BS in Economics

Liya Palagashvili, 2011

Liya Palagashvili

Dr. Liya Palagashvili earned her B.S. in Economics, M.A. in Economics, and PhD in Economics degrees at George Mason University. As an undergraduate at Mason, Liya was the President of the Economics Society and earned a number of awards from the economics department, including the Southwestern Economic Development Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement, the Howard R. Bloch Economic Scholarship, Dean's Award, the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award in economics as well as the Wall Street Journal Award, one of the university's highest honors in economics. During the summers, Liya interned at a number of nonprofit and public policy think tanks and had the opportunity to publish Op-Eds and public policy papers on various topics in economics.

By taking economics classes at George Mason as an undergraduate and reading the works of her professors, Liya was inspired to pursue a PhD in economics and follow in the footsteps of her professors. While in graduate school, Liya was also the Bradley Fellow with the NYU Department of Economics. Her current research interests include regulations impacting tech startups, the policy responses to the 2008 financial crisis, and various U.S. labor laws. She is the recipient and co-investigator of a John Templeton Foundation grant—“Startup Innovation: The Role of Regulation in Entrepreneurship.” As co-investigator, Liya will conduct a systematic scholarly study of failure within tech entrepreneurship and facilitate a better understanding regarding regulation of startups and innovation.

She’s also interested in self-governing communities and transitional economies in Eastern Europe. She has published in academic journals and in major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, and U.S. News and World Report. In 2016, she testified in the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) regarding the newly proposed overtime regulations.

At Purchase College, Liya teaches Principles of Macroeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, and Introduction to Econometrics. She is also the founder director of Startup Purchase, a program that supports student entrepreneurs by providing them with access to seed capital and connecting them with mentors and resources. 

Liya was selected as a Forbes 2016 '30 under 30' in Law and Policy.