Eller Economics Professor Awarded Grant to Lead Economics of Innovation in Energy Sector Research

Ashley Langer, assistant professor of economics at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, has been awarded a grant from the National Bureau of Economic Research to encourage economic research on energy innovation.

The grant for $380,782, which was awarded to Langer and fellow researcher David Popp of Syracuse University, will provide support for 14 research papers that explore historical determinants of energy innovation and factors that affect the development of future transformative innovations in energy. The research will be presented at three conferences beginning in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in September 2020 and concluding in Washington, D.C. at a later date.

“Ashley will provide outstanding leadership in this research because of her keen understanding of energy economics,” says Economics Department Head and McClelland Professor of Economics Andreas Blume. “The research resulting from this grant will not only benefit her important work, but also bring about much-needed economic innovation in the rapidly changing energy sector.”

Langer joined the Eller College in 2013. Her current research focuses on how consumers make decisions that affect the environment, particularly in relation to automobile use. Her research has substantial implications for the design of energy policy, including the optimal level of gasoline taxes or corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards and potential incentives for alternative fuel vehicle adoption.