Research Areas

The department is known for three primary research groups, applied microeconomics, macroeconomics and finance, and behavioral economics, econometrics, and theory. Each has a regular seminar series and a graduate workshop to facilitate group mentorship of graduate students. Research excellence is deep in all three groups, with our faculty regularly publishing in top journals, receiving major grant support, and helping to inform policy decisions. Learn more about our approach to research and see our latest publications and research news on our Research overview page.

Applied microeconomics

The applied microeconomics group conducts cutting-edge research utilizing novel data and techniques in causal inference to answer questions central to public policy. In particular, our faculty study issues related to economic development (Fung, Robinson, Shenoy, Singh, Spearot, Zucker), education (Bulman, Giuliano), labor (Bulman, Giuliano, Kim), the environment (Christensen, West, Zucker), health (Dobkin, Zucker), trade (Fung, Kim, Spearot), industrial organization (Marion, Singh, Spearot), public economics (Bulman, Christensen, Fairlie, Marion, West), and political economy (Shenoy, Singh). 

George Bulman

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • gbulman@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • http://people.ucsc.edu/~gbulman/

Peter Christensen

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • pechrist@ucsc.edu

Carlos E Dobkin

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • cdobkin@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • http://people.ucsc.edu/~cdobkin/

Robert W Fairlie

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • rfairlie@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • http://people.ucsc.edu/~rfairlie/

Kwok-Chiu Fung

• Title
  • Full Professor
• Campus Email
  • kcfung@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • KC’s Web Site

Laura M Giuliano

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • lgiulian@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal website

Gueyon Kim

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • gkim44@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Website

Justin G Marion

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • marion@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal webpage

Jonathan M Robinson

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • jmrtwo@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Robinson webpage

Ajay Shenoy

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • azshenoy@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • http://people.ucsc.edu/~azshenoy/

Nirvikar Singh

• Title
  • Distinguished Professor
• Campus Email
  • boxjenk@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Web Site
  • Recent Columns in Financial Express
  • Past Columns in The Mint
  • Past Columns in Financial Express

Alan C Spearot

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • aspearot@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • http://people.ucsc.edu/~aspearot/

Jeremy D West

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • jwest1@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • http://people.ucsc.edu/~jwest1

Ariel Zucker

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • arzucker@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Webpage

Macroeconomics, finance, and international finance

The macroeconomics group conducts cutting-edge research that is improving our understanding of the dynamics of the economy, policy interventions, and the distribution of well-being across individuals. This work influences monetary, fiscal, and regulatory policies nationally and globally. Our faculty in this research area study finance (Hale, Kletzer, Villacorta), international finance (Hale, Hu, Kletzer, Gu), labor (Michaillat, Samaniego de la Parra) development (Samaniego de la Parra), and general macroeconomics (Kletzer, Michaillat, Saijo, Samaniego de la Parra, Gu, Villavorta).

Galina B Hale

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • gbhale@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • https://sites.google.com/view/galinahale/
  • CAFIN

Chenyue Hu

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • chu78@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Website

Kenneth M Kletzer

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • kkletzer@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • http://people.ucsc.edu/~kkletzer/

Pascal Michaillat

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • pamichai@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • https://pascalmichaillat.org

Hikaru Saijo

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • hsaijo@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal page

Brenda Samaniego De La Parra

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • bsamanie@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal website

Weishi Steadmon

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • wg7@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • https://sites.google.com/site/graceweishigu/

Alonso Villacorta

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • avillaco@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • https://sites.google.com/site/alonsovillacorta/

Behavioral economics, econometrics, and theory 

This research area serves both the technical foundation for training in our department and the profession at large by engaging in cutting-edge theoretical work that improves our ability to analyze and understand complex problems. Our faculty in this group specializes in behavioral economics (Lazzati, Tserenjigmid, Lopez-Vargas), experimental economics (Lazzati, Lopez-Vargas), industrial organization (Lazzati, Wei), microeconomic theory (Lazzati, Tserenjigmid, Wei, Lopez-Vargas), and econometrics (Leung, Li, Martinez-Iriarte).  

Natalia Lazzati

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • nlazzati@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • https://people.ucsc.edu/~nlazzati/index.html

Michael Pak-shing Leung

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • mleung13@ucsc.edu
• Website

Jessie Q Li

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • jeqli@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • https://people.ucsc.edu/~jeqli/

Julian Martinez Iriarte

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • jmart425@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Website

Gerelt Tserenjigmid

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • gtserenj@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Website

Kristian Miguel Lopez Vargas

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • klopezva@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Academic Website

Dong Wei

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • dwei10@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Website