I am an economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in the Division of Research and Statistics in Washington, DC. At the Board, I am currently part of the team responsible for administering and disseminating the Survey of Consumer Finances, following five years on the team that monitors developments in Consumer Finance (e.g., credit cards, auto loans, student loans). My research interests are labor economics, public economics, and the economics of education.
I can be reached at sarena.goodman@gmail.com.
Working Papers
"U.S. Families' Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances" with Jesse Bricker, Kevin Moore, Sarah Reber, Alice Henriques Volz, and Richard Windle. October 2023 draft.
"The Effect of Financial Resources on Homeownership, Marriage, and Fertility: Evidence from State Lotteries" with George Bulman and Adam Isen. March 2023 draft.
Available as NBER Working Paper 30743.
"A Wealth of Information: Augmenting the Survey of Consumer Finances to Characterize the Full Wealth Distribution" with Jesse Bricker, Kevin Moore, and Alice Henriques Volz.
Published Papers
Black, Sandra, Jeffrey Denning, Lisa Dettling, Sarena Goodman, and Lesley Turner (forthcoming). "Taking It to the Limit: Effects of Increased Student Loan Availability on Attainment, Earnings, and Financial Well-Being," American Economic Review.
Available as NBER Working Paper 27658.
Goodman, Sarena, Adam Isen, and Constantine Yannelis (2021). "A Day Late and a Dollar Short: Liquidity and Household Formation among Student Borrowers," Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 142, No. 3: 1301-1323.
Early version available as Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economics Discussion Series Working Paper 2018-025.
Bulman, George, Robert Fairlie, Sarena Goodman, and Adam Isen (2021). "Parental Resources and College Attendance: Evidence from Lottery Wins," American Economic Review, vol. 111, No. 4: 1201-1240.
Available as NBER Working Paper 22679.
Goodman, Sarena, and Alice Henriques Volz (2020). "Attendance Spillovers between Public and For-Profit Colleges: Evidence from Statewide Variation in Appropriations for Higher Education," Education Finance and Policy, vol. 15, No. 3: 428-456.
Early version available as Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economics Discussion Series Working Paper 2015-025.
Goodman, Sarena, Alvaro Mezza, and Alice Henriques Volz (2020). "On Intergenerational Immobility: Evidence that Adult Credit Health Reflects the Childhood Environment," Economic Inquiry, vol. 58, No. 2: 780-801.
Early version available as Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economics Discussion Series Working Paper 2017-032 and Minneapolis Fed Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Paper 18-05.
Goodman, Sarena, and Adam Isen (2020). "Un-Fortunate Sons: Effects of the Vietnam Draft Lottery on the Next Generation's Labor Market," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, vol. 12, No. 1: 182-209.
Early version available as Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economics Discussion Series Working Paper 2015-119 and Minneapolis Fed Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Paper 17-07.
Dettling, Lisa, Sarena Goodman, and Jonathan Smith (2018). "Every Little Bit Counts: The Impact of High-Speed Internet on the Transition to College," The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 100, No. 2: 260-273.
Early version available as Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economics Discussion Series Working Paper 2015-108.
Goodman, Sarena (2016). "Learning from the Test: Raising Selective College Enrollment by Providing Information," The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 98, No. 4: 671-684.
Early version available as Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economics Discussion Series Working Paper 2013-69.
Goodman, Sarena, Peter Messeri, and Brendan O'Flaherty (2016). "Homelessness Prevention in New York City: On Average, It Works," Journal of Housing Economics, vol. 31, pp. 14-34.
Goodman, Allen C., Joshua Goodman, Lucas Goodman, and Sarena Goodman (2015). "A Few Goodmen: Surname-Sharing Economist Coauthors," Economic Inquiry, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 1392-1395.
Goodman, Sarena, Peter Messeri, and Brendan O'Flaherty (2014). "How Effective Homelessness Prevention Impacts the Length of Shelter Spells," Journal of Housing Economics, vol. 23, pp. 55-62.
