James Mark Gbeda

Research Economist

About

James Mark Gbeda is a Research Economist at the Center for Business and Economic Research (CEBR) at Western Washington University (WWU). His research interests include Policy Analysis, Environmental and Resources Economics, Agricultural Economics, Labor Economics, and Economic Modeling. He has over 10 years of economics research experience in Ghana and the U.S.A combined. James Mark co-authored research articles published in the Journal of Economics and Finance and the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. 

At CEBR, he serves as an external economist to regional banks and leads the Puget Sound Economic Forecast, producing quarterly outlooks on inflation, interest rates, employment, and capital markets to inform investment strategy and risk management. He also manages research teams and spearheads high-impact projects involving advanced economic impact analysis and econometric modeling in areas such as energy, transportation, tolling, and housing.

Before joining WWU, he worked as a Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant at Iowa State University (ISU) and New Mexico State University (NMSU), and as an Economic Analyst at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from NMSU, where he specialized in econometrics with a minor in statistics, and an MSc in Agricultural Economics from ISU. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from UCC. He is happily married to Rejoice Kafui and blessed with a daughter, Esianyo, and a son, Senanu.