Muhammad Usman Taj

I am an Economics Professor at Midlands Technical College. I completed my PhD in Economics, at the University of Delaware. My research interests are in the fields of labor economics, development economics, and household finance.

My research focuses on applied microeconomics, with interests in labor economics, public economics, household finance, and the effects of economic shocks and public policies on workers and households. My job market paper, “Reservation Wages and Macroeconomic Conditions: Evidence from Benefit Accuracy Measurement Data,” has received a revise-and-resubmit decision from "Empirical Economics". The paper examines how reservation wages respond to local labor-market conditions and shows that responses differ across labor-market measures, with aggregate conditions more strongly associated with reservation wages than group-specific indicators.

My broader research examines how labor markets, public policies, and economic shocks shape individual and household outcomes. My publications include articles in "Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives", "Research in Economics", and the "Eastern Economic Journal". My ongoing work examines Medicaid expansion and crime, the mental health effects of oil-price declines, pregnancy accommodation laws, labor-market concentration and reservation wages, and the impact of immigration on borrowing behavior.