Maria Porter

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science at the University of Arizona. I also have a courtesy appointment in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics. 

My research areas are in applied microeconomics, agricultural economics, risk and insurance, impact evaluation, social preferences, and intra-household resource allocation. I explore social and psychological factors influencing people’s decisions – as family members, farmers, workers, or entrepreneurs - and how these decisions impact others.

My research program has three core aspects: 

1. Theoretical: A key consideration in my research is to understand the context in which specific economic models may be relevant to explaining observed behavior, and where such models fall short and why. 

2. Methodological: I have developed experimental methods aimed at providing a rigorous approach to causal inference. 

3. Empirical: I address questions that can improve our understanding of decision-making within families and especially among vulnerable populations. 

Such research questions also have valuable implications for policy and programming, particularly in developing countries. Through this three-pronged approach, I have made contributions to the fields of: behavioral and experimental economics, preference elicitation methods, and economics of the family. 

I have taught courses in intermediate microeconomics, household and development economics, behavioral and experimental economics, and econometrics. I completed my PhD in Economics at the University of Chicago. 

"[Economics] is judged ultimately by how well it helps us understand the world, and how well we can help improve it." Gary Becker