Christopher R. Berry

The University of Chicago

Harris School of Public Policy and the College

William J. and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor

Director, Center for Municipal Finance

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Working Papers

"Reassessing the Property Tax." (PDF)

Media: New York Times, Business Week, Washington Post, ProPublica/ChicagoTribune

Project website: propertytaxproject.uchicago.edu

"How Much Do Coaches Matter?" with Anthony Fowler. (PDF)

“Direct versus Representative Democracy: Reassessing the Evidence.” (PDF)

"The Growth of Local Government," with Jeffrey Grogger and Martin West. (PDF)

"Pro-Majoritarian Courts," with Ethan Bueno de Mesquita and Jacob Gersen. (PDF)

“The Community Reinvestment Act after 30 Years: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis,” with Sarah Lee. (PDF) A note about this paper.

Books

Theory and Credibility. Princeton University Press. 2021. Joint with Scott Ashworth and Ethan Bueno de Mesquita.

Imperfect Union: Representation and Taxation in Multilevel Governments. Cambridge University Press. 2009. Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions Series. Featured on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Published and Forthcoming Papers

"Modeling Theories of Women's Underrepresentation in Elections," with Scott Ashworth and Ethan Bueno de Mesquita." Forthcoming. American Journal of Political Science. (PDF)

“Evaluating the Effects of Shelter-in-place Policies During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” with Anthony Fowler, Tamara Glazer, Samantha Handel-Meyer, Alec MacMillen. 2021. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118 (15). (PDF)

"Leadership or Luck? Randomization Inference for Leader Effects in Polictics, Business, and Sports," with Anthony Fowler. 2021. Science Advances 7:eabe3404 (PDF)

“Taxed Out: Illegal Property Tax Assessments and the Epidemic of Tax Foreclosures in Detroit,” with Bernadette Atuahene. 2019. University of California Irvine Law Review 9(4): 847-886. (PDF)

"Congressional Committees, Legislative Influence, and the Hegemony of Chairs," with Anthony Fowler. 2018. Journal of Public Economics 158(2018): 1-11. (PDF)

“Political Control of Administrative Agencies,” with Jacob Gersen. 2017. Yale Law Journal 126(4): 1002-1049. (PDF)

"Distributive Politics and Legislator Ideology," with Dan Alexander and William Howell. 2016. Journal of Politics 78(1): 214-231. (PDF)

"Cardinals or Clerics? Congressional Committees and the Distribution of Pork," with Anthony Fowler. 2016. American Journal of Political Science 60(3): 692-708. (PDF)

"All Else Equal in Theory and Data (Big or Small)," with Scott Ashworth and Ethan Bueno de Mesquita. 2015. PS: Political Science & Politics 48(1): 89-94. (PDF)

“Making Courts Matter: Politics and the Implementation of State Supreme Court Decisions,” with Charles Wysong. 2012. The University of Chicago Law Review 79(1): 1-29. (PDF)

· Portions reprinted as, “School Finance Reform in Red and Blue.” 2010. Education Next: A Journal of Opinion and Research 10(3): 62-68.

“The Implications of Election Timing for Public Policy,” with Jacob Gersen. 2011. Quarterly Journal of Political Science 6(2): 103-135. (PDF)

“The Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect: Why Do Congresswomen Outperform Congressmen?” with Sarah Anzia. 2011. American Journal of Political Science 55(3): 478-493. (PDF)

“The President and the Distribution of Federal Spending,” with Barry Burden and William Howell. 2010. American Political Science Review 104(4): 783-799. (PDF)

“A Bridge to Somewhere: Mapping State and Congressional Ideology on a Cross-institutional Common Space,” with Nolan McCarty and Boris Shor. 2010. Legislative Studies Quarterly 35(3): 1-32. (PDF)

“The Timing of Elections,” with Jacob Gersen. 2010. The University of Chicago Law Review 77 (Winter): 37-64. (PDF)

“After Enactment: The Lives and Deaths of Federal Programs,” with Barry Burden and William Howell. 2010. American Journal of Political Science 54(1): 1-17. (PDF)

· Reprinted in Jeffery Jenkins and Eric Patashnik (Eds.), Living Legislation: Political Development and Contemporary American Politics. University of Chicago Press (Forthcoming).

“Growing Pains: The School Consolidation Movement and Student Outcomes,” with Martin West. 2010. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 26(1): 1-29. (PDF)

“Fiscal Consequences of Electoral Institutions,” with Jacob Gersen. 2009. Journal of Law and Economics 52 (August): 469-495. (PDF)

“Piling On: Multilevel Government and the Fiscal Common-Pool.” 2008. American Journal of Political Science 52(4): 802-820. (PDF)

· Winner of the American Political Science Association’s 2008 Alan Rosenthal Prize.

“The Unbundled Executive,” with Jacob Gersen. 2008. The University of Chicago Law Review 75 (Fall): 1385-1434. (PDF)

“Accountability and Local Elections: Rethinking Retrospective Voting,” with William Howell. 2007. Journal of Politics 69(3): 844-858. (PDF)

· Portions reprinted as, “Accountability Lost.” 2008. Education Next: A Journal of Opinion and Research 8(1): 66-72.

“School Consolidation and Inequality.” 2007. In Tom Loveless and Frederick Hess (Eds.), Brookings Papers on Education Policy 2006/2007. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

“The Impact of School Finance Judgments on State Fiscal Policy.” 2007. In Martin West and Paul Peterson (Eds.), The School Money Trials: The Legal Pursuit of Educational Adequacy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

“The Divergence in Human Capital Levels across Cities,” with Edward Glaeser. 2005. Papers in Regional Science 84(3): 407-444. (PDF)

“To Bank or Not to Bank: A Survey of Low-Income Households.” 2005. In Nicolas Retsinas and Eric Belsky (Eds.), Building Assets, Building Credit: Financial Services in Low-Income Communities. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

"School District Consolidation and Student Outcomes: Does Size Matter?” 2005. In William Howell (Ed.), Besieged: School Boards and the Future of Education Politics, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

· Portions reprinted as, “School Inflation.” 2004. Education Next: A Journal of Opinion and Research 4(4): 56-62.

“Retrospective Voting in Single-Dimension Elections: School Boards, Test Scores, and Incumbents’ Electoral Fortunes,” with William Howell. 2005. In William Howell (Ed.), Besieged: School Boards and the Future of Education Politics, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

“Land Use Regulation and Social Segregation: Does Zoning Matter?” 2001. American Law and Economics Review 2(2): 251-274. (PDF)