Learn about the dissertations of our PhD in Public Policy graduates and their job placements directly following graduation.
2023
jiahua liu (economics track)
Dissertation Title: Essays on International Trade and Firm Growth in Developing Countries
Advisor: Gordon Hanson
Job Placement: Economist, Cornerstone Research
kristen McCormack (economics track)
Dissertation Title: Essays in Environmental Economics
Advisor: David Cutler
Job Placement: Economist, U.S. Treasury
dayea oh (economics track)
Dissertation Title: Essays on Applied Microeconomics
Advisor: Will Dobbie
Job Placement: Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University
lauren russell (economics track)
Dissertation Title: Essays on the U.S. Criminal Legal System and Black-White Inequality
Advisor: David Deming
Job Placement: Economist, Labor Markets Section, Federal Reserve Board
Samuel stemper (economics track)
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Economics of Education
Advisor: Christopher Avery
Job Placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Auckland
Amy wickett (economics track)
Dissertation Title: Essays on Diversity
Advisor: Desmond Ang
Job Placement: to be confirmed
2022
Shweta Bhogale
Dissertation Title: Essays on Agriculture and Rural Development in Developing Countries
Advisor: Rema Hanna
Job Placement: Post-Doctoral Fellow, King Climate Action Initiative, J-PAL
Kevin Carney
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development and Behavioral Economics
Advisor: Gautam Rao
Job Placement:
- Post-Doctoral Fellow (one year), Department of Economics, University of Chicago
- Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Michigan
Helen Ho
Dissertation Title: Two Essays on Legal Entanglements and One Essay on Worker Voice
Advisor: Will Dobbie
Job Placement: Research Director, People Lab, University of California, Berkeley
Stuart Iler
Dissertation Title: Essays on Shock Propagation in Economic Production Networks: Applications to U.S. Oil Price Episodes and Green Jobs
Advisor: Joseph Aldy
Job Placement: Consultant, Resources for the Future
frina Lin (economics track)
Dissertation Title: Essays on Health Care and Inequality
Advisor: Marcella Alsan
Job Placement: to be confirmed
Grace McCormack
Dissertation Title: Three Essays in Applied Microeconomics
Advisor: David Cutler
Job Placement: Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Southern California
José Morales-Arilla
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Political Economy of Development
Advisor: Edward Glaeser
Job Placement: Assistant Professor, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University
Felix Owusu (Economics track)
Dissertation Title: Policy and Inequality in the Criminal Legal System
Advisor: David Deming
Job Placement: Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
James Reisinger
Dissertation Title: Social Spillovers in Beliefs, Preferences, and Well-being
Advisor: Michela Carlana
Job Placement: Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Furman Center, New York University
Elizabeth Spink (economics track)
Dissertation Title: Essays on Water Utility Quality and Access
Advisor: Rema Hanna
Job Placement: Economist, Environmental Protection Agency
2021
Yazan Al-Karablieh
Dissertation Title: Essays on Corporate Taxation
Advisor: Stefanie Stantcheva
Job Placement: Economist, Economist Program, International Monetary Fund
Holly Dykstra
Dissertation Title: Essays in Behavioral Economics
Advisor: Brigitte C. Madrian
Job Placement: Junior Professor, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz
Marie-Pascale Grimon
Dissertation Title: Essays in Labor Economics and Child Welfare
Advisor: Amanda Pallais
Job Placement: Assistant Professor, Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University
Blake Heller
Dissertation Title: Essays on Late Investment in Human Capital
Advisor: Joshua Goodman
Job Placement:
- Assistant Professor, Hobby School of Public Affairs, University of Houston
- Post-Doctoral Fellow 2021-2022, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
Shefali Khanna
Dissertation Title: Essays in Energy and Development Economics
Advisor: Rema Hanna
Job Placement: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Economics and Public Policy Department, Imperial College London
Kunal Mangal
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Economics of Public Sector Recruitment in India
Advisor: Asim Khwaja
Job Placement: Visiting Fellow, Azim Premji University
Niharika Singh
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development Economics
Advisor: Asim Khwaja
Job Placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Notre Dame
Daniel Stuart
Dissertation Title: Essays in Energy and Environmental Economics
Advisor: Joseph Aldy
Job Placement: Associate, Analysis Group
2020
Andrew Bacher-Hichs
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Economics of Education
Advisor: Christopher Avery
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Education Policy
Boston University
Megan Bailey
Dissertation Title: Essays in Climate Policy and Innovation
Advisor: Joseph Aldy
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
University of Calgary
Patrick Behrer
Dissertation Title: Three Essays in Environmental and Development Economics
Advisor: Rema Hanna
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Center on Food Security and the Environment
Stanford University
Elijah de la Campa
Dissertation Title: Three Essays on the Provision of Local Public Goods
Advisor: Jeffrey Liebman
Job Placement:
Senior Research Associate in Economics and Urban Analytics
Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative
Charlie Dorison
Dissertation Title: Essays on Emotion and Decision Making
Advisor: Jennifer Lerner
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Dispute Resolution Research Center
Management and Operations Department
Northwestern University
Madeleine Gelblum
Dissertation Title: Essays on Labor and Personnel Economics
Advisor: David Deming
