William Skimmyhorn

Biography

William Skimmyhorn is an Associate Professor of Finance and Economics. Prior to joining the faculty at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, he was an Assistant and Associate Professor of Economics at the United States Military Academy at West Point. While there, he served as the inaugural Long-Term Research Coordinator for the U.S. Army Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis. In this position, he was responsible for providing analytic support to senior government leaders, managing a research network of leading scholars at more than a dozen institutions nationwide, and designing research and program evaluations to improve public policy.

He researches the causes and consequences of individual financial decision-making and human capital development. This research contributes to fields including household finance, behavioral finance and behavioral economics, public economics, labor economics, and the economics of national security. He has presented his research at academic conferences around the country and to policy-makers in a variety of settings, and published in journals including the Journal of Finance, Review of Finance, Review of Economics and Statistics, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, and the Journal of Public Economics.

He earned a B.S. degree in Economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an M.S. degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, an M.A. degree in International Policy from Stanford, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University.  Prior to arriving at William & Mary, Dr. Skimmyhorn was a career military officer in the U.S. Army as an aviator and an economist.

 

Areas of Interest/Expertise

• Household Finance and Financial Decision-Making
• Behavioral Economics & Behavioral Finance Human Capital
• Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skill Development
• Assessment Labor Economics Economics of National Security Veteran’s Issues

Publications

• Freeman, Charlton “Eli” and William Skimmyhorn. 2025.

• “Save More Tomorrow, Today: Experimental Evidence on the Role of Precommitment, Urgency and Personalization.” Accepted, Review of Finance Phipps, Aaron and William Skimmyhorn. 2024.

• “Entrepreneurship Among Veterans: Comparative Evidence from Recent Surveys.” International Small Business Journal. doi.org/10.1177/02662426241278216. Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and William Skimmyhorn. 2022.

• “Borrowing to Save? The Impact of Automatic Enrollment on Debt.” Journal of Finance, 77(1), 403-447. doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13069. Also available as NBER Working Paper No. 28876. Castleman, Benjamin, Francis X. Murphy, Richard Patterson, and William Skimmyhorn. 2021.

• “Nudges Don’t Work When the Benefits Are Ambiguous: Evidence from a High-Stakes Education Program.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. doi.org/10.1002/pam.22303. Goldin, Jacob, Tatiana Hominoff, Richard Patterson, and William Skimmyhorn. 2020.

• “How Much to Save? Decision Costs and Retirement Plan Participation.” Journal of Public Economics, 191. doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104247. Also available as NBER Working Paper w27575. Castleman, Benjamin, Frances X. Murphy, and William Skimmyhorn. 2019.

• “Marching Across Generations? An Analysis of the Benefits Transfer Provision of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.” Journal of Human Capital, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1086/704321 Lieber, Ethan and William Skimmyhorn. 2018.

• “Peer Effects in Financial Decision-Making.” Journal of Public Economics, 163: 37-59. doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.05.001 Carter, Susan Payne and William L. Skimmyhorn. 2017.

• “Much Ado About Nothing? New Evidence on the Effects of Payday Lending on Military Members.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 99(4): 606-621. doi: 10.1162/REST_a_00647 Skimmyhorn, William L. 2016.

• “Assessing Financial Education: Evidence From Boot Camp.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 8(2): 322-343. doi: 10.1257/pol.20140283. Hastings Justine S., Brigitte C. Madrian and William L. Skimmyhorn. 2013.

• “Financial Literacy, Financial Education and Economic Outcomes.” Annual Review of Economics. 5: 347-373. doi: 10.1146/annurev-economics-082312-125807. Also available as NBER Working Paper w18412.