CREDENTIALS

• B.S., Economics, San Jose State University (Calif.)
• M.A., Economics, San Jose State University (Calif.)
• Ph.D., Economics, University of California, Riverside

BIOgraphy

Dr. Maria Claret M. Ruane is a tenured professor of economics at the University of Guam within the School of Business & Public Administration. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from San Jose State University (Calif.) and a doctorate in economics from the University of California, Riverside. 

She has previously served as the resident development economist for the University of Guam Pacific Center for Economic Initiatives and also as the resident development economist and research contributor/supervisor for the UOG Regional Center for Public Policy.

She has 29 years of experience in international macroeconomic development and is trained in quantitative approach to analyze available data and, when necessary, design methodologies to address limitations in data.

Dr. Ruane has written several socio-economic studies at regional, national, and international levels, including:

• RCPP’s "Guam Economic Report" for 2018 and 2019

• “Factors that Explain Corruption in the 50 States of the United States of America: A Regression Analysis,” published in the double-blind, peer-reviewed, internationally circulated journal Asia Pacific Business and Economics Research Perspectives

• A 20-equation simulation model to analyze the effect of development aid on a recipient economy.  

Her other work includes the generation and analysis of much-needed economic and business indicators and analysis in Guam, including:

• consumer and business confidence survey

• corruption perception

• buying local behavior

• local spending multiplier

• effect of exchange rate changes on tourist arrivals to Guam

• local farmer and village residents surveys in the context of the One Village-One Product approach to Guam’s economic development.

She believes that research is a search for the truth and aims at developing local capacity in Guam to produce ethical, relevant, and impactful economic research and analysis.