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Photo of Douglas A. Webber

Douglas A. Webber

Principal Economist Consumer and Community Research Section Consumer and Community Affairs
202-452-2079
[email protected]

Education

  • Ph.D., Economics, Cornell University, 2012
  • M.A., Economics, Cornell University, 2010
  • B.A., Economics, University of Florida, 2007
  • B.S., Mathematics, University of Florida, 2007
Current Research Topics
  • Labor Economics
  • Economics of Education
  • Principal Economist

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2024 - present
  • Senior Economist

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2022 - 2024
  • Associate Professor

    Temple University, Department of Economics

    2017 - 2021
  • Assistant Professor

    Temple University, Department of Economics

    2012 - 2017
  • Navigating Higher Education Insurance: An Experimental Study on Demand and Adverse Selection
    Sidhya Balakrishnan, Eric Bettinger, Michael S. Kofoed, Dubravka Ritter, Douglas A. Webber, Ege Aksu, and Jonathan S. Hartley
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2024)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2024.024
  • Institution, Major, and Firm-Specific Premia: Evidence from Administrative Data
    Ben Ost, Weixiang Pan, and Douglas Webber
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2024)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2024.018
  • Non-Completion, Student Debt, and Financial Well-Being: Evidence from the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking
    Jacob Lockwood and Douglas Webber
    FEDS Notes (2023)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.3371
  • Affording Degree Completion: An Experimental Study of Completion Grants at Accessible Public Universities
    Sara Goldrick-Rab, Christine Baker-Smith, Travis T. York, Kallie Clark, Douglas Webber, and Christel Perkins
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2023)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2023.047
  • College Networks and Re-employment of Displaced Workers
    Ben Ost, Weixiang Pan, and Douglas Webber
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2023)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2023.043
  • Losing insurance and psychiatric hospitalizations
    Johanna Catherine Maclean, Sebastian Tello-Trillo, and Douglas Webber
    Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (2023)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2022.11.001
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2022)
  • Losing insurance and psychiatric hospitalizations
    Johanna Catherine Maclean, Sebastian Tello-Trillo, and Douglas Webber
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (2022)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2022.069
  • Government regulation and wages: Evidence from continuing coverage mandates
    Johanna Catherine Maclean and Douglas Webber
    Labour Economics (2022)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102236
  • Decomposing Changes in Higher Education Return on Investment Over Time
    Douglas Webber
    FEDS Notes (2022)
    https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.3155
  • Labor Market Competition and Employment Adjustment over the Business Cycle
    Douglas A. Webber
    Journal of Human Resources (2022)
    https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.monopsony.0119-9954R1
  • A Growing Divide: The Promise and Pitfalls of Higher Education for the Working Class
    Douglas A. Webber
    ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (2021)
    https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162211026199
  • The Emergence of Income-Share Agreements
    Dubravka Ritter and Douglas Webber
    Workforce Realigned: How New Partnerships are Advancing Economic Mobility (2021)
  • The Returns to College Persistence for Marginal Students: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from University Dismissal Policies
    Ben Ost, Weixiang Pan, and Douglas Webber
    Journal of Labor Economics (2018)
    https://doi.org/10.1086/696204
  • Health Insurance Benefit Mandates and Firm Size Distribution
    James Bailey and Douglas Webber
    Journal of Risk and Insurance (2018)
    https://doi.org/10.1111/jori.12164
  • Higher ed, lower spending: As states cut back, where has the money gone?
    Douglas Webber
    Education Next (2018)
  • Immigration and Access to Fringe Benefits: Evidence from the Tobacco Use Supplements
    Johanna Catherine Maclean, Douglas Webber, and Jody L. Sindelar
    Industrial Relations (2018)
    https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.12205
  • Examining the Interstate Mobility of Recent College Graduates
    Robert Kelchen and Douglas A. Webber
    Educational Researcher (2018)
    https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17753124
  • The impact of mass layoffs on the educational investments of working college students
    Ben Ost, Weixiang Pan, and Doug Webber
    Labour Economics (2018)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2017.11.008
  • The Implicit Costs of Motherhood over the Lifecycle: Cross-Cohort Evidence from Administrative Longitudinal Data
