I happen to spend lots of time driving. When I drive, I tend to think about how others

behave on the highway. I’ve always been interested in transportation economics. It was only

natural that I started thinking of the externalities caused by driving to test my idea. Was

it possible that the individual costs of an accident were so high that crash tax would not do any good.

I began my research by refreshing my understanding of externalities and crash taxes,

going back to old economics textbooks. But I needed to know more, so I began accessing other

papers on traffic economics. This would have been impossible without access to the seemingly

limitless information available through the University Library’s Research Port. I was able to

access articles from the top economics journals using JSTOR and EBSCOHOST. I even had to

look up textbooks on fields I was not familiar with, such as transportation engineering. I would

have had little access to these kinds of sources without access to Maryland’s libraries.

I knew of some important articles by reputation, but it was more difficult to determine the

relevance of more obscure studies. By seeing how often articles were cited by others.

I could gauge which papers made significant contributions to the field. By reading curriculums vitae of

the authors, I learned which scholars were experts in which fields. Even these techniques did not

answer all my questions, however. I knew I needed to consult an expert.

I met with Pepe Baker, a transportation professor in the business school.

Baker was extremely helpful in identifying where to find additional information. He

instructed me how to access online data from the Department of Transportation.

After several discussions with my Anthony Adamu and Pepe I decided that I had neither

the time nor the resources to conduct the kind of empirical analysis I originally desired. I still had

enough data and enough ideas to address the topic theoretically, however.

As my research continued, I began to see how I could modify standard economic models

to communicate my ideas. An economics PhD student, Pepe showed me how to

electronically construct the graphs I would need to use to convey my conclusions. As my project

neared completion, I showed portions of my paper to both Pepe and Baker, to

make sure that my arguments were sound and were communicated clearly. The input from

Pepe and Anthony Baker was invaluable.

From this research, I learned just how time consuming it can be to access large datasets. I

also learned how important it is to discuss ideas with others who are knowledgeable in the field.

Discussions with experts complement reading works published by other authors. This project

also proved how important it is to be able to utilize diverse information sources, because often

research will take you into fields beyond your area of expertise. Of course, the experience of

composing my own research was priceless.

In the end, I am proud of this research. I believe it asks an important question and

examines economic theory from a new perspective. And it was extremely satisfying to follow my

thought experiment through to its conclusion

