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Paul Portney

Professor of Economics
Halle Chair in Leadership
Dean, Eller College

• Ph.D., Economics, Northwestern University

Research

Professor Portney has done research on environmental protection and regulation, natural resources policy, contingent valuation, air pollution, health and safety regulation, and provision of public goods.

Selected Publications

• "Environmental Regulation and the Competitiveness of U.S. Manufacturing," (with R. Stavins, A. Jaffe and S. Peterson), Journal of Economic Literature, 1995.
• "Tightening Environmental Standards: The Benefit-Cost or the No-Cost Paradigm?" (with K. Palmer and W. Oates), Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1995.
• "Public Preferences for Life Saving: Discounting for Time and Age" (with M. Cropper and S. Aydede), Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1994.
• "The Contingent Valuation Debate: Why Economists Should Care," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1994.
• "The Determinants of Pesticide Regulation: A Statistical Analysis of EPA Decisionmaking," (with Cropper, Evans, Berardi, and Ducla-Soares) Journal of Political Economy, 1992.
• "Discounting and the Evaluation of Life-Saving Programs" (with M. Cropper), Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1990.
• "The Net Benefits of Incentive-Based Regulation: A Case Study of Environmental Standard-Setting" (with W. Oates and A. McGartland), American Economic Review, 1989.
• "Valuing the Benefits of Health and Safety Regulation" (with W. Harrington), Journal of Urban Economics, 1987.
• "Profit Maximizing Communities and the Theory of Local Public Expenditure" (with J. Sonstelie), Journal of Urban Economics, 1978.

Bio

Paul R. Portney became Dean of the Eller College of Management in July 2005. He also holds the College’s Halle Chair in Leadership and is a Professor of Economics.

From 1972 through June of 2005, Portney was with Resources for the Future (RFF), an independent and non-partisan research and educational organization in Washington, D.C., that specializes in energy and the environment. From 1986-1989 he headed two of its research divisions, in 1989 became its vice president, and was named president and CEO in 1995.

At RFF, Portney was instrumental in expanding the research staff, reinforcing the high quality of its analyses, and ensuring that its work was communicated clearly and effectively to policymakers, business leaders, journalists, environmental advocates, and academics. Portney also has a strong fundraising record, having led RFF through its successful 50th anniversary campaign that concluded in 2003.

From 1979-1980, Portney served as chief economist for the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He has held visiting teaching positions at both the University of California at Berkeley (1977-1979) and Princeton University (1992-1994), and since 1981 has been a core faculty member for The Washington Campus—a consortium of nearly 20 graduate schools of business that offer classes in Washington for both full-time and executive MBA students—and continuing education programs for major corporations.

Since 1999, Portney has been a member of and has chaired the Finance and Investment Committee for the Johnson Foundation, one of the charitable arms of the Johnson family of Racine, Wisconsin. Until 2005, he was a member of the Sustainable Forestry Board, serving with the CEOs of five major forest products companies and the heads of five environmental organizations.

Portney received his B.A. in economics in 1967 from Alma College in Michigan and his Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University. He is the author or co-author of ten books, including Public Policies for Environmental Protection, and was recently named one of the 100 most-cited researchers in economics and business.

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