David Just

Biography

David R. Just is the Susan Eckert Lynch Professorship in Science and Business in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. He received his PhD and MSc in the field of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California Berkeley in 2001 and 1999 respectively. Professor Just uses the tools of economics and psychology to explore individual decisions in markets and their implications for wellbeing. He has published more than 160 refereed journal articles addressing topics of food assistance and food choice, acceptance and adoption of new technology, biofuel policy, and risky choice. Professor Just has won many national awards for outstanding research including several for Outstanding Journal Article in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, as well as Quality of Research Discovery both in the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association and the European Association of Agricultural Economists. He was named a fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association in 2020. He has previously served as director of the graduate program and director of professional degree programs in the Dyson School, and as Area Coordinator for Applied Economics and Policy in the S.C. Johnson College of Business. He has also served as president of the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, and recently served as co-editor for two volumes of the Handbook of Agricultural Economics.

Education

PhD University Of California, Berkeley, 2001
MS University Of California, Berkeley, 1999
BA Brigham Young University, Provo, 1998

Research

• Caputo, Vincenzina; Just, David. "Adjustments, evidence and political tensions in the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program"Nature Food. (2025)
• Okello, Julius; Just, David; Verschoor, Arjan; Mulwa, Chalmers; Xie, Mingcong; et al. "Behavioral Interventions in Informal Seed Systems to Nudge Delivery and Sustainable Demand for Quality Seed of Sweetpotato"Agricultural Systems. 229 (2025): 104421
• Just, David; Gabrielyan, Gnel. "On Nudging and Psychological Reactance"Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. 47.4 (2025): 1600 – 1620
• Just, David; Messer, Kent. "The Behavioral Revolution in Agricultural and Resource Economics: A Perspective on the Past and the Future"Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. 50.4 (2025): 804-829
• Just, David; Jiao, Jie. "Using Multiple Methods to Improve Validity"European Review of Agricultural Economics. (2025)
• Haws, Adrian; Just, David; Price, Joseph. "Who (actually) gets the farm? Intergenerational farm succession in the United States"American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 107.1 (2025): 3-26
• Byrne, Anne; Just, David. "What is free food worth? A nonmarket valuation approach to estimating the welfare effects of food pantry services"American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 105.4 (2023): 1063-1087
• Byrne, Anne; Just, David; Barrett, Christopher. "But it came from a food pantry: Product stigma and quality perceptions of food pantry offerings"Agricultural Economics. 54.2 (2023): 327-344
• Just, David. "On the policy relevance of agricultural economics"European Review of Agricultural Economics. 50.4 (2023): 1256-1276
• Wuepper, David; Bukchin-Peles, Shira; Just, David; Zilberman, David. "Behavioral agricultural economics"Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. 45.4 (2023): 2094-2105

Awards

• Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Fellow (2020) Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
• Outstanding Journal Article (2016) American Journal of Agricultural Economics
• Award for Outstanding Public Service through Economics (2016) Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association
• Quality of Research Discovery Award for “The Welfare Impacts of Commodity Price Volatility: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia.” (2013) Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
• Quality of Research Discovery Award, for “The Flat-Rate Pricing Paradox: Conflicting Effects of ‘All-You-Can-Eat’ Buffet Pricing.” (2011) European Association of Agricultural Economics