Call for Proposals

Please note that the Mercatus Center is no longer accepting unsolicited draft papers. To submit your idea, please use the Policy Research Proposal form.

Our Areas of Interest

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is pleased to announce an open call for research proposals for our ongoing series of Mercatus Working Papers. All Mercatus Working Papers are double-blind peer reviewed and must meet rigorous scholarly and editorial standards. Proposal submissions should include policy-focused research and scholarship related to one of the following topics:

Government Spending & Budgeting

Issues of taxation, entitlements, budget process, and the effects of government spending, deficit, and debt on economic growth and prosperity. Please send proposal submissions to Jamil Khan.

Regulation & Regulatory-Process Reform

Subjects related to the benefits, costs, and effectiveness of regulation. Areas of particular interest include: health & safety, financial markets, technology policy, and regulatory-process reform. Please send proposal submissions to Andrew Blackburn.

State & Local Policy

Research on public sector pensions, state and local tax and budget policy, regulations, and institutional reform. Please send proposal submissions to Jamil Khan.

Financial Markets

Policy-focused research and scholarship analyzing the effects of financial regulations. Areas of interest include bankruptcy, consumer protection, corporate governance, capital requirements, entrepreneurial and innovation financing, and housing policy. Papers may examine these subjects at the local, state, and/or federal level(s). Please send proposal submissions to Peter Rivera.

Monetary Policy
Research assessing the role of monetary policy and reforms to current tools and approaches employed by central banks. Papers may analyze institutional reforms of central banking and nominal GDP targeting. Please send proposal submissions to Patrick Horan.

Technology Policy

Research related broadly to dynamism and regulation of the Internet, spectrum reform, privacy & data collection, broadband regulation, and universal service reform. Please send proposal submissions to Andrew Blackburn.

Healthcare

Exploring issues of health care coverage, cost, access, and impediments to innovation. Please send proposal submissions to Leck Shannon.

Government-Granted Privilege

Research exploring the size and scope of political favoritism and its implications on the broader economy. Particular interest in state-level and health care policy research. Please send proposal submissions to Jamil Khan. 

Trade and Immigration

Policy-focused research analyzing protectionist barriers against the international movement of goods, services, capital, ideas, and people. Please send proposal submissions to Jamil Khan.