Thomas A. Downes
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
TU Dresden
United States of America
Biography
Professor Downes received his B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Bowdoin College in 1982 and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1988 and was a faculty member at Northwestern University from 1988-1994. His research focuses on the evaluation and construction of policies to improve the delivery of publicly-provided goods and reduce inequities in these services, with particular attention paid to public education. He has also pursued research on the roles of the public and private sectors in education provision. Among his current projects are papers that document the implications for student outcomes, community composition, private school enrollment, and non-education spending of school finance reforms and property tax limitations and that quantify the extent to which charter schools draw from private schools. His published papers have appeared in such journals as Public Finance Quarterly, the National Tax Journal, Public Choice, the RAND Journal of Economics, Bulletin of Economic Research, Economics of Education Review, the Journal of Urban Economics, and Education Finance and Policy. He served on the Panel on Formula Allocations of the Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies, participated in symposia sponsored by the New York State Board of Regents that resulted in Educational Finance to Support High Learning Standards and Educational Finance and Organizational Structure in New York State Schools, and recently completed a term as co-editor of Education Finance and Policy.
Research Interest
Public Educational Finance and School Choice
Publications
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Lynne Pepall & Joseph Reiff, 2016. "The "Veblen" Effect, Targeted Advertising and Consumer Welfare," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0815, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
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Gee, Laura Katherine & Lyu, Xinxin & Urry, Heather, 2017. "Anger Management: Aggression and Punishment in the Provision of Public Goods," IZA Discussion Papers 10499, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
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Vernon Henderson & Tim Squires & Adam Storeygard & David Weil, 2017. "The roles of nature and history in world development," CentrePiece - The Magazine for Economic Performance 501, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
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Margaret McMillan & Dani Rodrik & Claudia Sepulveda, 2017. "Structural Change, Fundamentals and Growth: A Framework and Case Studies," NBER Working Papers 23378, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Diao, Xinshen & Harttgen, Kenneth & McMillan, Margaret S., 2017. "The changing structure of Africa’s economies," IFPRI discussion papers 1598, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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Mia Ellis & Margaret McMillan & Jed Silver, 2017. "Employment and productivity growth in Tanzania’s service sector," WIDER Working Paper Series 016, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
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Xinshen Diao & Margaret McMillan & Dani Rodrik, 2017. "The Recent Growth Boom in Developing Economies: A Structural Change Perspective," NBER Working Papers 23132, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Alessia A. Amighini & Margaret S. McMillan & Marco Sanfilippo, 2017. "FDI and Capital Formation in Developing Economies: New Evidence from Industry-level Data," NBER Working Papers 23049, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Gray, Wayne & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 2017. "Carbon Tax Competitiveness Concerns: Assessing a Best Practices Carbon Credit," Discussion Papers dp-17-10, Resources For the Future.
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Brendan Epstein & Alan Finkelstein Shapiro & Andrés González Gómez, 2017. "Financial Disruptions and the Cyclical Upgrading of Labor," IMF Working Papers 17/131, International Monetary Fund.
