Jay Shimshack

Jay Shimshack is Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, holding a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and B.S. from Cornell University. Prior to UVA, he held faculty positions at Tulane University, Tufts University, and was a visiting fellow at the University of Michigan.

His educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Economics from University of California, Berkeley
• B.S. from Cornell University

Shimshack's research focuses on environmental regulation, environmental economics, corporate social behavior, and applied microeconomics for public policy. He extensively examines environmental inequality, regulatory compliance mechanisms, and pollution enforcement effectiveness. His work bridges academic research with policy applications through advisory roles with federal agencies, with particular emphasis on citizen complaint systems, environmental justice, and Clean Water Act policy analysis.

His recent publications (2019-2024) demonstrate empirical analysis of environmental regulations across domestic and international contexts, revealing consistent themes in compliance assistance effectiveness, transboundary pollution challenges, and socioeconomic disparities in environmental quality. The research combines rigorous economic methodology with real-world policy evaluation, particularly in U.S. regulatory settings and international case studies including Mexico and China.

Shimshack has been acknowledged by the University of Virginia for excellence in research contributions, receiving institutional recognition for impactful scholarship that informs environmental policy debates.

He has provided advisory services to the EPA, FDA, USDA, and other federal agencies; consulted for private organizations; and testified before the U.S. House of Representatives. His policy engagement includes publishing numerous book chapters and reports, most notably the 2023 analysis finding the Trump administration's Clean Water Act rollback relied on dubious methodology. At UVA, he teaches economics for public policy and benefit-cost analysis.