His research specialties are in Urban, Public and Labor Economics. Specifically, his research studies how government policies impact local economic factors, such as business location decisions. He received the Junior Scholar Award from the Lincoln Land Institute in 2011. In 2012, he received the David C. Lincoln Fellowship in Land Value Taxation. His research has been published in research journals such as: Journal of Law and EconomicsJournal of Urban Economics Journal of Regional Science Regional Science and Urban Economics His research has won the "Most Outstanding Paper" in 2011 for Public Finance Review. He received his Ph.D. and Master's degree in economics from Syracuse University in 2009 and 2006, respectively. While at Syracuse, his main advisor was Stuart Rosenthal. Shawn also graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2004.