Eric Brunner

Adjunct Instructor

Eric's research interests are in state and local public finance, political economy, and the economics of school choice and school finance reform. His academic training is in economics and more specifically in the areas of public finance and urban economics.

Professor Brunner earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his B.A. in economics from the University of Connecticut. He has previously taught and been a member of the faculty at San Diego State University and at Quinnipiac University.

Eric’s current research analyzes the effects of expanded school choice opportunities on the residential location decisions of families and housing values. Prior to the 1990’s, the provision of K-12 education in most of the United States was based on a residentially zoned system in which students were assigned to schools based on their residential location. Since the 1990’s the school choice options available to parents have expanded dramatically. As an alternative to their residentially zoned public school, parents in many states can now take advantage of charter schools, magnet schools, inter/intra-district choice plans and vouchers to attend private schools. A common feature of all school choice programs is that they decouple (at least to some degree) the link between school quality and residential location. That is, school choice programs break the link between where a family chooses to live and the quality of schooling available to their children. Consequently, these programs have the potential to significantly alter the residential location decisions of families.

Eric’s research focuses on how these school choice programs have affected where families choose to live and housing values. For example, Eric and his coauthors are currently examining how the adoption of inter-district choice plans, which allow parents to enroll their child in schools located outside of their assigned school district, affect the residential location decisions of families. Their preliminary results suggest that the adoption of school choice programs may significantly alter residential location decisions. For example, following the adoption of inter-district choice, communities with previously lower-quality schools tend to experience an increase in average family income as more affluent families move into these communities to take advantage of lower housing values. This in turn tends to lead to a reduction in residential income segregation across communities.

Eric has published in journals such as the Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Urban Economics, and the National Tax Journal. He has also authored several reports for the Public Policy Institute of California and other organizations on topics such as financing K-12 school infrastructure, alternatives to the property tax for funding K-12 education and the impact of school finance reform in California. In addition, Eric has presented the findings of his research at numerous conferences including, the Association for Public Policy and Management, the American Economic Association, the Southern Economic Association, the National Tax Association, and the American Education Finance Association.