Erzo F.P. Luttmer is the Dartmouth Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). He earned his Propedeuse Degree from Delft University of Technology, M.A. from Erasmus University, and Ph.D. from Harvard University. His research focuses on understanding the drivers of redistribution and social insurance demand, emphasizing social effects and cognitive limitations in economic behavior. Key areas include behavioral economics, policy design, and welfare cultures. He has served as editor of the American Economic Review and collaborates with institutions like the Harvard School of Public Health. His articles explore topics such as annuity valuation, Medicaid’s value, and Social Security perception, with methodologies including field experiments and regression discontinuity designs. Notable contributions include analyzing peer-to-peer lending dynamics and the impact of health on consumption utility. Dr. Luttmer’s work bridges theoretical models with empirical evidence, addressing policy implications for taxation, insurance, and social welfare systems. His affiliations and editorial roles reflect his significant contributions to academic discourse in economics.
Professor Isabella Dobrescu is Head of the School of Economics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Business School and co-chair of the STEP UP initiative in Education. She serves as an editor for the Journal of Pension Economics & Finance and maintains an active research program spanning labor economics, public finance, health economics, and applied econometrics. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Economics with Honors from the University of Padua (2009), an M.Sc. in Economic Mathematical Modeling Summa cum Laude from West University of Timisoara (2005), and dual bachelor's degrees in Economics from Nottingham Trent University and Finance Summa cum Laude from West University of Timisoara (2003). Dobrescu's research has evolved from structural work on consumption and saving dynamics to pioneering applications combining theory, empirical analysis, and randomized controlled trials to improve educational outcomes through technology. Her recent work focuses on financial literacy interventions for high school students through the STEP UP program, while maintaining her longstanding research on aging populations, retirement decision-making, and risk behavior. Her publication portfolio demonstrates consistent output across labor economics, health economics, and applied econometrics, with recent emphasis on educational technology interventions and financial decision-making in retirement contexts. The research shows methodological diversity spanning structural modeling, nonparametric partial identification techniques, and experimental approaches. UNSW Business School Research Impact Award (2021) UNSW President's Award for Building Collaborations (2019) UNSW Scientia Education Fellowship (2017) Australian Government Office of Learning & Teaching Citation (2016) ARC Early Career Research Fellowship (2012) Dobrescu has secured over AU$2.5 million in competitive research funding since 2010, including major ARC Linkage grants and substantial UNSW strategic investments. She leads the STEP UP initiative which has received over AU$650,000 in funding for financial literacy outreach programs. Her collaborative approach is evident in numerous multi-investigator projects with colleagues including Bateman, Thorp, Motta, and Newell across economics, finance, and education domains. As Head of the School of Economics and co-chair of STEP UP, Dobrescu leads research teams focused on educational interventions using technology, retirement decision-making, and the economics of aging. Her Playconomics platform represents a significant innovation in experiential economics education, receiving media coverage from major outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.
Lawrence D. W. Schmidt is the Victor J. Menezes Career Development Assistant Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He holds a PhD and MA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego, and previously served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago’s Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics. His research bridges finance and macro-labor economics, focusing on household risk exposures, institutional investor behavior, and labor market dynamics. Key areas include human capital valuation, asset pricing implications of labor market risks, and the design of retirement savings institutions. Education: BA, University of California, Santa Barbara; PhD and MA, University of California, San Diego. Research Interests: Human capital risk and asset pricing Income inequality and retirement savings disparities Big data analysis of labor and financial markets Policy design for financial welfare Recent Trends in Publications: Schmidt’s work increasingly emphasizes the interplay between technological change and labor market outcomes, particularly in quantifying risks faced by workers and the implications for financial markets. His studies on retirement savings inequities highlight racial and socioeconomic disparities in wealth accumulation, informed by large-scale administrative datasets. Awards: 2024 Dimensional Fund Advisors Prize 2015 AQR Top Finance Graduate Award Advising & Grants: Collaborations with institutions like NBER and MIT Sloan reflect his focus on policy-relevant research. His work often involves interdisciplinary teams, as seen in co-authored papers on employer 401(k) practices and technology-driven labor displacement. Labs/Teams: Active contributor to the MIT Sloan Consumer Finance Initiative, which explores household finance and policy solutions for economic stability.
