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Richard J. Sexton

  • Professor 1994-present, Department chair 1994-98, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor, 1984-94, University of California, Davis
  • Director, 2000-2003, Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics
  • Research Economist and Lecturer, 1981-1984, University of Kansas
  • M.S. 1980, Ph.D., 1984, University of Minnesota
  • B.A., St. Cloud State University, 1977
  • Who's Who in Economics, Fourth Edition
  • AAEA Waugh Lecturer, 2000
  • WAEA Outstanding Published Research Award, 1999
  • AAEA Outstanding AJAE Article, 1996
  • WAEA Outstanding Published Research Award Honorable Mention, 1996
  • European Econ. Assn. Hicks-Tinbergen Medal, 1994
  • Amer. Inst. for Cooperation, Edwin G. Nourse Dissertation Award, 1984
  • Co-Editor AJAE 1998-2000
  • Associate Editor California Agriculture, 2001-present
  • Advisory Board, JAFIO, 2002-present

Richard J. Sexton has been a leading authority on the application of "new industrial organization" methods to agricultural markets, including applications of both cooperative and noncooperative game theory, and the use of structural econometric models to analyze competition in specific agricultural industries. His research, beginning with his early work on cooperatives and coalitions, is characterized by conceptual rigor but also with attention to institutional details and relevance to important real-world issues. Subsequent work has included (i) developing and applying tests for market power (ii) modeling spatial issues, (iii) studying the behavior of agricultural marketing orders, and (iv) investigating the impacts of imperfect competition on endogenous and exogenous agricultural policy instruments.

His research has been recognized in various dimensions, including receipt of awards from the AAEA, WAEA, and the European EA, and his selection to present the 2000 AAEA Waugh lecture and to write the industrial organization chapter in the Handbook of Agricultural Economics.

Sexton has been a major contributor to the University of California, Davis, where he has served since 1984. He served as Department Chair from 1994 to 1998 and as Director of the Giannini Foundation from 2000-03. Sexton also served as co-Editor of the AJAE from 1998-2001.