Thomas J. Nechyba | Scholars@Duke

Thomas J. Nechyba
Professor of Economics

Professor Nechyba conducts his research within the fields of public finance, fiscal federalism, and the economics of education. His studies tend toward the investigation of function within local governments, public policy issues concerning disadvantaged families, and the economics behind primary and secondary education. He received funding for one of his latest projects, “An Empirical Investigation of Peer Effects in Schools and of Household Responses to School Policy Changes,” from a National Science Foundation grant. He also received support from the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy for his work, “Urban Sprawl;” from the Spencer Foundation for his study on, “The Role of Peers, Parental Choices, and Neighborhoods;” from the New Zealand Ministry of Education for a study on, “The Impact of Family and Community Resources on Education Outcomes;” and the Hoover Institution for the study, “The Implications of New Federalism.” He also received monetary support from the National Academy of Sciences for his investigation of the fiscal impact of immigrants, and from the Center for Economic Policy Research for various projects concerning education and welfare policy. In addition to his individual research pursuits, Professor Nechyba is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2003
Associate Chair of Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2020
Director of Ecoteach in Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2022
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University 2011
Bass Fellow, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2007

Contact Information

318 Social Science Building, Box 90097, Durham, NC 27708
Box 90097, Department of Economics, Durham, NC 27708
nechyba@duke.edu (919) 302-7377
Thomas Nechyba CV

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., University of Rochester 1994
- B.A., University of Florida 1989
Previous Appointments & Affiliations
- Director of the Social Science Research Institute, Social Science Research Institute, University Institutes and Centers 2017 - 2019
- Director of the Master of Interdisciplinary Data Science (MIDS) program, Social Science Research Institute, University Institutes and Centers 2018 - 2019
- Director of EcoTeach in the Department of Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2011 - 2017
- Director of the Social Science Research Institute, Social Science Research Institute, University Institutes and Centers 2012 - 2017
- Professor of Public Policy Studies, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University 2003 - 2011
- Chair, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2003 - 2010
- Fuchsberg-Levine Family Associate Professor of Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2002 - 2007
- Associate Professor of Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1999 - 2002
- Associate Professor of Public Policy Studies, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University 1999 - 2002
Recognition
In the News
- APR 16, 2018
  
  Nechyba Stepping Down as SSRI Director in 2019
- FEB 22, 2018 Duke Magazine
  
  Turning Economic Concepts into Poetry
- APR 20, 2017
  
  Trinity College Honors Faculty, Staff for Teaching, Advising and Leadership
- JAN 16, 2015
  
