The Mixtape with Scott

S3E8: Marianne Bitler, Public Economist, UC Davis

Feb 27, 2024

Explore the career journey of economist Marianne Bitler from MIT to academia, focusing on poverty programs and reproductive health. Reflect on challenges in grad school and the impact of mentors like Josh Angrist. Discover insights on public programs, social safety nets, and collaborations in research on welfare reforms and immigration.

56:36

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Episode guests

Marianne Bitler

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Quick takeaways

Marianne Bitler's early interest in heterogenous treatment effects highlights challenges in means tested poverty programs.

Research on the effects of abortion policies by Bitler and Zavodny reveals complex impacts on social outcomes.

Deep dives

Marian Betler's Career Trajectory and Academic Interests

Marian Betler, a professor of economics at UC Davis, discusses her career trajectory, starting as a student under Josh Angrist at MIT. She highlights her path from government roles at the FTC and the Federal Reserve to academia and research at RAND Corporation. Marian's focus on causal inference and public policy, particularly in areas like welfare reform and its impacts, led her to significant contributions in applied econometrics.

Introduction

2min

Exploring the Career Trajectory and Motivations of an Economist

3min

Journey from Young Adventurer to Established Economist

16min

Journey Through Grad School Challenges

6min

Exploring Public Programs and Social Safety Nets

4min

Encounters with Josh and Economics Courses

5min

Reflections on Government Work and Academic Transition

20min

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Mixtape with Scott. One of the new themes I’m hoping to pursue is the students of the 2021 winners of the Nobel Prize. And today’s interview is with Marianne Bitler, professor of economics at University of California Davis. Dr. Bitler was in the first cohort of Josh Angrist’s PhD advisees at MIT. She graduated in 1998 from MIT where Angrist was one of her advisors before going into a career in government. She took the long way to get into academia, moving through UC Irvine and landing at UC Davis. Her career has been marked by an interest in means tested poverty programs as well as reproductive health, but it’s also been marked by early interest in heterogenous treatment effects from a methodological perspective, making her contributions some of the earlier work that I think highlights some of the challenges we face when focusing exclusively on means. It was a pleasure talking to Marianne and I hope all of you find this as interesting to listen to as I did. Thanks again for tuning in!

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The Mixtape with Scott

S3E8: Marianne Bitler, Public Economist, UC Davis

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Marian Betler's Career Trajectory and Academic Interests

Collaborative Work on Welfare Reform and Labor Supply

Pioneering Research on Abortion Policies and Social Outcomes

Lessons Learned and Insights for Past Self

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts