Profile Information

Research Interests

• Political Economy
• Public Finance
• Economic History
• Law & Economics
• Development Economics

Research Publications

• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "Persistence and Change in Age-Specific Gender Gaps: Hollywood Actors from the Silent Era Onward." International Review of Law and Economics 48:3642 (October 2016).
• "Can Prohibitions on 'Price-Gouging' Reduce Deadweight Losses?" International Review of Law and Economics 37:100-107 (March 2014).
• "Why Did the Electorate Swing Between Parties During the Great Depression?" Explorations in Economic History 50:599-619 (October 2013).
• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "When Voice Fails: Potential Exit as a Constraint on Government Quality." International Review of Law and Economics 35:26-41 (August 2013).
• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "How Tyranny Paved the Way to Democracy: The Democratic Transition in Ancient Greece." Journal of Law and Economics 56:389-416 (May 2013).
• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "Judicial Review as a Constraint on Tyranny of the Majority." Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 29:303-331 (April 2013).
• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "Judges: Why Do They Matter?" Chapter 14 in The Elgar Companion to Public Choice, Second Edition, edited by Michael Reksulak, Laura Razzolini, and William F. Shughart II. Edward Elgar Publishing (2013).
• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "On the Benefits and Costs of Legal Expertise: Adjudication in Ancient Athens." Review of Law & Economics 8:367-399 (October 2012).
• "The Political Economy of Progress: Lessons from the Causes and Consequences of the New Deal." Chapter 12, pp. 311-335, in Economic Evolution and Revolution in Historical Time, edited by Paul W. Rhode, Joshua L. Rosenbloom, and David F. Weiman. Stanford University Press (2011).
• "Natural Selection and the Problem of Evil: An Evolutionary Model with Application to an Ancient Debate." Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 46:561-587 (September 2011).
• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "Repeated Adjustment of Delegated Powers and the History of Eminent Domain." International Review of Law and Economics 30:99-112 (June 2010). [lead article]
• (with Christopher Kilby) "Changing Aid Regimes? U.S. Foreign Aid from the Cold War to the War on Terror." Journal of Development Economics 91:185-197 (March 2010). [lead article]
• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "'Rulers Ruled by Women': An Economic Analysis of the Rise and Fall of Women's Rights in Ancient Sparta." Economics of Governance 10:221-245 (July 2009).
• "Voter Influence and Big Policy Change: The Positive Political Economy of the New Deal." Journal of Political Economy 116:1-37 (February 2008). [lead article]
• (with F. Andrew Hanssen) "Why Understanding Smoking Bans is Important for Estimating Their Effects: California's Restaurant Smoking Bans and Restaurant Sales." Economic Inquiry 46:60-76 (January 2008).