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Meet the Researchers

Photo of William L. Wascher

William L. Wascher

Deputy Director Program Direction Section Research and Statistics
202-452-2812
[email protected]

Education

  • Ph.D., Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1983
  • M.A., Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1980
  • B.A., Economics & Mathematics, University of Delaware, 1978
Current Research Topics
  • Aggregate Supply
  • Minimum Wages
  • Economist

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    1983 - present
  • Visiting Economist

    Bank for International Settlements, Basel, Switzerland

    1998 - 1999
  • Senior Staff Economist

    Council of Economic Advisers, Executive Office of the President

    1989 - 1990
  • Downward nominal wage rigidity in the United States in times of economic distress and low inflation
    Bruce Fallick, Daniel Villar, and William Wascher
    Labour Economics (2022)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102246
  • Okun Revisited: Who Benefits Most from a Strong Economy?
    Stephanie R. Aaronson, Mary C. Daly, William L. Wascher, and David W. Wilcox
    Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2019)
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2019)
  • Reply to 'Credible Research Designs for Minimum Wage Studies'
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Industrial and Labor Relations Review (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793917698429
  • Aggregate Supply in the United States: Recent Developments and Implications for the Conduct of Monetary Policy.
    Dave Reifschneider, William Wascher, and David Wilcox
    IMF Economic Review (2015)
    https://doi.org/10.1057/imfer.2015.1
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2015)
  • Minimum Wages
    William Wascher
    International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (2015)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.94038-8
  • More on Recent Evidence on the Effects of Minimum Wages in the United States
    William Wascher, Ian Salas, and David Neumark
    IZA Journal of Labor Policy (2014)
    https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-9004-3-24
  • Labor Force Participation: Recent Developments and Future Prospects
    Stephanie Aaronson, Tomaz Cajner, Bruce Fallick, Felix Galbis-Reig, Christopher Smith, and William Wascher
    Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2014)
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2014)
  • Revisiting the Minimum Wage-Employment Debate: Throwing Out the Baby with the Bathwater?
    David Neumark, J. M. I. Salas, and William Wascher
    Industrial and Labor Relations Review (2014)
    https://doi.org/10.1177/00197939140670S307
  • Does a Higher Minimum Wage Enhance the Effectiveness of the Earned Income Tax Credit?
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Industrial and Labor Relations Review (2011)
    https://doi.org/10.1177/001979391106400405
  • The Causes and Consequences of Sectoral Reallocation: Evidence from the Early Twenty-First Century
    Andrew Figura and William Wascher
    Business Economics (2010)
    https://doi.org/10.1057/be.2009.42
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2008)
  • Discussion Comments on 'Immigration: Trends and Macroeconomic Implications'
    William L. Wascher
    Globalisation, labour markets and international adjustment: essays in honour of Palle S. Andersen (2009)
  • Minimum Wages and Low-Wage Workers: How Well Does Reality Match the Rhetoric
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Minnesota Law Review (2008)
  • Minimum Wages
    David Neumark and William L. Wascher
    Minimum Wages (2008)
  • Minimum Wages, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and Employment: Evidence from the Post-Welfare Reform Era
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    NBER Working Paper Series (2007)
    https://doi.org/10.3386/w12915
  • Minimum Wages and Employment
    David Neumark and William L. Wascher
    Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics (2007)
  • The Recent Decline in the Labor Force Participation Rate and Its Implications for Potential Labor Supply
    Stephanie Aaronson, Bruce Fallick, Andrew Figura, Jonathan Pingle, and William Wascher
    Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2006)
  • The Effects of Minimum Wages on the Distribution of Family Incomes: A Nonparametric Analysis
    David Neumark, Mark Schweitzer, and William Wascher
    Journal of Human Resources (2005)
    https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.XL.4.867
  • Gauging Employment: Is the Professional Wisdom Wrong? Comment
    William Wascher
    Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2005)
  • Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government: Lessons from Past Productivity Booms
    Roger W. Ferguson and William L. Wascher
