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Economics

Dr. Donn Feir

Donn Feir, Professor of Economics

Professor

Economics

Status:
Available for PhD supervision (2025-26)
Contact:
Office: BEC 380 250-721-8533
Credentials:
PhD (UBC)
Area(s) of expertise:
Indigenous Economics, Applied Microeconometrics and Economic History
Related links:

Dr. Feir's Website

Bio

Donn Feir is an applied econometrician and economic historian who has published in journals such as the Review of Economic Studies, the American Economic Review: Insights, the Journal of Economic History, the Journal of Human Resources, as well as Canadian Public Policy and the Canadian Journal of Economics. Donn has published on reconciliation, modern Indigenous labour market experiences, health and the impact of historic policies on Indigenous economies and people, as well as on topics relevant to gender diverse people.

Donn is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Research Fellow at the IZA Institute of Labour Economics. Donn formerly worked at the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Donn received their PhD from the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia.

Interests

  • Indigenous Economics
  • Labour Economics
  • LGBTQI+ Economics
  • Economic History
  • Applied Econometrics

Research projects

  • The Long-Run Impact of Historical Treaty Making
  • Access to Finance for Indigenous Nations
  • Indigenous Outcomes in the Labour Market
  • Environmental Racism in Canada

Courses

  • ECON 313, Intermediate Microeconomics II
  • ECON 346, Applied Econometrics II
  • ECON 423, Economics and Indigenous Peoples
  • ECON 526, Economics and Indigenous Nations

Selected Publications

  • Banga, Helen, Donn L. Feir, and Matthew T. Gregg. 2026. “Understanding the Unequal Costs of Native American Homeownership.” Journal of Housing Economics 71: 102122. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137726000033?via%3Dihub
  • Carpenter, Christopher S., Donn L. Feir, Krishna Pendakur, and Casey Warman. 2026. “Nonbinary and Transgender Identities and Earnings: Evidence from a National Census.” American Economic Review: Insights 8 (1): 36–52. https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20240571
  • Feir, Donn L., Rob Gillezeau, Kris Inwood, and Maggie Jones. 2026. “Enumerating Indigenous Populations at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.” Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History 59: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01615440.2026.2671668.
  • Button, Patrick, Christopher S. Carpenter, and Donn L. Feir. 2025. “Introduction to the Special Issue on LGBTQ+ Economics.” Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy 8 (2): 105–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41996-025-00170-w.
  • Feir, Donn L. 2025. “Economic History and Indigenous Peoples in North America.” Annual Review of Economics 17: 479–509. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-081624-082458.
  • Feir, Donn L., Kelly Foley and Maggie Jones. “The Distributional Impacts of Targeted Labour Market Programming: Evidence from the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy” The Journal of Human Resources. (May, 2025). doi: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.1122-12635R2
  • Greenhalgh, Suzie, Jason Mika, Christopher Alcantara, Shaun Awatere, Kendon Bell, Kiri Dell, Donn L. Feir, Dustin Frye, Diane Jarvis, Taryn Kong, Kirsten Maclean, Cathy Robinson, Chellie Spiller, Rachel M. Wolfgramm, and Emma Woodward. 2025. “Ka Mua, Ka Muri—Walking Backwards into the Future: Revitalizing Indigenous Economies and Economies of Well-Being.” Indigenous Business & Public Administration 3 (1): Article 1. https://doi.org/10.33972/ibapa.35.
  • Feir, Donn L. 2024. “Policies for Other People: Reflections from an Economist on Research and Federal Government Indigenous Policy in Canada Post-1975.” Canadian Public Policy 50(S1): 36-61.

    https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2023-051

  • Feir, Donn, and Samuel Mann. 2024. “Temporal Trends in Mental Health in the United States by Gender Identity, 2014–2021.” American Journal of Public Health 114 (5): 523–526. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307603.

