Jeffrey Wagner Headshot

Jeffrey Wagner

Professor

Department of Economics
College of Liberal Arts

585-475-5289
Office Hours
Tuesdays 11am-12:30pm and by appointment
Office Location

Jeffrey Wagner

Professor

Department of Economics
College of Liberal Arts

Education

AB, University of Missouri; MS, Ph.D., University of Illinois-Urbana

Bio

Jeffrey Wagner is a Professor of Economics at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he regularly teaches undergraduate courses in environmental economics, industrial organization, and microeconomics. Most of his research focuses on the economics of sustainable management of various waste types including municipal solid waste, low-level radioactive waste, and satellite debris in low Earth orbit. His research has appeared in journals in several disciplines including Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists; Journal of Environmental Economics and Management; Environmental and Resource Economics; Journal of Regulatory Economics; Ecological Economics; Waste Management; Resources, Conservation & Recycling; Southern Economic Journal; International Review of Law and Economics; and Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. Eighteen of his peer-reviewed publications are co-authored with his undergraduate students.  He is a former chair and undergraduate program director of the Economics Department.  At the RIT College of Liberal Arts level, his service includes terms on the Curriculum, Agenda, Promotion, and Tenure Committees.  At the Institute level, he’s served on the University Tenure Committee and as chair of the General Education Committee and of the provost’s Faculty Leave for Professional Development Committee.  He is a former president of the New York State Economics Association and he was a 2022-2023 Mentor in the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists’ professional development program.  Jeff joined the RIT faculty in 2001 


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Select Scholarship

Journal Paper
Leary, Nick, Michael Zunino, and Jeffrey Wagner. "The Marginal Abatement Cost Function with Secondary Waste Markets." Ecological Economics 228. February (2025): 108445. Print.
Wagner, Jeffrey and Zachary Grzelka. "Constellation IP and Environmental Quality." Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences 17. 7 (2024): 1-9. Print.
Dharawat, Nikhil and Jeffrey Wagner. "Teaching Marginal Revenue Product of Labor and Capital Using Elite Athlete Salaries and Pollution Control Examples." Journal of Economics Teaching. (2024): 1-13. Web.
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Wagner, Jeffrey and John Stranlund. "The Environmental Law and Economics of Hazardous Waste Regulations." Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Annual Meeting. AERE. Portland, Maine. 2 Jun. 2023. Conference Presentation.
Dortz, Michael and Jeffrey Wagner. "Raising Rivals’ Costs and Right-to-Repair Laws: Separating the Sheep from the Goats?" American Law and Economics Association Annual Meeting. ALEA/Columbia Law School. New York City, New York. 5 Aug. 2022. Conference Presentation.
Wagner, Jeffrey. "Economics of IP in Sustainable Waste Management with Application to Managing Satellite Debris in Low-Earth Orbit." Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Annual Meeting. AERE. Miami, FL. 4 Jun. 2022. Conference Presentation.
Published Article
Bhole, Bharat, and Jeffrey Wagner. “Punitive Damages and the Recklessness Requirement with Uninformed Injurers.” International Review of Law and Economics, 30.3 (2010): 253-268. Print. *

Currently Teaching

ECON-101
3 Credits
Microeconomics studies the workings of individual markets. That is, it examines the interaction of the demanders of goods and services with the suppliers of those goods and services. It explores how the behavior of consumers (demanders), the behavior of producers (suppliers), and the level of market competition influence market outcomes.
ECON-401
3 Credits
This course develops the tools that are commonly used to study the allocation of resources in a private enterprise economy. Topics covered include the theory of consumer behavior, cost and production, and alternate market structures.
ECON-407
3 Credits
The study of the structure, conduct and performance of contemporary American industry. Involves the application of the tools of microeconomic analysis and empirical evidence to aid in understanding the behavior of modern industry. In addition, the course considers the historical determinants of contemporary market structure and the public policy measures designed to preserve a competitive market structure. The course concludes with an examination of alternative intellectual property rights mechanisms and how alternative mechanisms impact firm-level and economy-level innovation rates.
ECON-520
3 Credits
This course examines the relationship and apparent conflict between economic growth and environmental quality, the economics of environmental issues and policy, the environment as a resource and a public good, and the ability and lack of ability of free markets and the government to deal adequately with pollution and other environmental problems.