Job Placement:
Labor Market Analyst
Facebook
Guthrie Gray-Lobe
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development Economics
Advisor: Michael Kremer
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Harvard University
Asad Liaqat
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development Economics and Political Economy
Advisor: Asim Khwaja
Job Placement:
Research Scientist
Novi Economics team
Facebook
Heidi Liu
Dissertation Title: Essays in Behavioral Economics, Gender and Employment
Advisor: Iris Bohnet
Job Placement:
Sharswood Fellow
University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Sharan Mamidipudi
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development Economics and Political Economy
Advisor: Gautam Rao
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
University of Maryland
Aroop Mukharji
Dissertation Title: Sea Change: McKinley, Roosevelt, and the Expansion of U.S. Foreign Policy 1897-1909
Advisor: Fredrik Logevall
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Tufts University
Christine Mulhern
Dissertation Title: Personalized Information and College Choices: The Role of School Counselors, Technology, and Siblings
Advisor: Christopher Avery
Job Placement:
Associate Policy Research
RAND
Rebecca Sachs
Dissertation Title: Essays on Health Care Markets and the Safety Net
Advisor: David Cutler
Job Placement:
Analyst
Health Studies Unit
Congressional Budget Office
Chris Umphres
Dissertation Title: Essays on Judgement and Decision Making
Advisor: Jennifer Lerner
Job Placement:
United States Air Force
2019
Bradley DeWees
Dissertation Title: Essays on Judgment and Decision Making
Advisors: Jennifer Lerner, Julia Minson
Job Placement:
Assistant Director of Operations
United States Air Force
Abraham Holland
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development Economics
Advisors: Edward Glaeser, Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Research Staff Member
Institute for Defense Analyses
Ariella Kahn-Lang
Dissertation Title: Essays in Labor Market Inequality
Advisors: Christopher Avery, Lawrence Katz
Job Placement:
Researcher
Human Services
Mathematica
Jennifer Kao
Dissertation Title: Essays in the Economics of Health and Innovation
Advisors: Pierre Azoulay, Amitabh Chandra, David Cutler
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Strategy Unit
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Stephanie Majerowicz
Dissertation Title: Essays in Education and Development Economics
Advisors: Asim Khwaja, Michael Kremer
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Government
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
(Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, briq Institute on Behavior & Inequality)
Emily Mower
Dissertation Title: Algorithms and Applied Econometrics in the Digital Economy
Advisors: Kris Johnson Ferreira, Joshua Goodman, Shane Greenstein
Job Placement:
Senior Data Scientist
edX
Gabriel Tourek
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development and Public Economics
Advisors: Nathaniel Hendren, Asim Khwaja
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Associate
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
Daniel Velez-Lopez
Dissertation Title: Essays in Environmental Economics
Advisor: Joseph Aldy
Job Placement:
Lead Analyst
Venture Fellowship Program
National Grid Partners
2018
Rohit Chandra
Dissertation Title: Adaptive State Capitalism in the Indian Coal Industry
Advisor: José A. Gómez-Ibáñez
Juan Pablo Chauvin
Dissertation Title: Essays in Urban Economics and Development
Advisor: Edward Glaeser
Job Placement:
Research Economist
Inter-American Development Bank
Cuicui Chen
Dissertation Title: Essays on Environmental Economics and Industrial Organization
Advisors: Joseph Aldy, Ariél Pakes
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
State University of New York at Albany
Stephen Coussens
Dissertation Title: Essays in Health and Behavioral Economics
Advisors: David Cutler, Brigitte Madrian
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management
Mailman School of Public Health
Columbia University
Raissa Fabregas
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development Economics and Education
Advisors: Michael Kremer, Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
University of Texas at Austin
Todd Gerarden
Dissertation Title: Essays in Environmental Economics and Industrial Organization
Advisors: Ariél Pakes, Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
Cornell University
Sarika Gupta
Dissertation Title: Essays in Development Economics and Governance
Advisor: Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Young Professionals Program
The World Bank
Alicia Harley
Dissertation Title: Why Does Technology Fail to Benefit the Poorest Farmers? A Sociotechnical Approach to the Study of Innovation and Poverty
Advisor: William Clark
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Sustainability Science Program
Harvard Kennedy School
Janhavi Nilekani
Dissertation Title: Essays at the Intersection of Environmental and Development Economics
Advisors: Rema Hanna, Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Founder
Aastar
Lisa Xu
Dissertation Title: Essays on Structural Transformation and Trade
Advisors: Melissa Dell, Martin Rotemberg
Job Placement:
Harvard Graduate Students Union
United Auto Workers
2017
Martin Abel
Dissertation Title: Essays on Labor Markets in Developing Countries
Advisors: Rema Hanna, Lawrence Katz
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Middlebury College
Jonathan Baker
Dissertation Title: Essays in Water Conservation and Water Quality Programs
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Economist
Analysis Group
Tomoko Harigaya
Dissertation Title: Delivering Financial Services to the Poor: Constraints on Access, Take-up, and Usage
Advisor: Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Research Associate
Precision Agriculture for Development
Laura Quinby
