
Fax: (865) 974-7484
wpark@utk.edu

Professional Interest


  • Natural resource conservation and environmental policy issues relating to agriculture and rural communities; with emphasis on the potential for application of market-based policy approaches.

Education


  • Ph.D., Agricultural Economics, Virginia Tech, 1980
  • M. S., Agricultural Economics, Purdue University,1976
  • B. A., Economics, DePauw University, 1974

Teaching


Selected Recent Publications


  • Household Willingness to Pay for Drop-Off Recycling
    Tiller, K. H., P. M. Jakus and W. M. Park
    Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 22(2):310-320, 1997 (December).
  • The Growing Role of Land Trusts in Protection of Agricultural and Open Space Land at the Rural-Urban Interface
    Park, W. M.
    in Southern Perspectives Newsletter, 5:1, Southern Rural Development Center, Mississippi State University, 2001 (Summer)
  • Searching for the Heart of Agricultural Economics with 20/20 Vision
    Park, W. M.
    Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 33:2:229-243, 2001 (August)
  • Factors Associated with Backyard Composting Behavior at the Household Level
    Park, W. M., K. Lamons and R. Roberts
    Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 31:2:147-156, 2002 (October)
  • Use of games and Simulations for Teaching Economic Principles in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Policy Analysis
    Park, W. M., and K. Stephenson
    Proceedings of the 2003 National Conference on Student Writing and Critical Thinking in Agriculture, Jackson, Wyoming, 2003 (April 3-6)
  • Water Quality Trading: A Cost-Effective Way to Improve Water Quality in Tennessee?
    Plark, C. D., W. M. Park and E. F. Bazen
    Proceedings of the Fourteenth Tennessee Water Resources Symposium, Burns, Tennessee, 2C-21-26, 2004 (March 31-April 2)
  • Measuring the Contribution of Water and Green Space to Housing Values: An Application and Comparison of Spatially-Weighted Hedonic Models
    Cho, S., J. M. Bowker and W. M. Park
    Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 31:485-507, 2006.
  • Two Dimensions of the Spatial Distribution of Housing: Dependency and Heterogeneity Across Tennessee’s Six Metropolitan Statistical Areas
    Cho, S., C. D. Clark and W. M. Park
    Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 38:299-316, 2006.
  • Tracking Farmland Conversion and Fragmentation Using Tax Parcel Data
    Clark, C. D., W. M. Park and J. Howell
    Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 61(5):243-249, 2006.
  • The Long-Term Impacts of In=Migration of Retirees on Rural Areas
    Park, W.M., C.D. Clark, D.M.Lambert and M.D. Wilcox, Jr.
    Summary Report, 2008.

Other Information

Dr. Park, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, also serves as Undergraduate Program Coordinator. He represents the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources on the UT Undergraduate Council and chairs the Appeals Committee.

His primary research emphasis is on the role of market-based or economic-incentive mechanisms in environmental policy, along with other aspects of institutional design that improve the equity and political acceptability of economically efficient policy measures. He also collaborates with colleagues on research addressing issues associated with land use change on the rural-urban fringe and natural amenity-based rural development.

Dr. Park teaches an upper-division course in Natural Resource Economics (Agricultural Economics 470) that is available online through UT's Department of Distance Education and Independent Study. He also teaches an Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar each fall semester titles "Can markets Save the Environment?"

Dr. Park is a member of the American Agricultural Economics Association and the Association of Christian Economists.

His hobbies include hiking and fly fishing, and he is enjoying his recently acquired status as an empty-nester and "Papa" to two grandchildren.