Patrick McEwan

Patrick McEwan serves as the Marshall I. Goldman Professor of Economics at Wellesley College, with joint affiliation in Latin American Studies. His research focuses on causal impact analysis of education and social policies in developing countries, particularly Latin America, examining how interventions affect schooling, health, and economic outcomes for children and families.

McEwan holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University. His research methodology emphasizes rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental designs to evaluate policy effectiveness.

His primary research interests include the economics of education, development economics, and Latin American social policy. He specializes in analyzing conditional cash transfers, school reform initiatives, private school vouchers, and educational interventions through randomized trials and meta-analyses. His work frequently addresses ethnic inequality, intergenerational mobility, and the effectiveness of educational programs in resource-constrained settings.

McEwan's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on longitudinal impacts of education policies, with significant attention to Chilean and Honduran interventions. His research portfolio shows consistent emphasis on methodological rigor in policy evaluation, particularly regarding external validity of experimental findings and causal mechanisms in education interventions across developing contexts.

He has secured research funding from major institutions including the Inter-American Development Bank, RAND Corporation, Spencer Foundation, and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. His teaching portfolio at Wellesley includes introductory microeconomics, Latin American development, and economics of education courses.