WHICH INSTITUTIONS BEST SUPPORT PROSPERITY IN TEXAS AND BEYOND?

June 1–2, 2018 § Omni Austin Hotel Downtown § Austin, TX

Sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University and the Texas Public Policy Foundation

Welcome to the Policy Research Seminar on Which Institutions Best Support

Prosperity in Texas and Beyond?, sponsored by the Institute for Humane

Studies (IHS) at George Mason University and the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

It is a pleasure to have you here with us! IHS recognizes the scholarly impact and

practical application your work has on our understanding of a free society, and

we are eager for you to join the conversation regarding free market policies. We

anticipate many lively discussions taking place during our time together, and we

hope you will share insights and knowledge based on your own research and

experiences with us this weekend.

IHS Policy Research Seminars seek to facilitate scholarly collaboration among

faculty, graduate students, policy experts, and our own staff in attendance. We

encourage you to connect with the other scholars attending our program, as

your similar research interests are one of the many reasons we invited you here

today. Our experience suggests some of the most impactful connections are

made during meals and receptions, so please plan to attend all scheduled events.

Thank you so much for sharing your time with us. We look forward to meeting

each of you over the course of the seminar, and we hope your attendance here

leads to future partnership with IHS and other fellow scholars as we work toward

a freer and more prosperous world together.

Sincerely,

Ashley DonohueAcademic Talent Development, Director Institute for Humane Studies

The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s mission is to promote and defend liberty, personal responsibility,

and free enterprise in Texas and the nation by educating and affecting policymakers and the Texas

public policy debate with academically sound research and outreach.

Founded in 1961 by Dr. F.A. “Baldy” Harper, the Institute for Humane Studies is the leading institute

in higher education dedicated to championing classical liberal ideas and the scholars who advance

them. Specifically, we facilitate the impact of the academic community both on and beyond college

campuses—partnering with faculty to connect with students through campus programs, connecting

scholars to opportunities to further their careers both inside and outside of the academy, and offering

current and aspiring professors access to the foremost community of scholars working within the

classical liberal tradition.

IHS Policy Research SeminarsIHS Policy Research Seminars seek to bridge the gap between academia and policy by

encouraging the use of academic research to influence policy change. Seminars give an

audience of advanced graduate students, policy experts, and faculty the chance to connect with

like-minded individuals and help to facilitate connections with our partner organizations with

the goal of producing future research, speaking, and publishing opportunities.

WHICH INSTITUTIONS BEST SUPPORT PROSPERITY IN TEXAS AND BEYOND?This seminar is co-sponsored with the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, Texas. The event

features a full day of keynotes, panels, and a research workshop. Expert scholars will discuss

government barriers to competition and, alternatively, how free market policies can better help

people become more prosperous over time. Topics will include institutional structure, taxation,

occupational licensing, and corporate welfare.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

7:00–9:00 pm | Welcome Reception and Registration (optional)Cellar - Omni Austin Hotel

8:30–9:30 am | Registration and Breakfast TPPF Lobby

9:30–9:45 am | Welcome and Seminar IntroductionHogsett Theater Rachel Swaffer, Institute for Humane Studies

9:45–10:30 am | Keynote Address I Hogsett Theater Vance Ginn, Texas Public Policy Foundation

10:30–10:45 am | Coffee Break TPPF Lobby

10:45 am–12:00 pm | Panel I: Which Institutions Best Support Prosperity? Hogsett Theater Moderator: Vance Ginn, Texas Public Policy Foundation Economic Freedom: Dean Stansel, O’Neil Center at Southern Methodist University Income Inequality: Nathan Ashby, University of Texas- El Paso Corporate Welfare: Michael Farren, Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Political Economy: Michael Giberson, Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University

12:00–1:00 pm | Lunch McCombs Event Center (6th Floor)

1:00–2:15 pm | Panel II: What are Major Government Barriers to Competition? Hogsett Theater Moderator: Vance Ginn, Texas Public Policy Foundation Occ Lic: Ed Timmons, Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at St. Francis University Regulation: Dima Shamoun, University of Texas- Austin Taxation: Brian Domitrovic, Sam Houston State University Education Prosperity: Corey DeAngelis, Cato Institute

Friday, June 1

Saturday, June 2

PROGRAM SCHEDULE CONT.

