Murphy-Economics Seminar: Frank Wolak
Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies at Stanford University
The Murphy Institute Seminar Series in Economics
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Each semester The Murphy Institute sponsors a series of seminars organized by the Tulane Department of Economics that provides an opportunity for faculty, researchers, and practitioners to present their latest research and pressing issues related to topics in political economy. Research presented covers all aspects of contemporary economics, including the economics of education, health economics, and public economics, as well as in economic history, international economics, and core areas in political economy.
Frank A. Wolak is the Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in the Department of Economics at Stanford University. His fields of specialization are Energy and Environmental Economics, Regulatory Economics, and Econometric Theory. His recent work focuses on the design of market and regulatory mechanisms to support the transition to a low carbon energy sector. He also works on market design and regulatory oversight for infrastructure industries—electricity, freight rail, natural gas, postal delivery, telecommunictions, and water delivery—and on assessing the impacts of these policies on consumer and producer welfare.
From January 1, 1998 to March 31, 2011, Wolak was the Chair of the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator for electricity supply industry in California. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). He currently directs the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD) in the Freeman-Spogli Institute (FSI) for International Studies at Stanford University. From January 2012 to December 2013, Wolak was also a member of the Emissions Market Advisory Committee (EMAC) for California’s Market for Greenhouse Gas Emissions allowances. This committee advised the California Air Resources Board on the design and monitoring of the state’s cap-and-trade market for Greenhouse Gas Emissions allowances.
He recently published the book, The Future of Electricity Retailing and How We Get There with Ian Hardman.