    Journal of Economic Perspectives (2004)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/0895330041371286
  • The Influence of Labour Market Institutions on the Disemployment Effects of the Minimum Wage
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    CESifo DICE Report (2004)
  • Minimum Wage Effects throughout the Wage Distribution
    David Neumark, Mark Schweitzer, and William Wascher
    Journal of Human Resources (2004)
    https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.XXXIX.2.425
  • Minimum Wages, Labor Market Institutions, and Youth Employment: A Cross-National Analysis
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Industrial and Labor Relations Review (2004)
    https://doi.org/10.1177/001979390405700204
    See also » FRB Working Paper (2003)
  • Compensating Differentials and Evolution in the Quality-of-Life among U.S. States
    Stuart A. Gabriel, Joe P. Mattey, and William L. Wascher
    Regional Science and Urban Economics (2003)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-0462(02)00007-8
  • Minimum Wages and Skill Acquisition: Another Look at Schooling Effects
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Economics of Education Review (2003)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(02)00006-7
  • Do Minimum Wages Fight Poverty?
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Economic Inquiry (2002)
    https://doi.org/10.1093/ei/40.3.315
  • State-Level Estimates of Minimum Wage Effects: New Evidence and Interpretations from Disequilibrium Methods
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Journal of Human Resources (2002)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/3069603
  • Search Theory and Unemployment: Theory, Empiricism, and Policy
    William Wascher
    Kluwer Academic Publishers (2002)
  • Understanding the Recent Behaviour of Inflation: An Empirical Study of Wage and Price Developments in Eight Countries
    Palle Andersen and William Wascher
    Empirical Studies of Structural Changes and Inflation (2001)
  • Using the EITC to Help Poor Families: New Evidence and a Comparison with the Minimum Wage
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    National Tax Journal (2001)
  • Minimum Wages and Training Revisited
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Journal of Labor Economics (2001)
    https://doi.org/10.1086/322073
  • Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Comment
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    American Economic Review (2000)
    https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.5.1362
  • Sacrifice Ratios and the Conduct of Monetary Policy in Conditions of Low Inflation
    Palle S. Andersen and William L. Wascher
    BIS Working Papers (1999)
  • The Use of Labour Cost Information in Short-Term Economic Analysis: The US Experience
    William Wascher
    Workshop on the Role of Labour Cost Information in Short-Term Analysis in the Context of Monetary Union (1999)
  • House Price Differentials and Dynamics: Evidence from the Los Angeles and San Francisco Metropolitan Areas
    Stuart A. Gabriel, Joe P. Mattey, and William L. Wascher
    FRBSF Economic Review (1999)
  • Will Increasing the Minimum Wage Help the Poor?
    David Neumark, Mark Schweitzer, and William Wascher
    Economic Commentary (1999)
  • The Cyclical Sensitivity of Seasonality in U.S. Employment
    Spencer Krane and William Wascher
    Journal of Monetary Economics (1999)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3932(99)00036-7
  • Is the Time-Series Evidence on Minimum Wage Effects Contaminated by Publication Bias?
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Economic Inquiry (1998)
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.1998.tb01728.x
  • The Effects of Minimum Wages on Teenage Employment and Enrollment: Evidence from Matched CPS Surveys
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Research in labor economics (1996)
  • Is a Productivity Revolution Under Way in the United States?
    Stephen D. Oliner and William L. Wascher
    Challenge (1995)
  • The Demise of California Reconsidered: Interstate Migration over the Economic Cycle
    Stuart A. Gabriel, Joe P. Mattey, and William L. Wascher
    FRBSF Economic Review (1995)
  • The Effect of New Jersey's Minimum Wage Increase on Fast-Food Employ-ment: A Re-Evaluation Using Payroll Records
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    NBER Working Paper Series (1995)
    https://doi.org/10.3386/w5224
  • Reconciling the Evidence on Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: A Review of our Research Findings
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (1995)
  • Minimum Wage Effects on Employment and School Enrollment
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Journal of Business & Economic Statistics (1995)
    https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.1995.10524594
  • Minimum-Wage Effects on School and Work Transitions of Teenagers
