Predoctoral Researcher, Policy Impacts

MIT • Cambridge, MA

11h • Onsite

About The Position

The Predoctoral Researcher, Policy Impacts role is within the Economics department and focuses on conducting economic analysis for Policy Impacts, an organization founded by Professor Hendren. The organization aims to enhance government decision-making through standardized policy analysis. The researcher will collaborate directly with Professor Hendren on research in applied micro-economics and empirical welfare analysis. Potential research areas include the welfare analysis of international development policies, macroeconomic stabilization and fiscal stimulus policies, firm-targeted policies, and the effects and incidence of labor market shocks. The role involves detailed analysis and coding of policy welfare impacts, conducting literature reviews, and applying advanced meta-analysis techniques using Stata, GitHub, and Claude Code. Some projects may also require analyzing large datasets from Census and IRS tax forms. Previous research areas include studying the welfare impacts of government policies, the effect of local labor markets on economic mobility, and the efficacy of climate change policies.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in economics, computer science, mathematics, statistics, or a related field.
• A minimum of two years of specialized experience with quantitative data analysis, research methods, and/or social sciences research (which may include coursework or experience gained as an undergraduate).
• Experience with programming skills, particularly around data analysis, cleaning, and simulations.

Nice To Haves

• An employment term of two years is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Conduct economic analysis as part of Policy Impacts.
• Work directly with Professor Hendren on research topics in applied micro-economics and empirical welfare analysis.
• Analyze the welfare impacts of international development policies, macroeconomic stabilization and fiscal stimulus policies, policies targeting firms, and the impact and incidence of labor market shocks.
• Perform detailed and careful analysis and coding of the welfare impacts of government policies.
• Conduct literature reviews.
• Apply advanced meta-analysis methods.
• Analyze large-scale datasets derived from Census and IRS tax forms.
• Build upon earlier work studying the welfare impacts of government policies, the impact of local labor markets on upward economic mobility, and the effectiveness of policies addressing climate change.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level