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Thomas J Holmes

Contact Me

holmes@umn.edu

Economics
4-101 HMH

1925 4th Street South

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Thomas Holmes holds the Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Economics at the University of Minnesota. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis as an economist in 1993. He is currently a visiting scholar in the Research Department. He previously taught at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Tom’s research focuses on industrial organization and economic geography. He has recently developed models to explain the rapid spread of Wal-Mart stores and the geographic distribution of union membership. His work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the American Economic Review. He is an associate editor at the RAND Journal of Economics and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Educational Background & Specialties

Educational Background

  • Ph.D.: Economics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 1985.
  • B.A.: Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1981.
  • B.S.: Mathematics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1981.

Curriculum Vitae

Specialties

  • applied microeconomics
  • industrial organization
Courses Taught
  • Econ 1101: Principles of Microeconomics
  • Econ 8601: Industrial Organization and Government Regulation
Research & Professional Activities

Professional Activities

  • Associate Editor: Rand Journal of Economics , 2002 - present
  • Editorial Board Member: Journal of Economic Geography , 2001 - present
  • Editorial Board Member: Journal of Urban Economics , 2007 - present
  • Associate Editor, Review of Economic Dynamics: 2003 - 2008

Research

  • Consultant: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
  • National Bureau of Economic Research Associate: 2002 - present
Publications
  • Structural Estimation in Urban Economics: Holmes, Thomas, Holger Seig, co-author; Duranton, Henderson, Strange (editors), North Holland, Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, 5 69-114, 2015.
  • Quid Pro Quo: Technology Capital Transfers for Market Access in China: Holmes, Thomas, E. C. Prescott, E. R. McGrattan, Review of Economic Studies, 82(3) 1154-1193, July 2015.
  • Optimal City Hierachy: A Dynamic Programming Approach to Central Place Theory: Holmes, Thomas, Wen-Tai Hsu, Frank Morgan, Journal of Economic Theory, 154 245-273, November 2014.
  • An Alternative Theory of the Plant Size Distribution, with Geography and Intra- and International Trade: Holmes, Thomas, John J. Stevens, Journal of Political Economy, 122, No. 2 369-421, April 2014.
  • Exports, Borders, Distance, and Plant Size: Holmes, Thomas, John J. Stevens, Journal of International Economics, 88(1) 91-103, 2012.
  • Monopoly and the Incentive to Innovate When Adoption Involves Switchover Disruptions . Holmes, Thomas, David K. Levine, J.A. Schmitz, Jr. , Author, 2012.
  • Economies of Density versus Natural Advantage: Crop Choice on the Back Forty : Holmes, Thomas, Sanghoon Lee, Review of Economics and Statistics, 94(1) 1-19, 2012.
Awards
  • Fellow, Econometric Society, 2011 - present