Dissertation Title: Compensation and Employment Policies in the U.S. Public Sector
Advisor: Lawrence Katz
Job Placement:
Research Economist
Center for Retirement Research
Boston College
Yeling Tan
Dissertation Title: State Strategies Under Global Rules: Chinese Industrial Policy in the WTO Era
Advisor: Peter A. Hall
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Oregon
2016
Samura Atallah
Dissertation Title: Studies in Labor Economics, Organizational Economics, and Development
Advisor: Ellen J. Langer
Job Placement:
Associate
McKinsey & Company
Tara Grillos
Dissertation Title: Participation, Power, and Preferences in International Development
Advisor: William Clark
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Purdue University
Nils Hägerdal
Dissertation Title: Ethnic Cleansing as Military Strategy: Lessons From Lebanon, 1975-1990
Advisor: Robert H. Bates
Job Placement:
Junior Research Fellow
Brandeis University
Elizabeth Linos
Dissertation Title: Three Essays on Human Capital in the Public Sector
Advisor: Jeffrey Liebman
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Goldman School of Public Policy
University of California, Berkeley
Sara Nadel
Dissertation Title: Essays in Optimizing Social Policy for Different Populations: Education, Targeting, and Impact Evaluation
Advisor: Lant Pritchett
Job Placement:
Founder and CEO
StellarEmploy
Yusuf Neggers
Dissertation Title: Essays in Economic Development and Political Economy
Advisor: Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Watson Post-Doctoral Fellow
Brown University
Oyebola Okunogbe
Dissertation Title: Essays in Political Economy and Development
Advisor: Asim Khwaja
Job Placement:
Economist
Development Research Group
The World Bank
Trisha Shrum
Dissertation Title: Behavioral and Experimental Insights on Consumer Decisions and the Environment
Advisors: Joseph Aldy, David Laibson
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Earth Lab
University of Colorado
Samuel Stolper
Dissertation Title: Oil and Water: Essays on the Economics of Natural Resource Usage
Advisors: Joseph Aldy, Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Fall 2016
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Energy Initiative
Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Fall 2017
Assistant Professor
School of Natural Resources and Environment
University of Michigan
2015
Maria Cecilia Acevedo
Dissertation Title: Essays in the Political Economy of Conflict and Development
Advisors: Rohini Pande, James Robinson
Job Placement:
Consultant
Poverty Global Practice Division
The World Bank
Natalie Bau
Dissertation Title: Essays at the Intersection of Development and Education
Advisors: Asim Khwaja, Nathan Nunn
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
University of Toronto
Syon Bhanot
Dissertation Title: Field Experiments in Behavioral and Public Economics
Advisors: Brigitte Madrian, Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Swarthmore College
Gabriel Chan
Dissertation Title: Essays on Energy Technology Innovation Policy
Advisors: William Clark, Laura Díaz Anadón
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Science, Technology and Policy
Humphrey School of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota
Sarah Cohodes
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Economics of Education
Advisor: Christopher Avery
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis
Teachers College, Columbia University
A. Nilesh Fernando
Dissertation Title: Land, Labor and Technology: Essays in Development Economics
Advisors: Lawrence Katz, Asim Khwaja
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
University of Notre Dame
(Post-Doc at Harvard University)
Daniel Honig
Dissertation Title: Navigating by Judgment: Organizational Structure, Autonomy, and Country Context in Delivering Foreign Aid
Advisor: Peter A. Hall
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
School of Advanced International Studies
Johns Hopkins University
Mahnaz Islam
Dissertation Title: Essays on Development Economics
Advisors: Rema Hanna, Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Economist
Amazon
joo Julia A. lee
Dissertation Title: Essays in Organizational Behavior
Advisor: Francesca Gino
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Institutional Corruption Program
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
Harvard University
Andry Liscovich
Dissertation Title: Essays in Experimental and Labor Economics
Advisor: Nicholas A. Christakis
Job Placement:
Director of Technology
RA Capital Management
Richard Sweeney
Dissertation Title: Essays on Industry Response to Energy and Environmental Policy
Advisors: Ariél Pakes, Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Boston College
Elizabeth Walker
Dissertation Title: Essays at the Intersection of Environment and Development Economics
Advisor: Rema Hanna
Job Placement:
Consultant
Energy, Environment, and Network Industries Practice
NERA Economic Consulting
2014
Dany Bahar
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Transmission and Diffusion of Productive Knowledge in International Economics
Advisor: Elhanan Helpman
Job Placement:
Senior Associate Economist
Inter-American Development Bank
Ariel Dora Stern
Dissertation Title: Essays in the Economics of Health Care and the Regulation of Medical Technology
Advisor: Amitabh Chandra
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Technology and Operations Management Unit
Harvard Business School
Alexandra van Geen
Dissertation Title: Essays in Experimental Economics and the Improvement of Judgment and Decision Making
Advisor: Iris Bohnet
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Finance
Erasmus School of Economics
Clara Monika Zverina
Dissertation Title: Essays in Public and Labor Economics
Advisor: Jeffrey Liebman
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow in Disability Research
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
2013
Will Dobbie
Dissertation Title: Essays in Labor Economics
Advisor: Roland G. Fryer, Jr.
