Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition


The SDAE sponsored the Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition from 2002-2019. Most of the award-winning submissions have since been published in peer-reviewed academic journals and other scholarly publications (see the links below). Several of the award winners have subsequently served or currently serve the SDAE in leadership positions and have received other professional awards and recognition from the SDAE.


2019 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
Fort Lauderdale, FL

  • Instrument Independence Under a Monetary Constitution
    Bryan Cutsinger, George Mason University

  • State Capacity and Public Choice: A Critical Survey
    Ennio E. Piano, George Mason University
    Public Choice, 178(1-2): 289-309 (2019)

  • Social Capital, Trust, and Collective Action in Post-earthquake Nepal
    Veeshan Rayamajhee, The University of New Mexico
    Natural Hazards, 105: 1491-1519 (2021) (co-authored with Alok K. Bohara)


2018 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Marriott Marquis Washington DC
Washington, DC


2017 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina
Tampa, FL


2016 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
JW Marriott Washington DC
Washington, DC


2015 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
New Orleans Marriott
New Orleans, LA


2014 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Atlanta, GA

  • Robust Political Economy and the Insolvency Resolution of Large US Non-Bank Financial Institutions
    Mathieu Bédard, Aix-Marseille Université (France)

  • Public Interest, Public Choice, and the Expansion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
    Abigail R. Hall, George Mason University
    Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, 21(2): 273-300 (2015) (Published as “Drones: Public Interest, Public Choice, and the Expansion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles”)

  • Robust Political Economy: An Institutional Alternative Against Monetary Disequilibrium and Market Discoordination
    Pablo Paniagua, King's College London (United Kingdom)
    The Review of Austrian Economics, 29(1): 15-32 (2016) (Published as “The Robust Political Economy of Central Banking and Free Banking”)


2013 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina
Tampa, FL


2012 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Sheraton New Orleans Hotel
New Orleans, LA


2011 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Washington Marriott Wardman Park
Washington, DC

  • The Charity Calculation Problem and Non-Profit Entrepreneurship
    Jesper Juul Andersen, Aarhus University (Denmark)

  • Marginal Liberalization and Stagnant Living Standards: India in the 1980's
    G.P. Manish, Suffolk University

  • Rum Row and the Plunder Problem
    Nicholas Snow, George Mason University

2010 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Sheraton Atlanta
Atlanta, GA

  • Caste as Self Enforcement: A Case Study from Nineteenth Century India
    Malavika Nair, Suffolk University
    Journal of Institutional Economics,12(3): 677-698 (2016)

  • Leveraging Reputation: Guidaticums in Medieval Spain
    Daniel J. Smith, George Mason University

  • The Emergence, Limit, and Distortion of the Firm: The Entrepreneurship Approach
    Jong Chul Won, University of Missouri, Columbia


2009 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Marriott San Antonio Rivercenter
San Antonio, TX


2008 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Grand Hyatt Hotel
Washington, DC

  • Uncertainty and Decision-Making: Toward a Tractable Framework
    David Howden, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain)

  • Critical Realism and the Austrian Paradox
    Adam Martin, George Mason University
    Cambridge Journal of Economics, 33(3): 517-530 (2009)

  • Mixed Income Development Housing: What's Left in Neighborhood Economic Planning
    Emily Skarbek (nee Schaeffer), George Mason University


2007 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
New Orleans Marriott
New Orleans, LA

  • The Use of Knowledge in the Criminal Justice System
    Daniel D'Amico, George Mason University

  • Securing Private Property: The Relative Importance of Formal versus Informal Institutions
    Claudia R. Williamson, West Virginia University
    The Journal of Law and Economics, 54(3): 537-572 (2011) (Published as “Securing Private Property: Formal versus Informal Institutions”) (co-authored with Carrie B. Kerekes)


2006 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Charleston Place Hotel
Charleston, SC

  • Reconciling Weber and Mises on Understanding Human Action
    Eugene Callahan, Cardiff University (United Kingdom)
    American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 66(5): 889-899 (2007)

  • A Nomos Model of Social Change: Where Human Action Meets Cultural Theory
    Anthony Evans, George Mason University
    New Perspectives on Political Economy, 6(2): 51-77 (2010) (Published as “A Nomos Approach to Social Change: Where Human Action Meets Cultural Theory”)

  • Social Justice and Liberty: The Philosophical Foundations of Mill's and Hayek's Theory of Liberty
    Huei Chun Su, University of Exeter (United Kingdom)
    The Review of Austrian Economics, 22(1): 387-414 (2009) (Published as “Is Social Justice for or Against Liberty? The Philosophical Foundations of Mill and Hayek’s Theory of Liberty”)


2005 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Grand Hyatt Washington at Washington Center
Washington, DC

  • Inputs and Institutions as Conservative Elements
    Art Carden, Washington University in St. Louis
    The Review of Austrian Economics, 22(1): 1
    -19 (2009)

  • The Economic Theory of Wiener Kreis and Mathematische Kolloquium: The Complex Role of Karl Menger
    Giandomenica Becchio, University of Turin (Italy)

  • Education and Heuristics: A Model of Market Learning
    Stephen C. Miller, George Mason University


2004 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Fairmont Hotel
New Orleans, LA


2003 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentations at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel
San Antonio, TX

  • Explaining Botswana's Success: The Critical Role of Post-Colonial Policy
    Scott Beaulier, George Mason University
    Cato Journal, 23(2): 227240 (2003)

  • Regulation of Private Schooling for Low-Income Families in India: An Austrian Economic Approach
    Pauline Dixon, Newcastle University (United Kingdom)
    Economic Affairs, 24(4): 31-36 (2004) (Published as “The Regulation of Private Schools Serving Low-Income Families in Hyderabad, India: An Austrian Economic Perspective”)

  • Methodological Individualism or Methodological Atomism: The Case of Friedrich Hayek
    Gregor Zwirn, University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
    History of Political Economy, 39(1): 47-80 (2007)


2002 Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Competition

Award Presentation at the SDAE Annual Dinner and Business Meeting
Hyatt Regency New Orleans Hotel
New Orleans, LA