Paul N. Thompson is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Oregon State University. He completed his B.A. in Economics at the College of Wooster in Ohio and his Ph.D. in Economics at Michigan State University, where he was an Institute of Education Sciences pre-doctoral fellow in Economics of Education. His research and teaching interests are at the intersection of public economics, urban economics, and the economics of education. His current research focuses on financially troubled school districts and local governments, the returns on investments education and public services in these local communities, and teacher value-added measures. He is Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Young Scholar and his work has been featured in outlets, such as, Journal of Urban Economics, Economics of Education Review, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Public Choice, Education Finance & Policy and Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics.

Paul Thompson became an IZA Research Affiliate in November 2017 and an IZA Research Fellow in December 2023.