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Affairs
Department of Economics
Woodrow Wilson School
Princeton University
Jeffrey Friedman
Dissertation Title: Cumulative Dynamics and Strategic Assessment: U.S. Military Decision Making in Iraq, Vietnam, and the American Indian Wars
Advisor: Stephen Walt
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow in International Security and U.S. Foreign Policy
John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding
Dartmouth College
Marie E. Newhouse
Dissertation Title: Kant's Typo, and the Limits of Law
Advisor: Arthur Applbaum
Job Placement:
Residential Lab Fellow
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
Harvard Law School
Olga Rostapshova
Dissertation Title: Pushing a Troika of Development: Promoting Investment, Curbing Corruption, and Enhancing Public Good Provision
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Specialist, Social Impact
Social Science Genetics Association Consortium
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Senior Evaluations
Laurence Tai
Dissertation Title: Hierarchical Game-Theoretic Models of Transparency in the Administrative State
Advisor: Daniel Carpenter
Job Placement:
Residential Lab Fellow
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
Harvard Law School
2012
Christopher Carrigan
Dissertation Title: Structured to Fail? Explaining Regulatory Performance Under Completing Mandates
Advisor: Daniel Carpenter
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration
George Washington University
Souman Hong
Dissertation Title: Online Institutions, Markets, and Democracy
Advisor: Matthew Baum
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Yonsei University
Avinash Kishore
Dissertation Title: Essays on Economics of Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution in India
Advisor: Dale Jorgenson
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
New Delhi, India
Robyn Meeks
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Economics of Household Water Access in Developing Countries
Advisor: Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor in Environmental Economics
School of Natural Resources and Environment
University of Michigan
Karl Neumar
Dissertation Title: Essays on Optimal Management of Portfolios
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Founding Partner
HNC Advisors
Philip Osafo-Kwaako
Dissertation Title: Essays in Economic History and Development
Advisor: James Robinson
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences at Harvard
Matthew Ransom
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Economics of Climate Change
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Senior Analyst
Health and Environment Division
Abt Associates
Christopher Robert
Dissertation Title: Wealth, Welfare, and Well-being: Essays in Indebtedness and Normative Analysis
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
President and CEO
Dobility
Adjunct Lecturer
Harvard Kennedy School
William Skimmyhorn
Dissertation Title: Essays in Behavioral Household Finance
Advisor: Brigitte Madrian
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
United States Military Academy (West Point)
Maoliang Ye
Dissertation Title: Gradualism in Coordination and Trust Building
Advisors: Raj Chetty, Brigitte Madrian
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Remin University of China
Tristan Zajonc
Dissertation Title: Essays on Causal Inference for Public Policy
Advisor: Guido Imbens
Job Placement:
Visiting Fellow
Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard
Co-founder and CEO
Sense, Inc.
2011
Ina Ganguli
Dissertation Title: Labor Markets in Transition: Science and Migration After the Collapse of the Soviet Union
Advisor: Richard B. Freeman
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
2011–2012
Harvard Business School
Harvard Medical School
2012
Assistant Professor
Stockholm School of Economics
John Horton
Dissertation Title: Online Labor Markets
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Economist
Odesk
Victoria Levin
Dissertation Title: Choices and Consequences: Decisions on Health, Wealth, and Employment
Advisor: Brigitte Madrian
Job Placement:
Economist
The World Bank
Suerie Moon
Dissertation Title: Embedding Neoliberalism: Global Health and the Evolution of the Global Intellectual Property Regime (1995-2009)
Advisor: John Ruggie
Job Placement:
Non-academic offers—undecided
Gary Reinbold
Dissertation Title: Essays on Child Mortality and Growth Faltering in Bangladesh and Kenya
Advisor: Mary Jo Bane
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Public Administration
University of Illinois Springfield
Abigail Fisher Williamson
Dissertation Title: Beyond the Passage of Time: Local Government Response in New Immigrant Destinations
Advisor: Robert D. Putnam
Job Placement:
Preceptor
Harvard College Writing Program
Andrés Zahler
Dissertation Title: Essays on Export Dynamics
Advisor: Ricardo Hausmann
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Public Policy Institute
Diego Portales University
2010
Mohamad Al-Ississ
Dissertation Title: The Role of Beliefs in Financial Markets: Three Essays on Violence, Trust and Religion
Advisor: Iris Bohnet
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
University of Cairo
Joint appointment with Business School and School of Global Affairs
Sharon Barnhardt
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Impact of Residential Location on Networks, Attitudes and Cooperation: Experimental Evidence from India
Advisor: Rohini Pande
Job Placement:
