Lawrence F. Katz

This information is accurate as of the fellowship year indicated for each fellow.

Lawrence F. Katz is the Elisabeth Allison Professor of Economics at Harvard University and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research focuses on issues in labor economics and the economics of social problems. Katz’s recent work examines the patterns and determinants of changes in the US wage structure and labor market inequality. His past research has explored a wide range of topics, including the impact of globalization and technological change on the labor market and the economic and social effects of the birth control pill.

During his fellowship term, Katz will be working on a joint project with Claudia Goldin studying the historical evolution of career and family outcomes of US college men and women. A primary goal of this research will be to draw conclusions about the magnitude and sources of gender gaps in career outcomes for recent cohorts of college graduates, especially for those who continued to professional and graduate school, and to place these patterns into historical perspective.

Katz graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1981 and earned his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985. He has been the editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics since 1991 and served as the chief economist of the US Department of Labor for 1993–1994. He has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, and the Society of Labor Economists.

Racial Wealth Gap May Be a Key to Other Inequities (Harvard Gazette, 6/3/21)