The Mixtape with Scott

David Autor, a renowned labor economist from MIT, discusses the economic impacts of globalization and technological advancements, including the effects of Chinese trade on U.S. labor markets. He shares childhood memories and interests, from his geeky personality and fascination with electronics to his love for nonfiction reading and sailing. The podcast explores his journey into labor economics, detailing his unexpected path and growth in the field, emphasizing hard work, humility, and mentorship in academia.

Joining the podcast is Adriana Lleras-Muney, UCLA Professor in health economics. She discusses the impact of compulsory schooling laws on wages and birth quarter research, the evolution of data collection, and analyzing the effects of schooling on mortality rates using instrumental variables. The conversation also delves into the New Deal Youth Employment Program and its long-term impacts on lifetime earnings and lifespan.

We have officially passed 100 episodes with today’s guest, and it’s wonderful to get to do it with my good friend, Manisha Shah. Manisha is the Chancelor’s Professor of Public Policy at University of California Berkeley. Manisha is an applied microeconomist who has historically specialized in topics related to health, education, gender and labor, with a particular focus on low and middle income countries. She has research appointments at NBER, BREAD, J-PAL, IZA and is also an editor at Journal of Health Economics as well as an associate editor at Review of Economics and Statistics. And if I can for just a moment tell you a little about that work, please bear with me.First the main area of her work that I am familiar with is the part that overlaps with my own historical research agenda in sex markets. That is because Manisha is arguably the leading expert on the economics of sex markets and has been for many years. She has published on just that topic alone in many high impactful studies like the effect of both legalizing sex work (Review of Economic Studies with me) and the effect of criminalizing it (Quarterly Journal of Economics with Lisa Cameron and Jennifer Seager), the identification of compensating wage differentials for unprotected sex (Journal of Political Economy with Paul Gentler and Stefano Bertozzi) as well as a Journal of Human Resources with Raj Arunachalam on a related topic, and more. But that is just her work on sex markets. There are also her many papers related to children development, like her Journal of Political Economy examining investments in human capital and child labor supply, her work on left-handedness and child development in Demography, another paper of hers looking at parents’ investments in children by their underlying ability, her AEJ: Applied looking at the impact of children’s development on their mother’s own labor supply, her work on sanitation and child development, and it goes on and on. There is also her work looking at people’s own risk preferences and how it relates to natural disasters they have experienced. One last thing and I’ll quit listing. But one of the things I admire about Manisha’s research is the shoe leather involved. Her usually involves primary data collection, running randomized field experiments, working directly with stakeholders, in places like Uganda, Mexico, India, Tanzania and more. It’s such a nice treat, then, to get to interview her for the 100th episode, not just because I get to share her personal story to those who only know her by reputation, but also because I count her as one of my closest friends inside and outside the profession. We worked together on a study about the legalization of sex work in Rhode Island that took around ten years from start to completion to publication. It was during a difficult time for me personally and working on that project with her meant a lot to me everyday, but more than that, working with her meant a lot to me everyday. She says in the interview that me and her similar in that we are both intense and very into our projects, and that’s true. But I guess I never really noticed that about her — all I have ever seen with Manisha is someone who is unbelievably kind, unbelievably fun and funny, unbelievably down to earth, non-judgmental, approachable, disarming, insightful, and hard working. All I can is that she has never once made me feel anything other than better about myself. Being around her, being friends with her, I mean, always leaves me feeling better than I think I would feel without her, and for that I am beyond grateful for her presence in the world. Forget the profession — in the world. So with that let me introduce you to her. Scott's 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

My producer is on vacation this week, and so I am unable to post my latest episode, so I thought I’d post an oldie but a goodie — my season 2 opening interview with Jeff Wooldridge, a much beloved econometrician and economist at Michigan State. So enjoy! Apologies and I’ll see you all next week with a new guest! Thanks again for all your support. Ciao!Scott's 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

Greetings listeners! It is a pleasure to introduce this week’s guest on the podcast, Ashesh Rambachan, an assistant professor of economics at MIT. I wanted to talk to Ashesh for two main reasons. First, because I wanted to, and second, because I was aware of some of his recent work in econometrics. His recent article on evaluating the fragility of parallel trends in difference-in-differences just came out in the Review of Economic Studies. I’m also intrigued by his work with Sendhil Mullainathan on machine learning, algorithmic fairness as well as generative AI. Having a specialist in both causal inference, artificial intelligence and machine learning is rare, so I thought sitting down with him to learn more about his story would be a lot of fun, not just for me, but for others too. With that said, here you go! I hope you enjoy the interview! Thank you again for all your support!Scott's 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

Esteemed labor economist Henry Farber discusses his traditional approach to labor economics, focusing on labor unions and NYC taxi driver behavior. He shares insights on the decline of unions, explores his academic journey from engineering to economics, and reflects on the impact of a dedicated student's research on welfare benefits.

