KHALED H. KHEIRAVAR, PH.D.

+1 (530) 304-7994  khkheiravar@ucdavis.edu  kheiravar.weebly.com

CURRENT APPOINTMENTS
California Air Resources Board, Sacramento, CA. 2019-present
Economist and Air Pollution Specialist, Market Monitoring Section
Cornell University DEEP-GREEN-RADAR, Ithaca, NY. 2019-present
Research Associate, Cornell University Dynamics, Economics, Econometrics, Policy, and Games:
Rigorous Environmental, Energy, Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Development Analysis and
Research (DEEP-GREEN-RADAR)
Cornell University TREESPEAR, Ithaca, NY. 2019-present
Research Associate, Cornell University Think-tank for Resources, Energy, and the Environment:
Science and Policy-related Economic Analysis and Research (TREESPEAR)

EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Economics, University California at Davis, CA. 2019
Primary Fields: Energy and Environmental Economics, Industrial Organization, Applied Micro
M.Sc. in Economics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden 2011
B.A. in Economics, Allameh Tabatabae’i University, Tehran, Iran 2007

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Kheiravar, Khaled H., and C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell. (forthcoming). Econometric modeling of
the world oil market as a dynamic game. In Stéphane Goutte and Duc Khuong Nguyen (Eds.),
Handbook of Energy Finance: Theories, Practices and Simulations. World Scientific Publishing.
Abstract: The decisions made by petroleum producers in the world oil market are
both dynamic and strategic, and are thus best modeled as a dynamic game. In this
chapter, we review the literature on the world oil market and discuss our research on
econometric modeling of the world oil market as a dynamic game. Our research on
econometric modeling of the world oil market as a dynamic game research builds on the
previous literature by combining three erstwhile separate dimensions of modeling the
world oil market: dynamic optimization, game theory, and econometrics. Our results
show that dynamic behavior and strategic interactions are important aspects of the world
oil market that must be accounted for in empirical analyses of the world oil market.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Kheiravar, Khaled H. (2019). Economic and Econometric Analyses of the World Petroleum Indus-
try, Energy Subsidies, and Air Pollution. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California at Davis.

WORKING PAPERS
Kheiravar, Khaled H., C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell, and Amy Myers Jaffe. (2019). A structural
econometric model of the dynamic game between petroleum producers in the world petroleum
market. Working paper, Cornell University.
 Abstract: In this paper, we develop and estimate a structural econometric model of
the dynamic game among petroleum-producing firms in the world petroleum market.
Our model incorporates the dynamic behavior and strategic interactions that arise as
petroleum-producing firms make their investment, production, merger, and acquisition
decisions. We allow firms that are at least partially state-owned to have objectives other
than profit maximization alone. We use the structural econometric model to analyze
the effects of a counterfactual change in OPEC membership on the petroleum industry.
Our parsimonious model of the notoriously complex world oil market generates results
that align with economic theory and/or previous assessments – anecdotal, qualitative,
empirical, or otherwise – of the industry. Although we do not assume or impose that
OPEC producers collude to maximize joint profits, but instead infer the strategy and
payoffs for OPEC firms from the data, we find that OPEC behaves in such a way that
is consistent with its mission and also with cartel behavior.

Kheiravar, Khaled H., and C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell. (2019). The effects of fuel subsidies on air
quality: Evidence from the Iranian subsidy reform. Working paper, Cornell University.
Abstract: Gasoline taxes have been touted by many economists as an efficient and
relatively simple tool to address environmental concerns and other problems associated
with gasoline consumption. Nevertheless, rather than removing subsidies and increasing
gasoline taxes, many countries still subsidize gasoline, which may have the opposite effect
of exacerbating air pollution and other problems associated with gasoline consumption.
The Iranian government has heavily subsidized petroleum products since the early 1980s.
As a result of these energy subsidies and artificially low national energy price, Iran is
one of the most energy-intensive countries in the world. The Iranian government has
recently taken a series of measures to reform and cut back on the energy subsidies. In
this paper, we evaluate the effects of the Iranian subsidy reform on air quality using
a regression discontinuity design. Our results provide evidence across multiple differ-
ent empirical specifications that the subsidy reform in Iran led to improvements in air
quality. In particular, the first subsidy reform event, which increased gasoline prices
and implemented a gasoline consumption quota; and the second subsidy reform event,
which increased energy prices and decreased energy subsidies, both led to declines in
concentrations of CO, O3 , and NO2 . In contrast, the fourth subsidy reform event, which
increased fuel prices but removed the gasoline consumption quota, was less effective in
reducing air pollution.

Beaudoin, Justin, Yuan Chen, David R. Heres, Khaled H. Kheiravar, Fujin Yi, Wei Zhang, and
C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell. (2019). Environmental policies in the transportation sector: Taxes,
subsidies, mandates, restrictions, and investment. Working paper, Cornell University.
Abstract: The transportation sector is associated with many negative externalities,
including air pollution, global climate change, and traffic congestion. In this paper we
discuss several possible policies for addressing the emissions and other environmental ex-
ternalities from the transportation sector, including taxes, subsidies, mandates, restric-
tions, and investment. Most economists generally recommend that policy-makers use
incentive- (or market-) based instruments as opposed to command and control policies
whenever possible. However, various economic and political constraints can preclude
policy instruments that would in theory achieve a first-best outcome from being em-
ployed, and policy-makers have often implemented alternative policies such as subsidies,
 mandates, restrictions, and/or investment instead. Our discussion and analysis of these
policies draws upon and synthesizes research using theoretical models, behavioral and
experimental economics, empirical analyses, and structural econometric modeling.

FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, AND PROGRAMS

National Center for Sustainable Transportation Dissertation Grant 2018-2019

Henry A. Jastro Graduate Research Award 2017-2018
UC-Davis Economics Department Job Market Fellowship 2017-2018
UC-Davis Fellowship for Excellence in Graduate Research 2017
Post-Candidacy Nonresident Supplemental Tuition Fellowship 2017-2018
OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)/(IAEE) Support Fund Scholarship 2016
Henry A. Jastro Graduate Research Award 2016-2017
UC-Davis ITS ExxonMobil Corporate Affiliate Fellowship 2015-2016
33rd US Association for Energy Economics (USAEE)/(IAEE) Conference Registration Fee Schol-
arship 2015
5th Annual All-UC Conference in Energy and Environmental Economics, UC Berkeley 2014
UCE3 Summer School in Environmental and Energy Economics, UC Berkeley 2014
Member, US Association for Energy Economics (USAEE) Bay Area Chapter 2014-2018
Associated Student, Institute of Transportation Studies. UC-Davis 2013-2018
UC-Davis ITS ExxonMobil Corporate Affiliate Fellowship 2013-2014
UC-Davis Graduate Fellowship 2013-2014
UCE3 Summer School in Environmental and Energy Economics, UC Berkeley 2013
UC-Merced Spring Graduate Division General Fellowship 2012
UC-Merced Graduate Scholarship 2011-2013

PRESENTATIONS

[2019] UC-Davis Energy Economics Program Brown Bag, 10th Annual Interdisciplinary Ph.D.
Workshop in Sustainable Development (IPWSD) at Columbia University
[2018] North American Summer Meeting of the Econometric Society, 0X Project, UC-Davis ITS
Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways Seminar, Vega Economics
[2017] Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE) @ Southern Economic As-
sociation (SEA) Conference , UC-Davis Energy Economics Program Brown Bag (x2), UC-Davis
ITS Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways Seminar, Association of Environmental and Re-
source Economists (AERE) @ Western Economic Association International (WEAI) Conference,
UC-Davis Environmental and Resource Economics Brown Bag, 7th Annual Interdisciplinary Ph.D.
Workshop in Sustainable Development (IPWSD) at Columbia University
[2016] UC-Davis ITS Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways Symposium, 34th U.S. Associ-
ation for Energy Economics North American Conference
[2015] 33rd U.S. Association for Energy Economics North American Conference

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Cornell University DEEP-GREEN-RADAR, Ithaca, NY. 2017-2019
Graduate Research Associate, Cornell University Dynamics, Economics, Econometrics, Policy, and
Games: Rigorous Environmental, Energy, Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Development Anal-
ysis and Research (DEEP-GREEN-RADAR)
 Cornell University TREESPEAR, Ithaca, NY. 2017-2019
Graduate Research Associate, Cornell University Think-tank for Resources, Energy, and the En-
vironment: Science and Policy-related Economic Analysis and Research (TREESPEAR)
California Air Resources Board, Sacramento, CA. Summer 2017
Graduate Student Researcher
UC-Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Davis, CA. Summer
2016
Graduate Student Researcher
UC-Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Davis, CA. Summer
2015
Graduate Student Researcher
Institute of Transportation Studies at UC-Davis, Davis, CA. Summer 2014
Graduate Student Researcher
Industrial Management Institute (IMI-AZAR), Tabriz, Iran Summer 2011
Research Associate
Iranian Economic Research Center (IERC), Tehran, Iran 2004-2006
Research Assistant

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
University of California at Davis, Davis, CA. 2013-2019
Associate Instructor: Intermediate Micro Theory
Teaching Assistant: Intermediate Micro Theory (x7), Industrial Organization (x3), Energy Eco-
nomics (x3), Analysis of Economic Data, Economics of Uncertainty (x2), Principals of Macroeco-
nomics (x2), World Economic History, American Economic History, Calculus (x2)
University of California at Merced, Merced, CA. 2012-2013
Teaching Assistant: Undergraduate Microeconomics, Undergraduate Econometrics, Statistical Sci-
ence Data Analysis, Introductory Science Data Analysis

OTHER EMPLOYMENT
Industrial Management Institute (IMI-AZAR), Tabriz, Iran 2007-2008
Research Analyst
Dooman Bookstore, Tehran, Iran 2006-2007
Sales Manager
Industrial Management Institute (IMI-AZAR), Tabriz, Iran Summer 2006
Acting supervisor of the office of short term training programs

COMPUTER SKILLS
STATA, MATLAB, GRETL, AMPL, R, LATEX
Microsoft Office (Word, Power Point, Excel)

SERVICE
Davis Energy Economics Program, UC-Davis 2015-2017
Graduate student coordinator for seminars, meetings, and lunches
LANGUAGES
English, Persian, & Azerbaijani (Fluent), Swedish & Arabic (Basic)