Charles Courtemanche, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise, Professor
Education
- Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis, 2008
- M.A., Washington University in St. Louis, 2003
- B.S., Centre College, 2002
Charles Courtemanche is a professor of economics in the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky and director of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise. He is a health economist and applied microeconomist with particular research interests in the economics of obesity, nutrition, tobacco, hospitals, health insurance, COVID-19 and big box retailers. He has published more than 60 papers in a variety of outlets including the Journal of the European Economic Association, Economic Journal, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Health Economics, Health Affairs, Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Economic History, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Agriculture, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Food and Drug Administration, Kentucky Hospital Association, Global Action to End Smoking and Mercatus Center. Courtemanche is also lead editor of the Southern Economic Journal, a Research Associate in the Health Economics Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Research Affiliate with the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
Teaching Expertise:
- Health Economics
- Behavioral Economics
- Econometrics
Research Expertise:
- Obesity
- Nutrition
- Tobacco
- Hospitals
- Health insurance
- COVID-19
- Big box retailers
Selected Publications
- Courtemanche, Charles, David Frisvold, David Jimenez-Gomez, Marietou Ouayogode, and Michael Price (2025). “Chain Restaurant Calorie Posting Laws, Obesity, and Consumer Welfare.” Journal of the European Economic Association 23(5): 1669-1711.
- Cotti, Chad, Charles Courtemanche, Catherine Maclean, Erik Nesson, Michael Pesko, and Nathan Tefft (2022). “The Effects of E-Cigarette Taxes on E-Cigarette Prices and Tobacco Product Sales: Evidence from Retail Panel Data.” Journal of Health Economics, 86: Article 102676.
- Courtemanche, Charles, Joseph Garuccio, Anh Le, Josh Pinkston, and Aaron Yelowitz (2020). “Strong Social Distancing Measures in the United States Reduced the COVID-19 Growth Rate.” Health Affairs, 39(7): 1237-1246.
- Courtemanche, Charles, James Marton, Ben Ukert, Aaron Yelowitz, and Daniela Zapata (2017). “Early Impacts of the Affordable Care Act on Health Insurance Coverage in Medicaid Expansion and Non-Expansion States.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 36(1): 178-210.
- Courtemanche, Charles, Garth Heutel and Patrick McAlvanah (2015). “Impatience, Incentives, and Obesity.” Economic Journal, 125(582): 1-31.
