Michael J. Hicks

Hicks authored several studies of the coal industry and the impact of federal environmental policy on coal production and the West Virginia economy. Hicks and two other co-authors developed a clean water financing plan for West Virginia which ultimately became the Special Reclamation Fund.[2] This fund was financed by a combination of a 7 cent tax per ton of coal, with a secondary 7 cent phase-out tax. This was designed to provide water treatment funds for abandoned coal mines. This remains the largest state level water treatment trust fund in the United States.[3]

Governor Bob Wise (D) appointed Hicks to the Fund commission, where, after approval by the West Virginia State Senate he served from 2003–2006.

In 2002 Hicks testified in a court case in Boone County, West Virginia that would eventually culminate in one of the most celebrated recent cases before the U.S. Supreme Court Caperton v. Massey. This case became inspiration for the John Grisham Novel "The Appeal."

Burton and Hicks also provided testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Subcommittee on Clean Air, Wetlands and Climate Change, regarding the fiscal and economic effects of mining restrictions.[4] This committee meeting also featured an appearance by one of the Backstreet Boys which prompted several committee members to walk out of the hearing.[5] Burton and Hicks also served as consultants to the National Academies of Science review of the economic consequences of the coal slurry spill in eastern Kentucky.[6]

A 2001 study co-authored by Hicks found little negative economic consequences of West Virginia's Workers' Compensation rates on the overall economy.[7][8] This report sparked much criticism from the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce and unleashed a series of op-Ed pieces and a letter writing campaign to state newspapers. The public debate culminated in an editorial in the Charleston Gazette criticizing the Chamber's attack on the Marshall University research team.[9] However, the chair of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce wrote to Marshall University President Dan Angel, demanding that Dr. Hicks' tenure be revoked as a consequence of this study. Hicks was not tenured at the time. He received tenure in 2004.

Mark Burton and Michael Hicks developed models of flood damages from data collected on the Great Flood of 1993. These were used to simulate flood damages on the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers.[10] In September 2005, Burton and Hicks used this model to estimate damages from Hurricane Katrina.[10] Subsequently, both participated in the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force which reviewed the response to the Hurricane. In 2008 Ball State University released studies onfloods in Indiana and Iowa.[11][12] In 2010 Burton and Hicks were asked by the Army Corps of Engineers to provide an estimate of flood damages for the Pakistan Flood of 2010.[13][14]

Hicks is co-author with Dagney Faulk of a book on local government consolidation. This book developed from work on local government consolidation study teams authored by former governor Joe Kernan and Supreme court Justice Randy Shepard. The book was published in January 2011. Indiana's governor Mitch Daniels wrote the foreword to the book.[15]

In 2011 Faulk and Hicks completed two studies on government consolidation (local governments and school districts in New Jersey). [16]

Hicks was an early researcher of Wal-Mart's impact on communities, and since 1999 has published several papers and a book on the economic impact of Walmart. Along with Kristy Wilburn, Hicks published the first econometric study to address the endogeneity of firm location decision related to Wal-Mart.[17] Subsequent to this, Hicks appeared in a November 2005 Global Insight conference on Wal-Mart's impact which received significant national attention.[18][19] These papers were later published, along with a book.[20][21] Hicks' work has been frequently cited in the academic literature, media and advocacy groups.[22][23][24][25][26][27]