R. Kaj Gittings

Associate Professor and Associate Chair

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Department of Economics
College of Arts & Sciences
Texas Tech University

Papers Under Review

• • Power Sector Emissions under Tighting Carbon Dioxide Quotas, (with Travis Roach). [SSRN Download] [Updated Version]

Work in Progress

• • Cancer Treatment and Labor Productivity, (with Ashley Escudero and Alex Villanueva).
• • Pollution Shocks, Fetal Deaths and Infant Health Outcomes, (with Hamid Noghanibehambari and Travis Roach).
• • Family Violence and Recidivism, (with Sarah Quintanar).

Refereed Publications

• • Labor Reallocation and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, (with Travis Roach), forthcoming in Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy. [SSRN Download] [Updated Version]


• Who Benefits from a Resource Boom? Evidence from the Marcellus and Utica Shale Plays. 2020. Energy Economics. vol. 87, pp. 1-14. (with Travis Roach).


• Urban Transport and Crime: Evidence from Unanticipated Mass Transit Strikes. 2019. Economic Inquiry. vol. 57 no.3, pp. 1718-1737. (with Gregory DeAngelo, Daniel Grossman and Umair Khalil).


• Interracial Face-to-Face Crimes and the Socioeconomics of Neighborhoods: Evidence from Policing Records. 2018. International Review of Law and Economics. vol. 56, pp. 1-13. (with Gregory DeAngelo and Anita Alves Pena).


• Police Incentives and the Enforcement of Drug Crimes. 2018. Review of Law and Economics. vol. 14 no.1. (with Gregory DeAngelo and Amanda Ross).


• The Effects of Foreign Aid on Economic Growth in Developing Countries. 2017. Journal of Developing Areas. vol. 51 no.3, pp. 153-171. (with Masha Rahnama and Fadi Fawaz).


• Getting Handcuffs on an Octopus: Minimum Wages, Turnover, and Employment. 2016. Industrial and Labor Relations Review. vol. 69 no.5, pp. 1133-1170. (with Ian M. Schmutte).


• The Impact of Incentives on Human Behavior: Can We Make It Disappear? The Case of the Death Penalty. 2010. The Economics of Crime: Lessons for Latin America. NBER/University of Chicago Press. Rafael DiTella, Sebastian Edwards and Ernesto Schargrodsky (editors) pp. 379-418. (with Naci Mocan).


• Getting Off Death Row: Commuted Sentences and the Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment. 2003. Journal of Law and Economics. vol. 46 no.2, pp. 453-478. (with Naci Mocan).