Benjamin B. Lockwood

Benjamin B. Lockwood is an Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He is also a Co-Editor at the Journal of Public Economics and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His work focuses on public economics, behavioral economics, and normative economics, with particular attention to taxation policy and inequality.

His research interests include:

• Public finance
• Optimal taxation
• Inequality
• Behavioral economics

Professor Lockwood's work studies the use of taxes both for reducing inequality and as an instrument to change behavior. Recent projects explore the use of soda and sweetened beverage taxes to improve health outcomes, the optimal design of state-run lotteries, and the optimal design of capital and wealth taxes. He also has work studying the use of income taxes to encourage talented individuals to pursue professions beneficial to society, and the use of work subsidies like the Earned Income Tax Credit to spur employment.

His recent publications span topics in public finance, behavioral economics, and tax policy, with a particular focus on optimal taxation frameworks and their real-world applications. These works examine how taxation can be designed to address issues of inequality while accounting for behavioral responses from taxpayers.

Professor Lockwood has received several prestigious awards including:

• National Tax Association Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award (2016)
• Roger Martin Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research in Business Economics (2015)
• Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University Bok Center (2014-2015)
• Beinecke Scholarship for Graduate Study (2010-2011)

As an educator, Professor Lockwood teaches Microeconomics for Managers: Foundations (MBA), Microeconomics for Managers: Advanced Applications (MBA), and Public Economics (PhD). His research has been featured in major media outlets including The Economist, Los Angeles Times, and Philadelphia Inquirer, particularly regarding "sin taxes" and their effectiveness in changing consumer behavior.