David F. Merriman

David Merriman feels IGPA's public service mission plays a key role in directing the nature of his research. In particular, he finds his participation in IGPA forums to be an essential learning tool.

"They allow me to listen to people directly involved in policy decisions and, through my research, answer the questions they raise," he said.

After 20 years at Loyola University of Chicago, Professor Merriman joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a Professor of Public Administration in the College of Urban Planning and Public Administration in 2007. He has been part of the IGPA faculty since 1996. He finds applied economic work to be particularly rewarding and feels the "economic discipline offers insights into creating much more effective public policy."

Professor Merriman received his B.S. in economics and political science (1976) from American University, an M.S. in economics from the University of Wisconsin (1980) and a Ph.D., also in economics (1983), from the University of Wisconsin. His dissertation was judged by the National Tax Association to be "The Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Government Finance and Taxation" in 1983.

Professor Merriman's major area of study is state and local public finance. He was named “Researcher of the Year” at Loyola in 2002-2003

Professor Merriman's recent publications include "The Effects of Tax Increment Financing on Economic Development" with Richard Dye " in Journal of Urban Economics (2000) and "Did Distortionary Sales Taxation Contribute to the Growth of the Service Sector?" with Mark Skidmore in National Tax Journal (2000).

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