Beth Wheaton-Páramo

Dr. Beth Wheaton-Páramo’s greatest commitment in life is working with students, community members, colleagues, and friends to put their unique talents and varied interests into action to create positive social change. She researches the subjects of child labor and the economics of human trafficking, capital punishment, violence against women, seeking asylum, terrorism, child abuse, genocide, and hate.

Dr. Wheaton-Páramo published “Economics of Human Rights” (2019), the first economics textbook to use the lens of economics to better understand and analyze human rights issues.  She is the principal investigator on a $1.187 million federal earmark grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to SMU to build a human trafficking data warehouse and complete multiple human trafficking data research projects.  She lived on SMU campus as one of the first members of SMU’s inaugural Faculty-in-Residence program from Fall 2014 to Spring 2018. She received many awards, including the Southern Economics Association awarded her the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award (2021), the SMU Economics Department Mangum Family Teaching Award (2020), the SMU President’s “M” Award (2015), and the SMU Student Senate Willis M. Tate “Professor of the Year” Award (2012).

Research

Child Labor and the Economics of Human Trafficking; Capital Punishment, Violence against Women; Seeking Asylum, Terrorism; Child Abuse, Genocide, Hate, and Gun Violence

Teaching

Economics of Human Rights, Environmental Economics, Labor Economics, International Economics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics