E58 Mid-career moves with Tom Dee

In this episode we talk with Jonathan Colmer about working with research assistants and pre-docs: why hiring them is really a choice to mentor, how to build a team where early-career researchers thrive, and what it takes to fund and select them. Jonathan is an Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the Department of Economics at the University of Virginia and the co-founder and director of the Environmental Inequality Lab. He works to understand how economic activity, policy and the environment interact to shape prosperity, opportunity and well-being.Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Alex Hollingsworth is an associate professor at Ohio State University.In this episode we discussed:- His new NBER paper with Patrick Baylis, Judson Boomhower and John Voorheis, **The Distribution and Consequences of Natural Disasters: Evidence from U.S. Wildfire Victims**,- A workflow built on a weekly and a daily plan, Todoist, Slack instead of email, regular meetings with his team, and deadlines he invents to trick himself into progress- Why working with RAs is **an investment in mentoring**, not outsourcing production, and why for most RAs it is a job rather than a lifestyle- Hiring undergrads for a single task first, encouraging AI as an assistant rather than a cognitive offload, and the verification app his team built with Claude to check OCR'd data- **Cohorts and community**: a summer internship program, two pre-docs hired a year, a weekly team meeting where someone pitches a research idea, and a no-agenda half hour with each pre-doc- How to select pre-docs in the age of AI: talk to people, add an oral walk-through of the technical task, and weigh communication, drive and motivation over skills that can be taught📚 Resources mentioned:- Baylis, Boomhower, Colmer and Voorheis, "The Distribution and Consequences of Natural Disasters: Evidence from U.S. Wildfire Victims" (NBER Working Paper 35675): https://www.nber.org/papers/w35675- The Environmental Inequality Lab: https://www.environmental-inequality-lab.org/- Jonathan's website: https://sites.google.com/site/jonathancolmer/- Todoist (Jonathan's to-do app): https://www.todoist.com/- Eyal Frank and Anant Sudarshan, "The Social Costs of Keystone Species Collapse: Evidence from the Decline of Vultures in India" (AER 2024, Jonathan's current favorite paper): https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/aer.20230016- David Yeager, *10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People*: https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9781668023884- H. Spencer Banzhaf, *Pricing the Priceless*: https://ideas.repec.org/b/cup/cbooks/9781108491006.html- Samantha Harvey, *Orbital*: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/orbital- Aristotle by Harmonic (Alex's recommendation): https://www.harmonic.fun/aristotle/- Anil Ananthaswamy, *Why Machines Learn*: https://anilananthaswamy.com/why-machines-learn- Anil Ananthaswamy, *Through Two Doors at Once*: https://anilananthaswamy.com/through-two-doors-at-once- Consensus: https://consensus.app/- LeapSpace (Elsevier): https://www.elsevier.com/products/leapspace🎮 Recommendations of the week:- 📚 Jonathan's rec, a triplet of books: David Yeager's *10 to 25* for mentoring (and parenting), Spencer Banzhaf's *Pricing the Priceless* for anyone getting into environmental economics (he may be its modal buyer), and Samantha Harvey's Booker-winning *Orbital* for fun- 🧮 Alex's rec: Aristotle, Harmonic's AI built around formal verification in Lean 4, which is surprisingly fun for anything with proofs, econometrics class included- 🤖 Sebastian's rec: *Why Machines Learn* by Anil Ananthaswamy, a history of how we got to modern AI that explains the math simply, plus Consensus and LeapSpace for literature reviews with real citations

In this episode we talk with Tom Dee about moving between institutions and building a career after tenure. Tom is the Barnett Family Professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), and faculty director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities. He serves on the editorial boards of the American Educational Research Journal, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and Education Finance and Policy. His research uses quantitative methods to inform education policy and practice, with a focus on educational inequality, the economics of education, and program evaluation.Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Alex Hollingsworth is an associate professor at Ohio State University.In this episode we discuss:- Tom's workflow of controlled chaos: moving from research meeting to research meeting, writing papers "from the inside out", reading far outside economics, and keeping bullet-point files of ideas- Stephen Covey's big rocks, scheduling your priorities, and giving people the syntax to say no- Work-life balance across the seasons of a career, and the intra-household trade-offs that academic ambition creates- Moving institutions: which dimensions of the job to weigh, why not to over-index on a dean, how to use your network to learn what a place is really like, and how senior offers come about- Tom's own path from Swarthmore to Stanford, including the offer he first turned down- What changes after tenure: the long post-tenure career, finding the agency to pivot, and working with policymakers and practitioners through research-practice partnerships- The social waste of the top-five publication race, and why a PNAS paper on AP Computer Science reached far more people than a top econ journal would have- Preregistering quasi-experimental evaluations: many-analyst studies, decision trees instead of rigid plans, and why Tom thinks economists have an open science problem📚 Resources mentioned:- Dee, T. (2025). "The Case for Preregistering Quasi-Experimental Program and Policy Evaluations." *Evaluation Review* 49(5): 931-945: https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X251326738- Huntington-Klein et al. (2021). "The influence of hidden researcher decisions in applied microeconomics." *Economic Inquiry* (the many-analysts study Alex mentions): https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/faculty_schol/4406- Gelman and Carlin, "Beyond Power Calculations: Assessing Type S (Sign) and Type M (Magnitude) Errors" (Alex's pick for Tom): https://sites.stat.columbia.edu/gelman/research/published/retropower_final.pdf- Stephen Covey's "big rocks" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWQWYYDBl7o- The New Yorker on In Our Time: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/podcast-dept/escape-the-news-with-the-british-podcast-in-our-time-with-melvyn-bragg- Tom's PNAS paper on the rollout of AP Computer Science Principles (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2422298122)🎮 Recommendations of the week:- 🎙️ Tom's rec: the BBC Radio 4 podcast In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg, three academics on one topic, perfect for unloading the dishwasher- 🚂 Alex's rec: Epic Train Journeys from Above, gorgeous low-stakes background viewing for late-night email- 🧅 Sebastian's rec: caramelized onion pasta, a foolproof weeknight recipe (just Google it)

