Assistant Professor
Department of Sport AnalyticsDepartment
Location
McNaughton Hall, #313Syracuse, New York, 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.
Teaching
Currently Teaching
- SPM 365 - Sport Economics
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] 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
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2025. A Study of The WNBA ‘Sister Team’ Affiliation with NBA Teams. In Southern Economic Association Conference.
- Rubenstein, K.N. & Pierce, A., 2025. Voting Behavior in Tour de France Host Cities. In Sport Economics Conference. North American Association of Sports Economists.
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2025. The influence of crowd noise and size on fouls and home court advantage in the WNBA. In Florida Southern College - Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2024. Salience and Recency Bias in NFL Free Agency. In Washington Hilton. North American Association of Sports Economists at the Southern Economic Association Meetings.
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2024. Salience and Recency Bias in NFL Free Agency. In New York State Economics Association.
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2024. Economic Freedom for Women in US History. In Association for Private Enterprise Education Conference.
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2024. State-level Institutions and Entrepreneurship: A Spatial Hierarchical Probit Approach. In Public Choice Society Meetings.
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2024. In North Dakota State University. Nobel Prize Event (Claudia Goldin & Economics). Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth.
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2023. In University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Department of Economics and Finance.
- Rubenstein, K.N., 2023. In Association for Private Enterprise Education.
Honors, Awards, and Recognition
- Mont Pelerin Society Young Scholars Award
- Best Economics PhD Paper award, Academy of Economics and Finance Conference
Recent Media Mentions:
- Anon, 2023. ACC’s invitation to SMU is the last step in a long road to recovery. In The Dallas Morning News.
- Anon, 2021. SMU’s Prolonged NCAA Execution. In Sportico.
Department
Location
McNaughton Hall, #313Syracuse, New York, 13244