Gavin Ekins

W. Gavin Ekins is a research economist at the Tax Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. He has worked for the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University and the Center for the Study of Neuroeconomics at George Mason University. He has also worked as a researcher and visiting professor at Emory University. His research involved behavioral studies of tax and subsidy policies as well as neuroeconomic. He has conducted behavioral studies on direct and indirect subsidies, Domar-Musgrave’s model of income tax on risky investment, and the percentage-law subsidies. He has also published neuroeconomic studies on bonus and penalty framing in contracts and coordination in games.

Gavin’s research interests include tax policy, public choice, public finance, and game theory. He is also interested in analyzing how the human brain evaluates taxes and subsidies under different frames. He has taught experimental economics, computational economics, and various levels of microeconomics at both Emory University and George Mason University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a master’s degree in systems engineering from the University of Arizona.