Bio and CV links:

I am a professor of economics at George Mason University and a member of the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science (ICES).   My research interests are in economic theory, game theory,  political economy, public economics, and experimental economics.  Currently I serve as an Advisory Editor for Games and Economic Behavior and as Associate Editor for European Economic Review.  I occasionally blog at Foco Económico, and co-organize an online seminar on behavioral and experimental economics, WEBEAS.

Here is a copy of my CV. 

Aquí está mi CV en español.

Working Papers:

• New Vote or Fight with David K. Levine and Nicole Stoelinga (May 16, 2025)

• Revised Price Information and Oligopolistic Competition with  Cost Uncertainty with Ruolong Xiao (March 17, 2023, Revised October 4, 2024)

• Why Do People Protest? A Theory of Emotions, Public Policy, and Political Unrest with Ruolong Xiao (September 25, 2023) slides

• Learning and Acyclicity in the Market Game with Arthur Dolgopolov (September 2, 2021)

• Optimal Exploration, with David Austen-Smith (September 4, 2018)

• The Political Economy of Dynamic Elections: A Survey and Some New Results, with John Duggan (December 19, 2015). This paper is an extended version of “The Political Economy of Dynamic Elections: Accountability, Commitment, and Responsiveness,” which appeared at Journal of Economic Literature. The reader will find proofs and discussion omitted from the published article.

Publications:

• Electoral Accountability in the Lab with Naila Sebastian, forthcoming in Games and Economic Behavior

• Razor-Thin Mass Elections with High Turnout with David K. Levine, International Economic Review 65: 1607–1624 (2024)

• Competition and Cognition in the Market for Online News with Abhishek Ray and Hossein Ghasemkhani, Journal of Management Information Systems 41: 367–393 (2024)

• Assignment Markets: Theory and Experiments, with Arthur Dolgopolov, Dan Houser and Thomas Stratmann, European Economic Review 165: 104738 (2024)

• Economic Consequences of Mass Migration: The Venezuelan Exodus in Peru, with Cynthia Boruchowicz and Susan W. Parker, Economía LACEA Journal 23: 107–136 (2024)

• An Algebraic Approach to Revealed Preference, with Mikhail Freer, Economic Theory 75: 717–742 (2023)

• Competition with Indivisibilities and Few Traders, with Jianxin Wang and Weiwei Zheng, Experimental Economics 26: 78–106 (2023)

• Responsive Democracy and Commercial Media, with Saptarshi Ghosh, Nidhi Jian, and Jaideep Roy, Economics Letters 222: 110961 (2023)

•  Accountability and Grand Corruption, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 14: 645–679 (2022)

• A Utility Representation Theorem for General Revealed Preference, with Mikhail Freer, Mathematical Social Sciences 111: 68–76 (2021) 

• The History of Peru, with Marco Vega, in A Monetary and Fiscal History of Latin America, 1960–2017 (Juan Pablo Nicolini and Timothy J. Kehoe, eds.), University of Minnesota Press (2021)

• Electoral Accountability and Responsive Democracy, with John Duggan, Economic Journal 130: 675–715  (2020). Collected in a virtual issue on accountability and electoral selection in June 2025.

• Communication and Information in Games of Collective Decision, with Thomas R. Palfrey, chapter 14, 348–375 in Handbook of Experimental Game Theory (C. Monica Capra, Rachel Croson, Mary Rigdon, and Tanya Rosenblat eds.), Edward Elgar Publishing (2020), draft

• Collective Experimentation: A Laboratory Study, with Mikhail Freer and Siyu Wang, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, vol. 175: 365–379  (2020)

• Ignorance and Bias in Collective Decisions, with Alexander Elbittar, Andrei Gomberg, and Thomas R. Palfrey,  Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, vol. 174: 332–359  (2020)

• The Economic Legacy of General Velasco: Long-Term Consequences of Interventionism, with Marco Vega, Economía, vol. 42: 102–133  (2019) ; media coverage in El Comercio, Lima (Dec 29, 2019), El Correo, Lima (Dec 21, 2020)

• Politics, Entertainment and Business: A Multisided Model of Media, with Alejandro Castañeda, Public Choice, vol. 174: 239–256  (2018)

• Cheating and Incentives: Learning from a Policy Experiment, with Susan W. Parker, Ana Cristina Pérez-Gea, and Rodimiro Rodrigo,  American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, vol. 10: 298–325  (2018); highlighted in the AEA webpage (March 5, 2018)

• The Political Economy of Dynamic Elections: Accountability, Commitment and Responsiveness, with John Duggan,  Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 55: 916–984  (2017)

• Elections as Targeting Contests, in Emile Borel and the Notion of Strategy, David Cantala, editor, Mexico City: Colegio de Mexico (2014)