Institute for Financial Management and Research
Chennai, India
David Deming
Dissertation Title: Long-Term Impacts of Educational Interventions
Advisor: Lawrence Katz
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Heinz School of Public Health
Carnegie Mellon University
Brooke Kelsey Jack
Dissertation Title: Essays on Developing Country Markets in Environment and Health
Advisor: Christopher Avery
Job Placement:
2010–2011
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2011
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Tufts University
David J. Lynch
Dissertation Title: Does Analogical Reasoning Affect Political Attitudes? Evidence from Survey Experiments
Advisor: Gary King
Job Placement:
Consultant
RWS Advisory
Santitarn Sathirathai
Dissertation Title: Loyal Friends and Fickle Lenders: The Behavior of Financial Institutions During Financial Crises
Advisor: Asim Khwaja
Job Placement:
Credit Suisse
Singapore
Thomas Wei
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Economics of Education
Advisor: Lawrence Katz
Job Placement:
Institute of Education Sciences
(National Center for Education Evaluation)
U.S. Department of Education
2009
Hunt Allcott
Dissertation Title: Consumer Behavior and Firm Strategy in Energy Markets
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
2009–2011
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2011
Assistant Professor of Economics
New York University
Jeffrey Bielicki
Dissertation Title: Integrated Systems Analysis and Technological Findings for Carbon Capture and Storage Deployment
Advisor: John Holdren
Job Placement:
Weinberg Fellow
Research Scientist
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Jonathan Borck
Dissertation Title: Beyond Compliance: Three Essays on Voluntary Corporate Environmentalism
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Economist
Analysis Group, Boston
Warigia Bowman
Dissertation Title: Digital Development: Technology, Governance, and the Quest for Modernity in East Africa
Advisor: Sheila Jasanoff
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Public Policy Leadership
University of Mississippi
Jennifer Bulkeley
Dissertation Title: Perspectives on Power: Chinese Strategies to Measure and Manage China’s Rise
Advisor: Ashton Carter
Job Placement:
Special Assistant for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs
Office of the Secretary of Defense
Oeindrila Dube
Dissertation Title: Essays in the Political Economy of Conflict and Development
Advisor: Sendhil Mullainathan
Job Placement:
2009–2010
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Center for Global Development
New York University
Allan Friedman
Dissertation Title: Privacy, Security, and the Dynamics of Networked Information Sharing
Advisor: David Lazer
Job Placement:
2009–2010
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Center for Research on Computation and Society
Harvard University
2010
Brookings Institution
Felipe Kast
Dissertation Title: Essays on Poverty Dynamics and Social Policy
Advisor: Alberto Abadie
Job Placement:
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Kira Matus
Dissertation Title: Green Chemistry: A Study of Innovation for Sustainable Development
Advisor: William Clark
Job Placement:
Senior Policy Analyst
Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering
Yale University
Holly Ho Ming
Dissertation Title: Growing Up in the Urban Shadow: Realities and Dreams of Migrant Workers’ Children in Beijing and Shanghai
Advisor: Anthony Saich
Job Placement:
Breakthrough, Ltd, Hong Kong
Youth Foundation, Beijing and Shanghai
Tatsuya Nishida
Dissertation Title: Incomplete Alliances: A Comparative Analysis of the Hub-and Spoke System in the Asia-Pacific
Advisor: Stephen Walt
Job Placement:
Post-Doc at a Japanese university
Jason Richwine
Dissertation Title: IQ and Immigration Policy
Advisor: George Borjas
Job Placement:
Research Fellow
American Enterprise Institute
Juan Saavedra
Dissertation Title: The Role of Resources and Incentives in Education Production
Advisor: Lawrence Katz
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
School of Government
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Judith Scott-Clayton
Dissertation Title: Understanding America's Unfinished Transformation: Three Essays on the Economics of Higher Education
Advisor: Christopher Jencks
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Economics and Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
Sandra Sequeira
Dissertation Title: On the Waterfront: An Empirical Study of Corruption in Ports
Advisor: Sendhil Mullainathan
Job Placement:
2009
Post-Doctoral Fellow
New York Law School
2010
Lecturer in Development Economics
London School of Economics and Political Science
Yuhki Tajima
Dissertation Title: Order and Violence in Authoritarian Breakdowns: How Institutions Explain Communal Violence in Indonesia
Advisor: Robert H. Bates
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Political Science
University of California, Riverside
Ngoc Anh Tran
Dissertation Title: Corruption, Ranking and Competition
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
University of Indiana
Fei Yu
Dissertation Title: Three Essays in Environmental Economics
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Economics
Mount Holyoke College
2008
Fotini Christia
Dissertation Title: The Closest of Enemies: Alliance Formation in the Afghan and Bosnian Civil Wars
Advisor: Robert H. Bates
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kessely Corea Hong
Dissertation Title: Group Differences in Preferences, Beliefs, and Perceptions?
