Marianne Page

Marianne Page is a Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Center for Poverty & Inequality Research at the University of California, Davis. She is a labor economist specializing in intergenerational mobility, equality of opportunity, and the impacts of U.S. safety net programs. Her work spans health economics, education policy, and poverty research, with publications in top journals like the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Journal of Labor Economics.

• PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan (1995)
• B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington (1987)

Her research focuses on how early-life access to health and nutrition programs (e.g., Medicaid, WIC, Head Start) affects long-term outcomes, including economic well-being and health. She also investigates class size impacts on education and the role of neighborhood environments in poverty transmission.

Key trends in her publications include interdisciplinary approaches to poverty analysis, intergenerational health and economic effects, and policy evaluations using quasi-experimental methods. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, NIH, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research
• Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

She serves on Governor Newsom’s Council of Economic Advisors, co-edits the Journal of Human Resources, and collaborates extensively with institutions across the UC system and beyond. Her narrative emphasizes the cost-effectiveness of poverty interventions and their multi-generational benefits.