Steven C. Hackett
Steven C. Hackett (born 1960) is an American economist, and Professor Emeritus of Economics at Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University), known for his contributions to the fields of environmental and natural resources economics. Biography. Born and raised in Arcata, California in 1960, Hackett obtained his BS in Agricultural Business and Economics at the Montana State University in 1983. He then moved to the Texas A&M University, where he obtained his MS in economics 1986, and his PhD in economics in 1989. Hackett began his academic career at the rank of Assistant Professor at Indiana University  in Bloomington in 1989. In 1994 he then moved to the Humboldt State University, where he started as Assistant Professor at its School of Business and Economics. There in 1997 he became Associate Professor, and in 2002 Professor at the Department of Economics. At the Humboldt State University among others Hackett was co-founder of the Humboldt Economic Index, which he directed from 1996 to 2002. In 2002 he was founding Director of its Office for Economic, Community, and Business Development. He chaired the Department of Economics first time in the years 2004-2006, secondly in 2013-2016, and again  since 2017. Work. Early research. Early on Hackett's research was focused on the economic performance of contractual relationships, such as the social dilemmas associated with common-pool resources like oil and gas fields, groundwater basins or marine fisheries. Self-interested or opportunistic behavior in these circumstances can result in inferior economic outcomes. This work began at Texas A&M and was further cultivated by his affiliation with Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom's Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis while a member of the graduate faculty at Indiana University in Bloomington. He was particularly interested in the challenges of structuring  successful agreements capable of preventing opportunistic behavior when stakeholders are heterogeneous, or have made prior relationship-specific investments (research influenced by the work of Nobel Laureate Oliver Williamson). His research approaches involved developing theoretical models and evaluating testable hypotheses through the use of laboratory experimental methods. Another line of his research involved the use of economic modeling approaches to understand the political economy of environmental regulation. In several papers Hackett and collaborators investigated how voluntary actions by firms to limit pollution can have strategic value relative to competitors, or as a way of shaping future regulatory policy. In another line  of research Hackett and colleagues developed a model for the partial deregulation of critical energy markets, such as for natural gas, and identified some of the hazards associated with applying that model to electricity deregulation. Hackett's curiosity about contracting problems also resulted in papers on diverse topics such as revenue-sharing problems in medical group practices, and factors that influence foreign direct investment decisions by multinational firms. More recent research. More recently Hackett has worked collaboratively on a number of projects addressing marine fishery economics and policy and renewable energy. In various projects he has analyzed California’s wetfish  industry complex, California’s Dungeness crab fishery and associated processing sector, and the California and Oregon salmon fisheries. In 2009 his research team released the COFHE model for assessing economic impact in each of California's commercial marine fisheries. Unique models were developed to function at county, regional, and statewide scales. Hackett has also returned to energy economics, with a focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency. He recently contributed a chapter to California's wave energy white paper. He is collaborating with the Schatz Energy Research Center and the Redwood Coast Energy Authority on a California Energy Commission-funded  project that will identify ways to create a renewable energy secure community by managing the Humboldt micro-grid with 75 to 100 percent of energy supplies derived from renewable sources. In recognition of his research into regional economic issues, and what former HSU President Rollin Richmond described as "the clarity and significance his work brings to global questions of environmental economics," Hackett was selected as Humboldt State University's Scholar of the Year for 2005.