    Christian Neumeier, Todd Sørensen, and Douglas Webber
    Southern Economic Journal (2018)
    https://doi.org/10.1002/soej.12239
  • State divestment and tuition at public institutions
    Douglas A. Webber
    Economics of Education Review (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.07.007
  • The political roots of health insurance benefit mandates
    James Bailey and Douglas Webber
    Journal of Economic Studies (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-07-2015-0137
  • Risk-sharing and student loan policy: Consequences for students and institutions
    Douglas A. Webber
    Economics of Education Review (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.12.007
  • High school experiences, the gender wage gap, and the selection of occupation
    Michael R. Strain and Douglas A. Webber
    Applied Economics (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2017.1299100
  • Are college costs worth it? How ability, major, and debt affect the returns to schooling
    Douglas A. Webber
    Economics of Education Review (2016)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.04.007
  • Firm-Level Monopsony and the Gender Pay Gap
    Douglas A. Webber
    Industrial Relations (2016)
    https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.12142
  • Firm market power and the earnings distribution
    Douglas A. Webber
    Labour Economics (2015)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2015.05.003
  • The Health Consequences of Adverse Labor Market Events: Evidence from Panel Data
    Johanna Catherine Maclean, Douglas A. Webber, Michael T. French, and Susan L. Ettner
    Industrial Relations (2015)
    https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.12099
  • The Impact of Work-Limiting Disability on Labor Force Participation
    Douglas A. Webber and Melissa J. Bjelland
    Health Economics (2015)
    https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3020
  • Workplace problems, mental health and substance use
    Johanna Catherine Maclean, Douglas Webber, and Michael T. French
    Applied Economics (2015)
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2014.982856
  • Is the return to education the same for everybody?
    Douglas Webber
    IZA World of Labor (2014)
    https://doi.org/10.15185/izawol.92
  • The lifetime earnings premia of different majors: Correcting for selection based on cognitive, noncognitive, and unobserved factors
    Douglas A. Webber
    Labour Economics (2014)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2014.03.009
  • An Application of Unconditional Quantile Regression to Cigarette Taxes
    Johanna Catherine Maclean, Douglas A. Webber, and Joachim Marti
    Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (2014)
    https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21724
  • The Roles of Assimilation and Ethnic Enclave Residence in Immigrant Smoking
    Johanna Catherine Maclean, Douglas Webber, and Jody L. Sindelar
    NBER Working Paper Series (2013)
    https://doi.org/10.3386/w19753
  • Expenditures and postsecondary graduation: An investigation using individual-level data from the state of Ohio
    Douglas A. Webber
    Economics of Education Review (2012)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.02.003
  • Job loss and effects on firms and workers
    Kevin F. Hallock, Michael R. Strain, and Douglas Webber
    Downsizing: Is Less Still More? (2012)
  • Age and Disability Employment Discrimination: Occupational Rehabilitation Implications
    Melissa J. Bjelland, Susanne M. Bruyère, Sarah von Schrader, Andrew J. Houtenville, Antonio Ruiz-Quintanilla, and Douglas A. Webber
    Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation (2010)
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-009-9194-z
  • Do expenditures other than instructional expenditures affect graduation and persistence rates in American higher education?
    Douglas A. Webber and Ronald G. Ehrenberg
    Economics of Education Review (2010)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2010.04.006
  • Student Service Expenditures Matter
    Ronald G. Ehrenberg and Douglas A. Webber
    Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning (2010)
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00091381003704602
  • Executive pay and firm performance: methodological considerations and future directions
    Beth Florin, Kevin F. Hallock, and Douglas Webber
    Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management (2010)
    https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-7301(2010)0000029004
  • Do expenditures other than instructional expenditures affect graduation and persistence rates in American higher education?
    Douglas A. Webber and Ronald G. Ehrenberg
    NBER Working Paper Series (2009)
    https://doi.org/10.3386/w15216
Conference Organization

  • October, 2019 | Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

    Symposium on Income Share Agreements

    Co-Organizer (with Dubravka Ritter)

Editor
  • Co-Editor, Economics of Education Review, 2019-Present
  • Co-Editor, Contemporary Economic Policy, 2017-2020
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Last Update: September 30, 2024