Kaleb Javier

Welcome,

I'm Kaleb Javier, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ARE) at UC Berkeley.

My research lies at the intersection of Environmental Economics and Industrial Organization, where I explore how market structures, firm behavior, and policy design shape environmental outcomes. 

My job market paper will be available soon. It studies how policy can retire hazardous capital more efficiently. I examine a decommissioning instrument that has received little attention in economics: pricing the cost of retaining hazardous capital through mandatory environmental insurance. Using Texas's 1998 transition from a flat-fee public insurance fund to risk-rated private insurance for underground storage tanks as a natural experiment, I estimate the effects of risk-based pricing on facility retirement, technology adoption, and industry composition. The evidence shows that pricing environmental risk accelerates the retirement of the oldest, highest-risk capital while encouraging economically viable firms to modernize rather than exit.

Feel free to explore my research, publications, and teaching experience, or reach out if you'd like to connect!

Education

PhD Agricultural and Resource Economics – PhD Candidate (Present)      

University of California, Berkeley

Fields: Energy & Environmental Economics, Industrial Organization, and Behavioral Economics

Pre-Doctoral Research Fellowship – Non-Degree Awarding          

Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford, CA

American Economic Association Summer Program – Non-Degree Awarding                                            

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

M.S. in Cultural and Environmental Resource Management

Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA 

Thesis: The Economic Impacts of Forest Timber Methods in Washington State: A Hedonic Approach

B.A. in Economics, B.S. in Law and Justice

Magna Cum Laude 

Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA