George-Levi Gayle

George-Levi Gayle is the Chair and John H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Economics at Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Economics. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh (2004) and previously served as an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business (2003–2012). His research focuses on labor economics, including family/gender dynamics, information friction’s impact on earnings, and semi-parametric models. Recent work addresses gender gaps in labor markets, fertility-labor supply linkages, and intergenerational education/earnings persistence. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a Research Fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Education:

• B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Economics, University of the West Indies-Mona (1996, 1998)
• Ph.D. in Economics, University of Pittsburgh (2004)

Research Interests: Professor Gayle’s work spans econometric theory, contract theory, and corporate governance. He examines systemic factors in labor markets, such as statistical discrimination in parental leave policies (funded by a $500K NSF grant) and the role of child development in economic outcomes. His studies bridge microeconomic theory and policy, emphasizing causal inference and structural estimation.

Awards & Grants:

• Recipient of multiple teaching and research awards, including the Richard Thorn Memorial Award (2000) and Richard M. Cyert Award (2006).
• National Science Foundation Grant (2023): $500,000 for parental leave policy design research.

Advising & Leadership: Chair of the Department of Economics (2023–present), member of the Master Program Management Committee, and PhD Committee. He advocates for diversity, positioning the department among the top in Black representation in economics.

Labs/Networks: Collaborates with the Human Capital & Economic Opportunity Global Working Group at the University of Chicago and serves on editorial boards of the International Economic Review and Quarterly Journal of Finance and Accounting.