Paul Heaton

Paul Heaton’s research aims to apply methodological insights from economics to inform issues in legal and criminal justice policy.

An expert on legal and regulatory program and policy evaluation, Heaton’s criminal justice work spans a wide range of areas, including measurement of impacts of criminal justice interventions; applications of cost-benefit analysis to CJ programs; and evaluations of the CJ implications of public policies related to controlled substances.

His work on policing, courts, and drug offending has been widely cited by policymakers and the media. He has also published numerous empirical studies of tort law and insurance regulation.

Heaton’s work is strongly cross-disciplinary, and he has co-authored papers with legal scholars, psychologists, statisticians, physicians, criminologists, and sociologists. His research has been published in leading scholarly journals such as the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Labor Economics, and American Journal of Public Health.

Prior to joining Penn Carey Law, Heaton served as the Director of the RAND Institute for Civil Justice and Professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.