Workshop on Institutional Barriers to Climate adaptation

Speaker Biographies

The Workshop brings together a diverse group of emerging and senior scholars working at the intersection of institutions and adaptation. Participants represent a range of disciplines and perspectives, contributing to discussions on resilience and policy.

Dominic Parker

Ilene and Morton Harris Senior Fellow

Hoover Institution

Dominic Parker

Ilene and Morton Harris Senior Fellow

Hoover Institution

Dominic Parker

Dominic Parker is the Ilene and Morton Harris Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he codirects the Renewing Indigenous Economies and Markets vs. Mandates for the Environment and Energy projects. He is the Anderson-Bascom Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Parker’s expertise is in the economics of development, natural resources, and energy policy with a focus on the role of property rights, rule of law, and governance.

Mary Shirley

President

Ronald Coase Institution

Mary Shirley

President

Ronald Coase Institution

Mary Shirley

Mary Shirley is a founder and President of the Ronald Coase Institute, which advances research on the rules, laws, norms, and customs that shape real-world economies. Prior to that she worked for over 20 years in World Bank research. She has published numerous scholarly articles and books on new institutional economics, economic development, and privatization of state owned enterprises.

Tanna Carleton

UC Berkeley

Tanna Carleton

UC Berkeley

Tanna Carleton

Zilin Chen

PhD student

Peking University

Zilin Chen

PhD student

Peking University

Zilin Chen

I am a fourth-year PhD student at Peking University, with research interests in environmental economics

Takanao Takana

PhD candidate

UC Berkeley

Takanao Takana

PhD candidate

UC Berkeley

Takanao Takana

Takanao Tanaka is a PhD candidate in Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on environmental, energy, and industrial organization economics. His work examines how energy and environmental regulation shape firm behavior and economic outcomes, with applications to electricity markets and environmental policy. He uses large-scale administrative data and empirical methods to study policy-relevant questions.

Steven Koonin

Edward Teller Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution

The Hoover Institution at Stanford University

Steven Koonin

Edward Teller Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution

The Hoover Institution at Stanford University

Steven Koonin

Steven Koonin, the Edward Teller Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, has served as the Department of Energy’s Under Secretary for Science, as Chief Scientist for BP, as a University Professor at NYU, and as professor and Provost at Caltech. He is member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Governor of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Koonin holds a BS in physics from Caltech and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from MIT. He wrote the bestselling book Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.

Shanjun Li

Stanford University

Shanjun Li

Stanford University

Shanjun Li

Shanjun Li is the Steven and Roberta Denning Professor of Global Sustainability in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and a Senior Fellow at both the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He directs the Sustainability and Energy Transition Program at Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions (SCCEI). His research focuses on environmental and energy economics, urban and transportation economics, empirical industrial organization, and the Chinese economy. His recent work examines pressing sustainability challenges and the rapid rise of clean energy industries in China, exploring their global implications to support evidence-based policymaking.

Aliz Toth

Assistant Professor of Political Science

London School of Economics

Aliz Toth

Assistant Professor of Political Science

London School of Economics

Aliz Toth

Aliz Toth is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on state capacity, state-society relations, and migration. Her book project examines why land acquisition has remained a key barrier to infrastructure development in India. Aliz has a PhD in Political Science from Stanford University (2023). Her work has been published in leading journals including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, World Politics, and International Organization.

Dagmawe Tenaw

Dire Dawa University, Ethiopa

Dagmawe Tenaw

Dire Dawa University, Ethiopa

Dagmawe Tenaw

Alemu Lambamo

Dire Dawa University, Ethiopia

Alemu Lambamo

Dire Dawa University, Ethiopia

Alemu Lambamo

Gary Libecap

Distinguished Professor Emeritus

University of California, Santa Barbara

Gary Libecap

Distinguished Professor Emeritus

University of California, Santa Barbara

Gary Libecap

Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Board of Directors, Ronald Coase Institute.

Research Group on Political Institutions and Economic Policy, Harvard University.

Erskine Professor, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2019

Pitt Professor, Economics Faculty, Cambridge University, 2010-11. Fellow, Cliometric Society, 2016-

President, 2006, Economic History Association.

