• 
• About the Fed
• News and Events
• Newsroom
• Economic Research
• Consumer Information
• Publications
• Community Development
• Economic Education
• Payment Cards Center
• Services for Financial Institutions
• Supervision, Regulation and Credit
• Financial & Regulatory Reporting
• Money in Motion Exhibit
• 

Home > Economic Research > Economists and Research Contacts > Robert M. Hunt

Economists and Research Contacts

Robert M. Hunt

Senior Economist
Phone: (215) 574-3806   
Fax:(215) 574-4303
E-mail: Bob.Hunt (followed by @phil.frb.org)
Curriculum vitae (PDF)

Education

• Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, 1996
• B.A. Butler University, 1986 (Summa Cum Laude)

Fields of Interest

• consumer payments & finance
• innovation & intellectual property
• economic geography

Employment

• Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (1998-current)
• Associate Analyst, Congressional Budget Office (1995-1998)
• Research Analyst, Bank One, Indianapolis, NA (1987-1989)

Teaching

• Microeconomics (undergraduate), The Wharton School, Winter 2004
• Law & Economics (undergraduate), University of Pennsylvania, Spring and Summer 1992

Journal Articles

• "Urban Density and the Rate of Invention" (with Gerald Carlino and Satyajit Chatterjee), Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 61 (2007), pp. 389-419.
• “An Empirical Look at Software Patents” (with James Bessen), Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Vol. 16 (2007), pp. 157-89.
• "Economics and the Design of Patent Systems," Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, Vol. 13 (2007), pp. 457-70.
• “When Do More Patents Reduce R&D?” American Economic Review, Papers & Proceedings, Vol. 96 (2006): 87-91.
• “Patentability, Industry Structure, and Innovation,” Journal of Industrial Economics, Vol. 52 (2004), pp 401-25.
• “An Introduction to the Economics of Payment Card Networks,” Review of Network Economics, Vol. 2 (2003): 80-96.

Other Publications

• "Intellectual Property Rights and Standard Setting in Financial Services: The Case of the Single Euro Payments Area" (with Samuli Simojoki and Tuomas Takalo) in L. Anderloni, D.T. Llewellyn, and R. Schmidt, eds., Financial Innovation in Retail and Corporate Banking, forthcoming.
• "Whither Consumer Credit Counseling," in Sumit Agarwal and Brent Ambrose, eds., Household Credit Usage: Personal Debt and Mortgages. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2007.
• "The Development and Regulation of Consumer Credit Reporting in America," in Giuseppe Bertola and Charles Grant, eds., The Economics of Consumer Credit: European Experience and Lessons from the US. Boston: MIT Press, 2006.
• “The Software Patent Experiment” (with James Bessen), in Patents, Innovation and Economic Performance, Conference Proceedings. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2004.
• Regulatory Takings and Proposals for Change (with Timothy VandenBerg), Washington: Congressional Budget Office, 1998.

Federal Reserve Publications

• “Collecting Consumer Debt in America” Business Review, 2nd Quarter, 2007.
• “Whither Consumer Credit Counseling?” Business Review, 4th Quarter, 2005.
• “The Software Patent Experiment” (with James Bessen), Business Review, 3rd Quarter, 2004.
• “Antitrust Issues in Payment Card Networks: Can They Do That? Should We Let Them?” Business Review, 2nd Quarter, 2003.
• “What’s in the File? The Economics and Law of Consumer Credit Bureaus,” Business Review, 2nd Quarter, 2002.
• “You Can Patent That? Are Patents on Computer Programs and Business Methods Good for the New Economy?” Business Review, 1st Quarter, 2001.
• “Patent Reform: A Mixed Blessing for the U.S. Economy?” Business Review, November/December, 1999.