Marcel Fratzscher serves as President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and Professor of Macroeconomics at Humboldt University of Berlin. He holds membership on the Advisory Board of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and maintains a prominent public presence as a columnist for Zeit Online, Financial Times, and Project Syndicate. His research spans macroeconomics, financial markets, economic inequality, European integration, monetary policy, and gender distribution. Fratzscher critically examines the social market economy, focusing on how economic policies affect inequality across demographic groups. His expertise includes pension systems, labor market dynamics, migration economics, and climate policy impacts on industry. His approach combines rigorous academic analysis with practical policy recommendations, often challenging conventional wisdom in economic discourse. Fratzscher's recent publications reveal a consistent thematic focus on economic inequality and social justice. His articles analyze paradoxical trends like falling wage inequality alongside rising overall income inequality, discrimination in the workplace (including weight-based discrimination), and the economic costs of social issues like crime fear and gender-based violence. He consistently advocates for policy reforms in pension systems, minimum wage structures, migration policy, and housing markets. As an advisor and public intellectual, Fratzscher bridges academic research and policy implementation. His recommendations often challenge conventional wisdom, such as his arguments against the notion that migration is economically costly or that minimum wage increases necessarily harm employment. He has proposed innovative solutions like the 'Boomer solidarity tax' to address old-age poverty without burdening younger generations. Fratzscher leads DIW Berlin, one of Germany's premier economic research institutions, where he oversees research on critical economic and social issues facing Germany and Europe. The institute's Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) provides longitudinal data that informs much of his research on inequality and social dynamics. Under his leadership, DIW Berlin continues to shape economic policy debates through evidence-based analysis and forward-looking recommendations.
Benjamin Faber is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, affiliated with the Department of Economics within the College of Letters and Science. His research focuses on international and development economics, exploring topics such as rural-urban migration, spatial inequality, e-commerce impacts, and responsible sourcing policies. He has held positions since 2013, including teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in development economics and international trade. Faber has organized numerous seminars including the Berkeley International Econ Seminar and Trade Work in Progress Seminar, fostering academic collaboration. His work appears in top journals like the Quarterly Journal of Economics and Review of Economic Studies, addressing welfare measurement, firm heterogeneity, and spatial economic dynamics. Notable contributions include analyzing China's highway system effects and Mexico's tourism impacts. His research often bridges theory with empirical evidence, emphasizing policy-relevant outcomes in developing economies. Education details are not explicitly listed in the provided materials, but his academic trajectory is evident through his prolific publication record and teaching roles since 2013. Faber's affiliations include the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), with his work frequently featured in policy platforms like VoxDev.org and the World Trade Report. His research questions address critical contemporary issues such as the distributional impacts of globalization and the role of digital technologies in reducing rural-urban divides. Advising and grants information is not specified, but his extensive collaborations with global institutions and co-authors from universities like MIT, Yale, and Peking University highlight his network-driven research approach. Faber's work is methodologically rigorous, combining large-scale data analysis with theoretical frameworks to inform policy decisions on migration, trade, and development interventions.
