Professor Keith J. Crocker joined the Smeal College of Business in 2003 as the William Elliott Chaired Professor of Insurance and Risk Management. He holds a B.A. from Washington and Lee University in mathematics and economics, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in economics. Prior to his current position at Penn State, Professor Crocker was the Waldo O. Hildebrand Professor of Risk Management and Insurance, and Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, at the University of Michigan Business School. His previous experience includes appointments as Professor of Economics at The Pennsylvania State University, where he taught courses in law and economics, microeconomics, and industrial organization, as Assistant Professor in Economics Department at the University of Virginia, and as staff economist at the Federal Trade Commission.
Expertise
Professor Crocker has served as an expert witness in cases involving antitrust and insurance concerns, including captive taxation and workers compensation. His research interests have focused primarily on contracting issues, with a particular emphasis on the role of transaction costs, adverse selection, and moral hazard in the design of agreements. Professor Crocker's current topics of research include the examination of tax and accounting fraud, claims fraud in the context of insurance settlements, and the role of job attachment in the design of optimal employer-sponsored health insurance policies.
Education
Ph D in Economics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1981-05-01 MS in Economics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1978-05-01 BA in Mathematics and Economics, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA, 1976-05-01
Courses Taught
B A 533 – Economics for Managers
An introduction to the tools of economic decision making and a consideration of firm, industry, and global economic influences on economic desicion making.
B A 597D – Advanced Microeconomic Theory (D)
taught two week module
B A 597D (D)
BA 533 – Econ for Mgrs
A survey of analytical concepts and techniques essential to an understanding of the business environment.
BA 533 – Economics for Managers
A survey of analytical concepts and techniques essential to an understanding of the business environment.
Selected Publications
Crocker K. J. "The Theory of Risk Classification" Handbook of Insurance, 2025-01-01
Crocker K. J., Zhu N. "The Efficiency of Voluntary Risk Classification in Insurance Markets" Journal of Risk and Insurance, 2021-06-01
Crocker K. J., Letizia P. "Optimal Policies for Recovering the Value of Consumer Returns" Production and Operations Management, 2014-10-01
Crocker K. J., Snow A. "The Theory of Risk Classification" Handbook of Insurance, 2013-01-01
Crocker K. J., Snow A. "Multidimensional Screening in Insurance Markets with Adverse Selection" Journal of Risk and Insurance, vol. 78, 2011-01-01
Crocker K. J., Snow A. "Background Risk and the Performance of Insurance Markets under Adverse Selection" Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, vol. 33, 2008-01-01
Crocker K. J., Moran J. "Stable relations" Leader's Edge, 2008-01-01
Crocker K. J., Slemrod J. "The Economics of Earnings Manipulation and Managerial Compensation." RAND Journal of Economics, 2007-01-01
Crocker K. J., Slemrod J. "Corporate Tax Evasion with Agency Costs" Journal of Public Economics, vol. April 2017, 2005-09-01
Crocker K. J., Feber D., Feldmeier J. "The Economic Effects of Road Safety Improvements: An Insurance Claims Analysis" Journal of Risk and Insurance, 2003-12-01
Crocker K. J., Moran J. "Contracting with Limited Commitment: Evidence from Employment-Based Health Insurance Contracts" RAND Journal of Economics, 2003-01-01
Crocker K. J., Tennyson S. "Insurance Fraud and Optimal Claims Settlement Strategies" Journal of Law and Economics, 2002-10-01
Crocker K. J., Morgan J. "Is Honesty the Best Policy? Curtailing Insurance Fraud through Optimal Incentive Contracts" Journal of Political Economy, 1998-04-01
Crocker K. J., Bond E. "Hardball and the Soft Touch: The Economics of Optimal Insurance Contracts with Costly State Verification and Endogenous Monitoring Costs" Journal of Public Economics, 1997-01-01
Crocker K. J., Baye M., Ju J. "Divisionalization , Franchising and Divestiture Incentives in Oligopoly" American Economic Review, 1996-03-01
Crocker K. J., Lyon T. "What Do "Facilitating Practices" Facilitate"? An Empirical Analysis of Most-Favored Nation Clauses in Natural Gas Contracts" Journal of Law and Economics, 1994-10-01
Crocker K. J., Bond E. "Bank Capitalization, Deposit Insurance and Risk Categorization" Journal of Risk and Insurance, 1993-12-01
Crocker K. J., Reynolds K. "The Efficiency of Incomplete Contracts: An Empirical Analysis of Air Force Engine Procurement" RAND Journal of Economics, 1993-01-01
Crocker K. J., Snow A. "The Social Value of Hidden Information in Adverse Selection Economies" Journal of Public Economics, 1992-08-01
Crocker K. J., Masten S. "Pretia ex Machina? Prices and Process in Long Term Contracts" Journal of Law and Economics, 1991-04-01
Crocker K. J., Bond E. "Smoking, Skydiving and Knitting: The Endogenous Categorization of Risks in Insurance Markets with Asymmetric Information" Journal of Political Economy, 1991-02-01
Crocker K. J., Snow A. "The Efficiency Effects of Categorial Discrimination in the Insurance Industry" Journal of Political Economy, 1986-04-01
Crocker K. J., Masten S. "Efficient Adaptation in Long Term Contracts: Take or Pay Provisions for Natural Gas" American Economic Review, 1985-12-01
Crocker K. J., Snow A. "The Efficiency of Competitive Equilibria in Insurance Markets with Asymmetric Information" Journal of Public Economics, 1985-03-01
Crocker K. J. "Vertical Integration and the Strategic Use of Private Information" Bell Journal of Economics, 1983-01-01