Ben Zamzow

Visiting Scholar

Department of Economics

University of Pittsburgh

Contact:

4527 Posvar Hall

230 S. Bouquet Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15260

zamzow[at]pitt[dot]edu

 
 

I am currently visiting at the University of Pittsburgh and teaching at Carnegie Mellon University (Heinz College).


I use a mixture of theory and empirical methods to shed light on my research questions. My primary research interests are in applied microeconomics and most closely connect to economic history and behavioral economics. My work relates to other fields including industrial organization, labor economics, agricultural economics, and the economics of higher education.


In addition to my research interests I teach graduate students at Heinz College (CMU) and advanced undergraduates at Pitt. I am currently teaching two sections of a proseminar I have developed at Pitt, Ethics and Economic Behavior. In this course we explore issues such as strategic ignorance, bribery & corruption, whistle blowing, sweatshops, minimum wage, fair trade, sin taxes & optimal paternalism, price gouging, pollution, water rights & access, and agriculture in the developing world.


My site is moving to here: https://sites.google.com/site/zamzoweconomics/




Find me at Pitt:

Find me at Carnegie Mellon

 

About Me:

I completed my graduate work at the University of Arizona in 2013. The title of my dissertation is ``Guilt and Reciprocity in Labor Markets and the Diffusion of Agricultural Innovation’’ and it was supervised by Martin Dufwenberg and Price Fishback.


Working Papers

  1. 1.Experiment Associations and Agricultural Innovation

  2. 2.All Aboard! Railways and the Diffusion of Agricultural Information in the Early 20th Century

  3. 3.Sweatshops and Reciprocity (with Martin Dufwenberg, University of Arizona)

  4. 4.Brewers, Researchers, and Barley Growers: Solving the Coordination Problem

Work in Progress

  1. 5.Price and Quality with a Conscientious Worker

  2. 6.Optimal Packaging and Pricing


Recent Teaching:


Summer 2015:

Microeconomic Principles (Campbell)


The Economic Way of Thinking (Campbell)


Spring 2015:

Ethics and Economic Behavior (Pitt)


Intermediate Microeconomics (Pitt)


Microeconomic Principles (Campbell)


Macroeconomic Principles (Campbell)


Course Facilitator Managerial Economics (Eller Online MBA)


Economic Analysis (CMU: Heinz College 95-710)


Fall 2014:

Economic Analysis (CMU: Heinz College 95-710)


Intermediate Empirical Methods (CMU: Heinz College 90-786)


Microeconomic Principles (Campbell)


Macroeconomic Principles (Campbell)