Robert Fairlie

Background

About Robert Fairlie

I am an Economist and Professor at UCLA, and member of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). I study a wide range of topics including entrepreneurship, education, labor, policy, inequality, information technology, immigration, health, and development. I strive for my research to have a broad impact by providing rigorous, unbiased and objective evidence on questions that are important for society and often involve highly-charged policy debates. The overarching goals of my research are to understand the constraints to acquiring human capital and economic success, identify the causes of racial and gender inequality, and evaluate the effectiveness of economic and education polices. My methodological focus is on conducting randomized control field experiments, employing advanced econometric techniques and identification strategies, and working with and building large administrative datasets. I received a Ph.D. and M.A. from Northwestern University and B.A. with honors from Stanford University. I have held 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, Choice Outstanding Academic Title award, and the Bradford-Osborne research award two years in a row. I am regularly interviewed by the media (e.g. NY Times, WSJ, Washington Post, NPR, PBS, CNN, CBS, NBC) to comment on economic, education, small business, inequality and policy issues.