Advisor: Iris Bohnet
On family leave
Sebastian S. James
Dissertation Title: Essays on Tax Policy and Tax Compliance
Advisor: Caroline M. Hoxby
Job Placement:
Senior Economist on Tax Policy
The World Bank
Bailey W. Klinger
Dissertation Title: Discovering New Export Activities in Developing Countries: Uncertainty, Linkages, and the Product Space
Advisor: Ricardo Hausmann
Job Placement:
Director
Center for International Development (CID) Research Lab
Harvard Kennedy School
Carolyn M. Kousky
Dissertation Title: Responding to Risk: Information and Decision Making in the Floodplains of St. Louis County, Missouri
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Fellow
Resources for the Future
Elta C. Smith
Dissertation Title: Governing Rice: The Politics of Experimentation in Global Agriculture
Advisor: Sheila Jasanoff
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Department of Environment and Political Economy
University of California, Berkeley
Nicole A. Szlezak
Dissertation Title: Global Health in the Making: China, HIV/AIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Advisor: Sheila Jasanoff
Job Placement:
Consultant
McKinsey & Company
Adam T. Thomas
Dissertation Title: Forgotten Fathers: A Collection of Essays on Low-Skilled Men and Marriage
Advisor: William Julius Wilson
Job Placement:
Research Director
Economic Studies
Brookings Institution
Rui Wang
Dissertation Title: Nonparametric Methods for Inference After Variable Selection, Comparisons of Survival Distributions, and Random Effects Meta-Analysis, and Reporting of Subgroup Analyses (Department of Biostatistics)
Advisor: Stephen Lagakos
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Urban Planning
University of California, Los Angeles
Blair s. Williams
Dissertation Title: Essays in Legislative Behavior
Advisor: David King
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Social Sciences
United States Military Academy (West Point)
2007
Naomi Calvo
Dissertation Title: How Parents Choose Schools: A Mixed-Methods Study of Public School Choice in Seattle
Advisor: Christopher Jencks
Job Placement:
Principal Associate
Education Resource Strategies
Jing Cao
Dissertation Title: Essays on Environmental Tax Policy Analysis: Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium Approaches Applied to China
Advisor: Dale Jorgenson
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
School of Economics and Management
Tsinghua University
Andrew Feldman
Dissertation Title: What Works in Work-First Welfare?
Advisor: Jeffrey Liebman
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Harvard Kennedy School
Fiona Greig
Dissertation Title: Barriers to Advancement: Perspectives from Behavioral Economics, Negotiation and Gender Analysis
Advisor: Iris Bohnet
Job Placement:
Consultant
McKinsey & Company
Wei Ha
Dissertation Title: Essays on Education Production in China and the U.S.
Advisor: Anthony Saich
Job Placement:
Policy Specialist
Human Development Report Office
UN Development Programme
Beau Kilmer
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Consequences of Drug Use and Drug Testing
Advisor: Mark Moore
Job Placement:
Associate Policy Researcher
RAND
Indhira Santos
Dissertation Title: Essays on Natural Disasters and Household Income
Advisor: Jeffrey Liebman
Job Placement:
Research Fellow
Bruegel
Fan Zhang
Dissertation Title: Essays on Environmental, Energy, and Natural Resource Economics
Advisor: William Hogan
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor in Energy Economics and Policy
Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering
Penn State University
2006
Pelin Berkmen
Dissertation Title: Essays on Monetary Policy and Debt Accumulation
Advisor: Andrés Velasco
Job Placement:
Research Economist
International Monetary Fund
Eduardo Cavallo
Dissertation Title: Living as a Debtor in a World of Sudden Stops: The Roles of Exposure to Trade and Commitment
Advisor: Jeffrey Frankel
Job Placement:
Research Economist
Inter-American Development Bank
Darby Jack
Dissertation Title: Household Behavior and Energy Demand: Evidence from Peru
Advisor: Mark Rosenzweig
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
The Earth Institute
Columbia University
Zhou Liu
Dissertation Title: The Economic Interdependence of China and the World
Advisor: Robert Lawrence
Job Placement:
Private Sector Consultant
Jenny Schuetz
Dissertation Title: Land, Money and Politics: Essays on Government Intervention in Housing Markets
Advisor: José A. Gómez-Ibáñez
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy
New York University
Jong-Sung You
Dissertation Title: A Comparative Study of Income Inequality, Corruption, and Social Trust
Advisor: Robert D. Putnam
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies
University of California, San Diego
2005
Chad b. steinberg
Dissertation Title: Does the Neighborhood Matter? Three Essays in International Economics
Advisor: Dani Rodrik
Job Placement:
Economist
International Monetary Fund
Khuong Minh Vu
Dissertation Title: ICT and Global Economic Growth: Contribution, Impact, and Policy Implications
Advisor: Dale Jorgenson
Job Placement:
Visiting Professor
Sawyer School of Management
Suffolk University
2004
Steven c. Anderson
Dissertation Title: Analyzing Strategic Interaction in Multi-Settlement Electricity Markets: A Closed-Loop Supply Function Equilibrium Model
Advisor: William Hogan
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Harvard Electricity Policy Group
Wenhua Di
Dissertation Title: Essays in Environmental Economics and Policy
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Visiting Professor
