Research Statement

Regulation is the primary means by which government can influence the business environment. My research studies two broad areas related to regulatory policy.  The main line of my research studies the effects of regulation and taxation of energy markets.  In this area, my research examines the impacts of fuel taxes, consumer decisions about what vehicles to purchase or how much to drive, and the counterproductive effects of regulation.  Outside of energy, my work examines how regulations and information influence consumer decisions. Research Statement

Research

Working Papers        Refereed publications        Other publications (and math)

 

Recent Working Papers

"Energy Prices and Electric Vehicle Adoption" (with James Bushnell and David Rapson), Revisions requested at JPE: Micro

 

Selected Work in progress

Political Ideology, Economic Incidence and Fuel Taxes: Evidence from 2018 California Proposition 6 (with Lucas Epstein)

Impacts of EV Incentives on the Secondary Vehicle Market (with Robert Feenstra and David Rapson)

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Published and forthcoming papers

"The End of Neutrality? LCFS, Technology Neutrality, and Stimulating the EV Market" (with Jim Bushnell, David Rapson and Julie Witcover) Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy , forthcoming

"Global Transportation Decarbonization" (with David Rapson) Journal of Economic Perspectives, 37.3 (Summer 2023): 163-188.

"The Economics of Electric Vehicles" (with David Rapson), Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 17.2 (Summer 2023): 274-294

"Subsidizing Low- and Middle-income Adoption of Electric Vehicles: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from California" (with David Rapson), Journal of Public Economics 216 (2022)

"Correcting Estimates of Electric Vehicle Emissions Abatement: Implications for Climate Policy" (with David Rapson), Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 10.1 (2023): 263-282.

"Pass-Through of Own and Rival Cost Shocks: Evidence from the U.S. Fracking Boom" (with Richard Sweeney), Review of Economics and Statistics 104.6 (2022): 1361-1369.

"Future paths of electric vehicle adoption in the United States: Predictable determinants, obstacles and opportunities" (with James Archsmith and David Rapson) Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy, 3.1 (2022): 71-110.

"Air Pollution and Criminal Activity: Microgeographic Evidence from Chicago" (with Evan Herrnstadt, Anthony Heyes and Soodeh Saberian), American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 13.4 (October 2021): 70-100

"Who Bears the Economic Costs of Environmental Regulations?" (with Don Fullerton) Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 13.1 (Winter 2019): 62-82

“Tax Compliance and Fiscal Externalities: Evidence from U.S. Diesel Taxation.” (with Justin Marion). Journal of Public Economics, 160 (April 2018): 1-13.

“Does Tax-Collection Invariance Hold? Evasion and the Pass-Through of State Diesel Taxes” (with Wojciech Kopczuk, Justin Marion, and Joel Slemrod). American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. 8.2 (May 2016): 251-286

"Consumer Learning and Hybrid Vehicle Adoption” (with Garth Heutel) Environmental and Resource Economics. 62.1 (September 2015): 125-161

“Tracking Employment Shocks using Mobile Phone Data" (with Yu-ru Lin, Jameson Toole, Daniel Shoag, Marta Gonzalez and David Lazer), Journal of Royal Society Interface. 12:107, June 2015

“Gasoline Taxes and Consumer Behavior” (with Shanjun Li and Joshua Linn) American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 6.4 (November 2014): 302-342.

“Weather, Salience of Climate Change and Congressional Voting” (with Evan Herrnstadt), Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 68.3 (November 2014): 435-448.

“Consumer Response to Cigarette Excise Tax Changes” (with Lesley Chiou), National Tax Journal, 67.3 (September 2014): 621-650.

“Heuristic Strategies, Firm Behavior and Industry Information” (with Cynthia Lin) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 86.1 (February 2013): 10-23.

“Tax Incidence and Supply Conditions” (with Justin Marion), Journal of Public Economics,95 (October 2011): 1202-1212.

“Giving Green to Get Green: Incentives and Consumer Adoption of Hybrid Vehicle Technology.” (with Kelly Gallagher), Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 61 (January 2011): 1-15.

“Do Americans Consume Too Little Natural Gas?  An Empirical Test of Marginal Cost Pricing” (with Lucas Davis), Rand Journal of Economics, 41 (Winter 2010): 791-810.

“Edgeworth Cycles Revisited” (with Joseph Doyle and Krislert Samphantharak). Energy Economics, 32 (May 2010): 651-660.

“Crossing the Line: The Effect of Cross-Border Cigarette Sales on State Excise Tax Revenues” (with Lesley Chiou), BE Journal – Economic Analysis and Policy (Contributions), 8.1 (December 2008).

“Measuring Illegal Activity and the Effects of Regulatory Innovation: Tax Evasion and the Dyeing of Untaxed Diesel” (with Justin Marion). Journal of Political Economy,116.4 (August 2008): 633-666.

 

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Book Chapters and Other Publications

“Land Use Regulation and Commuting Patterns” (with Daniel Shoag) Procedia Engineering 107, p. 488-493, 2015. link

“Cell Phones and Motor Vehicle Fatalities” (with Daniel Shoag),
Procedia Enginnering 78, p. 173-177, September 2014. link

Commentary on Dealing with Expropriations: General Guidelines for Oil Contracts, “The Natural Resources Trap:  Private Investment without Public Commitment” MIT Press, 2011.

 

Resting Working Papers

"Air Pollution as a Cause of Violent Crime" (with Evan Herrnstadt, Anthony Heyes, and Soodeh Saberian) current version

“Gasoline Price Spikes and Regional Gasoline Content Regulations: A Structural Approach.”

 

Mathematics Articles

 “Infinite Ergodic Index Zd Actions in Infinite Measure” (with B. Narasimhan, A. Raich, C. Silva, M.Touloumtzis, and W. Zhao).
Colloquium Mathematicum, vol. 82, No. 2 (1999), 167-190. link

“Lightly Mixing on Dense Algebras” with (A. Raich, C. Silva and W. Zhao).
Real Analysis Exchange, Vol. 23, No. 1, (1998), 259-266. link