• Oligarchy, Democracy and State Capacity, with Helios Herrera, Economic Theory, vol. 52: 165–186  (2013)

• Information and Participation in Social Programs, with David Coady and Susan W. Parker, World Bank Economic Review, vol. 27: 149–170  (2013)

• A Spatial Theory of Media Slant and Voter Choice, with John Duggan, Review of Economic Studies, vol. 78: 640–666  (2011) 

• Deception and Misreporting in a Social Program, with Susan W. Parker, Journal of the European Economic Association, vol. 7: 886–908 (2009); media coverage in the New York Times blog Freakonomics (June 23, 2008) and radio program The Takeaway (June 24, 2008)

• Bargaining over Public Goods, with Julio Dávila and Jan Eeckhout, Journal of Public Economic Theory, vol. 11: 927–945  (2009)

• Policy Platforms, Campaign Spending and Voter Participation, with Helios Herrera and David K. Levine, Journal of Public Economics, vol. 92: 501–513  (2008)

• Do School Subsidies Promote Human Capital Accumulation among the Poor?, with Susan W. Parker, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, vol. 110: 261–276  (2008) 

• Rational Ignorance and Voting Behavior, International Journal of Game Theory, vol. 35: 315–335  (2007) 

• When Are Stabilizations Delayed? Alesina-Drazen Revisited, with Raúl Escorza, European Economic Review, vol. 51: 1223–1245 (2007)

• Group Formation and Voter Participation, with Helios Herrera, Theoretical Economics, vol. 1: 461–487  (2006)

• Would Rational Voters Acquire Costly Information?, Journal of Economic Theory, vol. 129: 225–251 (2006) 

• Anonymity in Large Societies, with Andrei Gomberg and Ricard Torres, Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 25: 187–205 (2005) 

• Should Transfers to Poor Families be Conditional on School Attendance? A Household Bargaining Perspective, with Susan W. Parker, International Economic Review, vol. 44: 523–544 (2003)

• Simple Plurality versus Plurality Runoff with Privately Informed Voters, Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 19: 901–920  (2002) 

• Convergence Results for Unanimous Voting, Journal of Economic Theory, vol. 105: 278–297  (2002) 

• Policy Reversals: Electoral Competition with Privately Informed Parties, with Akihiko Matsui, Journal of Public Economic Theory, vol. 4: 39–61  (2002) 

• A Bayesian Model of Voting in Juries, with John Duggan, Games and Economic Behavior, vol. 37:  259–294  (2001)

• Elections with Privately Informed Parties and Voters, Public Choice, vol. 108: 147–167  (2001) 

• Reputation with Noisy Precommitment, with David K. Levine, Journal of Economic Theory, vol. 78: 55–75  (1998)

• Small Firms, Borrowing Constraints, and Reputation, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 33: 91–105 (1997)

• Sequencing of Economic Reforms in the Presence of Political Constraints, with Mariano Tommasi, Economics & Politics, vol. 9: 115–131 (1997). Reprinted in The Political Economy of Economic Reforms, Mariano Tommasi and Federico Sturzenegger (editors), MIT Press 285–304  (1998)

Book review:

• Review of The Political Economy of Development: A Game Theoretic Approach by Robert H. Gates, Political Science Quarterly vol. 137: 413–414 (2022)

Publications in Spanish:

• Stockpiling and Price Controls: Hoarding or Foresight?, in Perspectivas sobre desarrollo y territorio en el nuevo contexto. Homenaje a Efraín Gonzales de Olarte, Roxana Barrantes y José Távara (editors),  Catholic University of Peru (2024)

• Economic Reforms and the Genesis of Inflation: 1963–1980, chapter 6 in History of Peru's Central Bank and Monetary Policy, Marco Vega and Luis Felipe Zegarra (editors), Peru's Central Bank (2022)

• The bank nationalization of 1982 in Mexico: An essay in political economy, with Gustavo del Angel-Mubarak, Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias, Mexico (2009). This book was awarded the first place at the 2007 Manuel Espinosa Yglesias Prize

• Conditional Subsidies for the Poor: A Welfare Perspective, in Desarrollo Económico y Bienestar, Homenaje a Máximo Vega-Centeno, Efraín Gonzales de Olarte and Javier Iguíñiz (editors), Catholic University of Peru (2009)

• Do Voters Know What They Want?, in Economía Dinámica, Economía Aplicada y Teoría de Juegos, Ensayos en Homenaje a Ramón García-Cobián, Cesar Martinelli and Loretta Gasco (editors), Catholic University of Peru (2007)

• The Economic Analysis of Voters’ Behavior, El Trimestre Económico, vol. 73: 211–237  (2006)