Matthew Wiswall

As a public, labor, and education economist, my research centers on the study of human capital, understanding how individuals acquire human capital to inform public policies that affect the distribution of skills and abilities in the population. As an affiliate of the Center for Demography and Ecology, I have studied human capital formation in the family and in schools at various levels (primary, secondary, and post-secondary). Although human capital is the focus of my research, much of my work situates the human capital formation process within the labor market, studying the joint determination of human capital, labor supply, and earnings. I have developed new methods and collected new data, and my research utilizes a range of techniques, including causal inference/program evaluation methods, field and laboratory experiments, and economic theory based structural estimation.

CDE research theme area affiliations: Demography of Inequality; Fertility, Families, and Households