This week's episode of "The Mixtape with Scott" features a conversation with Sarah Miller, a health economist at the University of Michigan. Sarah has made significant contributions to the field of economics, particularly in understanding gender dynamics and reproductive health. Her research has been influential in shaping public policy, and her groundbreaking study on the effect of Medicaid on mortality, conducted with Laura Wherry and Norman Johnson and published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, stands out as a seminal work. In this episode, we delve into her academic journey, the personal experiences that have shaped her interests, and the impactful research that drives her career.Beyond her impressive scholarly achievements, we explore the passion and curiosity that fuel her work, as well as her vision for future research. Sarah shares reflections on her personal life, offering a glimpse into the challenges and triumphs that have defined her path. Join us as we uncover the story of a dedicated scholar whose work not only advances economic theory but also has tangible impacts on public health and gender equity. This episode was a thought-provoking exploration of Sarah Miller's remarkable career and the innovative research that continues to inspire her.Scott's 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

This week's episode of "The Mixtape with Scott" features an insightful conversation with E. Glen Weyl, a distinguished economist whose career has spanned academia and industry. Glen earned his PhD from Princeton, spent three years at the Harvard Society of Fellows, and served as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, where he made significant contributions to micro theory applications to industrial organization. However, Glen’s journey took a transformative turn when he left academia to join Microsoft, where he currently leads the Plural Technology Collaboratory, focusing on technological solutions for societal cooperation.Many listeners might recognize Glen from his influential book "Radical Markets," co-authored with Eric Posner. This work introduced the innovative voting mechanism known as quadratic voting, reflecting Glen's deepening interest in democratic processes and governance. His latest book, "Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy,” (Amazon link) co-authored with Taiwan's Digital Minister Audrey Tang, serves as a manifesto for harnessing digital technology to foster social unity and diversity. The book presents bold ideas, from digitally empowered communication to transforming global trade, aiming to enrich relationships and ensure inclusivity.In addition to his writing, Glen has also ventured into film as an executive producer of the documentary "Good Enough Ancestor," which highlights Audrey Tang's work in digital democracy. That trailer can be found here; Glen was executive producer on it.Throughout our interview, Glen shares his experiences and insights from his varied projects, illustrating his renaissance man persona. From his academic roots to his pioneering efforts at Microsoft and beyond, Glen’s story is a testament to his innovative spirit and dedication to leveraging technology for societal good. This episode promises to be an engaging exploration of his remarkable career and visionary ideas.So thank you for once again for tuning into the podcast! I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. Don’t forget to subscribe, follow, all that and tell people about it! Thank you for reading Scott's Substack. This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Scott's Mixtape Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

Matthew Jackson from Stanford University discusses the importance of networks in human existence, linking it to resource allocation in economics. The podcast explores his journey from gymnastics to economics, the evolution of network theory, and the intersection of AI and game theory in understanding decision-making processes.

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Mixtape with Scott where I get to interview Bruce Sacerdote, the Richard S. Braddock 1963 Professor in Economics at Dartmouth. Bruce is a prolific labor economist whose work spans the range of crime, education and peer effects. Some of his papers have been some of my favorite, even. His early work on crime with Ed Glaeser used to really interest me. But it was his work on peer effects that I found really fascinating. This old paper in the QJE about how friendships form I must have read almost 20 years and it still sticks in my head. I think Bruce, though, was one of the first people that I ever encountered after graduating that was very clearly part of this credibility revolution. His papers, if it used instruments, typically would use lotteries as instruments. Or if he was studying peer effects, it was lotteries. Well, not surprisingly, Bruce was there at Harvard as a PhD student in the first class that Imbens co-taught with Don Rubin on causal inference. His classmates in that class were Rajeev Dehejia and Sadek Wahba, authors of classic applied papers on the propensity score. In fact, Bruce’s own project for that class was also published — a paper estimating the causal effect of winning lottery prizes on labor market outcomes (published in the 2001 AER). So this was fun, and I hope you enjoy it too. Apologies I ramble for so long at the start. Not sure what got into me.Scott's 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