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Brendan M

- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Stanford University

Expertise

Economic inequality, recessions and job loss, impacts of globalization and automation on US labor markets, political economy, 20th century economic history

Bio

I am an economics Ph.D student at Stanford University, where I study labor markets and the nature of work. Specifically, I research the consequences of job loss and how policies and institutions interact with employment disruption, including issues such as unemployment insurance, postsecondary education, labor unions, minimum wages. I also study the future of work in the face of globalization and automation. Previously, I worked for several years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and graduated with a BA from Columbia University. Outside the world of economics, I love taking in a baseball game or hiking a mountain in my childhood state of Maine or my new home state of California. I frequented stand-up comedy shows when I lived in New York City and write reviews of the comedians I see perform live. I am an avid follower of US politics and love taking road trips with friends and exploring new places in America, large and small. I am excited to serve as a mentor to help students research their passions.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

How do workers cope with job loss?

A project that would investigate how workers respond to the major disruption of being laid off from their jobs. A research project would study whether displaced workers search for a similar type of job or enter an entirely new profession. Do workers cut back on how much they spend or do they increase borrowing via credit cards? Does an unemployed worker's spouse pick up more hours to compensate for lost income? Many of these questions can be answered by analyzing public data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the US Census Bureau.

How does economic hardship affect regional voting patterns?

Certain areas of the US economy have been hard-hit by forces such as automation and globalization. Many observers believe such forces shapes the behavior and preferences of voters in these distressed regions. A research project would analyze how economic hardship influences voters choices for political candidates as well as policy issues in state or local referendums.

Coding skills

Stata, Python, MATLAB

Credentials

Work experience

Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2018 - 2020)
Research Analyst

Education

Columbia University
BA Bachelor of Arts (2018)
Economics
Stanford University
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Economics

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