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MATT WILSON
Assistant Professor, Economics
EDUCATION:
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, Public Policy,
2000
M.A., University of Colorado at Denver, Economics, 1992
B.A., Fort Lewis College, Economics, 1984
Expertise and
Research Interests:
My research interests are in two overlapping areas. These are: (i) institutional economics and related issues of economic methodology, (ii) regional and urban development.
(i) During the last decade or so there has been a strong resurgence of interest in evolutionary ideas in economics and, in particular, in the Darwinian moorings of Thorstein Veblen’s work. My research has been involved with two key aspects of this movement. First, I have been involved in exploring some suggestions regarding alternative methodological approaches, which could be used in reshaping economic analysis in line with evolutionary concepts of cumulative causation. In particular, Geoffrey Hodgson, a leading evolutionary economist, employs some key concepts drawn from critical realist literature. However, he has not identified evolutionary economics with critical realist methodology per se. Exploration of the relationship between institutional economics and critical realism is an ongoing area of research, and the connections/disconnections have not been fully evaluated. Some of my research contributes to this evaluation by comparing the Veblenian critique of mainstream economics with the critical realist critique and concludes that they have strong similarities. However, they do not boil down to the same thing. I have argued that the critical realist critique suffers from some problems that do not arise in the Veblenian critique.
Second, many institutional economists regard post Keynesian and institutional economics as companion approaches to economic analysis, the former providing a macroeconomic framework and the latter providing a theory of institutions. In my papers, I have argued that this synthesis has been quite useful for evolutionary economics and should be further developed (and indeed I have worked on its development). However, I have also argued that there are deep-rooted philosophical differences between the two movements, and, in moving forward, any syntheses should be worked out carefully, in a manner that respects, or is at least cognizant of, these differences.
(ii) In the area of regional and urban economics, my research has focused on two key areas, public infrastructure investment and labor markets. My dissertation research examines the spatial dynamics of the secular decline of aggregate public investment spending in the U.S. during the 15-year period from 1970 through the mid-1980s. The main finding is that the downturn was heavily concentrated in the industrial North-East, suggesting that the phenomenon was rooted in the process of deindustrialization, which occurred during that time. More recently, I have done some work in the area of spatial labor markets. One working paper attempts to measure the extent of alleged spatial mismatches in urban labor markets. The paper finds that, compared to suburbs, the job mix in cities has shifted towards a greater proportion of high-skill jobs. However, the overall job density in cities more than compensates for the relative density of low-skill workers living there. I have also done some initial research in the area of immigration economics and have plans for further research in that area.
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles:
“Institutionalism, Critical Realism, and the Critique of Mainstream Economics.” Journal of Institutional Economics 1, 2 (2005a): 217-231.
“Budget Constraints and Business Enterprise: A Veblenian Analysis.” Journal of Economic Issues 40, 4 (2006): 1029-1044.
“Uncertainty and Probability In Institutional Economics.” Journal of Economic Issues, 41, 4 (2007).
“Creativity, Crucial Choice and The Cognitive Role of Institutions: Responses to The Fundamental Uncertainty Argument.” Accepted for Publication, Journal of Economic Methodology, Forthcoming.
Published Conference Papers:
“The Veblenian Critique and Critical Realism: A Comparison of Critical Theories of Mainstream Economics.” Journal of Economic Issues 39, 2 (2005b): 519-25.
“Constitutional Economics and its Policy Agenda: A Veblen-Inspired Critique” Journal of Economic Issues 41, 2 (2007): 609-15.
“Economic Causes and Consequences of Mexican Immigration To The United States.” Denver University Law Review 84, 4 (2007): 1099-1120.
Working Papers:
“Center City/Suburban Unemployment Rate Differentials: Spatial Mismatches and Intra-metropolitan Labor Mobility”, unpublished working paper.
“The Institution of Public Investment: The Rise of Municipal Enterprise and The End of American Laissez Faire”, unpublished working paper.
Teaching Interests:
Urban Economics, Regional Economic of metro Denver, Econometrics, Economics of the Business Environment, and Neoclassical Economics.
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