Kerianne N. Rubenstein

Assistant Professor

Department of Sport Analytics

Contact

315.443.1838 knrubens@syr.edu

Department

Department of Sport Analytics

Location

McNaughton Hall, #313
Syracuse, NY 13244

Biography

Kerianne Rubenstein, Ph.D., (she/her/hers) joined the Department of Sport Management in the Falk College in fall 2024 as an assistant professor. She teaches classes in Sport Analytics, primarily Sport Economics.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Rubenstein was an assistant professor from 2021-24 at North Dakota State University, where she taught economics and was a fellow with the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth, and the Center for the Study of Public Choice and Private Enterprise.

Rubenstein’s research focuses on a variety of topics in sport economics, including NCAA regulations and sanctions, the development of women’s professional sports, and incentivizing player performance and health in the NFL. Her work on the lasting impact of the NCAA “death penalty” on Southern Methodist University’s football team was published in the Journal of Sports Economics. Her most recent work examines the unintended consequences associated with the Guardian helmet mandates in the NFL.

Education

Ph.D., West Virginia University, Area of Emphasis: Fields: Urban/Regional Economics and Public Economics
B.A., Southern Methodist University, . Major: Economics Area of Emphasis: Minors: Mathematics, Philosophy, History

Fellowships

Association for Private Enterprise Education Young Scholars Program
Visiting Graduate Fellow - Syracuse University, Institute for an Entrepreneurial Society
Institute for Humane Studies Fellowship

Specialization

NCAA regulations and sanctions, the development of women’s professional sports, and player performance and health in the NFL.

Published Scholarship

Publications

Hall, J., Rubenstein, K.L. and Lacombe, D., 2025. State-Level Institutions and Entrepreneurship: A Spatial Hierarchical Probit Approach. Eastern Economic Journal, [online] 52(1), pp.136–147. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41302-025-00310-y.
Rubenstein, K.L. and Nesbit, T., 2025. Concussed: Unintended Consequences of the Guardian Cap Mandate in the NFL. Southern Economic Journal, [online] 93(1), pp.326–342. https://doi.org/10.1002/soej.12799.
Rubenstein, K.L. and Gershon, K., 2025. The influence of crowd noise and size on fouls and home court advantage in the WNBA. Journal of Sports Research, [online] 12(1), pp.44–54. https://doi.org/10.18488/90.v12i1.4458.
Callais, J. and Lawson, K., 2024. Impact of R1 classification on universities. Applied Economics, [online] 57(32), pp.4818–4830. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2024.2364098.
Callais, J. and Lawson, K., 2024. Underperforming reformers: Examining disappointing cases of economic reforms. Kyklos, [online] 77(3), pp.593–615. https://doi.org/10.1111/kykl.12379.
Lawson, K., 2024. Economic freedom for women and fertility. Contemporary Economic Policy, [online] 43(4), pp.638–651. https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12658.
Kerianne LawsonJoshua C Hall (2023). Who Should Be Behind the Wheel? A Study of Oregon’s Measure 88. Economics Bulletin, 43(4) , 1797-1801.
Lawson, K., 2023. Using property rights to fight crime: the Khaya Lam project. Journal of Economics and Finance, [online] 47(2), pp.269–302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12197-023-09621-2.
Lawson, K., 2022. Electricity outages and residential fires: Evidence from Cape Town, South Africa. South African Journal of Economics, [online] 90(4), pp.469–485. https://doi.org/10.1111/saje.12329.
Lawson, K., 2022. Currency iconography and entrepreneurship. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, [online] 12(1), pp.257–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40497-022-00326-0.

Presentations

Kerianne N RubensteinA Study of The WNBA ‘Sister Team’ Affiliation with NBA Teams [Oral Presentation]. Presented at Southern Economic Association Conference, Tampa, FL, 2025-11-01.
Kerianne N RubensteinAnna PierceVoting Behavior in Tour de France Host Cities [Oral Presentation]. Presented at Sport Economics Conference, Baltimore, MD, 2025-04-01.
Kerianne N RubensteinThe influence of crowd noise and size on fouls and home court advantage in the WNBA [Oral Presentation], Lakeland, FL, 2025-02-01.
Kerianne N Rubenstein (2024). Salience and Recency Bias in NFL Free Agency [Oral Presentation]. Presented at North American Association of Sports Economists at the Southern Economic Association Meetings, Washington Hilton, Washington, DC, United States, 2024-11-24.
Kerianne N RubensteinSalience and Recency Bias in NFL Free Agency [Oral Presentation]. Presented at New York State Economics Association, Rochester, NY, 2024-10-01.
Kerianne N RubensteinEconomic Freedom for Women in US History [Oral Presentation]. Presented at Association for Private Enterprise Education Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2024-04-01.
Kerianne N RubensteinState-level Institutions and Entrepreneurship: A Spatial Hierarchical Probit Approach [Oral Presentation]. Presented at Public Choice Society Meetings, Plano, TX, 2024-03-01.
Kerianne N Rubenstein [Panel]. Presented at Nobel Prize Event (Claudia Goldin & Economics), North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 2024-01-01.
Kerianne N Rubenstein [Oral Presentation], 2023-01-01.

Honors, Awards, and Recognition

Mont Pelerin Society Young Scholars Award
Best Economics PhD Paper award, Academy of Economics and Finance Conference

Recent Media Mentions:

ACC’s invitation to SMU is the last step in a long road to recovery (16 September 2023)
SMU’s Prolonged NCAA Execution (8 December 2021)

Department

Department of Sport Analytics

Location

McNaughton Hall, #313
Syracuse, NY 13244