David Skarbek

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My research examines how people who lack resources, freedom, and political rights evade, overthrow, and adapt to formal institutions to secure gains from cooperation.

Journal Articles

The Governance Institutions of a Drug Trafficking Organization (with J. Kostelnik) Public Choice forthcoming.

The Industrial Organization of Street Gangs (with R. Sobel) Journal of Gang Research 20(1) 2012: 1-17.

Anarchy, Groups, and Conflict: An Experiment on the Emergence of Protective Associations (with A. Smith and B. Wilson) Social Choice & Welfare 38(2) 2012: 325-353. 

Prison Gangs, Norms, and Organizations Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 82(1) 2012: 96-109.  

Sweatshops, Opportunity Costs, and Non-Monetary Compensation: Evidence from El Salvador (with E. Skarbek, B. Skarbek, and E. Skarbek) American Journal of Economics & Sociology 71(3) 2012: 539-561.

Governance and Prison Gangs American Political Science Review 105(4) 2011: 702-716. 

What Aid Can't Do: Reply to Ranis (with P. Leeson) The Cato Journal 31(1) 2011: 83-86.

Putting the "Con" into Constitutions: The Economics of Prison Gangs The Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 26(2) 2010: 183-211.

Criminal Constitutions (with P. Leeson) Global Crime 11(3) 2010: 279-298.

Self-Governance in San Pedro Prison The Independent Review 14(4) 2010: 569-585.

Alertness, Local Knowledge, and Johnny Appleseed Review of Austrian Economics 22(4) 2009: 415-424.

What Can Aid Do? (with P. Leeson) The Cato Journal 29(3) 2009: 391-397.

F.A. Hayek's Influence on Nobel Prize Winners Review of Austrian Economics 22(1) 2009: 109-112.


The Price is Right: Regulation, Reputation, and Recovery (with B. Skarbek) Dartmouth Law Journal 6(2) 2008: 235-276.


Sweatshops Wages and Third World Living Standards: Are the Jobs Worth the Sweat? (with B. Powell) Journal of Labor Research 27(2) 2006: 263-274.



In Progress

The Effect of Prison Gang Membership on Recidivism (with A. Seals and B. Dooley)

Prison Gangs and the Community Responsibility System (with M. Garrett Roth)

Why Didn't Slaves Revolt More Often During the Middle Passage? (with A. Marcum)

Prison Gangs and Governance: The Hidden Order of the Criminal Underworld. Book manuscript in preparation.



Book Chapters & Conference Proceedings

"Polycentrism and Prison Gangs" (with A. Marcum) The Annual Proceedings of the Wealth and Well-Being of Nations. Upton Forum. Beloit College. 2012.

"Self-Governance, Property Rights, and Illicit Commerce" in Research Handbook on Austrian Law and Economics Todd Zywicki and Peter Boettke (eds.) Edward Elgar. Forthcoming.

"Restricting Reconstruction: Occupational Licensing and Natural Disasters in The Political Economy of Hurricane Katrina and Community Rebound Emily Chamlee-Wright and Virgil Henry Storr (eds). Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publisher. 2010: 72-86.

"Adam's Apple: Using Johnny Appleseed to Teach the Invisible Hand" with Joshua Hall in Expanding Teaching and Learning Horizons in Economic Education Franklin G. Mixon, Jr. and Richard J. Cebula (eds). New York: Nova Science Publishers. 2009: 199-206.



Book Reviews

Review of Mafias on the Move: How Organized Crime Conquers New Territories, by Federico Varese Public Choice 151(1-2) 2012: 405-407.