FACULTY POSITIONS
Professor of Economics and International Studies, University of San Francisco: April 2006 - Present
Distinguished Research Affiliate, Kellogg Institute of International Studies, University of Notre Dame: May 2015 - Present
Research Affiliate, Faculty Affiliate, Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), University of Notre Dame: December 2022- Present
Research Affiliate, Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), University of California at Berkeley: March 2016 - Present
Professor of Economics and Director of Westmont College in San Francisco: August 2019 - August 2020
Visiting Professor, University of California at Berkeley: Fall 2011, Fall 2018
Visiting Professor, University of California at Santa Barbara: September 2006 - June 2007
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Economics, University of San Francisco: May 2002 - May 2005
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of San Francisco: September 1996 - May 2002
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Economics, University of California at Berkeley, May 1996. (Advisors: George Akerlof, Pranab Bardhan, Alain de Janvry, Elizabeth Sadoulet)
M.S., Agricultural Economics, University of California at Davis, December 1987.
B. S., Agricultural Economics, University of California at Davis, June 1986.
CURRENT USF TEACHING CURRICULUM
GRADUATE COURSES: Development Microeconomics, Applied Econometrics, International Trade
UPPER-DIVISION COURSES: Game Theory, Intermediate Microeconomics, Development Microeconomics
LOWER-DIVISION COURSES: The Global Economy
AWARDS and GRANTS
2023 CEGA Research Grant with Ester Agasha for Randomized Control Trial Studying Financial Inclusion and the Development of Entrepreneurial Aspirations, Uganda.
2020 Finalist, EACP Book of the Year Award for Faith and Culture, Shrewd Samaritan: Faith, Economics, and the Road to Loving our Global Neighbor.
2018 Grant, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Impact of Operation Smile Cleft Palate Surgeries on Teenage Life Outcomes in India (with Matt Bloom, University of Notre Dame).
2016 University of San Francisco Distinguished Research Award.
2015 Grant for study of impact of hope aspirations among microfinance borrowers in Oaxaca, Mexico. Kellogg Institute of International Studies, University of Notre Dame.
2014 Dean's Scholar Award (Social Sciences), University of San Francisco, joint with Juliet Spencer (Natural Sciences) and Jacqueline Taylor (Humanities).
2013 Writer's Award, Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals in Christian Journalism, First Place: Cost Effective Compassion, Christianity Today (with Mark Galli and David Neff).
2011-13 Grant for randomized evaluation of TOMS shoe donation program and its impact on children’s health, physical activity, schooling and psychological well-being in El Salvador. (With Elizabeth Katz, USF and Felipe Gutierrez, M.D. MPH, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Banner Health.)
2010 BASIS (USAID/Millennium Challenge Corporation) Grant Awarded for “Do Child Sponsorship Programs Work? International Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design” (with Paul Glewwe and Laine Rutledge).
2010 USF St. Ignatius Award, given to a full-time faculty member each year for service to the USF community.
2007-2008 Jesuit Foundation Grant “Implementing an Encouragement Design Field Experiment Methodology in Chennai, India and Panyebar, Guatemala.”
2007 BASIS (USAID) Grant Awarded for Research in Commodity Networks and Fair-Trade Coffee in Latin America (with Alain de Janvry, Elizabeth Sadoulet (UC Berkeley), Craig McIntosh (UC San Diego), Elizabeth Katz (USF), and Tomas Rosada (Universidad Rafael Landivar)).
2006 Winner, US Agency for International Development Impact Assessment Contest “Microfinance and Home Improvement: Using Cross-Sectional Surveys to Measure Program Impact on Discrete Events” (with Craig McIntosh and Gonzalo Villaran). (Tie with co-winners Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman) Paper Presentation: World Bank, February 12; USAID, February 13, 2007.
2006-2007 Jesuit Foundation Grant “Social Capital, Group Lending, and Microfinance” sponsoring microfinance experiments in Guatemala, India, and Kenya.
2004 McCarthy Foundation Grant “Fostering Broad-Based Development: The Economics of Institution-Building in Less-Developed Countries.” Sponsoring the Pacific Conference for Development Economics, USF, March 5, 2005; Graduate Student Travel and Research, summer 2004; and “Games, Institutions, and Economic Development” book project.
2002 BASIS (USAID) Grant Awarded for Research in Rural Credit Markets and Financial Information Systems in Latin America with Alain de Janvry, Elizabeth Sadoulet, and Jill Luoto (UC Berkeley), Craig McIntosh (UC San Diego). Funded though August 2005.
2000 Co-winner University of San Francisco Distinguished Research Award (with Elliot Neaman, Department of History)
2000 Winner Dudley Seers Memorial Prize, best economics article, Journal of Development Studies.
2000 Pew Charitable Trust Grant for Academic Research (Sponsoring one year of full-time research in Development Microeconomics and Microenterprise Finance, Spring Semester, 2000 and Spring Semester 2001.)
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS AND WORKING PAPERS: See Research
REFEREE FOR PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS
Science, Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Journal, Oxford Economic Papers, Journal of the European Economic Association, International Economic Journal, Economic Inquiry, Journal of Banking and Finance, Eastern Economic Journal, Canadian Journal of Economics, Journal of Applied Economics, Economics Letters, Journal of Development Economics, World Development, World Bank Economic Review, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Journal of Development Studies, Journal of Development Effectiveness, Oxford Development Studies, Journal of Economic Growth, Review of Development Economics, Journal of International Development, Journal of Developing Areas, Journal of African Economies, Savings and Development, Journal of Income Distribution, Journal of Poverty, Development in Practice, Third World Quarterly, Studies in Comparative International Development, Journal of Population Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Food Policy, Agricultural Economics, Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, Energy Economics, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Human Resources, Education Economics, Journal of Socio-Economics, Economics and Human Biology, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Journal of Bioeconomics, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, Faith and Economics, Social Forces, Education Research, Social Science Quarterly, Theology and Science, American Sociological Review.
REVIEWER FOR ACADEMIC PRESS BOOKS
MIT Press, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, MIT Press, University of California Press, Wiley, Addison-Wesley
REVIEWER FOR GRANT FUNDING PROPOSALS
National Science Foundation, Templeton Foundation, World Bank
SERVICE TO USF COMMUNITY
Director, Masters Program in International and Development Economics
Faculty Advisor, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Chair, College of Arts and Sciences Committee for Promotion and Tenure
International Studies Program Faculty Steering Committee
Faculty Associate, Center for Latino Studies in the Americas
NON-ACADEMIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Assistant Economist (1990-93): Bank of America, Economics and Policy Research Department World Headquarters, San Francisco, California
Microenterprise Development Practitioner (1988 -1989): Opportunity International: Dominican Republic, Costa Rica
PERSONAL INTERESTS
Languages: French (Basic), Spanish (Fluent).
Outdoor Activities: Swimming, paddle boarding, hiking, biking
Music: piano, guitar, drums, songwriting, music production (blues, alternative, gospel)
I am active in Christian ministry as a faculty advisor with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at USF and also at my home in Berkeley with Berkeley Covenant Church.