Joaquin Lopez, PhD
Associate Professor
Biography
Joaquin Lopez is an economist with nearly 20 years of professional experience in government, academia, and consulting. He graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in economics from Universidad Auton贸ma de Nuevo Le贸n in Monterrey, Mexico and went on to earn a MSc degree in economics from the University of Texas at El Paso. Before starting his doctoral studies in economics at the University of Chicago, he worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas as an economic analyst and completed the American Economic Association鈥檚 Summer Training Program, where he was a Minority Fellow. After graduating from Chicago in 2014, he joined the Department of Economics in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis, where he is currently a tenured Associate Professor. Professor Lopez has taught classes at Chicago and Memphis at every level: undergraduate, masters, MBA, and PhD He has been a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C. and has his own economics consulting firm, Decision Scientific, which he co-founded with a former Memphis student. Professor Lopez鈥檚 research spans a wide range of fields, including macroeconomics, economic development, labor economics, public finance and law and economics. His research has been published in major economics journals and has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and the Russell Sage Foundation.
Education
- PhD Economics - University of Chicago - 2014
- MA Economics - University of Chicago - 2010
- MSc Economics - University of Texas at El Paso - 2004
- Licenciatura Economics - Universidad Aut贸noma de Nuevo Le贸n - 2002
Areas of Teaching
- Macroeconomics, economic growth, economic development, international economics
Research
Areas of Research
- Economic growth, development, public finance, labor, law and economics
Working Papers
- "A Jury of One鈥檚 Peers: The Effect of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 on Jury Trials鈥�
- 鈥淪urgeons鈥� Response to Reimbursement Changes for Alternative Procedures: Evidence from Spine Fusion in the U.S.,鈥� with Nicholas Benson
- 鈥淢odeling Progressive Taxation鈥�
- 鈥淓ntrepreneurship and Rent Seeking under Credit Constraints鈥�
Research in Progress
- 鈥淐ivil Rights Enforcement and Intergenerational Mobility among Minorities," with Jamein Cunningham.
- 鈥淩acial Divisions and Police Violence," with Jamein Cunningham.
- 鈥淟ynchings and the Enforcement of Civil Rights", with Carl Magnus Bjuggren, Jamein Cunningham, and Jhacova Williams.
- 鈥淐ourt Partisanship and Civil Rights Case Outcomes,鈥� with Jamein Cunningham
Publications
- 1st Place (Tie) L贸pez, J. J., & Torres, J. (2020). Size-dependent policies, talent misallocation, and the return to skill. Review of Economic Dynamics, 38, 59-93
- 鈥淐ivil Rights Enforcement and the Racial Wage Gap,鈥� with Jamein Cunningham, AEA Papers & Proceedings, vol. 111, 196鈥�200, May 2021.
- 鈥淪ize-Dependent Policies, Talent Misallocation, and the Return to Skill,鈥� with Jesica Torres, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 38, 59鈥�93, October 2020.
- 鈥淎dvertising for Consideration,鈥� with Carmen Astorne-Figari and Aleksander Yankelevich, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 157, 653鈥�669, January 2019.
- 鈥淔inancial Frictions and Aggregate Productivity: Evidence from Mexico,鈥� Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, vol. 66, 294鈥�301, November 2017.
- 鈥淎 Quantitative Theory of Tax Evasion,鈥� Journal of Macroeconomics, vol. 53, 107鈥�126, September 2017.
- 鈥淎n Evaluation of Real-time Forecasting Performance across 10 Western U.S. States,鈥� with Keith R. Phillips, Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 34, No. 2-3, 2009.
- 鈥淓rror Correction Exchange Rate Modeling for Mexico: 1980-2001,鈥� with Thomas M. Fullerton, International Journal of Applied Econometrics and Quantitative Studies, Vol.2-3, 2005.