Stephen Sun is an economic historian with research interests in the growth and development of industries or other commercial activities from the 18th to early 20th centuries. He received his PhD from the University of California, Davis, where his thesis, Seeds of American Industry, was on the development of the American agricultural implements industry in the 19th century, with the aim of explaining the role of the geography of markets on innovation and industrial growth.
His role on the Theatronomics team is to apply econometric analysis in cooperation with the work of the cultural and literary specialists on the team to achieve a fuller understanding of the multifaceted commercial and cultural role of the theatre in eighteenth-century British life.