Benjamin Wild Pugsley
Robert and Irene Bozzone Associate Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame, 2022---Present
Previous Appointments
Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame, 2017--- 2022
Visiting Scholar, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics, University of Chicago, Spring 2022
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Columbia Business School, 2015---2017
Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2012---2017
Lecturer, University of Chicago, 2010---2012
Education
Ph.D. Economics, University of Chicago, 2012
M.A. Economics, University of Chicago, 2008
B.A. Economics, Columbia University, 2004
Research
Publications
"Demographic Origins of the Startup Deficit" with Fatih Karahan and Aysegul Sahin, American Economic Review, Forthcoming
"The Nature of Firm Growth" with Petr Sedlacek and Vincent Sterk, American Economic Review, February 2021
"Grown-up Business Cycles" with Ayşegül Şahin, Review of Financial Studies, March 2019
"Older and Slower: The Startup Deficit's Lasting Impact on Productivity Growth" with Titan Alon, David Berger, and Rob Dent. Journal of Monetary Economics, January 2018
"Do Job to Job Transitions Drive Wage Growth over the Business Cycle" with Fatih Karahan, Ryan Michaels, Aysegul Sahin and Rachel Schuh. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May 2017
"The Role of Startups in Structural Transformation" with Rob Dent, Fatih Karahn, and Aysegul Sahin. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May 2016
"Wealth, Tastes and Entrepreneurship" with Erik Hurst. Chapter in Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges, 2017
"Are Household Surveys Like Tax Forms: Evidence from Income Underreporting of the Self-Employed" with Erik Hurst and Geng Li, Review of Economics and Statistics, March 2014
"What do Small Businesses Do?" with Erik Hurst. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Fall 2011
"The Mistake of 1937: A General Equilibrium Analysis" with Gauti Eggertsson. Monetary and Economic Studies, Dec 2006
Published Comments
"Comment on `Structural Transformation and the Rise of Information Technology' by Gallipoli and Makridis" Journal of Monetary Economics, August 2018
Working Papers
"Superstar Firms through the Generations" with Yueran Ma and Kaspar Zimmermann, March 2024.
"The Rise of Pass-Throughs: An Empirical Investigation" with Sebastian Dyrda, March 2024. Revision invited at Economic Journal
"The Uneven Costs of the Volcker Disinflation" with Hannah Rubinton, April 2023. Revision invited at JPE: Macro.
"Taxes, Private Equity, and Evolution of Income Inequality in the U.S." with Sebastian Dyrda, September 2021
"How to Tax Capitalists in the 21st Century" with Sebastian Dyrda, September 2021
Research in Progress
"Liquidity Effects of Unemployment Benefit Extensions: Evidence from Consumer Credit Data" with Rene Chalom, Fatih Karahan and Kurt Mitman
"Macroeconomic Effects of the Rise in Pass-through Businesses" with Sebastian Dyrda
"How Free is Free Entry" with Fatih Karahan and Aysegul Sahin
Census Research Projects
Co-principal Investigator
Principal Investigator: “The Dynamics of the Small Business Sector: Evidence from the Survey of Business Owners and the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs,” with Sari Kerr, Robert Fairlie, William Kerr, and Alicia Robb. US Census Research Data Center proposal 1731, June 2018 through June 2023.
