Bio

I have been a research economist in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland since 2015. My fields of interest include labor economics, macroeconomics and applied microeconomics. I specialize in theoretical and empirical work related to microeconomic behavior of the labor market and links to the aggregate labor market. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan. I obtained my Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 2013, and hold B.A. and B.Sc. degrees from Stanford University.

My dissertation examines theory and data pertaining to workers experiencing involuntary job losses (displacements). In chapter one, I assess the ability of a rich search and matching model to match the observed persistent earnings losses of displaced workers. In contrast to previous literature, the proposed model fits many features of the data, including the decomposition of earnings losses into employment and wage effects, as well as the serial correlation in displacements. In chapter two, I explore how the dynamics of displaced workers contribute to aggregate phenomena, such as unemployment and job openings over the business cycle. In chapter three, I investigate the standard empirical approach to measuring the earnings losses of displaced workers, and find that this approach systematically over-estimates the earnings losses attributed to displacement. I plan to continue work related to displaced workers. As far as theory is concerned, I am interested in developing a richer model of the job ladder that matches the complicated experience of displaced workers.

More recently I have started two co-authored projects. The first uses the PSID to assess whether local connections, including the presence of parents, helps or hinders the recovery of displaced workers. The second project investigates the implications of introducing a formal notion of search into standard trade theory.

I have taught macroeconomics at both the undergraduate and graduate level as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) during my time at the University of Michigan. I also taught microeconomics while an undergraduate student at Stanford University. I enjoy the energy and intellectual curiosity of graduate students and the keen and honest approach of undergraduate students.

I enjoy volunteering and have most recently been involved with tutoring students with limited access to education at SOS Community Services in Ypsilanti, MI, which devotes itself to ending homelessness for families in Washtenaw County. I have also worked on many service projects in Flint, MI, including work at St. Luke's New Life Center which works with single, homeless mothers.