President, 2006, Western Economics Association International.

President, 2005, International Society for the New Institutional Economics.

Co-Editor: “Economic Perspectives on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Water,” National Bureau of Economic Research and USDA, University of Chicago Press. 2022.

Co-Editor, Journal of Economic History, 1996-2000.

Board of Editors, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2005-2010.

Co-Editor: The Economics of Climate Change: Adaptations Past and Present, NBER and University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Board of Editors, Explorations in Economic History, 1985-1992.

Institutional Economics.

“Elinor Ostrom Lifetime Achievement Award,” June 2021, SIOE, Society for Institutional and Organizational Economics

Dinsha Mistree

Research Fellow

Hoover Institution at Stanford University

Dinsha Mistree

Research Fellow

Hoover Institution at Stanford University

Dinsha Mistree

Dinsha Mistree is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he works on issues related to the US-India relationship. Recent and forthcoming scholarship includes a book project on the performance of the Indian diaspora in the United States and a forthcoming study on the history of the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement. He also studies governance and economic growth in developing countries, with a special focus on India. Apart from his scholarly work, Mistree publishes in a range of policy outlets. Mistree holds a PhD and MA in politics from Princeton, along with an SM and SB from the MIT.

Allan Hslao

Nilesh Shinde

Assistant Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs

Indiana University

Nilesh Shinde

Assistant Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs

Indiana University

Nilesh Shinde

I am an Assistant Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) at Indiana University Bloomington.

I am an environmental and natural resource economist who studies how property rights and institutions shape land and water use, with implications for conservation, public health, and economic development in Brazil, India, and the United States.

My research and teaching focus on the intersection of environmental economics and informatics . By combining causal inference, satellite data, and economic theory, I aim to contribute to evidence-based insights to inform policies that balance growth, equity, and sustainability.

Matthew Kahn

Provost Professor of Economics

University of Southern California

Matthew Kahn

Provost Professor of Economics

University of Southern California

Matthew Kahn

Phil Keefer

Principal Economics Advisor

Inter-American Development Bank

Phil Keefer

Principal Economics Advisor

Inter-American Development Bank

Phil Keefer

Philip Keefer is a Principal Economics Advisor at the Inter-American Development Bank. He was formerly a Lead Research Economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank. His research on the impact of insecure property rights on growth; the effects of political credibility on policy; the sources of political credibility in democracies and autocracies; the influence of political parties on conflict, political budget cycles, and public sector reform; and the effects of compensation on the effort and intrinsic motivation of public officials, has appeared in journals ranging from the Quarterly Journal of Economics to the American Political Science Review.

Cesar B. Martinez-Alvarez

Assistant Professor of Political Science

University of California, Santa Barbara

photo_cbma - Cesar Benshuni Martinez-Alvarez

Cesar B. Martinez-Alvarez

Assistant Professor of Political Science

University of California, Santa Barbara

Cesar B. Martinez-Alvarez

Cesar B. Martinez-Alvarez is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research focuses on the political economy of global environmental challenges, such as climate change and deforestation, with a regional focus on Latin America. His recent work focuses on the drivers of successful local resource governance, the politics of the energy transition, and climate change adaptation. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, a MA in International Policy Studies from Stanford University, and a BA in International Relations from El Colegio de México. He was a Donnelley Postdoctoral Environmental Fellow at the Yale School of the Environment. Prior to graduate school he worked at Mexico's National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change.

Joaquin A. Urrego

Assistant Professor of Economics

Wake Forest University

Joaquin A. Urrego

Assistant Professor of Economics

Wake Forest University

Joaquin A. Urrego

I am an Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at Wake Forest University. My research sits at the intersection of urban and development economics, the economics of crime, and real estate. Using GIS and spatial methods, I study how the built environment, neighborhood amenities, and local institutions shape spatial patterns of informal housing, crime and commercial real estate. A current strand of my work examines the future of cities, especially rapidly growing developing-city contexts, and how they respond to climate shocks.

