Rate My Professor James C. Cox

James C. Cox serves as Professor Emeritus of Economics at The University of Arizona, within the Business & Economics faculty at the Eller College of Management. He earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Davis in 1965, graduating with highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi honors as a Regents’ Scholar. Cox obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 1971, supported by Woodrow Wilson, National Science Foundation, and Resources for the Future fellowships. His academic career at The University of Arizona began in 1977 as Associate Professor of Economics, advancing to full Professor in 1982 and Arizona Public Service Professor of Economics from 1999 to 2005. Additional roles included Economic Science Laboratory Distinguished Scholar from 1998 to 2005, Director of the Economic Science Laboratory from 2002 to 2005, Chairman of the Faculty of the College of Business and Public Administration from 1994 to 1996, and Senior Associate of the Economic Science Laboratory from 1992 to 1997.

Cox's research focuses on experimental economics, encompassing risk aversion, auctions, trust and reciprocity, social dilemmas, public goods, common pools, and behavioral economics in healthcare. He has secured numerous grants, including multiple National Science Foundation awards such as SES-8404915 (1984-1988), SBR-9311455 (1993-1996), and SES-1658743 (2017-2020), as well as contracts from the U.S. Department of Energy, Minimum Wage Study Commission, and others. Notable honors include the Editor's prize for best paper in Experimental Economics for 'Paradoxes and Mechanisms for Choice under Risk' (2015), Fellow of the Economic Science Association (2024), and Distinguished Fellow of the Southern Economic Association (2023). Cox has contributed to editorial boards, serving as Advisory Editor and Board of Editors for Experimental Economics (1997-present), Senior Associate Editor for Southern Economic Journal (2011-present), and others. Key publications feature 'How to Identify Trust and Reciprocity' (2004, Games and Economic Behavior), 'A Tractable Model of Reciprocity and Fairness' (2007), 'Revealed Altruism' (Econometrica, 2008), 'Clocks and Trees: Isomorphic Dutch Auctions and Centipede Games' (Econometrica, 2012), and the co-edited volume 'Risk Aversion in Experiments' (2008). His influential work has advanced methodologies in experimental economics, impacting studies on behavioral mechanisms in markets, reciprocity, and policy-relevant dilemmas.