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Greetings! Thanks for visiting Matthew Pesner's website! Matthew Pesner is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the department of economics at Vanderbilt University, with interests in the intersection of economic history, public economics, and labor economics. As both a research assistant and teaching assistant, Matthew has amassed a lot of relevant experience throughout his academic career. He has experience with assisting instruction in microeconomics, econometrics, health economics, and public economics. Matthew's research revolves around understanding the development of the safety net in the United States over the 20th century, focusing on significant changes to Social Security and Public Assistance programs in the 1950's and 1960's. In particular, he studies what effects these changes had on family structure dynamics, as well as how the state and federal governments interacted to finance these programs. Matthew has always been interested broadly in the determinants and effects of poverty. In grad school, he has ascertained specific areas in which he can contribute, using modern advances in program evaluation and causal inference to analyze previous expansions to Social Insurance programs over the mid-20th century, and what we can learn from these events to help improve policy today. In May of 2016, Matt earned his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematical Economics from the Department of Economics at Colorado College, and he earned his Masters in Economics from Vanderbilt in May of 2018. You can follow Matt on Social Media, and he'll (probably) return the favor! |