Principal Investigator: “Industry and Sectoral Variation in Firm Dynamics,” with Erik Hurst, April 2011. US Census Research Data Center project 908, August 2013 through August 2017
Teaching
University of Notre Dame
Undergraduate Microdata for Macro Models, Fall 2017, Spring 2025
Intermediate Macroeconomics, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Fall 2023
Undergraduate Asset Pricing, Spring 2024
Graduate Microdata for Macro Models, Fall 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2024
Graduate Research and Writing Seminar, Spring 2025
Columbia Business School
MBA Global Economic Environment (Macroeconomics): Fall 2016, Summer 2015
University of Chicago
Undergraduate Econometrics: Spring 2012, Winter 2011, Spring 2010
Awards
Kauffman Foundation Junior Faculty Fellowship, 2017---2020
Kauffman Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, 2011---2012
University of Chicago Hentry Morgenthau, Jr. Dissertation Fellowship, 2010---2011
University of Chicago, Department Fellowship, 2007---2010
Phi Beta Kappa, Columbia University, 2004
Seminar and Conference Presentations
Includes scheduled
2024: Clemson University, LAEF Labor and Macro conference, Philly Fed, CEMFI MadMac conference, HKUST
2023: University of Maryland Smith School of Business, SED Meetings, NBER Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, Brookings Panel on Economic Activityº, Mannheim ZEW Conference on Entrepreneurship, Chicago Fed
2022: AEA meetingsº, University of Pavia, University of Connecticut, University of Chicago, SED Meetings, NBER Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, Cornell, UNC, Ohio State, McMaster, Halle Institute, PUC Rio, Insper
2021: AEA meetings, FIRSº, SED, NBER SI Entrepreneurshipº, Bank of Mexico
2020: Chicago Fed, Korean Economic Review International Conference, Atlanta Fed, Norges Bank Central Bank Modeling Workshop
2019: ASU Advances in Macroeconomics Conference, Fordham Macro/IF Conference, Midwest Macro Meetings, LSE Entrepreneurship conference, SED, Meetings NBER Summer Institute Economic Growth meeting, Notre Dame PAELLA Workshop, USC Marshall Junior Macro Meeting, Drexel, Philly Fed
2018: ASSA meetings^ , University of Western Ontario (canceled), University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Cambridge/INET Macro Heterogeneity Conference^, Midwest Macro Meetings, SED Meetings, NBER Summer Institute EFG meeting^, NBER Macro Perspectives, NBER Macro Public Finance^, Minnesota Macro^, Cleveland Fed, Middlebury College, Cornell, Utah State, European/Midwest Macro Micro Conference, LSE, Canadian Macro Study Group, Philly Fed Macro Finance Conference, Amherst, Bank of Italy/CEPR Firm Dynamics Conference, RIDGE Macro/Trade/Growth Conference
2017: ASSA meetings^ , University of British Columbia, New York University (macro lunch), Spring Carnegie-Rochester-NYU conference^, Federal Reserve Board Macro Labor Conference, Barcelona GSE Summer Forum, NBER Summer Institute Entrepreneurship Group^, NBER Summer Institute Macro Productivity Group^ , Carnegie-Rochester-NYU conferenceº, Ifo Conference on Macroeconomics and Survey Data
2016: ASSA meetings, Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), NBER Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth pre-conference; Brigham Young University, Utah State, CUNY Graduate Center, Hunter College, Cowles Conference in Macroeconomics, Barcelona GSE Summer Forum, NBER Income Distribution and Macroeconomics^, INET/Cambridge Firms in Macroeconomy^, St Louis Fed conference on Inequality, Federal Reserve Board, Harvard Business School, Richmond Fed, CIREQ Workshop, NBER Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth conference^, Columbia Macro Lunch, Notre Dame, Ifo Conference on Macroeconomics and Survey Data^, St Louis Fed
2015: ASSA meetings, NBER EFJK Group, NBER Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group (canceled), Federal Reserve System Committee on Macroeconomics, St. Louis Midwest Macro Meeings, Tsinghua University Macroeconomics Workshop, Cowles Conference in Macroeconomics, SED, NBER SI Entrepreneurship Group, NBER SI Macro/Productivity Group^, Census Bureau Center for Economics Studies, IZA/Kauffman Entrepreneurship Workshop, Stanford RDC Network Conference, Banco de Mexico, University of Toronto, University of Rochester, Fuqua School of Business, NBER/Philly Fed Time and Space, Rochester Midwest Macro Meetings^, University of Maryland, University of Montreal, Ifo Conference on Macroeconomics and Survey Data^, University of Bonn
2014: Columbia Macro Lunch, Atlanta Fed Workshop on Monetary Policy and Inequality, Penn State Census RDC Conference, Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies, Council on Economic Policies Bellagio Conference on Monetary Policy and Sustainability, Urban Institute Conference on Student Debt and Entrepreneurship, Banco de Mexico, New York University Macro Lunch, Washington University / St. Louis Fed, CIREQ Labor Workshop, Ifo Conference on Macroeconomics and Survey Data, Sveriges Riksbank and Euro Area Business Cycle Network Conference on Inequality and Macroeconomics, NBER/CRIW Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses conference
2013: Cleveland Fed Policy Summit, Southern Economics Association Annual Meetings (canceled), Ifo Conference on Macroeconomics and Survey Data
2012: Kellogg School of Management, Fuqua School of Business, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, Federal Reserve Board, University of Michigan, University of Rochester, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Columbia Business School, University of Michigan Survey Research Center, International Industrial Organization Conference, NBER Productivity and Innovation Group, NBER Entrepreneurship Group
2011: Duke/Kauffman Entrepreneurship Conference, International Industrial Organization Conference, Brookings Institution Panel on Economic Activity, University of Chicago Money and Banking Seminar, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
2010: NBER Summer Institute Entrepreneurship Group
^ co-author presented, º discussant
Discussions
“The Effect of Aging on Entrepreneurship and Aggregate Productivity” by Kodama and Li, ASSA Meetings SGE Productivity Session, January 9, 2022.
