About Me

I am a Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Economics at UCLA, and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). My research interests include public policy, entrepreneurship, education, racial and gender inequality, information technology, labor economics, developing countries, and immigration. The overarching goal of my research is to have broad impact by providing rigorous, unbiased and objective evidence on questions that are important for society and often involve highly-charged policy debates. The methodological focus of my work includes implementing randomized control field experiments, employing advanced econometric techniques and identification strategies, and working with and building large administrative datasets. Publications from my research have appeared in leading journals in economics, policy, management, science, and medicine (e.g. American Economic Review, AEJ: Applied, AEJ: Policy, ReSTAT, JPAM, Management Science, and JAMA: Surgery), and I have written two books published with MIT Press. I received a Ph.D. and M.A. from Northwestern University and B.A. with honors from Stanford University. I have held a position at UCSC and visiting positions at Stanford University, Yale University, UC Berkeley, and Australian National University. I have received funding for my research from the National Science Foundation, National Academies, and Russell Sage Foundation as well as numerous government agencies and foundations, and have testified in front of the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Department of Treasury, and the California State Assembly. Recent awards and honors include a joint resolution from the California State Assembly and Senate, Choice Academic Title award, and the Bradford-Osborne research award two years in a row. I am regularly interviewed by the media to comment on economic, education, entrepreneurship, inequality and policy issues.

Recent News

NPR interview on indicators of entrepreneurial activity

Forbes article on entrepreneurship trends since COVID

NY Times article on course availability in colleges

WSJ article referencing four of my publications in their list of top 10 reasons why new businesses fail

WSJ article on startups in the U.S. economy

NY Times article on unemployment

U.S. State Department article on immigrant entrepreneurs.

White House Brief using my research on Native American business owners in their announcement of initiatives to help Tribal Communities.

WSJ article on the changing demographics of entrepreneurs in the U.S.

Economic Report of the President 2023 reference to work on community colleges and teacher like me effects

Additional Links

Google Scholar Site

NBER (Research Associate)

J-PAL (Affiliated Professor)

California Policy Lab (Faculty Board)

California Center for Population Research (Faculty Affiliate)

Joint Resolution from the California State Assembly and Senate