University of Texas at Dallas
Andrew k. Leigh
Dissertation Title: Essays in Poverty and Inequality
Advisor: Christopher Jencks
Job Placement:
Fellow
Research School of Social Sciences
Australian National University
Gavin Samms
Dissertation Title: Essay in Education Policy
Advisor: Christopher Jencks
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Sheryl Winston Smith
Dissertation Title: Innovation and Globalization in Four High-Technology Industries in the United States: One Size Does Not Fit All
Advisor: Lewis Branscomb
Job Placement:
Research Associate in Economics and Management
Gustavus Adolphus College
Lori d. Snyder
Dissertation Title: Essays on Facility-Level Response to Environmental Regulations
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy
Nicholas School of Environmental and Earth Sciences
Duke University
2003
Carolyn Gideon
Dissertation Title: Sustainable Competition or Inevitable Monopoly? The Potential for Competition in Network Communications Industries
Advisor: Lewis Branscomb
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of International Communications and Communications Technology
Tufts University
Gabriel Kaplan
Dissertation Title: Between Politics and Markets: The Institutional Allocation of Resources in Higher Education
Advisor: Joseph Kalt
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Public Affairs
University of Colorado Denver
Tuan Minh Le
Dissertation Title: Analysis of Tax and Trade Incentives for Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of Vietnam
Advisor: Dwight H. Perkins
Job Placement:
Public Finance Economist
The World Bank
Pierre LeBlanc
Dissertation Title: Essays on Tax-Deferred Saving in Canada
Advisor: David Wise
Job Placement:
Economist
Department of Finance
Government of Canada
2002
Dorina Bekoe
Dissertation Title: After the Peace Agreement: Lessons for Implementation from Mozambique, Angola, and Liberia
Advisor: Robert H. Bates
Job Placement:
Associate
International Peace Academy
Sheila Cavanagh
Dissertation Title: Essays in Environmental Economics and Policy
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Economics
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Yale University
Ajay Chaudry
Dissertation Title: Child Care Arrangements Among Low-Income Families: A Qualitative Approach
Advisor: Mary Jo Bane
Job Placement:
Faculty Member
The New School
Mark Kim
Dissertation Title: Money and Mission: How Non-Profit Organizations Finance Their Charitable Activities
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Public Finance Associate
UBS Paine Webber
R. Karl Rethemeyer
Dissertation Title: Centralization or Democratization: Assessing the Internet's Impact on Policy Networks
Advisor: Jane Fountain
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Public Affairs and Policy
Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Policy
State University of New York at Albany
Lisa Sanbonmatsu
Dissertation Title: Child Neglect in a Changing Economic and Social Policy Context
Advisor: Mary Jo Bane
Job Placement:
Post-Doctoral Fellow
National Bureau of Economic Research
Andres Vinelli
Dissertation Title: The Management and Performance of Microfinance Organizations
Advisor: Mark Moore
Job Placement:
Special Assistant to the Chairman
National Association of Securities Dealers
Alix Peterson Zwane
Dissertation Title: Essays in Environment and Development
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Cooperative Extension Specialist
Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics
University of California, Berkeley
2001
David Cash
Dissertation Title: Integrating Information and Decision Making in a Multi-Level World: Cross-scale Environmental Science and Management
Advisor: William Clark
Job Placement:
Research Associate
Sustainability Systems Project
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
RicHARD Doblin
Dissertation Title: Regulation of the Medical Use of Psychedelics and Marijuana
Advisor: F.M. Scherer
Job Placement:
President
Multi-Disciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
Judith Kelley
Dissertation Title: Norms and Membership Conditionality: The Role of European Institutions in Ethnic Politics in Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia and Romania
Advisor: Martin
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
Duke University
Anthony Patt
Dissertation Title: Strategy and Psychology in Environmental Assessment
Advisor: William Clark
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Center for Energy and Environmental Studies
Boston University
Sasha Pivovarsky
Dissertation Title: Essays on Institutions and Finance
Advisor: Benjamin Sachs
Job Placement:
Economist
International Monetary Fund
David Skilling
Dissertation Title: Policy Coordination, Political Structure, and Public Debt: The Political Economy of Public Debt Accumulation in OECD Countries Since 1960
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Economist
New Zealand Treasury
Marcus Stanley
Dissertation Title: Essays in Program Evaluation
Advisor: Claudia Goldin
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Economics
Case Western Reserve University
Robert Taliercio
Dissertation Title: Administrative Reform as Credible Commitment: The Design, Sustainability, and Performance of Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authorities in Latin America
Advisor: Merilee Grindle
Job Placement:
Fellow
Young Professionals Program
The World Bank
2000
Todd Olmstead
Dissertation Title: The Effects of Freeway Management Systems and Motorist Assistance Patrols on the Frequency of Reported Motor Vehicle Crashes
