RA position with Profs Saez and Yagan
We – Professors Emmanuel Saez and Danny Yagan in the UC Berkeley Economics Department – seek two outstanding full-time pre-doctoral fellows to assist our research. Predocs will begin their fellowships in the summer of 2018 and continue for at least one full year and preferably two full years.
We use big data to study big topics in public and labor economics: the economics of government policy and of inequality. The hallmark of our work is empirical rigor. Our research has appeared in top economics journals and has shaped economic and policy debates. In 2017, the New York Times featured three of our research papers: rates of upward mobility at every college, dramatically unequal economic growth since 1980, and long-term impacts of the Great Recession.
The two predocs will interact frequently with us as they build datasets, conduct analyses, synthesize results, edit academic papers, create presentations, and otherwise assist our work. Predocs will access government data in Oakland, work with us in person at Berkeley, and interact with our faculty coauthors at Berkeley and other top economics departments. Current and previous predocs have chosen to reside in San Francisco, Berkeley, or Oakland. Our current four-person team is positive and high-energy and we seek new predocs who will thrive in and contribute to that environment when our current predocs leave for graduate school.
As the name indicates, our fellowship is excellent preparation for a Ph.D. in economics, and ideal candidates plan to attend an economics or similar Ph.D. program after completing the fellowship. However, those with a strong quantitative background and alternative professional interests are also encouraged to apply. We have hired new college graduates as well as those leaving post-college employment. Predocs will attend a weekly economics seminar at UC Berkeley during the academic year where they will see new research presented and evaluated. All candidates must be completing or have completed a bachelors degree. Programming skills are essential: predocs must be eager to become proficient, or already be proficient, in Stata and SAS/SQL. Predocs must complete at least one month of work across June-July 2018 in order to seamlessly transition from our outgoing predocs. Outside of that, we may have flexibility with summer schedules. We offer a competitive salary. Our data access contract requires predocs to be U.S. citizens.
To apply: Save the following documents in a zip file with your name in the file name (e.g. jane_doe.zip) and follow the submission instructions here:
• Résumé
• Transcript
• Writing sample
• Optional cover letter
The due date for applications is January 31, 2018 Pacific Standard Time, with interviews conducted and offers made in February.
The writing sample can be of any length and would ideally be an economics or other analytic thesis or paper, but you may submit any writing sample that demonstrates clear analytic thought. The strongest applicants have demonstrated strong interest in economic or other quantitative or mathematical research in their academic or work history, have programming experience from courses or work, and in interviews exhibit a capacity for teamwork. Our current predocs, Sam Karlin and Carl McPherson, can field additional questions at saez.yagan.predocs@gmail.com.
