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Office Information
Office: 430 RBC
Phone: 610-758-3460
Fax: 610-758-4677
Email: rjt1@lehigh.edu

Courses Taught
  • Labor economics
  • Statistics

Robert Thornton is McFarlane Professor of Economics at Lehigh and Associate Director of the Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise. His research interests lie in the areas of labor economics (particularly unionism in the public sector and labor market discrimination) and forensic economics. He teaches courses in labor economics and statistics. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois, after having served as a research assistant at the Brookings Institution. He began his academic career at Lehigh in 1970, and has been a Visiting Research Professor at the University of Sussex (UK) and University College Dublin (Ireland). He also serves as a private consultant in litigation involving personal injury, wrongful death, and discrimination.  Link to Vita.

Research Interests

  • Labor Economics
  • Forensic Economics

Selected Publications

  • "The Effects of Licensing on the Wages of Radiologic Technologists" (with E. Timmons), Journal of Labor Research (forthcoming).
  • "College Major and Male-Female Earnings Differentials of College Graduates" (with J. McDonald), Journal of Human Resources, Winter 2007.
  • "Monopsony and Teacher's Salaries in Georgia" (with S. Medcalfe), Journal of Labor Research, Fall 2006. 
  • Lexicon of Intentionally Ambiguous Recommendations, (2nd edition), Barnes and Noble Books, 2005.
  • Fundamentals of Labor Economics (with T. Hyclak and G. Johnes), Houghton-Mifflin, 2005.
  • Developments in Litigation Economics, ed. (with P. Gaughan), Elsevier, 2005.
  • "Unions in the Local Government Sector," in E. Schwartz and J.R. Aronson, Management Policies in Local Government Finance, International City/County Management Association, 2004.
  • "Assessing Damages in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation: the Case of Pennsylvania" (with J. Rodgers), Journal of Forensic Economics, 2004.
  • "Joan Robinson, B.L. Hallward, and Monopsony," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2004.
  • "Erring on the Margin of Error" (with J. Thornton), Southern Economic Journal, July 2004.
  • "Do Large Employers Pay More?" (with E. Strobl), Journal of Economic Development, June 2004.
  • "Gender Pay Differentials and Equality Legislation in the Republic of Ireland," (with M. Cassidy and E. Strobl), Canadian Public Policy, 2002.
  • "Comparable Worth in Academe: Professors at Ontario Universities," (with J. McDonald), Canadian Public Policy, September 2001.
  • "A Benchmark Profile of Economics Departments in Fifteen Private Universities," (with J. Dearden and L. Taylor), Journal of Economic Education, Fall 2001.
  • "The Economist in Tort Litigation," (with J. Ward), Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring, 1999.
 
 
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