Aaron Smith

About

Aaron Smith is the Gordon Rausser Distinguished Chair and Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He joined UC Berkeley in Fall 2024 after spending 23 years as a professor at the University of California, Davis. Originally from New Zealand, he earned his PhD in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. His research addresses economic and policy challenges related to agriculture, energy, and the environment. He has over 50 publications in refereed journals, including the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of Econometrics, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His work has been recognized with awards such as the Quality of Communication, Quality of Research Discovery, and Outstanding American Journal of Agricultural Economics Article Awards from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, as well as the Quality of Research Discovery Award from the European Association of Agricultural Economists. He is also the cluster lead for socioeconomics and ethics in the AI Institute for the Food System (AIFS) and writes regularly on the Ag Data News blog.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Geography
• Environmental resource management
• Zoology
• Botany
• Evolutionary biology

Selected publications

• Environmental outcomes of the US Renewable Fuel Standard

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022 · 236 citations

  The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) specifies the use of biofuels in the United States and thereby guides nearly half of all global biofuel production, yet outcomes of this keystone climate and environmental regulation remain unclear. Here we combine econometric analyses, land use observations, and biophysical models to estimate the realized effects of the RFS in aggregate and down to the scale of individual agricultural fields across the United States. We find that the RFS increased corn prices b…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

  Taxon · 2021 · 216 citations

  Abstract The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerou…

  DOI

• Estimating the market effect of a trade war: The case of soybean tariffs

  Food Policy · 2021-09-21 · 80 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Residential Building Codes Do Save Energy: Evidence from Hourly Smart-Meter Data

  The Review of Economics and Statistics · 2020-09-24 · 42 citations

  article

  Abstract In 1978, California adopted building codes designed to reduce the energy used for temperature control. Using a rich data set of hourly electricity consumption for 158,112 houses in Sacramento, we estimate that the average house built just after 1978 uses 8% to 13% less electricity for cooling than a similar house built just before 1978. Comparing the estimated savings to the policy's projected cost, our results suggest the policy passes a cost-benefit test. In settings where market fail…

  PublisherDOI

• A Global Phylogenomic Study of the Thelypteridaceae

  Systematic Botany · 2021 · 36 citations

  Abstract— The generic classification of the Thelypteridaceae has been the subject of much controversy. Proposed taxonomic systems have varied from recognizing the approximately 1200 species in the family within the single genus Thelypteris , to systems favoring upwards of 30 genera. Insights on intrafamilial relationships, especially for neotropical taxa, have been gained from recent phylogenetic studies; however, in the most recent classification, 10 of 30 recognized genera are either non-monop…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative: Phylogeny, Character Evolution, and Diversification of Extant Ferns

  NSF · $26k · 1997–2002

Frequent coauthors

• Raymond Cranfill

  79 shared

• Tom A. Ranker

  University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

  61 shared

• Kathleen M. Pryer

  59 shared

• Christopher H. Haufler

  University of Kansas

  54 shared

• Michael Kessler

  University of Zurich

  53 shared

• P. Hovenkamp

  50 shared

• Sabine Hennequin

  Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité

  28 shared

• Harald Schneider

  Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden

  25 shared

Awards & honors

• Quality of Communication Award from the Agricultural and App…
• Quality of Research Discovery Award from the Agricultural an…
• Outstanding American Journal of Agricultural Economics Artic…
• Quality of Research Discovery Award from the European Associ…

Similar researchers at University of California, Berkeley

• Maximilian Auffhammerh-52
• Brian Wrighth-50
• Joseph Shapiroh-47