Selected Publications | Not-Yet-Published
My research uses game theory, experiments, and econometrics to study information, evidence, and expertise: how they develop, and how they shape decisions, organizations, and policy.
Selected Publications
For a complete list of publications, see my CV.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (partial list)
Cotton (2026), Rigor is Not Readiness: The PERL Framework for Evidence-Based Policy, Science
PERL summary. Media:The Conversation; Global News live radio interview.
Cotton, Hickman, List, Price, & Roy (2026), Why Don’t Struggling Kids Do Their Homework? Disentangling Motivation and Study Productivity in a Model of Human Capital Investment, Journal of Political Economy
Cotton & Hickman (2026), Affirmative action, shifting competition, and human capital accumulation: A comparative static analysis of investment contests, Journal of Human Capital, Accepted
Cotton, Alam, Tosta, Buchman, & Maslove (2025), Effect of monetary incentives on peer review acceptance and completion: A quasi-randomized interventional trial, Critical Care Medicine
The issue’s feature article, the subject of a journal forward & editorial. Media: Queen’s Gazette, Nature, Nature again, Nature yet again, Inside Higher Ed, etc.
Cotton, Nordstrom, Nanowski, & Richter (2025), Can Discussions About Girls’ Education Improve Academic Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Development Intervention, World Bank Economic Review
Media: VoxDev
Nordstrom & Cotton (2025), The Impact of a Severe Drought on Girls’ Attendance and Learning, American Educational Research Journal
Corazzini, Cotton, Longo, & Reggiani (2024), Coordinated selection of collective action: Wealthy-interest bias and inequality, Journal of Public Economics
Cotton, Hickman, & Price (2022), Affirmative action and human capital investment: Evidence from a randomized field experiment, Journal of Labor Economics
Media: Quartz, FiveThirtyEight, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Cotton, Crowley, Kashi, Lloyd-Ellis, & Tremblay (2022), Quantifying the economic impacts of COVID-19 policy responses in (almost) real-time, Canadian Journal of Economics
Agranov, Cotton, & Tergiman (2020), Persistence of Power: Repeated multilateral bargaining with endogenous agenda setting authority, Journal of Public Economics
Corazzini, Cotton, & Reggiani (2020), Delegation and coordination with multiple threshold public goods: experimental evidence, Experimental Economics
Boleslavsky & Cotton (2018), Limited capacity in project selection: Competition through evidence production, Economic Theory
Cotton & Li (2018), Clueless Politicians: On Policymaker Incentives for Information Acquisition in a Model of Lobbying, Journal of Law, Economics & Organization
Boleslavsky, Cotton, & Gurnani (2017), Demonstrations and price competition in new product release, Management Science
Cotton (2016), Competing for attention: Lobbying time-constrained politicians, Journal of Public Economic Theory
Cotton & Dellis (2016), Informational lobbying and agenda distortion, Journal of Law, Economics & Organization
Boleslavsky & Cotton (2015), Grading standards and education quality, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
Media: AEA Research Highlight, Vox-EU
Corazzini, Cotton, & Valbonesi (2015), Donor coordination in project funding: Evidence from a threshold public goods experiment, Journal of Public Economics
Boleslavsky & Cotton (2015), Information and extremism in elections, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics.
Media: The Washington Post, IB Times, Discovery News
Cotton (2013), Submission fees and response times in academic publishing, American Economic Review
Cotton, McIntyre, & Price (2013), Gender differences in repeated competition: Evidence from school math contests, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Cotton (2012), Pay to play politics: Informational lobbying and contribution limits when money buys access, Journal of Public Economics
Cotton & Liu (2011), 100 horsemen and the empty city: A game theoretic exploration of deception in Chinese military legend, Journal of Peace Research
Media: U.S. News & World Report
Cotton (2009), Should we tax or cap political contributions? A lobbying model with policy favors and access, Journal of Public Economics
Select Other Publications
Cotton (2026). Policy Evidence Readiness Levels sit between evidence and decision, Science, eLetter, Aug 31. [invited correspondence regarding my PERL paper]
Cotton & Scholle Cotton (2026), The AI Expertise Paradox, Issues in Science and Technology, National Academy of Sciences. [Forum article/correspondence]
Cotton, ed. (2025), Lasting Disruption: Health, Economic, and Social Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada, State of the Federation Book Series, McGill-Queen’s University Press.
McCabe, … Cotton et al. (2020), Renewing the social contract: Economic recovery in Canada from COVID-19, Royal Society of Canada Policy Briefing, RSC COVID-19 Task Force
Not-Yet-Published Papers
When Motivation is Not Enough: Opportunity to Learn and the Roots of Student Disengagement
Evidence Under Pressure: Governance, Public Pressure, and COVID-19 School Closures with Monica LaBarge & Ardyn Nordstrom.
The Future of AI and Critical Care: An Exploration in Ten Parables with David Maslove, Arthur Kwizera, Pravin Mousavi, Dominique Piquette, Alper Uzun, & Leo Celi. 2nd R&R at AJRCCM.
Should Star Performers Lead or Anchor Their Teams? Sequential Contributions in a Threshold Public Goods Experiment, with Luca Corazzini & Enrico Longo [profile in Smith Business Insights].
The Economics of VSLA Savings Groups and The Value of Financial Inclusion with Frederic Tremblay
Wildfire Smoke and the Increase in Urban Work, with Zemar Hakim
A Market Design Approach to Reducing Achievement Gaps in Light of Academic Productivity, Motivation, and School Quality Differences, with Brent Hickman, John List, & Greg Sun
Is Math Tutoring a Treatment for Lack of Understanding or Lack of Engagement? A Field Experiment, with Brent Hickman, & John List
A Model of Challenge Funds: How Funding Availability and Selection Rigor Affect Project Quality with Raphael Boleslavsky
Disincentive effects of evaluation with Raphael Boleslavsky
Competing for Capital: Auditing and Credibility in Financial Reporting, with Raphael Boleslavsky & Bruce Carlin, NBER working paper 23273
Less Proficient or More Methodical: A Field Experimental Investigation of Measured Gender Gaps in Math Scores, with Brent Hickman & John List
What makes for successful collaborations? Experimental evidence with Luca Corazzini, Andreas Lange, & Enrico Longo (experiment in progress)
