David Rapson
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics

Rapson picture


Jump to the sections below:
Biography
Contact Information
Teaching
Publications
Working Papers
Works in Progress
Book Chapters
Curriculum Vitae (PDF file)

Brief Biography

David Rapson joined the Economics Department at UC Davis in 2008. Professor Rapson specializes in the fields of industrial organization, energy and the environment, with a focus on how to achieve efficiency in energy markets. His research includes several collaborative studies with regulated utilities. These include the evaluation of dynamic pricing regimes, carbon offset programs, and the design and analysis of a large-scale randomized field experiment to test the effectiveness of Home Area Network technology (the customer-facing side of the "Smart Grid"). Professor Rapson received his A.B. from Dartmouth College in 1999, an M.A. in economics from Queen's University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Boston University in 2008.

Contact Information

Department of Economics
University of California
One Shields Ave
Davis, CA 95616

Office: 1127 SSH
Phone: (530) 752-5368
Email: dsrapson ***at*** ucdavis.edu

Publications

  • "Split Incentives in Residential Energy Consumption" (with Matthew Harding and Kenneth Gillingham)
    Forthcoming, The Energy Journal. (PDF copy)

  • "Does It Pay, at the Margin, to Work and Save? Measuring Effective MarginalTaxes on Americans' Labor Supply and Savings" (with Laurence Kotlikoff) Tax Policy and the Economy, NBER Volume, MIT Press, Volume 21, 2007
    (PDF copy of October 2006 pre-publication version)

Working Papers

  • "Commercial and Industrial Demand Response Under Mandatory Time-of-Use Electricity Pricing"
    (Under submission.) (PDF copy)

  • "Durable Goods and Long-Run Electricity Demand: Evidence from Air Conditioner Purchase Behavior"
    (Under submission.) (PDF copy)

Works in Progress

  • "The Conservationist's Dilemma: Carbon Offsets and Energy Demand" (with Matthew Harding)

  • "Efficiency and Distributional Consequences of Residential Time-of-Use Electricity Pricing" (with Katrina Jessoe)

  • "Price versus Non-Price Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial using Home Area Networks" (with Katrina Jessoe)

  • "Does the Internet Reduce Transaction Costs? An Analysis of the Used Car Market" (with Pasquale Schiraldi)

  • "Conservation Investment and Implicit Discount Rates" (with Katrina Jessoe)

  • "Measuring the Indirect Land Use Effects of Ethanol" (with Christopher Knittel)

  • "Tacit Collusion in the 1950s Automobile Industry?"

Book Chapters

  • "Comparing Average and Marginal Tax Rates under the FairTax and the Current System of Federal Taxation," (with Laurence Kotlikoff) in John Diamond and George Zodrow, eds., Fundamental Tax Reform: Issues, Choices, and Implications, MIT Press 2008.
    (PDF copy of October 2006 pre-publication version)

Teaching

  • Industrial Organization (PhD), UC Davis (2009-2012)

  • Industrial Organization (Undergraduate), UC Davis (2009-2012)

  • Efficiency in Energy Markets (Undergraduate and Masters), UC Davis (2012)

  • Intermediate Microeconomics (Undergraduate), Boston University (2006)