In this episode we talk with Lars Vilhuber about replication practices, transparency in economics, and data access. Lars is the Executive Director of the Labor Dynamics Institute at Cornell University, a Senior Research Associate in the Economics Department at Cornell, and the American Economic Association's Data Editor. His interests include labor economics, statistical disclosure limitation and data dissemination, and reproducibility and replicability in the social sciences. His current work includes TRACE (TRAnsparency CErtified), a project that gives researchers automated tools to credibly demonstrate that their code runs and produces the results they report.Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Alex Hollingsworth is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University.Henry Morris is our main editor. He is a student at the University of Virginia studying computer science and mathematics.In this episode we discussed:How Lars became the AEA Data Editor, and the AEA session comment dismissing research based on proprietary data that pushed him toward reproducibility workWhat the AEA Data and Code Availability Policy requires, and why the AEA was not the first journal to run authors' codeHow the review process works: a team of a graduate student, a pre-doc, and 15–20 undergraduates runs replication packages, and how other journals structure the same taskTRACE: institution-run replication that produces a signed certificate showing the code ran and produced the stated outputs (it does not certify that the code is correct), including for restricted dataPractical tips for reproducible code: start early, use a master script, manage software and package versions, use assertions, and write the README as you goCommon reasons code fails to run, and what happens when results differ after fixesWhether reviewers should assess replicability, and why the data editor checks only whether the code runsLars's workflow: block scheduling on his calendar, firm work-life boundaries, and no fixed to-do system📚 Resources mentioned:Office of the AEA Data Editor, including its guidance, blog posts, and FAQsTRAnsparency CErtified (TRACE): Trusting Computational Research Without Repeating It — ZenodoJournal of Applied Econometrics Data Archive — the journal's replication repository, running since 1985Zenodo and Dataverse [link needed] — trusted repositories accepted under the AEA policy, including options for delayed publication"Pretest with Caution: Event-Study Estimates after Testing for Parallel Trends" by Jonathan Roth — American Economic Review: Insights (Lars's favorite paper in the lightning round)getcensus — Stata command to load American Community Survey data from the Census Bureau API🎮 Recommendations of the week:Lars's rec: Grilled lemongrass chicken with a clementine cake and chocolate ganache (New York Times recipe)Alex's rec: The musician Logan Hone, a flautist and multi-instrumentalistSebastian's rec: The AEA Data Editor's guidance and resources, and the getcensus command in Stata for importing ACS data (requires a Census API key)

Here's the blurb:In this episode we talk with Patrick Button about audit studies, diversity statements, and navigating administrative roles in academia. Patrick is an Associate Professor of Economics at Tulane University and Executive Director of the Conley Alexander Institute for Data Science. His research focuses on discrimination and labor markets, and his current work uses audit field experiments to study barriers to mental health care access — examining how race, ethnicity, trans identity, and insurance type affect whether therapists respond to appointment requests.Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Alex Hollingsworth is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University. HHenry Morris is our main editor. He is a student at the University of Virginia studying computer science and mathematics.In this episode we discussed:Audit field experiments and what they reveal about discrimination in mental health care accessHow Medicaid status affects therapists' responsiveness to appointment requestsBalancing a half-administrative, half-research role — what works and what doesn'tAI scheduling tools like Motion and Reclaim, and why they may not work for everyoneHow to write a strong diversity statement for academic job applicationsThe legislative push to ban DEI statements, and what gets lostWhen cover letters matter — and when they don't📚 Resources mentioned:"How You Can Work to Improve the Climate for LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Economics Profession" by Hoover, Washington & Bayer — Journal of Economic Perspectives: [link]Ben Harrell's working paper on conversion therapy bans, suicidality, and mental health: [link]Patrick's website: patrickbutton.com🎮 Recommendations of the week:📄 Patrick's rec: Read the Hoover, Washington & Bayer JEP article on improving the economics profession for Black, Latinx, and Native American economists🚲 Alex's rec: Ass Savers — lightweight clip-on mud guards that keep you dry when biking in the rain🍽️ Sebastian's rec: Keep your kitchen counter as clear as possible — fewer objects on the counter, better your life

