Troup Howards research explores how regional economic outcomes and household finances are affected by the fiscal choices of state and local governments, with particular attention to public debt and taxation. In recent work, he documented widespread racial and ethnic inequality in local property taxes. Using administrative data covering most homes in the US, along with precise geographic detail on taxing units, he and his coauthor show that minority residents face a higher tax burden even when holding policy rates and government services fixed. In other research, Professor Howard studies how labor shortages in the construction sector affect housing supply and home prices; how firm outcomes are influenced by commercial property taxes; and whether public pension debts are capitalized into local housing prices.

He has an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a PhD in Finance from the University of California at Berkeley.