Robert J. Town, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Economics, University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1990

M.S., Economics, University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1987

B.A., Economics, University of Washington, 1984

Courses

Health Economics; Medical Technology Evaluation

Fall 2009
6555: Topics in Health Economics

Spring 2010
8821: Health Economics II

Spring 2010
6589: Medical Technology Evaluation and Market Research

Research Interests:

Hospital competition in HMO networks; quality of care in hospitals; and mergers and acquisitions

Recent Publications:

Town, R., Wholey, D., Feldman, R. and Burns, L.R. "Revisiting the Relationship between Managed Care and Hospital Consolidation," Health Services Research, 2006, forthcoming.

Antonovics, K. and Town, R. "Are All the Good Men Married: Uncovering the Sources of the Marital Wage Premium" American Economic Review, May, 94(2), 2004, 317-321.

Geweke, J, Gowrisankaran, G., and Town, R. "Inferring Hospital Quality from Patient Discharge Records Using a Bayesian Selection Model," Econometrica, 71(4), 2003, 1215-1238.

Town, R. and Lui, S. "The Welfare Impact of Medicare HMOs," The RAND Journal of Economics, 34(4), 2003, 719-736.

Gowrisankaran, G., and Town, R. "Competition, Payers and Hospital Quality," Health Services Research, 38(6), 2003, 1403-1421.

Town, R. and Vistnes, G. "Hospital Competition in HMO Networks," Journal of Health Economics, 20(4), 2001, 733-53.

Town, R. "The Welfare Effects of HMO Mergers," The Journal of Health Economics, 20(6), 2001, 967-90.

Gowrisankaran, G. and Town, R. "Dynamic Equilibrium in the Hospital Industry," Journal of Economics and Management Strategy," 6(1), 1997, 45-74.

Professional Experience:

Assistant Professor, Division of Health Services Research and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 2001 - present

Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2004 - present

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine, 1996 - 2001

Assistant Professor (Courtesy Appointment), Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine, 1997 - 2001

Visiting Scholar, Boston University, Department of Economics, 2001

Visiting Scholar, University of Washington, Department of Economics, 2000

Staff Economist, U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, 1990 - 1996

Victor Kramer Fellow, Yale University, 1993 - 1994

Contact

Mailing Address:
Health Policy and Management
420 Delaware St SE, MMC 729
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Phone (Work): (612) 626-4683

Email: rjtown@umn.edu