"Did the Paycheck Protection Program Hit the Target?" by Granja, Makridis, Yannelis, and Zwick, NBER Summer Institute Entrepreneurship Meeting, July 19, 2021
"Reshaping the Local Marketplace: Financing, Independent Businesses, Large Firms and COVID" by Maksimovic and Yang, Financial Intermediation Research Society Meeting, June 6, 2021
“Structural Transformation and the Rise of Information Technology” by Gallipoli and Makridis, Carnegie Rochester NYU Conference on Public Policy, November 11, 2017.
“Firming up Inequality” by Bloom, Song, Price, Guvenen and von Wachter, 2016 Cowles Summer Macroeconomics Conference, June 8, 2016.
“Firm Age, Investment Opportunities and Job Creation” by Adelino, Ma and Robinson, 2016 ASSA Meetings (San Francisco), Jan 4, 2016.
“Jobs Incorporated: Incorporation Status and Job Creation” by Astebro and Tag , 6th IZA/Kauffman Foundation Workshop on Entrepreneurship, Sep 16, 2015.
“Young, Restless, and Creative: Openness to Disruption and Creative Innovation” by Acemoglu, Akcigit, and Celik, 2015 ASSA Meetings (Boston), Jan 5, 2015.
“Reallocation in the Great Recession: Cleansing or Not” by Foster, Grim and Haltiwanger, Penn State RDC Conference, April 7, 2014.
“House Prices, Collateral, and Self-Employment” by Adelino, Schoar, and Severino, NBER Entrepreneurship Working Group Meeting, Dec 12, 2012.
“Direct Estimation of Hidden Earnings” and “Foreign Corporations and the Culture of Transparancy” by Braguinsky, Mityakov and Liscovich, NBER Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program Meeting, Mar 16, 2012.
“Procurement Auctions with Capacity-Constrained Bidders: Evidence from the Lab” by Saini and Suter, 2011 IIOC Meetings (Boston), April 2011.
Service
Referee
Economics: American Economic Review, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economics and Statistics, European Economic Review, Journal of European Economic Association; International Economic Review, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Journal: Public Policy, Journal of Monetary Economics, Review of Economic Dynamics, Journal of Public Economics, Economic Journal, European Economic Review, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Journal of European Economic Association, Empirical Economics, International Tax and Public Finance, Journal of Economic Geography, National Tax Journal, Small Business Economics, Fiscal Studies, Economic Governance
Management and Finance: Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Management Studies, Small Business Economics
Grant Reviewer
Kauffman Foundation Dissertation Fellowship Program, 2015--Present
Center for Equitable Growth, 2015
National Science Foundation, 2019
Board Member
New York Research Data Center Executive Committee (for New York Fed), 2014--2017
Department
Graduate Studies Committee, Notre Dame, 2022--Present
Seminar organizer, Notre Dame, 2022--Present
Junior Recruiting, New York Fed, 2016--2017
Co-RA supervisor, New York Fed, 2013--2014
Seminar organizer, New York Fed, 2012--2013
Conferences
Program Committee, SED Meetings Madison, 2022
Program Committee, SED Meetings Minneapolis, 2021
Program Committee, SED Meetings Barcelona, 2020
Program Committee, SED Meetings St Louis, 2019
Co-organizer, New York Fed / Kiel Institute Macro Labor Conference co-organizer, 2016
Co-organizer, New York Fed Real Macro Workshop co-organizer, 2013