Sayahnika Basu

Assistant Professor of Economics

James Madison University

Sayahnika Basu

Assistant Professor of Economics

James Madison University

Sayahnika Basu

Sayahnika Basu is an Assistant Professor in the Economics department at James Madison University. She is an environmental economist whose research spans development, agriculture, and urban economics. Her work examines how environmental degradation and climate change affect different demographic groups and their economic consequences. Before joining JMU, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego, where she remains engaged as an external faculty affiliate at the 21st Century India Center and co-organizes a virtual junior scholar seminar on the Indian economy. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

Nisha Koppa

3rd year PhD student

Colorado University

Nisha Koppa

3rd year PhD student

Colorado University

Nisha Koppa

I’m a 3rd year PhD student in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I also hold a Masters degree in Economic Development from Lund University, Sweden and a Bachelors in Economics from India. I am interested in exploring how climate change affects global food systems and how trade and policy decisions can help or hinder adaptation.

Katrina Kosec

Senior Research Fellow & Lecturer of Political Economy

International Food Policy Research Institute & John Hopkins University

Katrina Kosec

Senior Research Fellow & Lecturer of Political Economy

International Food Policy Research Institute & John Hopkins University

Katrina Kosec

Katrina Kosec is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and a Lecturer in Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University. Her research examines the links between governance, fragility, gender, and poverty, with a focus on how policies and institutions affect poverty, food security, women’s empowerment, and political attitudes. She has conducted surveys and field experiments across Africa and Asia in collaboration with international organizations and governments. Her work has appeared in leading journals including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Public Economics, and Journal of Development Economics.

Meera Mahadevan

Assistant professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy

University of California, San Diego

Meera Mahadevan

Assistant professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy

University of California, San Diego

Meera Mahadevan

Meera Mahadevan is an Assistant Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. Her research lies at the intersection of development, energy, and environmental economics, with a focus on public service delivery, infrastructure, and political economy in low- and middle-income countries. She currently works on projects related to electricity transitions, water markets, and governance in South Asia. She is an affiliate of the CESifo Research Network, the Center for Effective Global Action, and the Energy for Growth Hub, and is also an invited researcher at the J-PAL under multiple funding initiatives.

Marshall Burke

Terry Anderson

Terry L. Anderson is the John and Jean De Nault Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is the past president of the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, and a professor emeritus at Montana State University, where he won many teaching awards during his twenty-year career. Anderson authored Free Market Environmentalism (third edition, 2015), which established the concept of using markets and property rights to address environmental issues. Dr. Anderson received his PhD from the University of Washington and has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University, Basel University, Clemson University, and Cornell University, and a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Canterbury.

Roger Noll

Professor Emeritus of Economics

Stanford University

Roger Noll

Professor Emeritus of Economics

Stanford University

Roger Noll

Roger Noll is professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University, and formerly a professor of social sciences at Caltech and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He holds a B.S. in mathematics from Caltech and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. Noll's primary fields of research are the economics and politics of regulation, the economics of sports and entertainment, and the political economy of law and legal institutions.

Alexandra Benham

Founder & Secretary to the Board

Ronald Coase Institution

Alexandra Benham

Founder & Secretary to the Board

Ronald Coase Institution

Alexandra Benham

Alexandra Benham is a founder of the Ronald Coase Institute and the Secretary to the Board. She has organized and served as faculty member for its workshops and conferences from 2000 to the present. Her research areas include the costs of exchange across countries, institutional reform, international relations, and the economics of information.

Lee Benham

Founder

Lee Benham

Founder

Lee Benham

I was a founder of the Ronald Coase Institute. My graduate degree was from Stanford Economics and subsequently as faculty at the University of Chicago and Washington University.

Speaker Biographies

Dominic Parker

Mary Shirley

Tanna Carleton

Zilin Chen

Takanao Takana

Steven Koonin

Shanjun Li

Aliz Toth

Dagmawe Tenaw

Alemu Lambamo

Gary Libecap

Dinsha Mistree

Allan Hslao

Nilesh Shinde

Matthew Kahn

Phil Keefer

Cesar B. Martinez-Alvarez

Joaquin A. Urrego

Sayahnika Basu

Nisha Koppa

Katrina Kosec

Meera Mahadevan

Marshall Burke

Terry Anderson

Roger Noll

Alexandra Benham

Lee Benham

Menu

Follow Hoover