Lorenzo Lagos

Lorenzo Lagos is the Shoukang Lin and Jing Wu Assistant Professor of Economics at Brown University, with a concurrent appointment as the Hal Varian Visiting Assistant Professor at MIT (2025–2026). He holds affiliations with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the IZA Institute of Labor Economics. His research focuses on labor economics, economic development, and causal inference, addressing topics such as racial wage disparities, union policies, and minimum wage impacts.

Educated at the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., Philosophy, Politics & Economics, summa cum laude) and Columbia University (Ph.D. in Economics), Lagos has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in labor economics and applied research methods. His work bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical analysis, emphasizing policy relevance in developing economies.

Key research themes include union strategies for promoting gender equity, the role of firm policies in racial wage gaps, and the interplay between minimum wages and informality. His articles explore labor market institutions across regions, with a focus on Brazil and Mexico. Lagos has presented at leading institutions and conferences, including the IMF, Stanford, and the World Bank.

Awarded grants from the Inter-American Development Bank and the Center for Development Economics and Policy, his honors include the Goldstone Prize for his thesis and Ford Foundation funding. He mentors graduate students and advises Brown’s economics department on curriculum and graduate admissions.