Anders Stenberg is a Professor of Economics at Stockholm University , where he works at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) . His research focuses on Labor Economics and Education Economics , with particular attention to gender dynamics, policy evaluation, and socioeconomic outcomes. Co-leader of the Labor Economics (AME) research unit Member of the GAINS (Gender Analysis and Interdisciplinary Network, Stockholm) group His work examines: Causal effects of educational content on voter turnout and health outcomes Policy impacts of domestic services subsidies on immigrant labor market integration Long-term consequences of upper secondary school programs Evaluations of Higher Vocational Education in Sweden Interactions between gender identity and household income dynamics Recent publications demonstrate his expertise in: 2024 - Intergenerational educational spillovers and mental health economics 2023 - High school specialization and earnings trajectories 2022 - Gender income dynamics and adult education effectiveness 2012-2017 - Longitudinal studies on education-policy interactions
Associate Professor Jonathan Ziveyi is an academic at the UNSW Business School , where he serves as an Associate Head in the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies . He holds a PhD in Quantitative Finance from the University of Technology Sydney and has published extensively in journals like Insurance: Mathematics and Economics and Quantitative Finance . Education PhD in Finance, University of Technology Sydney Graduate Certificate in University Learning and Teaching, UNSW Sydney BSc (Hons) in Applied Mathematics, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe His research focuses on longevity risk management , valuation of guarantees in variable annuities , and option pricing under stochastic volatility . Recent work includes pooled annuity smoothing, hybrid insurance-product designs, and mortality forecasting with stacked regression ensembles. His publications span affine mortality models , regime-switching frameworks , and machine learning applications in actuarial contexts. Key topics include guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits, longevity bonds, and tax implications in insurance contracts. Grants & Awards Australian Research Council Grant (2021–2023, AUD386,139) Society of Actuaries Grant (2017–2020, US$248,278) Multiple UNSW Business School linkage and research grants Vice Chancellor’s Prize for First-Class Degree (2005) International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2007) He supervises PhD students including Samuel Thirurajah , Gayani Thalagoda , and Yawei Wang . His teaching includes courses on Asset-Liability Models and Financial Economics for Insurance .
Prof. Han Ye is an Assistant Professor of Applied Public Economics at the University of Mannheim's Department of Economics since 2018. She holds affiliations with IZA, ZEW, Netspar, and the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Center TR 224. Her research focuses on labor economics, public policy, and the economics of aging, particularly examining pension reforms, retirement policies, and their impacts on labor supply, savings, health, and family dynamics. Education: Ph.D. in Economics (Boston University, 2018). Affiliations: IZA Research Fellow, ZEW Research Associate, Netspar Fellow, CRC TR 224 Member. Current Visiting Position: ETH Zurich (2024/2025 academic year). Research Interests: Her work analyzes how pension policies affect retirement timing, unemployment insurance utilization, household savings, mortality, and intergenerational effects such as child outcomes. Recent projects include studying spillover effects of pensions on family labor supply and the relationship between delayed retirement and health outcomes. Key Contributions: Her research highlights behavioral responses to pension subsidies (e.g., retirement timing adjustments), mortality consequences of delayed retirement, and gender disparities in pension awareness. She has also examined how social pensions correlate with intimate partner violence among older women in Mexico. Awards: Program Chair Award at 2024 ASHEcon. Grants: 2024 Netspar Comparative Grant, Inter-American Development Bank GD Lab Grant.
Phillip B. Levine serves as the Katharine Coman and A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics at Wellesley College, with active affiliations as a Nonresident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His academic home is firmly within Wellesley's Department of Economics, where he teaches core statistics and econometrics courses alongside specialized policy-focused seminars. Levine's research spans critical social policy domains including fertility economics, college pricing systems, and childhood poverty interventions. His methodological signature involves rigorous statistical analysis of real-world policy impacts, particularly regarding disadvantaged youth. Key contributions include seminal work on abortion policy effects, retirement behavior during economic crises, and the disconnect between college sticker prices and actual affordability. His influential publications include the books Sex and Consequences: Abortion, Public Policy, and the Economics of Fertility , Targeting Investments in Children (co-edited), and A Problem of Fit: How the Complexity of College Pricing Hurts Students . Recent scholarship (2022-2025) reveals intensifying focus on declining US fertility rates, racial wealth gaps in college access, and post-pandemic birth trends, with frequent appearances in top economics journals. As founder and CEO of MyinTuition Corp., Levine bridges academic research and practical application through a simplified financial aid calculator now adopted by dozens of institutions. His policy commentary reaches broader audiences via New York Times , Washington Post , and major broadcast networks, demonstrating exceptional translation of complex economics into public discourse.
