Drew University

Jennifer L. Kohn

Short Bio

Jennifer brings a combination of business, government and academic experience to her teaching and research.  She is a strong advocate of the Liberal Arts having applied her undergraduate philosophy degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to jobs ranging from campaign manager to consumer advocate to senior administrator for the Division of Cardiology at New York Hospital-Weil Cornell Medical Center.  Jennifer found the philosophy in math earning an MBA in Finance and Statistics from the New York University Stern School of Business and her Ph.D. in Finance and Economics from the Rutgers Business School.  Her research is in applied microeconomics in the fields of health care, risk management and econometrics.  Her dissertation “A Dynamic Demand for Medical Care” suggests that we need to look at the change in health not just the state of health in order to explain medical care demand.  Her ongoing research seeks to better understand the demographics and dynamics of the top 5% of medical care users who consume nearly 50% of the resources in order to better manage financial health care risk.  She is developing a new area of research in management theory and pedagogy.  Jennifer served as the first Director of Drew’s new Business Studies Program from 2010 – 2011 and organized the first two Business Leadership Conferences.  She continues to serve on Drew’s Health Professions Committee, Socially Responsible Investing Committee and Academic Integrity Committee.  Jennifer teaches Intermediate Microeconomic Theory, Management and Health Economics.  She lives in Montclair New Jersey with her husband Dave and two sons Max and Sam.

Research Interests

Jennifer’s primary research field is applied microeconomics and econometrics in the areas of health care and health finance.  A second developing area of research is in management including principal agent models with dynamic non-cooperative game theory, transactions cost management of common-pool resources and management pedagogy.

Selected Publications/Working Papers

Peer-reviewed Publications

  • “What is Health: A Multiple Correspondence Health Index” forthcoming, Eastern Economic Journal
  • “Cost of Hospital Acquired Infection” with M.H. Hassan, H.P. Tuckman and R.H. Patrick, Hospital Topics 2010; 88(3):82 – 89.
  • “Hospital Length of Stay and Probability of Acquiring Infection” with M.H. Hassan, H.P. Tuckman and R.H. Patrick, International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing 2010; 4(4):324 – 338.  Awarded one of three Highly Commended Papers from the Emerald Literati Network for 2010.

Publications Under Review & Working Papers

  • “Can’t We Just Live Together: New Evidence on the Effect of Marriage on Health,” with S. Averett
  • “The Marriage Myth: Selection and the Effect of Relationships on Health,” with S. Averett
  •  “The Dynamics of Medical Care Use in the British Household Panel Survey,” with J.S. Liu
  • “The Change in Health, Consumption and the Demand for Medical Care”
  • “Health and Wealth: A Dynamic Demand for Medical Care,” with R.H. Patrick
  • “Federalist #10 in Management 101: What Madison Has to Teach Managers”
  • “Decision Rights and the Choice of Health Insurance”