Recent and Current Research Projects

I am currently investigating the economics of wild animal domestication, the economic and political determinants of environmental polarization, and the economics of wildlife conservation.  Below are my current and recent papers and projects.

“The Creation and Extent of America’s First Environmental Agencies.”  2025. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics: 12:1097-1132. With Dominic Parker.

“Campaign Contributions, Interest Groups, Partisan Politics, and Environmental Polarization in the U.S. Congress.” 2025 Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 41:159-195.  With Gustavo Torrens and Julio Ramos Pastrano.

“The Institutional Legacy of the Mexican Rancho System in California,” 2024. Journal of Law and Economics 67:31-66. With Julio Ramos Pastrano.

“Federal Funding and State Wildlife Conservation.”  2022. Land Economics 98:461-477. With Dominic P. Parker.

“Property Rights and Domestication” 2020. Journal of Institutional Economics 16:199-215. With Gustavo Torrens.

 

Past Projects

My past work includes the agricultural contracts and organization, law and economics, wildfire, wildlife and women’s rights, some of which is shown below.

Agricultural Contracts and Organization

“Custom and Incentives in Contracts.” 2009. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 91:880-894. With Douglas W. Allen. [PDF]

“The Role of Risk in Contract Choice.” 1999. Journal of Law, Economics & Organization Vol.15 No.3: 704-736. With Douglas W. Allen.

“The Nature of the Farm.” 1998. Journal of Law and Economics 41: 343-386. With Douglas W. Allen.

“Transaction Costs and the Design of Cropshare Contracts.” 1993. RAND Journal of Economics 24: 78-100. With Douglas W. Allen.

Law and Economics

“The Demarcation of Land and the Role of Coordinating Property Institutions. 2011. Journal of Political Economy.  119:426-467. With Gary D. Libecap. [PDF]

“Asymmetric Information and the Structure of Servitude Law.” 2009. Journal of Legal Studies. Vol. 38:89-120. With Antony Dnes. [PDF]

“The Rule of First Possession and the Design of the Law.” 1995. Journal of Law and Economics 38: 393-436.

Wildlife

“Preemptive Habitat Destruction under the Endangered Species Act.” 2003. Journal of Law & Economics 46:27-60. With Jeffrey A. Michael. [PDF]

“The Extermination and Conservation of the American Bison.” 2002. Journal of Legal Studies 31:S609-S652.

“The Economic Nature of Wildlife Law.” 1989. Journal of Legal Studies 18: 291-324.

Women’s Rights

“Human Capital Accumulation and the Expansion of Women’s Rights.”  2012. Journal of Law and Economics. 55: 839-867. With Rick Geddes and Sharon Tennyson. [PDF]

“The Gains from Self Ownership and the Expansion of Women’s Rights.” 2002. American Economic Review Vol. 92 No.4:1079-1092. With Rick Geddes.