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Jonathan Thompson

Associate Professor of Economics

Headshot of Jonathan Thompson

Contact Information

Salem Campus

Address
900 State Street
Salem  Oregon  97301
U.S.A.

Portland Center

Address
200 SW Market Street, Suite 101
Portland  Oregon  97201
U.S.A.

Message

Over the last two hundred years, per capita income in the United States has grown between 20 and 30 fold.  This growth marks a radical departure with the trends of the past, and has irrevocably altered the material conditions of our lives.  In some countries, this growth was paralleled immediately.  In others, it was copied after a lag.  The most important question in economics is how we can deliver this outcome to those who have not yet benefited from this shift, and whether we can deliver the same increase in living standards we have enjoyed to the next generation.

Biography

Prior to earning his Ph.D., Jon attended Willamette University, earning a BA in Economics with a focus on discovering the lessons economic history had to teach about modern economic problems.  He then went on to a graduate program in economics at the University of Oregon, earning a PhD in economics and winning a Kleinsorge Research award along the way.

Jon's research focuses on economic growth and economic development.  Particular emphasis is placed on the role of culture in creating economic outcomes.  His research uses formal economic theory as a basis for econometric empirical analysis, using, for example, rainfall variation as an exogenous variable to test how trust influences economic growth.  

Jon enjoys teaching a variety of topics with the central theme of using the insights of economics (the science of decision making under constraint). Public policy, market organization and economic development are specific interests

Jon lives in Salem and enjoys hiking, cinema and barbecues.

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Oregon
  • M.S., University of Oregon
  • B.A., Willamette University

Research Interests

Development Economics, Public Economics, Econometrics

Selected Professional Activities

Reviewer: Journal of Economic Growth, Economic Dynamics, Economic Inquiry, Sustainability, IJERPH

Selected Publications

Leveraging Quasi-Experimental Methods to Estimate Model Structure: Understanding School Funding Changes in Response to Court Orders, with Kawika Pierson, Systems, 2020

Labor Market Characteristics and Cultural Choice, with Chris Ellis and Jiabin Wu, Journal of Public Economic Theory, 2020.

Legal Institutions and the Evolution of Moral Conduct, with Jiabin Wu, Journal of Public Economic Theory, 2018.

The Culture of Entrepreneurship, with Shankha Chakraborty and Etienne Yehoue, Journal of Economic Theory, 2016.

Culture in Development, with Shankha Chakraborty and Etienne Yehoue, World Bank Economic Review, 2015.

Ranking State Tax Systems: Progressivity, Adequacy, Efficiency, with Fred Thompson and Ken Beatty, State Tax Notes, Vol. 141, No. 7, 2013

Selected Presentations

Central European Program in Economic Theory, Udine, Italy, July 2014

Willamette University

Atkinson Graduate School of Management

Salem Campus

Address
900 State Street
Salem Oregon 97301 U.S.A.
Phone
503-370-6167

Portland Center

Address
200 SW Market Street, Suite 101
Portland Oregon 97201 U.S.A.
Phone
971-717-7260