Working Papers

• "Business Method Patents and U.S. Financial Services," Working Paper 08-10, May 2008.
• "Innovation Across U.S. Industries: The Effects of Local Economic Characteristics," with Gerald Carlino, Working Paper 07-28, October 2007.
• "Business Method Patents for U.S. Financial Services," Working Paper 07-21, September 2007.
• "Intellectual Property Rights and Standard Setting in Financial Services: The Case of the Single European Payments Area," Working Paper 07-20, August 2007.
• "Matching Externalities and Inventive Productivity," Working Paper 07-7, March 2007.
• "Economics and the Design of Patent Systems," Working Paper 07-6, March 2007.
• "Urban Density and the Rate of Invention" (with Gerald Carlino and Satyajit Chatterjee), Working Paper 06-14, August 2006. Supersedes Working Paper 04-16/R.
• "When Do More Patents Reduce R&D?," Working Paper 06-6, January 2006.
• "A Century of Consumer Credit Reporting in America," Working Paper 05-13, June 2005.
• "Matching and Learning in Cities: Urban Density and the Rate of Invention" (with Gerald Carlino and Satyajit Chatterjee), Working Paper 04-16/R, appendices, revised April 2005.
• "Patentability, Industry Structure, and Innovation," Working Paper 01-13/R, revised August 2004.
• "An Empirical Look at Software Patents" (with James Bessen), Working Paper 03-17/R, March 2004.
• "Knowledge Spillovers and the New Economy of Cities" (with Gerald Carlino and Satyajit Chatterjee), Working Paper 01-14, September 2001; Superseded by Working Paper 04-16
• "Nonobviousness and the Incentive to Innovate: An Economic Analysis of Intellectual Property Reform," Working Paper 99-3, March 1999.
• “Discouraging Federal Actions That Reduce the Value of Private Property: Evaluating Procedural and Financial Approaches," Working Paper 98-24, December 1998.

Works in Progress

• "The Democratization of U.S. Research and Development after 1980" (with Leonard Nakamura), mimeo, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 2007.
• "An Economic Theory of Criminal Deterrence," mimeo, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia 2007.

Other Unpublished Papers

• "Recent Developments in Consumer Credit and Payments, Conference Summary" (with Ronel Elul, Joanna Ender, and James McGrath), 2005.
• "Innovation in Financial Services and Payments, Conference Summary" (with Gabriella Guiborg), Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 2002.
• "Evaluating Forecasts of Budget Deficits" (with Dean Croushore), mimeo, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 1999.
• "The Value of R&D in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry: What Happened in the 1980s?" mimeo, Congressional Budget Office and Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1996.
• "Persistent Mis-coordination in Evolutionary Games" (with Alberto Trejos), mimeo, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1993.
• "Laboratory Industry Technology, Productivity Changes and Medicare Payments in Different Provider Settings" (with B. Kinosian, G. Wedig), et al., mimeo, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Care Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1992.

Conferences Organized

• Recent Developments in Consumer Credit and Payments (September 2005 and 2007)
• Innovation in Financial Services and Payments (May 2002)
• The Innovation Round Robin (July 2000)

Referee (select)

• International Economic Review
• Journal of Industrial Economics
• Journal of Money, Credit and Banking
• Management Science
• Rand Journal of Economics
• Review of Economic Studies

Other Professional Activity

• Invited panelist, Federal Trade Commission workshop: "Collecting Consumer Debts: The Challenges of Change" (2007)
• Invited panelist, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago/Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business "Roundtable on Intellectual Property and Competition Issues Relating to Financial Markets" (2007)
• Invited panelist, Federal Trade Commission hearing, "Methodologies That Assess Accuracy and Completeness of Credit Reports" (2004)
• Invited panelist, National Academies, Board on Science Technology and Policy Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights (2000)
• NASA Space Science Board (1996-7)

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF PHILADELPHIA • TEN INDEPENDENCE MALL • PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106-1574 • TEL: (215) 574-6000

About the Fed • Community Development • Consumer Information • Economic Education • Economic Research
Financial & Regulatory Reporting • Money in Motion Exhibit • News and Events • Newsroom • Payment Cards Center • Publications
Services for Financial Institutions • Supervision, Regulation and Credit

Contact Us • Disclaimer • E-mail Notification • RSS Feeds • Employment Opportunities • Privacy Policy

 Links with this icon go to pages outside of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia website.