James “Jimmy” Roberts is an empirical economist who studies competition in concentrated and regulated markets. An expert in auctions and competitive bidding and the effects of firms’ strategic behavior, Professor Roberts applies industrial organization methods to large transaction and administrative datasets to model how firms bid, price, and respond to competitors. His work addresses the competitive effects of mergers and serial acquisitions, market power, and regulation in industries that include healthcare, private equity, airlines, energy and natural resources, and real estate.
Healthcare competition and acquisitions
Across healthcare markets, Professor Roberts examines how acquisitions, changes in the competitive environment, and regulation can influence provider behavior and patient outcomes. He has studied private equity purchases of acute-care hospitals and how regulatory frameworks shape long-term care hospitals’ decisions to discharge patients.
In the dialysis industry, Professor Roberts has analyzed how acquisitions and market structure relate to the quality of care, commercial prices, medical director compensation, and prices paid under employer-sponsored insurance. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cited this work in 2025 as relevant evidence when it decided to expand reporting requirements of prior acquisitions. On Medicare billing fraud claims, he has evaluated prior-authorization rules alongside criminal and civil enforcement.
Research on auctions, bidding, and mergers
Professor Roberts studies how auction rules and bidder participation shape prices and seller revenue. He has modeled contingent-payment auctions for oil and gas leases and auctions for municipal bonds. His work on reserve prices and participation restrictions addresses what happens when a seller obtains higher revenue from an auction than from a negotiated sale.
Beyond auctions, Professor Roberts has analyzed airline mergers, pricing to deter entry, the effect of bailouts on competition, and speculative buying during the housing bubble.
Publications, awards, and editorial roles
An award-winning author, Professor Roberts has published his research in leading economics journals, such as the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Review of Economic Studies, the American Economic Review, and the Review of Financial Studies. His healthcare-related studies have appeared in Health Affairs and JAMA Health Forum.
In 2021, the Association of Competition Economists named Professor Roberts’s work, “How Acquisitions Affect Firm Behavior and Performance: Evidence from the Dialysis Industry,” the best paper of the year. His 2018 study, “Endogenous and Selective Service Choices After Airline Mergers,” received the Robert F. Lanzillotti Prize for Best Paper in Antitrust Economics.
Professor Roberts serves as an associate editor of the American Economic Review and previously coedited the Journal of Industrial Economics. He is a research associate in industrial organization at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
Teaching and academic leadership
At Duke, Professor Roberts teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in industrial organization and econometrics. The university has recognized him for excellence in teaching and outstanding service. He formerly chaired the economics department and now serves as the University’s Chief Academic Engagement Strategist.