2:15–2:30 pm | Coffee Break TPPF Lobby

2:30–3:45 pm | Research Workshop: Filling Gaps in Improving Institutions Hogsett Theater Vance Ginn, Texas Public Policy Foundation

3:45–6:30 pm | Afternoon Break

6:30–7:30 pm | DinnerBouquets - Omni

7:30–8:15 pm | Keynote Address II: Why States with Stronger Families Enjoy Bouquets - Omni Better Economic Outcomes Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia

8:15–8:30 pm | Opportunities at the Institute for Humane StudiesBouquets - Omni Rachel Swaffer, Institute for Humane Studies

8:30–10:30 pm | ReceptionCellar - Omni

SPEAKER BIOS

NATHAN ASHBYASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS NJASHBY@UTEP.EDU

Nathan Ashby is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at El Paso.

He earned his PhD in economics from West Virginia University with specializations in

international economics and public economics. His research has focused on the impact of economic freedom on

migration and inequality in the United States. His other research has analyzed how foreign investment in Mexico

correlates to increases in crime.

His research has been published in Southern Economic Journal, Public Choice, European Journal of Political Economy,

Journal of International Management, and Multinational Business Review among others. In addition to his work as

an economics professor, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids. Many of his evenings and Saturdays are

occupied directing an AYSO soccer league in El Paso.

COREY DEANGELISPOLICY ANALYST COREY.DEANGELIS@GMAIL.COM

Corey A. DeAngelis is a policy analyst at the Cato Center for Educational Freedom and a

policy advisor and contributing editor for the Heartland Institute.

His research focuses on the effects of educational choice programs on student achievement and non-academic

outcomes such as criminal activity, political and economic freedom, schooling supply, and fiscal impacts. Corey

has published several studies on educational choice programs with organizations such as the School Choice

Demonstration Project, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and the

Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. His research has also been published in peer-reviewed academic journals

such as the Journal of School Choice, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, and the Cato Journal, and has

been cited by the Wall Street Journal. His work has also been featured at outlets such as the Washington Examiner,

USA Today, Townhall, Real Clear Education, Foundation for Economic Education, EdChoice, and Education Next.

Corey holds a PhD in education policy from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and holds a BBA and a MA

in economics from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

BRIAN DOMITROVICAUTHORBFD015@GMAIL.COM

Brian Domitrovic is author of the standard history of supply-side economics, Econoclasts

(2009), and co-author, with Larry Kudlow (currently the director of the National Economic

Council) of the history of the 1964 tax cut, JFK and the Reagan Revolution (2016). His series on the collected

works of economist Arthur Laffer has produced two volumes to date, The Pillars of Reaganomics (2014) and Oil

and Energy (2016).

His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Journal of Policy History, RealClearMarkets, and on Forbes.

com, where he writes a biweekly column. He is senior associate at the Laffer Center for Supply-Side Economics,

holds a PhD in history from Harvard University, and has taught at Allegheny College, Sam Houston State University,

and the University of Colorado Boulder, where in 2015–16 he was the visiting scholar in conservative thought and

policy. He lives in The Woodlands, Texas.

MICHAEL FARREN RESEARCH FELLOWMFARREN@MERCATUS.GMU.EDU

Michael D. Farren is a research fellow in the Project for the Study of American Capitalism

at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. His research focuses on the effects of

government favoritism toward particular businesses, industries, and occupations, specializing in labor, economic

development, and transportation issues.

Michael has testified before Congressional committees and state legislature on a variety of topics, and his

research and commentary have been featured in numerous media outlets, including the Washington Post, Los

Angeles Times, the Globe and Mail, Newsday, the Miami Herald, The Dallas Morning News, and NPR. He blogs about

economics and economic policy at Concentrated Benefits.

Michael received his PhD in applied economics from Ohio State University and received the Frédéric Bastiat

Fellowship from the Mercatus Center. He is also licensed as a professional engineer and received his MS in

transportation engineering and BS in civil engineering from Ohio State University.

MICHAEL GIBERSONASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE MICHAEL.GIBERSON@TTU.EDU

Dr. Michael Giberson is associate professor of practice in the Area of Energy, Economics,

and Law with the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. Giberson has taught

courses in business economics, energy economics, and U.S. energy policy at Texas Tech.

Prior to joining Texas Tech in 2008 he worked with Potomac Economics, Ltd., an economic consulting firm

specializing in the electric power industry. Previously, Giberson worked five years as an independent energy

industry analyst, and has worked for the Critical Infrastructure Protection Project and the Interdisciplinary Center

for Economic Science at George Mason University, the Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets, Argonne

National Lab, and Citizens for a Sound Economy.

Michael Giberson has been published in Nature Energy, the Electricity Journal, the Journal of Regulatory Economics,

the Pacific and Asian Journal of Energy, and Regulation Magazine, and has written on U.S. energy policies and

federal electric power issues for trade publications. He received a BA in economics from Texas Tech University, and

an MA and PhD in economics at George Mason University. He is co-author with Lynne Kiesling of the Knowledge

Problem blog at www.knowledgeproblem.com.

