Corbett A. Grainger

Corbett A. Grainger serves as Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with significant interdisciplinary affiliations including the Center for Demography and Ecology, the Center for Climate and Energy Transformation in Bergen, Norway, and CESifo Research Network. His recent work as a Visiting Researcher at the ifo Institute focused on residential zoning impacts on pollution exposure disparities.

His educational foundation includes:

• PhD in Economics from University of California at Santa Barbara
• MS in Applied Economics from University of Minnesota
• BA in Economics and German from Concordia College

Professor Grainger's research centers on environmental economics with strong emphasis on distributional consequences of policy. He employs advanced econometric techniques to analyze how environmental regulations differentially impact demographic and income groups, particularly through spatial and demographic lenses. His work bridges development economics with environmental policy analysis, examining population-environment interactions shaped by regulatory frameworks.

His notable contribution includes the 'reverse grandfathering' concept for environmental markets, which fundamentally alters incentive structures by reversing marginal extraction/emission incentives compared to traditional grandfathering approaches. This research demonstrates significant welfare implications when firms anticipate allocation rules.

As Co-Editor of Land Economics, he shapes scholarly discourse in environmental economics while advancing interdisciplinary work in spatial demography through his Center for Demography and Ecology affiliation. His research portfolio reflects consistent focus on policy-relevant environmental economics with attention to equity dimensions.