CV
Last updated: August 2026. · 📄 Download PDF
Interests
- Research: Community & Economic Development; Public Finance; Entrepreneurship
- Teaching: Public Policy & Administration; Budgeting & Financial Management; Econometric & Statistical Analysis
Education
- Ph.D in Public Policy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2022
- Dissertation: Three Essays on Private Firms Under Duress Considering Local Context: How Financial Institutions and Opioid Use Affect Firms
- Advisor: Maryann P. Feldman
- M.S. in Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2016
- B.S. in Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, 2012
Work Experience
- 2025-Present: Assistant Professor of Public Administration
- Texas State University
- Department of Political Science
- 2022-2025: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
- Arizona State University
- School of Public Affairs
Funding
- Town of Clayton Economic Mobility Study — Lookout Analytics (Consultant; Lead Consultant: Jen Yip; total project $37,346), 2026
- Cost-Benefit Analysis for Clayton, NC — Lookout Analytics (Lead Consultant; awarded; in progress; $65,000), 2025
- We’re Not in Dreamland Anymore: How Regional Opioid Use Rates Affect Industrial Composition — Hammer Fund Travel Award (NARSC Annual Research Conference, $750); Graduate Student Transportation Grant (NARSC Annual Research Conference, $400), 2021
- Small Business Activity in Banking Deserts — Kenan Institute Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Small Grant ($10,000), 2018
- The Snowball Effect of Federal Research Funding — Hammer Fund Travel Award (APPAM Annual Research Conference, $500), 2018
Technical Skills
- STATA, Tableau, ArcGIS, Qualtrics, LaTeX, R, Python
Professional Affiliations
- Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
- American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)
- Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM)
Publications
“Citation Impact” is each journal’s two-year mean citedness (average citations per recent article), sourced from OpenAlex.
Working Papers
Chaudhry H, Hines R, Langford WS, Grandage AJ, Waddell M. Do Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants Pay Off? An Empirical Analysis of Cost-Effectiveness. Available Upon Request.
Langford WS, Steuart SR. Extreme Weather Events Disrupt the Flow of Opioids and Opioid Use Disorder Medications. Available Upon Request.
Langford WS, Sanders M, Peters V. Extreme Weather and Employment: Differential Effects Across Race and Ethnicity. Available Upon Request.
Peters V, Langford WS, Sanders M, Feldman MP. Local Finance and Economic Resilience During Extreme Weather Events. SSRN Working Paper #4868821
Chen X, Langford WS. The Effect of Extreme Weather Events on Nonprofit Survival. Available Upon Request.
Langford WS, Roman R, Berger AN, Feldman MP. “Let Us Put Our Moneys Together:” Minority-Owned Banks and Resilience to Crises. SSRN Working Paper #4231594
Journal Articles
Langford WS, Feldman MP. We’re Not in Dreamland Anymore: The Consequences of Community Opioid Use on Local Industrial Composition. Journal of Regional Science (2024) [Citation Impact: 2.2]
Langford WS, Feldman MP. We Miss You George Bailey: The Effect of Local Banking Conditions on the County-Level Timing of the Great Recession. Regional Studies. (2022) [Citation Impact: 5.1]
Works in Progress
- Hines, R, Grandage, AJ, Chaudhry, H, Langford, WS, Waddell, M. Cost-Savings in Hazard Mitigation: The Impact of Program Type.
- Langford, WS, Feldman, MP. Minority-Owned Bank Failures and Their Local Economic Consequences.
- Deming, K, Langford, WS. Discontinuities in the PPP Fee Structure.
- Petach, L, Langford, WS. Banking Deregulation and Carbon Emissions: Evidence from US States.
- Langford, WS, Singla, AG. The Effect of Access to Local Finance on Local Government Finance.
- Langford, WS, Lozano Rojas, F. The Effect of Extreme Weather Events on Local Tax Revenue.
- Kattikatt, C, Rangarajan, N, Langford, WS. Local Government and Data.