DIMA SHAMOUN LECTURERDSHAMOUN@UTEXAS.EDU

Dima Yazji Shamoun is a lecturer at the UT Economics Department. Prior to joining UT,

she was a research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and an

assistant professor of economics at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

She received a BA in mathematics and economics, an MA in economics, and a PhD in economics from George

Mason University. Her research focuses on the political economy of regulation. She has taught a wide variety

of graduate and undergraduate courses at UT Austin, George Mason University, and Southwestern University.

She has published articles in the Journal of Public Choice, the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology, Health

Physics, and the Journal of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, and she is a co-editor of a two-volume

anthology of macroeconomics.

DEAN STANSELRESEARCH ASSOCIATE PROFESSORDEAN.B.STANSEL@GMAIL.COM

Dean Stansel is a research associate professor at Southern Methodist University’s O’Neil

Center for Global Markets and Freedom in the Cox School of Business in Dallas, TX.

Previously, he served as an associate professor of economics at Florida Gulf Coast University through December

2015. He earned a BA in economics and political science from Wake Forest University in 1991 and a PhD in

economics from George Mason University in 2002.

Prior to entering academia, Stansel worked for seven years at the Cato Institute, where he authored (or co-

authored) more than 60 publications on fiscal policy issues, including op-eds in the Wall Street Journal,

Washington Post, Investor’s Business Daily, and the Chicago Tribune. His academic research has focused on the

impact of competition between local governments on fiscal and economic outcomes, the relationship between

the size of government and economic growth, state fiscal crises, and a variety of other issues in the areas of

public economics and urban economics. Stansel’s academic publications have appeared in numerous journals,

including the Journal of Urban Economics, Public Finance Review, Cato Journal, Review of Austrian Economics, and

the Journal of Housing Research. It has been cited in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal, New

York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE) awarded

him second place in the 2010 Policy Communicators Contest for his paper entitled “Why Some Cities Are Growing

and Others Shrinking.” In 2011, Stansel was selected by the Economic Freedom Project to help publicize the

findings of the Economic Freedom of the World Report, the Economic Freedom of North America Report, and the

virtues of economic freedom in general through a variety of media interviews (averaging about 75 interviews per

year since then). In 2013, he published the first ever local index of economic freedom (a new version of which will

be published in 2018) and was chosen to be the primary author of the annual Economic Freedom of North America

Report. Stansel and his wife, Robin (who met while both were working at the Cato Institute), live in Dallas, Texas.

They have two children who they homeschool.

EDWARD TIMMONSASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICSETIMMONS@FRANCIS.EDU

Edward Timmons is the associate professor of economics and director of the Knee Center

for the Study of Occupational Regulation at Saint Francis University. He completed his PhD

in economics at Lehigh University. His research on the effects of occupational licensing has been published in

The Journal of Law and Economics, the Journal of Labor Research, the British Journal of Industrial Relations, Health

Policy, Monthly Labor Review, and Eastern Economic Journal. His research has been heavily cited by the popular

press, by the Federal Trade Commission, the Obama White House, and also in a Senate hearing entitled “License to

Compete: Occupational Licensing and the State Action Doctrine.” In May of 2014 he worked as a visiting research

fellow at the Collegio Carlo Alberto in Moncalieri, Italy. He is a member of the Board of Policy Advisors of the

Heartland Institute.

W. BRADFORD WILCOXDIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL MARRIAGE PROJECTWBWILCOX@GMAIL.COM

W. Bradford Wilcox is director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia,

professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, visiting scholar at the American

Enterprise Institute, and a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. In his latest work with Nicholas H.

Wolfinger, Soul Mates: Religion, Sex, Love, and Marriage Among African Americans and Latinos (Oxford, 2016), Brad

Wilcox shines a much-needed spotlight on the lives of strong and happy minority couples. Professor Wilcox’s

research has also focused on marriage, fatherhood, and cohabitation, especially on the ways that family structure,

civil society, and culture influence the quality and stability of family life in the United States and around the

globe. Now, Dr. Wilcox is exploring the contribution that families make to the economic welfare of individuals and

societies. He is also the co-author of Gender and Parenthood: Biological and Social Scientific Perspectives (Columbia,

2013, with Kathleen Kovner Kline), and the author of Soft Patriarchs, New Men: How Christianity Shapes Fathers and

Husbands (Chicago, 2004). Wilcox has published articles on marriage, cohabitation, parenting, and fatherhood

in The American Sociological Review, Social Forces, The Journal of Marriage and Family, and The Future of Children.

