The Mixtape with Scott

Greetings everyone. I’m still in moving mode, packing up life in Texas and getting ready for a year in Boston. I hit the road on Friday of this week for a three day road trip and am still behind on everything. That means the podcast is still on reruns for now, but I should have a new episode for you next time. This week’s rerun is one I really liked, though—my conversation from two years ago with Steven Berry.Steven is the Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale and the inaugural Faculty Director of the Tobin Center. His work in industrial organization has shaped how economists think about markets in equilibrium, and his research spans industries from autos to airlines to media. He’s also a winner of the Frisch Medal, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and one of the field’s most respected voices.We talked about his path into economics—from the Midwest, to Wisconsin, to a career that’s helped define modern empirical IO. Naturally, we dug into the BLP model, the landmark framework he developed with James Levinsohn and Ariel Pakes that changed how we estimate demand in differentiated product markets. It’s one of those ideas that’s both deeply technical and hugely practical in policy and business.If you missed it the first time, I think you’ll enjoy hearing Steven reflect on his career, his collaborators, and where the field is headed. Here’s my rerun conversation with Steven Berry.Scott's Mixtape Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

I’m still going through some older reruns for the summer due to my travel schedule. This one is an interview with Rocío Titiunik, a quantitative methods political scientist and professor in the department of politics at Princeton University, as well as a researcher that has been at the frontier of work on regression discontinuity designs. Her name is synonymous with cutting-edge work on regression discontinuity design, developed in close collaboration with scholars like Sebastián Calonico, Matías Cattaneo, and Max Farrell. Together, they’ve shaped the modern landscape of causal inference, not only through groundbreaking theory but also through widely used software tools in R, Stata, and Python. In addition to her contributions to quantitative methodology, Rocío’s applied research — from electoral behavior to democratic institutions — has become a major voice in political science. She also holds a formidable editorial footprint: associate editor for Science Advances, Political Analysis, and the American Journal of Political Science, and APSR. It’s no exaggeration to say she helps steer the field as much as she contributes to it.In this older interview, Rocío shared how her journey into economics began not with data, but with theory, literature, and the big questions that led her to the discipline. Her path into Berkeley’s PhD program in agricultural and resource economics was anything but linear, and even once there, she wasn’t sure how all the parts of herself — the scholar, the immigrant, the thinker — would fit together. During our conversation, she opened up about moments of uncertainty, of feeling lost in the sheer vastness of academic economics. Her honesty was disarming. It reminded me that no matter how decorated someone’s résumé may be, we’re all just trying to find our way — and sometimes, the most important breakthroughs happen when we admit we haven’t arrived yet.Thanks again for tuning in! I hope you like listening to this older podcast interview. Scott's Mixtape Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

Tymon Słoczyński, an econometrician and assistant professor at Brandeis University, shares his journey from Poland to academia, exploring historical migration patterns and their influence on modern diversity. He engages in discussions on causal inference in econometrics, critiques traditional methodologies, and highlights the evolution of research techniques. Tymon also reflects on the art of academic writing, revealing insights into clarity and precision in conveying complex ideas. Their light-hearted reminiscence about childhood vacations adds a personal touch to this engaging conversation.

Welcome to the Mixtape with Scott — an interview-based podcast where I, Scott Cunningham, talk to living economists about their personal lives. I continue my travels in Europe without a good microphone, which has caused me to delay my newest interviews a little bit longer. Therefore this week’s episode is an oldie but a goodie — Jon Roth, a young econometrician at Brown University. Jon has had many high profile publications to his name already in a short period of time, many of which center around difference-in-differences. Several have focused on the event study (e.g., here, here and here) , whereas others have focused on the logarithm both within diff-in-diff but also outside of it. I think it is fair to say that Jon’s econometric contributions have been unusually practical to applied researchers while also scientifically robust and accurate. I remember enjoying this conversation with Jon a great deal, and if you haven’t listened to it, it’s a great time to do so now, and if you have listened to it, it’s a great time to listen to it again! Thank you again for all your support!Scott's Mixtape Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

Mohammad Akbarpour, an economic theorist at Stanford University, shares his fascinating journey from Tehran to academia. He reflects on his early life in Iran, the competitive educational landscape, and the cultural dynamics of pistachio farming. The conversation touches on his transition from electrical engineering to economics and how mentorship shaped his career. Akbarpour also explores the unique kidney market in Iran and the interplay between economics and computer science, offering fresh insights into social networks and disease dynamics.

