Jason Coupet
Javits Professor, Associate Professor of Public Management and Policy
Current research focus
My research explores the economics of public organizations, and the ways the structure of organizations may depend on market structures and public policies. For example, I am currently examining the ways that privatizing public services, such as transportation or research, can sometimes mean they are delivered less efficiently. On April 9, 2025, as part of my Javits Professorship, I will deliver a public lecture at NYU Wagner about the importance of public funding for science research conducted on behalf of the public, and the role of public research institutions. I’m also working on a book about the scale and scope of Black organized crime organizations in Chicago.
Recent publication
Favorite course to teach
I have a couple of them! One of my favorites is to teach causal inference to doctoral students. I love walking through how we can go beyond regular statistical models toward doing research that helps us understand cause and effect. I really get to influence how future researchers design their research, and because the science of causal inference is changing so quickly, teaching it is a good way to keep up myself!
The other course I am looking forward to teaching is one on the Economics of Organized Crime. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, and we had very large organized street gangs that were often run like large corporations. It’s different now, but in the 80’s and 90’s they controlled gangs from many other cities, and even had boards of directors! The course is going to use economics to walk through the formation and changes of organized street crime in Chicago. What was it about Chicago that let them get so big? What do the different ways that street gangs are organized teach us about the way organizations respond to markets and policies? I’m excited! I’m writing a book on the topic and the course is a great way to share this discourse with my students
On receiving the Jacob Javits Professorship
The Jacob Javits Professorship is an enormous honor. First, it’s an honor to be mentioned in any way tied to Senator Javits’ legacy. His support for labor unions, civil rights, and the project of the Great Society (even when it was unpopular!) is what helped this country move toward the promise that it represents for so many. My two grandmothers are evidence of that legacy. One was a bookworm who grew up a sharecropper in the Mississippi Delta, then worked her tail off at a union job in Chicago. My other grandmother came here from Haiti and worked her tail off cleaning homes of wealthy families. Both sent all of their kids to college, and all of them are public servants. Support for civil rights, dignified work, and public service, ideals that people like Senator Javits helped advance, also played such a big role in my family.
Second, to be recognized in any way by this great university is incredible. I’ve always admired NYU’s presence and impact in the city and consider it the model for an urban research university. I think New York is the greatest city in the world (which is a lot for a Chicagoan to admit!) and NYU is a big reason why this dynamic city is so great. It’s just an honor to be affiliated with this place in any way. I love it here!
Jason with one of his “informal mentors,” civil rights activist and former mayor of Chicago Andrew Young, in October 2024
Influential mentors
I have so many! I have dozens, maybe hundreds, of informal mentors, and I regularly pick their brains! From my amazing PhD advisors Darold Barnum and Abby McWilliams to people like Mary Feeney, Michael Siciliano and Sandro Cabral, I’m grateful for all these public policy and public strategy minds.
But the biggest one by far is my uncle Ernst Coupet, a PhD economist and career public servant who teaches economics to kids on the South Side of Chicago. My uncle is one of my best friends, my godfather, and led me through my first publication. I pick his brain about everything: politics, econometrics, coaching my kids’ baseball team, everything. In grad school we drank beer while he helped me with my econometrics homework! He’s one of the best human beings I know.
People I’d like to meet (living and historical)
One of the most challenging things about our society is that there are so many people who pursue status and power by exploiting the lives and labor of others. The people I most want to meet are those who have devoted their lives to liberating and standing in solidarity with the exploited. Huey P. Newton, Malcolm X, John Brown, Jean Jacques Dessalines, there are so many! I’d also love to hang out with Senator Bernie Sanders.
Would I go back in time and choose a different career?
Nope! I love what I do so much that I think if I lived a thousand lives I’d be an academic in every one! I’m a nerd’s nerd and have always been super curious about everything. My friends called me Worm (short for bookworm) as a kid because I was always reading or discussing something random!
If forced to do something else, I’d either be a basketball coach or tour guide in a cool city. I’m a basketball nut and a lot of my friends are either basketball coaches or work close to the game.
Being a historical tour guide is my retirement plan! I’m also a history nut and would love to share my passion with others. I could easily picture myself walking around cool cities like Chicago, New York, or New Orleans and teaching people about their remarkable history.
Support for civil rights, dignified work, and public service—ideals that Senator Javits helped advance—played a big role in my family