Associate Professor
Dr. Oden's teaching and research areas include local and regional economic development, regional growth dynamics, regional governance challenges and program evaluation methodologies. For the past several years Oden has been involved in evaluating economic and demographic growth and change in U.S. metropolitan areas and how local and regional government institutions can respond to these changes. Prior to joining the Community and Regional Planning (CRP) program he worked at the Project on Regional and Industrial Economics at Rutgers University, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris and as a senior economist on the Appropriations Committee of the Michigan State Senate.
Professor Oden's current research interests include: a survey-based evaluation of policies and collaborative activities of U.S. Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs); changes in demographics, income distributions and employment access characteristics in 25 Texas metropolitan areas (as part of the Texas Metro Observatory project); and examining the potential of environmental industry growth for regional and local economic development. His funded research projects typically involve and support Master's and Ph.D. students.
Dr. Oden has published a number of recent articles on economic development and sustainable development topics. Recent publications he has authored and co-authored include: Gibson, D. and M. Oden, “"The launch and evolution of a technology‐based economy: the case of Austin Texas,” Growth and Change. 2019; Echiverri-Carroll, E., M. Oden, et al. “Unintended Consequences on Gender Diversity of High Tech Growth and Labor Market Polarization,” Research Policy, 2018; and Oden, M. “Equity the Awkward E in Sustainable Development” in Steven Moore (ed.),Pragmatic Sustainability: Theoretical and Practical Tools, 2016.