David S. Johnson

David S. Johnson is a Research Professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota and directs the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), the world's longest-running longitudinal household survey.

Research Focus: His work centers on economic measurement methodologies, particularly examining inequality and mobility through income, consumption, and wealth metrics. Key interests include poverty measurement innovations, equivalence scale estimation, tax rebate impacts, and specialized price index construction for vulnerable populations. His research frequently addresses the economic circumstances of older Americans and children's family dynamics.

Publication Trends: Recent work demonstrates increasing focus on longitudinal analysis of family structure changes (2022) while maintaining core expertise in poverty metrics. Earlier studies established foundational methods for measuring elderly poverty through combined income-consumption analysis (2007-2009), building on experimental price index work (1996) that pioneered differential inflation measurement for low-income households.

Leadership Roles:

• Director, Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)
• Organizer, MiCDA Network on Longitudinal Studies of Aging

His research infrastructure leverages the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center, enabling large-scale data collection on economic mobility and household dynamics across generations. Current projects emphasize aging populations and intergenerational economic transmission through longitudinal frameworks.