Robin Koenigsberg

Robin Koenigsberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of History, Politics and Political Economy and Interim Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. Her earliest interest in economics stemmed from a desire to understand and address persistent social issues such as poverty and inequality that undermine the well-being of communities. Her interest in global issues took her to University of Reading in the United Kingdom, where she earned a Masters in Economic Development and International Trade. A few years later, Dr. Koenigsberg went on to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in Public Economics and International Economics.

Drawn to public service, Dr. Koenigsberg worked as an economic analyst for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Labor under then Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, in Washington, DC.  There, she engaged directly with policy affecting employment in the US and foreign and migrant labor issues.  For nearly a decade, Dr. Koenigsberg worked for international economic consulting firms – National Economic Research Associates (NERA) in Washington, DC; Charles River Associates in Boston, MA; and Analysis Group in Denver, CO – where, as a practicing economist, she developed expertise in health care, antitrust issues, and international tax policy.  

Dr. Koenigsberg’s research and teaching interests include microeconomics, public policy, gender discrimination, heterodox/“renegade” economics (the latter is a term coined by economist Kate Raworth!) and behavioral economics.  As a faculty member in the Political Economy program, she encourages students to take an interdisciplinary approach that reflects their own lived experiences to studying economics and the political economy.  Her current research project reflects something of a return to her roots, as she examines the institutional barriers to full and sustained gender equity and considers how our policies, institutions and society may look different if women have a large hand in its design.