  Free Symposium Jan. 26 at Duke to Focus on Social Entrepreneurship, Civic Engagement
Awards & Honors
- Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award. Southern Economic Association. 2004
- Researcher (NBER Family Members). National Bureau of Economic Research. 1995
Expertise
Global Scholarship
- Expertise
  - United States of America (Country)
Research
Selected Grants
- Evaluating the effects of music education programming in low-income communities: A longitudinal randomized control study assessing executive function and social emotional development awarded by National Endowment for the Arts 2020 - 2023
- NSF - IGE: Enhancing Data Skills and Professional Readiness through Vertically-Integrated Interdisciplinary Data Science Capstone Projects awarded by National Science Foundation 2018 - 2022
- CC*Data: ImPACT - Infrastructure for Privacy-Assured compuTations awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 2017 - 2022
- To support research on the organizational structure, social networks, and capacity of member programs within El Sistema awarded by National Endowment for the Arts 2016 - 2017
- An Empirical Investigation of Peer Effects in Schools and of Household Responses to School Policy Changes awarded by National Science Foundation 2004 - 2008
- American Economic Association Summer Program and Minority Scholarship Program awarded by National Science Foundation 2005 - 2008
- Efficient and Equitable Delivery of Education in a District-based Public School System awarded by National Science Foundation 2000 - 2001
External Relationships
- Carolina Achievement Academy Charter School
- Cengage Learning
- Claremont Lincoln University
- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Baldin, I., J. Chase, J. Crabtree, T. Nechyba, L. Christopherson, M. Stealey, C. Kneifel, et al. “ImPACT: A networked service architecture for safe sharing of restricted data.” Future Generation Computer Systems 129 (April 1, 2022): 269–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2021.11.026.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “What should students learn in intermediate microeconomics? To think conceptually from the fundamentals of the discipline.” Journal of Economic Education 50, no. 3 (July 3, 2019): 261–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.2019.1618769.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Tiebout sorting and competition.” International Encyclopedia of Education, 2010, 388–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-044894-7.01259-8.
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  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “Alternative education finance strategies,” no. Mar (2006): 7–27.
  - Nechyba, T. J. “School Finance, School Choice and Residential Segregation.” Cesifo Economic Studies, 2005.
  - Nechyba, T. J. “School Competition and School Quality in the U.S.” Cesifo Dice Report Journal of Institutional Comparison 4 (December 2004): 3–8.
  - Nechyba, T. “Comment: Land taxation in New York City: A general equilibrium analysis.” City Taxes, City Spending: Essays in Honor of Dick Netzer, December 1, 2004, 95–100. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781845421632.00011.
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  - Nechyba, T., and R. Walsh. “Urban Sprawl.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 18, no. 4 (October 2004): 177–200.
  - Nechyba, T. J. “IQ and the wealth of nations.” Journal of Economic Literature 42, no. 1 (March 1, 2004): 220–21.
    Link to Item
  - Nechyba, T. “Public School Finance and Urban School Policy: General Versus Partial Equilibrium Analysis.” Brookings Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs, October 2003, 139–70.
  - Nechyba, T. J. “Centralization, fiscal federalism, and private school attendance.” International Economic Review 44, no. 1 (February 1, 2003): 179–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2354.t01-1-00066.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “What can be (and what has been) learned from general equilibrium simulation models of school finance?” National Tax Journal 56, no. 2 (January 1, 2003): 387–414. https://doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2003.2.06.
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  - Nechyba, T. “School finance, spatial income segregation, and the nature of communities.” Journal of Urban Economics 54, no. 1 (January 1, 2003): 61–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0094-1190(03)00041-X.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Social approval, values, and AFDC: A reexamination of the illegitimacy debate.” Journal of Political Economy 109, no. 3 (January 1, 2001): 637–72. https://doi.org/10.1086/321020.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Social welfare and individual responsibility.” Economics and Philosophy 16, no. 2 (October 1, 2000): 361–68.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Mobility, targeting, and private-school vouchers.” American Economic Review 90, no. 1 (January 1, 2000): 130–46. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.1.130.
    Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Nechyba, T. J. “School finance induced migration and stratification patterns: The impact of private school vouchers.” Journal of Public Economic Theory 1, no. 1 (December 1, 1999): 5–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/1097-3923.00002.
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  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “A Model of Multiple Districts and Private Schools: the Role of Mobility, Targeting, and Private School Vouchers,” July 1999.
