Dr. Smith's research primarily focuses on studying the institutions that emerge to foster economic and social cooperation between socially distant, or even hostile, groups. His dissertation, which won the Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Prize, explored the institutions that emerged to facilitate trade between Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Medieval Spain, resulting in a period of relative peace and prosperity. He has also detailed how similar institutions have emerged in other diverse cons, such as disaster-stricken communities, among competitors in the Tour de France, and even among brawling soccer hooligans.