Paul A. Ruud is a professor of economics at Vassar College.  His research focuses on econometrics, the statistical analysis of economic activities. Discrete choice models and semi-parametric estimation particularly interest him.  He is also works on contingent valuation for natural resource damage assessment.

Besides articles in theoretical econometric journals, he has published applied research with co-authors in environmental economics, public finance, labor economics, and law and economics. His textbook, An Introduction to Classical Econometric Theory (Oxford Univ. Press, 2000), is used widely in leading graduate programs. 

He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981 and began his academic career at the University of California, Berkeley.  After 28 years at Berkeley, he took an appointment at Vassar College in 2008.  He has held visiting appointments at the University of Rochester, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Nuffield College, Oxford.  He has served as a co-editor for Econometric Theory.  He has also been a consultant for various private companies and government agencies, including the offices of the state attorney general for Alaska (Exxon Valdez oil spill), California (American Trader oil spill), and Louisiana (Deep Water Horizon oil spill).

His latest research concerns rounding behavior in survey responses and tests for misspecification in discrete choice models.  His latest classes were introductory microeconomics, probability and statistics, natural resource and environmental economics, and advanced theoretical econometrics.