Axel West Pedersen is a Professor at the Department of Social Sciences within the Faculty of Social Sciences , Oslo Metropolitan University. He holds a joint position between OsloMet and the Norwegian Social Research (NOVA) Institute . His work focuses on pension systems, welfare state research, income distribution, and aging-related policy challenges. Core Research Areas: Pension system development, welfare opinion analysis, income inequality, poverty studies, and ecological adaptation of welfare states. Active Projects: Sustainable Wellbeing Through Investment in Social Services (SWINS), Crisis Management and Governance in Nordic Local Democracies (POLYGOV), and Flexible Retirement Pathways analysis. Past Projects: WEST Project analyzing eco-social state transitions, Pension System Legitimacy (PensionLAB), and Children's Living Conditions research. Pedersen's recent publications examine psychosocial work environments for elderly workers, universal basic income debates, and housing allowance equity. He contributes to policy discussions about welfare state sustainability, particularly regarding aging populations and climate change challenges. Contact: axel.pedersen@oslomet.no
Leora Friedberg is an Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Virginia's Department of Economics. She has been on faculty since 2000 and is affiliated with the Michigan Retirement and Disability Research Center, the Retirement Income Institute, and the TIAA Institute. Education: PhD in Economics, MIT; BA in Economics, Johns Hopkins University. Her research spans Public Economics, Labor Economics, and Retirement Planning, with a focus on Social Security, annuities, housing wealth in retirement, long-term care insurance, and Medicaid. She also explores policy impacts on same-sex marriage, employment screening tools, and household bargaining dynamics. Recent publications highlight trends in retirement behavior, tax policy effects on same-sex couples, and financial risks in long-term care. Her work frequently intersects with public policy and behavioral economics, funded by NIH and SSA. Scientific Awards: None explicitly mentioned. Advising: No formal students listed. Grants: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Social Security Administration.
Adam Butt is an Associate Professor in the Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies & Statistics at The Australian National University. His work focuses on actuarial education and retirement income systems, particularly superannuation and financial decision-making. He has held grants from CSIRO Data 61 and the Centre for International Finance and Regulation, examining topics like retirement living standards and superannuation defaults. Education: Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) Master of Health Economics (MHE) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (FIAA) Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) Research Interests: Adam's research explores retirement income design, superannuation systems, investment strategies for retirees, and actuarial education. Recent work includes analyzing age pension means-testing impacts, retirement portfolio optimization, and pandemic-driven investment behavior. Grants & Projects: CSIRO Data 61: Superannuation and retirement living standards analysis CIFR: Default superannuation arrangements study ANU Projects: Includes retirement income strategy design, dynamic programming applications, and actuarial education reviews Advisory Role: Registered to supervise research students in actuarial and financial domains. His work bridges academic research with practical policy implications for retirement systems.
Franca Glenzer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance at HEC Montréal and holds the title of CIRANO Fellow. She specializes in financial decision-making over the lifecycle, focusing on pensions, long-term care insurance, and risk management. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and Geneva Risk and Insurance Review. Education: Dr. rer. pol. (Ph.D. equivalent in Finance) from Goethe University Frankfurt M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Business Administration from Humboldt University Berlin Research & Awards: Her research explores behavioral economics in policy design, post-pandemic savings behaviors, and insurer solvency. She was recently named a CIRANO Fellow, reflecting her contributions to applied economics. Current research is forthcoming. Teaching: She instructs courses including Basic Corporate Finance and Insurance at HEC Montréal. Advising: Supervised two MSc projects (2023–2024) focusing on insurance modeling and travel insurance analysis. Currently seeking a thesis student for UX/finance research.
Shin Arita is Professor at University of Tokyo's Institute of Social Science, specializing in comparative sociology of East Asian societies. Research examines: Social stratification and mobility patterns Education-labor market relationships Cross-national comparisons of inequality His award-winning research analyzes legitimation of income inequality across Japan, Korea and the US. Recent work investigates socioeconomic disparities among elderly populations using life course approaches. Teaches comparative sociology and contributes to panel surveys on Japanese life courses.
Marianne Baxter is Professor of Economics at Boston University, specializing in macroeconomics, international finance, and business cycle analysis. Her research examines global economic interactions including risk-sharing mechanisms, consumption-investment dynamics, and pricing strategies in international markets. Major research streams investigate household consumption patterns across different wealth groups, exchange rate pass-through in retail pricing (notably IKEA case studies), and determinants of bilateral trade flows. Her work integrates theoretical modeling with empirical analysis using firm-level and household datasets. Professor Baxter teaches international macroeconomics and finance courses. She has contributed methodological frameworks for analyzing saving-investment correlations and terms of trade fluctuations.