  - Nechyba, T. J., and R. P. Strauss. “Community choice and local public services: A discrete choice approach.” Regional Science and Urban Economics 28, no. 1 (January 1, 1998): 51–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-0462(97)00013-6.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Competitive governments: An economic theory of politics and public finance - Breton,A.” Journal of Economic Literature 35, no. 4 (December 1, 1997): 2062–64.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Existence of equilibrium and stratification in local and hierarchical Tiebout economies with property taxes and voting.” Economic Theory 10, no. 2 (January 1, 1997): 277–304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s001990050158.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Local property and state income taxes: The role of interjurisdictional competition and collusion.” Journal of Political Economy 105, no. 2 (January 1, 1997): 351–84. https://doi.org/10.1086/262076.
    Full Text Open Access Copy
  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “Public School Finance in a General Equilibrium Tiebout World: Equalization Programs, Peer Effects and Private School Vouchers,” June 1996.
    Open Access Copy
  - Nechyba, T. “A computable general equilibrium model of intergovernmental aid.” Journal of Public Economics 62, no. 3 (January 1, 1996): 363–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2727(95)01565-5.
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  - Nechyba, T. “Fiscal Federalism and Local Public Finance: A Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Framework.” International Tax and Public Finance 3, no. 2 (January 1, 1996): 215–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399911.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “The Southern wage gap, human capital and the quality of education.” Southern Economic Journal 57, no. 2 (January 1, 1990): 308–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/1060612.
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- Book Sections
  - Nechyba, T. J. “Tiebout sorting and competition.” In The Economics of Education: A Comprehensive Overview, 471–78, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815391-8.00034-3.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Tiebout Sorting and Competition.” In International Encyclopedia of Education, Third Edition, 388–93, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-044894-7.01259-8.
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  - Nechyba, T. J. “Chapter 22 Income and Peer Quality Sorting in Public and Private Schools,” 2:1327–68, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0692(06)02022-8.
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  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “Income and Peer Quality Sorting in Public and Private Schools.” In Handbook of the Economics of Education, edited by Erik Hanushek and F. Welch, 2:1327–68, 2006.
  - Epple, D., and T. Nechyba. “Chapter 55 Fiscal decentralization.” In Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, 4:2423–80, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0080(04)80012-9.
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- Book Reviews
  - Nechyba, T. J. “Handbook of public economics, volume 3.” Journal of Economic Literature. AMER ECONOMIC ASSOC, December 1, 2003.
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- Scholarly Editions
  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “Introducing School Choice into Multi-District Public School Systems,” 2002.
  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “Prospects for Land Rent Taxes in State and Local Tax Reforms,” 2002.
  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “The Economics of Education: Vouchers and Peer Group Effects,” 1998.
- Conference Papers
  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “Mobilizing the Private Sector in the United States: A Theoretical Overview.” In School Choice International: Exploring Public Private Partnerships, edited by R. Chakrabarti and P. E. Peterson, 47–69. M I T PRESS, 2009.
    Link to Item
  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “The efficiency and equity of Tiebout in the United States: Taxes, services, and property values.” In Land Policies and Their Outcomes, edited by G. K. Ingram and Y. H. Hong, 68–89. LINCOLN INST LAND POLICY, 2007.
    Link to Item
  - Nechyba, Thomas J. “Prospects for Achieving Equity or Adequacy in Education: The Limits of State Aid in General Equilibrium.” In Helping Children Left Behind: State Aid and the Pursuit of Educational Equity, edited by J. Yinger, 111–43. M I T PRESS, 2004.
    Link to Item
  - Nechyba, T. J. “The benefit view and the new view - Where do we stand, twenty-five years into the debate?” In Property Taxation and Local Government Finance, edited by W. E. Oates, 113–21. LINCOLN INST LAND POLICY, 2001.
    Link to Item
  - Nechyba, T. J. “Replacing capital taxes with land taxes: Efficiency and distributional implications with an application to the United States economy.” In Land Value Taxation, edited by D. Netzer, 183–204. LINCOLN INST LAND POLICY, 1998.
    Link to Item
  - Nechyba, T. J. “Public school finance and vouchers in a general equilibrium Tiebout world.” In 90th Annual Conference on Taxation, Proceedings, 119–25. NATIONAL TAX ASSOCIATION, 1998.
    Link to Item
  - Nechyba, T. J. “Fiscal federalism and local public finance: A general equilibrium approach with voting.” In 1994 Proceedings of the Eighty Seventh Annual Conference on Taxation, edited by F. D. Stocker, 136–41. NATL TAX ASSOC-TAX INST AMER, 1995.
    Link to Item
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
- ECON 101D: Economic Principles 2023
- ECON 791: Independent Study 2023
- ECON 101D: Economic Principles 2022
- ECON 201D: Intermediate Microeconomics I 2022
- ECON 101: Economic Principles 2021
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Service to the Profession
- Participant. Faculty Curriculum on Anti-Racism. Duke Office of Faculty Advancement. January 11, 2021 - January 14, 2021 2021
Service to Duke
- Bass Connections Theme Leader (Education & Human Development). 2013 - 2018 2013 - 2018
- Bass Connections Faculty Advisory Council. 2012 - 2018 2012 - 2018

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Previous Appointments & Affiliations

In the News

Awards & Honors

Global Scholarship

Expertise

Selected Grants

External Relationships

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Book Reviews

Scholarly Editions

Conference Papers

Recent Courses

Service to the Profession

Service to Duke