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings (1995)
  • Inflation, Nominal Wage Rigidity, and the Efficiency of Labor Markets
    David E. Lebow, David J. Stockton, and William L. Wascher
    Finance and Economics Discussion Series (1995)
  • Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws: Reply
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Industrial and Labor Relations Review (1994)
    https://doi.org/10.1177/001979399404700308
  • The Effects of Regional House Price and Labor Market Variability on Interregional Migration: Evidence from the 1980s
    Stuart A. Gabriel, Janice Shack-Marquez, and William L. Wascher
    Housing markets and residential mobility (1993)
  • Does Migration Arbitrage Regional Labor Market Differentials?
    Stuart A. Gabriel, Janice Shack-Marquez, and William L. Wascher
    Regional Science and Urban Economics (1993)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0166-0462(93)90004-X
  • Regional House-Price Dispersion and Interregional Migration
    Stuart A. Gabriel, Janice Shack-Marquez, and William L. Wascher
    Journal of Housing Economics (1992)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/1051-1377(92)90002-8
  • Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws
    David Neumark and William Wascher
    Industrial and Labor Relations Review (1992)
    https://doi.org/10.1177/001979399204600105
  • Can We Improve upon Preliminary Estimates of Payroll Employment Growth?
    David Neumark and William L. Wascher
    Journal of Business & Economic Statistics (1991)
    https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.1991.10509845
  • Leveling the Peaks and Troughs of the Demographic Cycle: An Application to School Enrollment Rates: A Reply
    Michael L. Wachter and William L. Wascher
    Review of Economics and Statistics (1991)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/2109589
  • Persistence Effects in Labor Force Participation
    Robert S. Gay and William L. Wascher
    Eastern Economic Journal (1989)
  • Creative Destruction and the Behavior of Productivity over the Business Cycle
    Edward Montgomery and William Wascher
    Review of Economics and Statistics (1988)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1928167
  • Race and Gender Wage Inequality in Services and Manufacturing
    Edward Montgomery and William L. Wascher
    Industrial Relations (1987)
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-232X.1987.tb00713.x
  • Some Direct Evidence on the Importance of Borrowing Constraints to the Labor Force Participation of Married Women
    Janice Shack-Marquez and William L. Wascher
    Journal of Human Resources (1987)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/145702
  • Cyclical Fluctuations in Productivity in a Long-Run Demand Equation
    Michael L. Wachter and William L. Wascher
    Working paper series (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). Economic Activity Section) (1986)
  • Economic Implications of Changing Population Trends
    William L. Wascher, Susan W. Burch, and John L. Goodman Jr.
    Federal Reserve Bulletin (1986)
  • Assessing the Relative Efficiency of Hausman's Test Under Bahadur Efficiency Considerations
    William Wascher
    Economics Letters (1986)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1765(86)90201-6
  • Statistical Inference, Model Selection and Research Experience: A Multinomial Model of Data Mining
    Jaime Marquez, Janice Shack-Marquez, and William Wascher
    Economics Letters (1985)
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1765(85)90075-8
  • Leveling the Peaks and Troughs in the Demographic Cycle: An Application to School Enrollment Rates
    Michael L. Wachter and William L. Wascher
    Review of Economics and Statistics (1984)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1925821
  • Labor Market Policies in Response to Structural Changes in Labor Demand
    Michael Wachter and William Wascher
    Industrial Change and Public Policy (1983)

  • conference

    June 2018

    Keynote Address, Korean Economic Association

    Technology, Productivity, and the Labor Market

  • conference

    September 2016

    Annual Symposium, Lehigh University

    Minimum Wages: Distinguishing Rhetoric and Reality

  • seminar

    August 2015

    NABE -- St. Louis University Symposium on Minimum Wage Proposals

    Minimum Wages

  • seminar

    February 2015

    NY Economic Forecasters Club

    Labor Force Participation: Recent Developments and Future Prospects

  • seminar

    May 2014

    Hutchinson Lecture, University of Delaware

    Did the Financial Crisis Permanently Damage the U.S. Economy: Implications for Policymakers

Professional Affiliation
  • Executive Committee Member, National Bureau of Economic Research Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, 2010-present
  • Chair, BLS Data Users Advisory Committee, 2012-present.
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Last Update: August 2, 2024