Richard O. Zerbe Jr.
Richard O. Zerbe Jr. joined the Evans School faculty in 1981. He previously taught environmental ethics, microeconomics, government regulation, law and economics, and benefit-cost analysis.
Zerbe previously served on the faculty at York University in Toronto and the University of Chicago, a visiting appointment at Northwestern University, and a fellowship at Yale Law School.
He was a founder and past president of the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis, was a member of the Executive Board of the Western Economic Association, and was a scholar-in-residence with the American Bar Foundation. He is also a founding board member of the American Law and Economics Association. Professor Zerbe also started the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis in 2009. The journal has quickly become the premier journal for cost-benefit analysis materials with articles by numerous distinguished scholars and practitioners.
He is the author of more than 100 publications and past editor of the Research in Law and Economics journal from 1978 to 2011.
Outside of academia, Zerbe serves as a consultant to government agencies.
Zerbe holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Duke University, and a AB from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied mathematics, general science, and political science.
Zerbe has worked to establish a more robust foundation for welfare economics and benefit-cost analysis in particular.