91ÒùĸÊÓƵ

How do housing regulations shape who can afford to live in our cities — and what can economics teach us about making housing more accessible? These are the kinds of questions that drive assistant professor who joined the 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ School of Business in the summer of 2025. A recent PhD graduate from the University of Toronto, James brings a passion for connecting rigorous economic theory to real-world policy challenges. This fall, he’ll join a public panel on housing affordability, moderated by Murtaza Haider, executive director of the U of A Cities Institute, to share his perspective on one of Canada’s most urgent economic issues.

In our conversation below, James talks about the moment that changed how he thinks about economics, the balance between theory and practice, and what he’s discovered about his new home city of Edmonton.

You recently graduated with a PhD in economics from the University of Toronto. Have you always known that you wanted to pursue a career in academia?

Early on in my undergraduate studies, I very much liked the idea that academics enjoy the freedom to think about policy issues that matter to a lot of people. However, I thought that the path to become an academic was long and required abilities I was uncertain I had, which was quite discouraging. And at the time, I did not have any role models to learn from who took a similar path. (So, the answer to the question is, no!)

What helped me overcome this discouragement was a passion and love for learning that I knew I had, which was — in part — inspired by many professors throughout my undergraduate degree. I knew academia gave me the freedom to pursue learning as a career. Even if it’s cliché…if you want it, you can get it. 

Was there a defining moment or experience during your PhD research that shifted how you think about economics or reframed one of your research questions? Were there any assumptions about markets, behaviour or economics you had initially that you’ve had to challenge through your research work?

I was initially encouraged to study housing regulation from an economics perspective by my former advisor, , a professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of Toronto.

Early on in my research, I realized that these regulations often make the most vulnerable in our society worse off. This is striking because most people have the assumption that the operation of free markets generates inequality, and that government regulation is supposed to protect the most vulnerable groups.

However, the opposite idea is true when it comes to housing regulation. In fact, many argue that wealthier households use their voting power in municipal elections to make local housing regulations more stringent, effectively making housing more expensive and excluding less-wealthy households from their neighborhoods. In other words, local governments serve the interests of wealthy households at the expense of others.

Challenging these perceptions about free markets and the role of government is a big theme in most of my work. 

Your current areas of expertise — housing affordability and regulation — is top of mind for a lot of Canadians right now. How do you balance rigor and the academic side of your work with applicability?

I use highly abstract models to make policy conclusions that have implications for everyday life. I find that people can often get lost in abstraction, and the applicability of research suffers as a result. Maintaining this balance is crucial to the way I approach research.

I think that the key to maintaining this balance is to acknowledge the fact that you can have both rigor and effective communication if you focus on policy-relevant topics and put enough effort and thought into your work. That means knowing who the audience is, and speaking to their experiences. This is as important as doing the research itself.

In addition, conceptual clarity is key — and so communicating academic work often involves making my thinking more rigorous.

I’d say most of my job is communicating what the output of my models mean to people. For example, I can use a model to say how repealing housing regulations that make homes too large and unaffordable will decrease housing prices. 

By focusing on the big picture and what resonates with people, I’m able to keep the work grounded in reality.

You’re teaching a class in business economics in the winter term. Can you tell us about your teaching style? What can students expect from you and your courses?

A big theme of my teaching is not only to challenge students, but also to give them the tools they need to overcome those challenges. The point of challenging them is to increase their engagement, not to discourage them. I hope I don’t scare anyone.

More importantly, I think challenging students comes with a great personal responsibility. When the average grade in the class is low, I think this often reflects the quality of the teaching and an understanding of who the audience is.

Another big theme is to show students that economics has immense practical use in the workplace. You can answer very fundamental questions like: what price should I charge for this new product line? The burden on me is to communicate that effectively.

Ultimately, my biggest goal is to inspire others with the love for learning I had. That means providing material that inspires them to think, even when it’s not easy. 

Do you have any research projects or initiatives coming up that you’re excited about? 

I’m in the very early stages of studying the market for air rights in New York City. In dense city housing markets, the assembly of land parcels is required to build tall structures. This is because of widespread regulation that imposes a limit on the ratio between the building floorspace and building footprint.

However, parcel assembly is difficult — you need to negotiate with many different landowners who own contiguous parcels and are willing to sell their land.

The market for air rights in New York City was designed to solve this problem. The idea behind this market is that landowners can sell any undeveloped airspace above their building to landowners who own adjacent land parcels. This allows landowners to build taller structures without the outright purchase of adjacent parcels.

My coauthors and I want to study how the adoption of this new market has increased construction and housing supply. We are super excited about it!

You’ve been in Edmonton for a few months now. What have you found about the city so far? Is there anything you’re looking forward to experiencing that you haven’t yet?

I love the integration of green space into this city! Most roads have a nice tree canopy. The ravine is beautiful, too. Night-time walks in the city and along the ravine have been downright therapeutic. 

Looking ahead, I am a big fan of hockey. I am glad to now be in a city that has a consistently-winning hockey team (a stab at the Toronto Maple Leafs, for sure). I hope to catch some great Edmonton Oilers games on the weekends!

Can you share a bit about yourself, outside of work and academia? What do you like to do in your spare time and days off?

I really enjoy spontaneous trips to experience the great outdoors. Recently, my girlfriend and I went to Elk Island National Park and (perhaps unwisely) got very close to some bison. It was awesome.

I have never lived on a prairie before, so Edmonton is providing some unique outdoor experiences for me.