Other Writing
- Gitterman, D, Hay Jr., WW, Langford, WS. The National Institute of Health and Responding to New Forms of Childhood Adversity. Children’s Health Care (2022) [Citation Impact: 0.7]
- Feldman, MP, Bailey, AN, Lowe Reed, AS, Langford, WS. Combine Water, Grain, Hops, Yeast and Get - Jobs. News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) (2019)
- Feldman, MP, Langford, WS. Knowledge Spillovers Informed by Network Theory and Social Network Analysis. Handbook of Regional Science. (ed) Fischer, M, Capello, R. (2019)
Teaching
Invited Talks
Economic Resilience (2025)
- Texas State University ICMA Student Chapter — invited talk
Conference Presentations
Extreme Weather Events and Mitigation Strategies: County-Level Evidence (2024)
- ABFM Annual Research Conference
- SouthEastern Conference For Public Administration
Extreme Weather and Employment: Differential Effects Across Race and Ethnicity (2024)
- APPAM Annual Research Conference - Panel Organizer
- Carolina Region Empirical Economics Day
How Entrepreneurship Strengthens Resilience Through Extreme Weather Events (2024)
- APPAM Annual Research Conference - Panel Organizer
“Let Us Put Our Moneys Together:” Minority-Owned Banks and Resilience to Crises (2022-2024)
- American Economic Association Annual Meeting (2024)
- APPAM Annual Research Conference - Panel Organizer (2023)
- Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting - Panel Organizer
- ABFM Annual Research Conference
- SouthEastern Conference For Public Administration
- Eastern Finance Association
- Midwest Finance Association
- Carolina Region Empirical Economics Day (2022)
- FDIC Bank Research Conference
- Community Banking Research Conference
- NARSC Annual Research Conference
Local Finance and Economic Resilience During Extreme Weather Events (2023)
- APPAM Annual Research Conference
We’re Not in Dreamland Anymore: How Regional Opioid Use Rates Affect Industrial Composition (2021)
- ABFM Annual Research Conference
- APPAM Annual Research Conference - Panel Organizer
- Carolina Region Empirical Economics Day
- CEnSE Urban and Regional Economics Workshop
- DRUID Industry and Innovation Conference
- NARSC Annual Research Conference
- SEA Annual Meeting - Panel Organizer
- SouthEastern Conference For Public Administration
We Miss You George Bailey: The Effect of Local Banking Conditions on the County-Level Timing of the Great Recession (2020)
- Southern Regional Science Association
The Snowball Effect of Federal Research Funding (2018)
- APPAM Annual Research Conference
Professional Experience
- Co-Principal Investigator — US Census Bureau, Federal Statistical Research Data Center, 2022-Present
- Title: The Roles of the Opioid and COVID Crises in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Co-Principal Investigator: Maryann P. Feldman
- Research Associate — CREATE-Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, 2019-2022
- Research Assistant — North Carolina Entrepreneurship Data Initiative, 2020
- Research Assistant — Early Stage Evaluation of the Kauffman Foundation’s ESHIP Communities Project, 2018-2019
- Research Assistant — Examining the US Pediatric Research Portfolio, 2016-2018, 2022
Leadership Experience, Awards, and Professional Service
- Committee Member — Ph.D. in Public Administration Exploratory Committee, Texas State University, 2026
- Discussant — APPAM Annual Research Conference, 2025
- Selection Panelist — APPAM Equity and Inclusion Fellowship, 2025
- Special Sworn Status — US Census Bureau, 2023-Present
- Associate Editor — Academy of Management (AoM) Annual Meeting - TIM Division, 2021
- Elected Member — Frank Porter Graham Honor Society, UNC, 2021
- Emerging Scholar — Community Banking in the 21st Century Research Conference, 2020
- Senator, Public Policy — Graduate and Professional Student Federation (GPSF), UNC, 2019-2021
- Finance Committee Member — GPSF, 2020-2021
- Vice President - Internal Affairs — Science Policy and Advocacy Group, UNC, 2015-2016
- Ambassador — DNA Day NC, 2015-2016
- Eagle Scout Award — Boy Scouts of America, 2006
Advising and Mentorship
- Brianna Mendez — Applied Research Project Committee, Texas State University, 2026-present
- Christina Kattikatt — Current: MPA Student, Texas State University, 2025-present
- Dustin Miller — Assistant City Manager, Pampa, TX; MPA Student, West Texas A&M University, 2025
- Khushi Wadhwani — Current: Undergraduate Student, Arizona State University, 2024-2025
- Cody Taylor — Assistant Professor, Appalachian State University, 2023-2025
- Harrison Thomas — Law Student, UT Knoxville, 2020-2023
Referee Experience
Climate Resilience & Sustainability; Public Budgeting & Finance; Public Management Review; Nature Energy; Cambridge University Press; Research Policy; Southern Economic Journal; Papers in Regional Science; AoM Annual Meeting (2020-2023); Journal of Urban Affairs; Journal of Small Business Strategy; Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development
