William Labadie, Ph. D.

About me

As an economist, I am naturally most interested in human decision-making. I am especially interested in the decision-making of public institutions. In my research, I have studied decision-making in K-12 public schools; by public housing authorities and politicians; by government actors; and by individuals in response to public policy. Economics is a powerful tool that can be used to examine a broad range of questions; my goal as an instructor is for students learn to use economics to explore the subjects in which they are interested.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Houston
• M.S., University of Houston
• B.S., University of North Texas

Professional memberships

• American Economic Association

Research projects

My research projects broadly examine the decision-making of individuals and public institutions in response to public policy. My most recent work examines the effects of growth-based public school accountability measures on the grade retention practices used in public schools. I am currently working to extend this work at a student level, to learn about what types of students are most likely to be held back differently under growth-based accountability systems. My full research portfolio can be found at https://www.wclabadie.com.

Scholarly interest

• Applied microeconomics
• Public economics
• Labor economics
• Education