His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Slate, National Review

Online, NPR, NBC’s The Today Show, and many other media outlets. Wilcox consults regularly with companies such

as Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Kimberly-Clark on fertility and marriage trends in the United States. Robinson

earned an MEd from Harvard, a BA from Howard, and an AA from El Camino Community College. He is married

and has three daughters.

JUSTIN DAVIS JDAVIS@IHS.GMU.EDU

Justin Davis serves as the academic talent development program manager at IHS, where

he hopes to facilitate the advancement of classical liberal ideas by connecting the worlds

of academia and policy. He completed his MA in economics at George Mason University

in 2016 and previously attained his BS in business administration from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.

His research interests include monetary institutions, entrepreneurship, and institutional development.

Justin also served in the United States Army’s Corps of Engineers for three years as the squad leader of a bridge

erection team. His army tenure stationed him in Fort Knox, Kentucky and included a deployment to Afghanistan

with the 502nd Engineer Company, where he was a part of the first multi-role bridge company in the country.

Justin currently lives in Capitol Hill with his wife Sarah, an interior and graphic designer, and their dog Max.

JEANNE HOFFMAN JHOFFMAN@IHS.GMU.EDU

Jeanne Hoffman is a faculty liaison at the Institute for Humane Studies. She has a law

degree from Ave Maria School of Law and received her BA in political science from

Villanova University. She is a New York native, but has lived in Pennsylvania, Michigan,

Russia, and now, Virginia.

She has worked in intellectual property and technology, and has argued asylum cases before the Detroit

Immigration Court. In addition to the “law bar,” Jeanne has worked at a jazz-martini bar and considers it the most

musically rewarding time of her life. She loves baking cookies, reading, liberty, and Thomas Jefferson.

CHRIS SNAPPCSNAPP@IHS.GMU.EDU

Chris Snapp serves as the network relations program manager at the Institute for Humane

Studies. In his role, Chris works to facilitate connections between academics and groups

outside of the academy. He first became involved with the organization as an intern during

the summer of 2014. Chris is originally from Minnesota and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, where

he studied political science and urban studies.

When he is not working with the great minds within the liberty movement, Chris enjoys everything soccer

related, traveling, and watching his sports teams let him down.

STAFF BIOS

RACHEL SWAFFERRSWAFFER@IHS.GMU.EDU

Rachel Swaffer is the director of network relations at the Institute for Humane Studies,

where she oversees network strategy, strategic partnerships, coalition relations, and

conference outreach for the organization.

In this capacity, Rachel directs organizational strategy ensuring that IHS and her partners fully capitalize

on opportunities for collaboration with faculty, administrative leaders, university centers, and external

organizations—ensuring that ideas within the classical liberal tradition thrive within the academy and are

further leveraged beyond the university.

Rachel leads academic and policy outreach teams tasked with developing integrated networks to advance

classical liberal scholars and scholarship both within and beyond the academy. They work directly with internal

stakeholders, external partners, policy allies, and our network of over 10,000 current and aspiring faculty to

leverage these networks at the campus, state, and national level.

Prior to joining IHS, Rachel worked in process management for the National Aeronautics Space Administration

(NASA). She also has a background in outreach and program management. A graduate of Hillsdale College and

alumna of IHS programs, Rachel is passionate about the classical liberal tradition and the practical application

of market principles.

HOTEL FLOOR PLAN

GOVERNORS REPRE-SENTATIVEJUSTICE

LIB

ER

TY

EX

EC

UT

IVE

ELEVATORLOBBY

LOBBY

ME

N

BOARDROOMFOYER

CONGRESS

BALCONYFOYER

SENATE

CAPITALBALLROOM

A B

ROTUNDA

LONE STAR

SOUTH

NORTH

AUSTINEXECUTIVE

OFFICES

SALES &CATERING

WOMEN

MEN

ELEVA

TORS

WO

ME

N

Austin Downtown Ballroom Level

THECELLAR

BOUQUETS

Austin Downtown First Floor

Omni Austin Hotel Downtown, Austin, TX

Texas Public Policy Foundation 901 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701

Upcoming Faculty Programs

The Anti-Economics Trend in Technology Regulation: Lessons for Economists and Legal Scholars

Policy Research SeminarJune 2018

Montreal, Canada

Embracing a Free-Market Energy FuturePolicy Research Seminar

June 2018Vancouver, Canada

Reforming Our InstitutionsPolicy Research Seminar

July 2018Chicago, Illinois

Please visit TheIHS.org/prs for more information on future IHS Policy Research Seminars.

If you are interested in becoming a partner organization, or would like to

make a general inquiry about the Institute for Humane Studies Policy Research

Seminars, please contact Justin Davis at PolicyResearch@TheIHS.org.