Stephen F. Hamilton

Dr. Stephen Hamilton is Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He is an economist with more than twenty years of experience as a consultant and expert witness. He has provided expert analysis and testimony in cases involving consumer fraud and false advertising, deceptive pricing (including use of reference prices and perceived bargains), food labeling (including application of organic labeling laws, consumer preferences and related effects on price), energy and water markets, and groundwater basin management. His analysis has been applied to a variety of consumer retail markets, including food products (yogurt, baby foods), apparel (baby clothing, children’s clothing, high-end and designer fashion, leather clothing and accessories), personal care products (shampoo), hobby supplies and home décor products. He has also studied supermarket and grocery retailing, including the emergence of online grocery markets and related pricing effects. His consulting experience has included measurement of economic damages, market analysis of regulated industries, economic feasibility studies, forensic economics, and portfolio investment modeling.

Dr. Hamilton is recognized internationally for his research on retail markets, food and agricultural economics, as well as environmental and land use regulation. His academic and professional honors include providing plenary and keynote addresses at international conferences, selection as a research fellow in the Rural Development Research Consortium, serving on the sustainable management panel for the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, and receiving the Early Career Award for Outstanding Faculty Research. Dr. Hamilton has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including the American Economic Review, The Review of Economics and Statistics, RAND Journal of Economics, Management Science, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of International Economics, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, and the Journal of Law and Economics. He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and as Associate Editor for the Journal of Industrial Organization Education, Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization and American Journal of Agricultural Economics. He has presented his work at over 30 national or international conferences and has given invited seminars at over 20 universities. A prolific researcher, he has secured over $3 million in Federal grants for his research since 2001.

OnPoint Expert Testifies in Deceptive Pricing Class Action

OnPoint Experts’ “Deceptive Pricing” Article Published by Law360

OnPoint Expert Shares Findings on Cap-and-Trade Regulations at California Air Resources Board Workshop