Advisor: José A. Gómez-Ibáñez
Job Placement:
Consultant
McKinsey & Company
Gustavo Merino-Juarez
Dissertation Title: Federalism and the Policy Process: Using Basic Education as a Test-Case of Decentralization in Mexico
Advisor: John Donahue
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Economics
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
Carlos Rufin
Dissertation Title: The Political Economy of Institutional Change in the Electricity Supply Industry
Advisor: William Hogan
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Business Strategy
Babson College
Howard Shatz
Dissertation Title: The Location of U.S. Multinational Affiliates
Advisor: Benjamin Sachs
Job Placement:
Research Fellow
Public Policy Institute of California
David Snelbecker
Dissertation Title: Pension Reform in Economies with Large Informal Sectors: The Case of the Ukraine
Advisor: William Hogan
Job Placement:
Manager
The Services Group
1999
David Autor
Dissertation Title: Essays on the Changing Labor Market: Computerization, Inequality, and the Development of the Contingent Work Force
Advisor: Lawrence Katz
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Alison Earle
Dissertation Title: Keeping the Job You Find: Understanding Job Turnover Among Welfare Recipients Who Obtain Work
Advisor: David Ellwood
Job Placement:
Research Scientist
Department of Health and Social Behavior
Harvard School of Public Health
Karen Eggleston
Dissertation Title: Incentives in Health Care Payment Systems
Advisor: Joseph P. Newhouse
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Economics
Tufts University
Karen Fisher-Vanden
Dissertation Title: Structural Change and Technological Diffusion in Transition Economies: Implications for Energy Use and Carbon Emissions in China
Advisor: Dale Jorgenson
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Environmental Studies Program
Dartmouth College
WooChan Kim
Dissertation Title: Essays in International Capital Markets
Advisor: Wei
Job Placement:
Deputy Director
Ministry of Finance and Economy
Republic of Korea
Chang-Yang Lee
Dissertation Title: A Theory of the Determinants of R&D: Consumer Characteristics and Technological Competence
Advisor: F.M. Scherer
Job Placement:
Director
Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy
Republic of Korea
Steven Todd Schatzki
Dissertation Title: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination of Land Use Change Under Uncertainty
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Senior Analyst
National Economic Research Associates
Stuart Orin Shapiro
Dissertation Title: Speed Bumps and Road Blocks: Procedural Controls and Regulatory Change
Advisor: Cary Coglianese
Job Placement:
Policy Analyst
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
U.S. Office of Management and Budget
Tay Keong Tan
Dissertation Title: Silence, Sacrifice, and Shoofly Pies: An Inquiry into the Social Capital and Organizational Structures of the Amish Community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Advisor: Katherine S. Newman
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
National University of Singapore
1998
Kathryn p. Boudett
Dissertation Title: In Search of a Second Chance: The Consequences of GED Certification, Education and Training for Young Women Without Traditional High School Diplomas
Advisor: Thomas Kane
Job Placement:
Research Fellow
Harvard Project on Schooling and Children
Bryan c. Hassel
Dissertation Title: Designed to Fail? Charter School Programs and the Politics of Structural Choice
Advisor: Paul E. Peterson
Job Placement:
Consultant
Private Company
Christopher e. Herbert
Dissertation Title: Limited Choices: The Effect of Residential Segregation on Homeownership Among Blacks
Advisor: Kain
Job Placement:
Senior Analyst
Abt Associates
Jason c. Snipes
Dissertation Title: Skill Mismatch, Turnover, and the Development of Young Workers’ Careers
Advisor: Ronald Ferguson
Job Placement:
Research Associate
Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation
1997
John d. Chapman
Dissertation Title: Biased Enrollment and Risk Adjustment for Health Plans
Advisor: Joseph P. Newhouse
Job Placement:
Vice President
Health Care Information Systems
Ingrid gould Ellen
Dissertation Title: Sharing America's Neighborhoods: The Changing Prospects for Stable, Racial Integration
Advisor: Richard Zeckhauser
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
New York University
Tae Yun Kim
Dissertation Title: An Analysis of Defense Procurement Policy in Korea: Selection, Cost Accounting, and Profit Policies
Advisor: F.M. Scherer
Job Placement:
Government Official
Republic of Korea
Dara e. Menashi
Dissertation Title: Making Public/Private Collaboration Productive: Lessons for Creating Social Capital
Advisor: Ronald Ferguson
Job Placement:
Consultant
Private Company
Richard g. Newell, Jr.
Dissertation Title: Environmental Policy and Technological Change: The Effect of Economic Incentives and Direct Regulation on Energy-Saving Innovation
Advisor: Robert Stavins
Job Placement:
Fellow
Resources for the Future
Vicki Norberg-Bohm
Dissertation Title: Technological Change for Sustainable Development: Lessons from the Mexican Electric Power Sector
Advisor: William Clark
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael a. Santoro
Dissertation Title: Trade Investment and Human Rights: A Moral Framework for Foreign Relations with China
Advisor: Frederick Schauer
Job Placement:
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Management
Rutgers University