  • Feir, Donn L., and David G. Blanchflower. 2023. “Native Americans’ Experience of Chronic Distress in the USA.” Journal of Population Economics 36 (2): 707–742. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-022-00910-4.
  • Feir, Donn L., Rob Gillezeau, and Maggie E. C. Jones. 2023. “Slaughter of the North American Bison and Reversal of Fortunes on the Great Plains.” Review of Economic Studies 91 (1): 460–495. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdad060.
  • Feir, Donn L., Maggie E. C. Jones, and David Scoones. 2023. “When Do Nations Tax? The Adoption of Property Tax Codes by First Nations in Canada.” Public Choice 196: 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-022-01039-4.
  • Bauer, Anahid, Donn L. Feir, and Matthew T. Gregg. 2022. “The Tribal Digital Divide: Extent and Explanations.” Telecommunications Policy 46 (9): 102401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2022.102401.
  • Carlos, Ann M., Donn L. Feir, and Angela Redish. 2022. “Indigenous Nations and the Development of the U.S. Economy: Land, Resources, and Dispossession.” The Journal of Economic History 82 (2): 516–555. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050722000080. 
  • Cunningham, Jamein P., Donn L. Feir, Rob Gillezeau, Matthew Harvey, and Abdul Nasser Rad. 2022. “Law Enforcement Officers’ Bills of Rights and Police Violence.” AEA Papers and Proceedings 112: 174–177. https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20221099.
  • Gorzig, Marina Mileo, Donn L. Feir, Randall Akee, Samuel Myers Jr., Marium Navid, Kai Tiede, and Olivia Matzke. 2022. “Native American Age at Death in the USA.” Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy 5 (3): 194–209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41996-021-00095-0.
  • Dippel, Christian, Donn L. Feir, Bryan Leonard, and Marc Roark. 2021. “Secured Transactions Laws and Economic Development on American Indian Reservations.” AEA Papers and Proceedings 111: 248–252. https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20211102
  • Feir, Donn L., and M. Christopher Auld. 2021. “Indian Residential Schools: Height, and Body Mass Post-1930.” Canadian Journal of Economics 54 (1): 126-163. https://doi.org/10.1111/caje.12203.
  • Feir, Donn L., Kelly Foley, and Maggie E. C. Jones. 2021. “The Distributional Impacts of Active Labor Market Programs for Indigenous Populations.” AEA Papers and Proceedings 111: 216–220. https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20211013.
  • Feir, Donn L., Rachel Wellhausen, and Calvin Thrall. 2021. “Ownership and Trust in Banks: Evidence from the First Bank in an American Indian Nation.” AEA Papers and Proceedings 111: 227–232. https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20211015
  • Feir, Donn L., Kelly Foley, and Maggie E. C. Jones. 2021. “The Distributional Impacts of Active Labor Market Programs for Indigenous Populations.” AEA Papers and Proceedings 111: 216–220. https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20211013.
  • Cattaneo, Laura, and Donn L. Feir. 2021. “The Price of Mortgage Financing for Native Americans.” Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy 4 (4): 253–272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41996-020-00069-8.
  • Feir, Donn L. 2020. “Gender Ratios on First Nations Reserves in Canada.” Canadian Studies in Population 47 (4): 213–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42650-020-00023-x.
  • Feir, Donn L. , and Maggie E. C. Jones. 2021. “Repaying a Debt? The Performance of Morrill Act University Beneficiaries as Measured by Native Enrollment and Graduation Rates.” NAIS: Journal of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association 8 (1): 129–138. https://doi.org/10.5749/natiindistudj.8.1.0129.
  • Feir, Donn L., and Randall Akee. 2019. “First Peoples Lost: Determining the State of Status First Nations Mortality in Canada Using Administrative Data.” Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d’économique 52 (2): 490-525. https://doi.org/10.1111/caje.12387
  • Feir, Donn L., and Jasmin Thomas. 2019. “Introduction of Formal Child Care Services in Inuit Communities and Labour Force Outcomes.” Canadian Public Policy 45 (4): 428-459. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2017-048.
  • Feir, Donn L., and Randall Akee. 2018. “Estimating Institutionalization and Homelessness for Status First Nations in Canada: A Method and Implications.” International Indigenous Policy Journal 9 (4): article 2. https://doi.org/10.18584/iipj.2018.9.4.2.
  • Feir, Donn L., and Rob Gillezeau. 2018. “Return to the Homeland? The Impact of the Great Recession on Employment Outcomes and Labor Mobility for Native Americans.” Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy 1 (2–3): 60–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41996-018-0008-6.
  • Feir, Donn L. 2016. “The Long-Term Effects of Forcible Assimilation Policy: The Case of Indian Boarding Schools.” Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d’économique 49 (2): 433–480. https://doi.org/10.1111/caje.12203.
  • Feir, Donn L. 2013. “Size, Structure, and Change: Exploring the Sources of Aboriginal Earnings Gaps in 1995 and 2005.” Canadian Public Policy 39 (2): 309–334. https://doi.org/10.3138/CPP.39.2.309.