Welcome back to The Mixtape with Scott, a podcast about the lives and stories of living economists. This show often unfolds in themed mini-series, and lately I’ve been exploring one that I’ve been curious about for a while: the economists who navigated and participated in the heterodox tradition in economics. Today’s guest is Amitava Krishna Dutt, a development economist, now emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. His work sits at the intersection of structuralist macroeconomics, post-Keynesian theory, and development, with deep engagement in political economy. He’s long been committed to questions of global inequality, the dynamics of capitalist growth, and the limitations of orthodoxy in addressing the needs of the Global South.So thank you for tuning in. I hope this is as interesting to you as it was to me.Scott's Mixtape Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to this week’s episode of The Mixtape with Scott. Today’s podcast guest is our 127th guest on the show—Vitor Possebom, Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the Fundação Getulio Vargas. Vitor’s research sits at the intersection of two areas — econometrics and causal inference, and policy evaluation in Latin America, particularly Brazil. His contributions revolve around refining and extending tools for estimating causal effects in observational data, especially under common data imperfections like selection bias, measurement error, and treatment effect heterogeneity.* Sample selection and marginal treatment effects (e.g., “Identifying Marginal Treatment Effects in the Presence of Sample Selection” (Journal of Econometrics), “Crime and Mismeasured Punishment” (Review of Economics and Statistics))* Misclassification and measurement error (e.g., “Potato Potahto in the FAO-GAEZ Productivity Measures?”)* Inference and sensitivity in synthetic control methods (e.g., “Cherry Picking with Synthetic Controls”, “Synthetic Control Method: Inference, Sensitivity Analysis and Confidence Sets”)* Probability of causation in non-experimental settings (e.g., “Probability of Causation with Sample Selection”)I invited Vitor onto the podcast because of his creative contributions to causal inference, as he fits into a larger informal series I’ve been for the last several years on causal inference in general. In today’s conversation, we talk about Vitor’s path from Brazil to Yale University and then back. Vitor, thank you so much for joining us.Scott's Mixtape Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to The Mixtape with Scott, a podcast dedicated to exploring the personal stories of living economists. I'm your host, Scott Cunningham, Professor of Economics at Baylor University.Today, I'm delighted to introduce Jessica Brown, Assistant Professor of Economics at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Jessica is also a Research Fellow at IZA and a Faculty Affiliate at the Wilson-Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities.I invited Jessica onto the podcast because of her deep connections to the credibility revolution, causal inference, and the esteemed tradition of labor economics nurtured at Princeton University’s Industrial Relations Section, where she completed her PhD in 2019.Jessica is also joining us as part of a special series I've been hosting, loosely titled "The Students Of..." Within this series, she specifically contributes to our "Students of Alan Krueger" mini-series. Alan Krueger, a pioneering economist whose work profoundly shaped labor economics, tragically passed away in 2019. Jessica was one of Alan's last doctoral students, and his death came shortly before her dissertation defense.In our conversation today, we'll explore Jessica's journey as an economist, her experiences studying under Alan Krueger, and the influence he had on her professional and personal development.Jessica, thank you so much for joining us.Scott's Mixtape Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to this week's episode of The Mixed Tape with Scott. I'm your host, Scott Cunningham. This podcast is devoted to the personal stories of living economists, diving into their lives, careers, and the fascinating paths they've walked.This week's guest is Michael Anderson, an economist from the University of California Berkeley's Department of Agricultural Resource Economics. Michael earned his PhD at MIT in 2006 under the mentorship of Josh Angrist, making him part of a broader narrative I've been exploring—the Princeton Industrial Relations Section and the influential lineage of scholars who shaped the modern credibility revolution in economics.In our conversation, we touch on Michael's rich and varied research. We discuss his insights into the returns to college athletic success, delve into his foundational work on the Perry Preschool program and the challenge of multiple inference, and explore the real-world impacts outlined in his American Economic Review paper on subway strikes and slowdowns. As always, though, this episode is much more than just research highlights—it's about Michael's journey through economics, his stories, and the experiences that have defined his path. I hope you enjoy the show!Scott's Mixtape Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

I’m thrilled to announce that our next guest on The Mixtape with Scott is Professor Philip Oreopoulos—one of the most impactful economists working today in education and labor. A PhD student advisee of David Card, Phil is part of the distinguished lineage that helped shape the credibility revolution in applied microeconomics.Now a Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, Phil has spent his career studying how education policies and interventions affect outcomes for students and workers. His work blends rigorous causal inference with real-world relevance to uncover how both the very large interventions we employ to help society, as well as the seemingly surgically narrow ones, shape the lives of workers and students. He’s also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Research Fellow at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. His CV is full of important papers, but it’s the heart behind the work that really stands out—his curiosity about the world and his desire to make a difference. In this episode, we go beyond the papers. We talk about his journey, what it was like working with David Card, and how he found his calling. It’s a thoughtful, warm conversation with a scholar who represents the very best of what economics can be.Scott's Mixtape Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe