Joel R. Landry , Ph.D.

Many governments seek to advance public policies that aim to improve the welfare of their citizens.  Often these efforts are inadequate, and in some instances, may even make things worse. This is especially true for two of society’s most pressing environmental and energy challenges: addressing anthropogenic climate change and ensuring access to affordable, clean energy for all citizens. My research focuses on the welfare evaluation of imperfect or ‘second-best’ public policies.  Thematically, my research examines large-scale public policies that target significant market failures, with a particular focus on public policies related to climate change, energy and transportation systems, and the urban sector. Methodologically, my research explores these themes using and advancing theoretical and empirical models grounded in the fields of environmental and energy economics, public finance, and political economy, such as computational general equilibrium models, optimal power flow models, models of strategic regulatory decision-making, and models of political economy.