Research in Labor Economics and the Economics of Education
Faculty Supervisor(s):
Joseph Altonji and John Eric Humphries
Project and Position Description:
We are hiring a pre-doctoral fellow to work with Professors Joseph Altonji and John Eric Humphries on several projects in labor economics and the economics of education.
The pre-doctoral fellow will help with multiple projects related to post-secondary education. These include projects on topics such as: (1) the causal effects of specific graduate degrees (e.g., an MBA) on earnings, (2) the returns to majoring in business and engineering and how these returns operate through graduate school opportunities, (3) racial disparities in the distribution and dynamics of adult family income, and (4) the causal impacts on post-secondary educational choices on long-run fertility outcomes.
The pre-doctoral fellow will work closely with both Professors Altonji and Humphries and be involved in all stages of the research process. Responsibilities include analyzing large-scale survey and administrative data, estimating returns to education, and contributing to research papers. The position offers opportunities to work with restricted-access data and to develop a broad range of research skills
Requisite Skills and Qualifications:
A love of working with data and an interest in the economics of education and labor are essential for this position. Methodological interests in labor economics, the economics of education, public economics, econometrics, machine learning, and statistics are also a big plus.
Candidates should have quantitative and coding skills and experience working with data. Candidates experienced working with Stata, R, and Latex are preferred. Experience with working with data in other programming languages is also helpful. Prior research experience is not required to apply, but is preferred.
Candidates need not be economics majors, though they should have experience with economics. Successful applicants typically have Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees with substantial coursework in economics, math, and/or computer science, and some experience or exposure to research.