Goodman, Sarena, and Lesley J. Turner (2013). "The Design of Teacher Incentive Pay and Educational Outcomes: Evidence from the New York City Bonus Program," Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 409-420.
Profiled by: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. (2012, October).
For policy audiences: Goodman, Sarena, and Lesley J. Turner (2011). "Does Whole-School Performance Pay Improve Student Learning?" Education Next, Vol. 11, no. 2.
Other Publications
Bricker, Jesse, Sarena Goodman, Kevin Moore, Sarah Reber, Alice Henriques Volz, and Richard Windle (2023). "U.S. Families' Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," FEDS Notes. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, October 18.
Aladangady, Aditya, Jesse Bricker, Andrew C. Chang, Sarena Goodman, Jacob Krimmel, Kevin B. Moore, Sarah Reber, Alice Henriques Volz, and Richard A. Windle (2023). Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, October.
Dettling, Lisa, Sarena Goodman, and Sarah Reber (2022). "Saving and Wealth Accumulation among Student Loan Borrowers: Implications for Retirement Preparedness," Prepared for the 2022 Pension Research Council conference at Wharton entitled "Real-World Shocks and Retirement System Resiliency."
Early version available as Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economics Discussion Series Working Paper 2022-019.
Goodman, Sarena, Simona Hannon, Adam Isen, and Alvaro Mezza (2022). “Implications of Student Loan COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Measures for Families with Children,” Prepared for the Committee Addressing the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Families of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2022.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report available here.
Goodman, Sarena, Geng Li, Alvaro Mezza, and Lucas Nathe (2021). "Developments in the Credit Score Distribution over 2020," FEDS Notes, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, April 30.
Bricker, Jesse, Sarena Goodman, Kevin B. Moore, and Alice Henriques Volz with assistance from Dalton Ruh (2020). "Wealth and Income Concentration in the SCF: 1989–2019," FEDS Notes, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, September 28.
Bhutta, Neil, Jesse Bricker, Andrew C. Chang, Lisa J. Dettling, Sarena Goodman, Joanne W. Hsu, Kevin B. Moore, Sarah Reber, Alice Henriques Volz, and Richard A. Windle with assistance from Kathy Bi, Jacqueline Blair, Julia Hewitt, and Dalton Ruh (2020). "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2016 to 2019: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, vol. 106, no. 5.
Goodman, Sarena, and Steve Ramos (2019). "Understanding Changes in Household Debt by Credit Risk Category: The Role of Credit Score Transitions," FEDS Notes, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, June 25.
"The Taxation of Social Security Benefits as an Approach to Means Testing" with Jeffrey Liebman. NBER Retirement Research Center Working Paper NB08-02.
Employment
Principal Economist, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Microeconomic Surveys, Division of Research and Statistics, 2019-Present.
Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Microeconomic Surveys, Division of Research and Statistics, 2018-2019.
Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Consumer Finance, Division of Research and Statistics, 2016-2018.
Economist, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Consumer Finance, Division of Research and Statistics, 2013-2016.
Staff Economist, Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisers (Education, Labor, and Public Economics), 2009-2010.
Research Assistant, National Bureau of Economic Research (Professor Jeffrey Liebman), 2006-2007.
Research Assistant, Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisers (Macroeconomics and Labor Economics), 2005-2006.
Citigroup Global Capital Markets and Corporate Investment Bank
Analyst Intern in the Investment Bank, Financial Institutions Group, Spring 2004.
Analyst Intern in Equity Capital Markets, Financial Institutions Group, Summer 2004.
Education
Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University, Department of Economics, 2013
UC Berkeley, Exchange Scholar, Department of Economics, 2012-2013
UC Berkeley, Visiting Student Researcher, Department of Economics, 2010-2012
AB in Economics (with a minor in Statistics) from Dartmouth College, 2005
magna cum laude, Presidential Scholar with Honors in Economics