Cougar Queries is a series profiling BYU employees by asking them questions about their work, interests and life.
BYU employee since: 2006.
My job at BYU is… professor of economics and associate chair of the Economics Department.
I’m currently… exploring how buyers’ deadlines interact with sellers’ decisions to honor past quotes or make exploding offers. Also, my newest research examines which aspects of foster care systems help children the most. Foster care is mostly regulated at the state level, so we are building a database across the 50 states to find where foster care rules differ and how those relate to child outcomes.
I’ve hiked Y Mountain… with one-year-old twins (in baby carriers, one with me and the other on my nephew’s back).
One of my fondest professional accomplishments is… presenting what has become my most cited paper in a conference session chaired by John Nash, who received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Another was assisting in the hooding ceremony for my wife’s master's degree from BYU’s College of Nursing.
My favorite lecture to teach is… in Econ 110 about the United Order. It is instructive about economic systems (with contrasts to free markets and to socialism) and also matters for our efforts to live consecrated lives today.
My go-to comfort food is… lasagna. As I started high school, my mom taught me her recipe, which I adapted and made it mine; I prefer it over any restaurant I’ve tried.
My advice to incoming freshmen is… to not shy away from the challenging paths. Hard classes are where you get scarce skills that will get rewarded, whatever your future career. In fact, usually “finding your passion” comes through the effort you put into doing something hard but valuable.
I became a BYU fan when… I was hired as faculty. My father-in-law immediately urged me to get football season tickets, and even though he lives in Arizona, we (and his grandkids) have been attending games together ever since.
I get most excited about my work when… my research answers a “why.” We spend plenty of time just reaching the answer to “what” occurs (in data or in theoretical models). But the real joy comes from uncovering why it happens, appreciating the individual incentives and systemic pressures — which then unlocks the possibility of improving outcomes.
My go-to BYU Creamery ice cream flavor is… In-Shane-ly Chocolate. It’s the first time a chocolate flavor has topped my list — and yes, there is a list. Well done, President, well done.