In this episode we talk with Andrea Moro about Git, GitHub, and version control for researchers. Andrea is an Associate Professor of Economics at Vanderbilt University, where he specializes in labor and political economy. He also serves as Data Editor at the Review of Economic Studies. His research combines theoretical and empirical methods, with current work on jury selection and minority representation. Outside of research, Andrea creates literary concordances for Dante's Divine Comedy and James Joyce's Ulysses.Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Alex Hollingsworth is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University. Henry Morris is our main editor. He is a student at the University of Virginia studying computer science and mathematics.In this episode we discussed:What Git and GitHub are and why they matter for researchersThe difference between version control and file storage (GitHub vs. Dropbox)How to create repositories, commit changes, and manage branchesResolving conflicts when collaborating on shared projectsGitHub's integration with Overleaf for academic writingAndrea's work on jury selection and minority representation📚 Resources mentioned:Andrea's literary concordances for Dante's Divine Comedy and James Joyce's Ulysses: litconcordance.andreamoro.netBook: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte🎮 Recommendations of the week:📊 Andrea's rec: Avoid PowerPoint — read Tufte instead📽️ Alex's rec: Canopy — documentaries and movies through your library subscription🔬 Sebastian's rec: Elicit — AI tool for finding related literature

In this episode we talk with Matt Notowidigdo about negotiating. Matt is a Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth. He holds a BS in economics, a BS in computer engineering, a MEng in computer science, and a PhD in economics. He is currently a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research, and he is a co-editor at American Economic Journal - Economic Policy Notowidigdo and an Associate Editor at the Quarterly Journal of Economics.Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Alex Hollingsworth is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University.Henry Morris is our main editor. He is a student at the University of Virginia studying computer science and mathematics. or of Economics at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Indiana University.In this episode we discussed:Matt’s structured approach to managing no more than six projects at a timeTime management with kids and boundaries after tenureInstitutional differences in how research and teaching loads are supportedWhy lunchtime culture matters for faculty communityA crash course on academic job market negotiations📚 Resources mentioned:BFI EDE (Expanding Diversity in Economics) program: https://bfi.uchicago.edu/edeAEA Summer Program at Howard University: https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/committees/aeaspBook: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss – negotiation insights from a former FBI hostage negotiator🎮 Recommendations of the week:Overcooked – a co-op kitchen game for Nintendo Switch👶 Alex’s rec: PBS Kids Apps🛫 Sebastian’s rec: Altos Odyssey

In this episode we talk with Mushfiq Mobarak on how to work with governments and large organizations to implement research. Mushfiq is a Professor of Economics at Yale University with concurrent appointments in the School of Management and in the Department of Economics. He is also the founder and faculty director of the Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE). He holds other appointments at Innovations for Poverty Action, the International Growth Centre (IGC) at LSE, and the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT.Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Alex Hollingsworth is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University.Henry Morris is our main editor. He is a student at the University of Virginia studying computer science and mathematics. or of Economics at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Indiana University.In this episode we discussed:The importance of teamwork, empathy, and comparative advantage in researchPractical advice for managing research projects, teams, and work-life balanceHow to build partnerships with NGOs and governments for fieldworkNavigating organizational dynamics, credibility, and incentivesDealing with media attention and social media as a researcherAdvice for early-career researchersRecommendations of the Week:Mushfiq: Try Jamaican oxtail from a good Jamaican restaurant (for non-vegetarians)Alex: Merquén, a Chilean smoked chili spice blend, great on eggs and moreSebastian: Pisco Sour, a traditional Peruvian cocktail (with or without egg white)Links & Resources:Mushfiq Mubarak’s website: som.yale.edu/mubarakY-Rise: https://yrise.yale.eduScience Magazine policy forum on COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries (March 11, 2022 issue) https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo4089The NORMalizing mask-wearing program is a four-part, evidence-based model that tripled correct mask-wearing in rural Bangladesh and measurably reduced community-based COVID-19. https://poverty-action.org/masks

In this episode, we talk with Sandile Hlatshwayo about working in important institutions such as the Council of Economic Advisors and the International Monetary Fund. Dr. Sandile Hlatshwayo is an IMF economist who previously served as a senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisors. She holds a PhD in Economics from UC Berkeley and works in international trade, finance, and macroeconomics. The conversation covers career paths in policy economics, day-to-day work at the CEA and IMF, the importance of mentoring, and practical advice for aspiring economists.Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Alex Hollingsworth is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University.Henry Morris is our main editor. He is a student at the University of Virginia studying computer science and mathematics.Organizations & Initiatives Mentioned:The Sadie Collective: Diversifying economics, especially for Black women. Annual conference in February, research symposiums, and partnerships with Brookings and the Chicago Fed. More info: 'The Sadie Collective | Developing Leaders in Economics & Related FieldsAEA Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Economics Profession (C^2): Support and mentoring for LGBTQ+ economists. Weekly research seminars and annual mentoring conference. Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Economics ProfessionPhD Excellence Initiative (Stanford): Rigorous, fully funded pre-doc program for underrepresented students. Led by Peter Blair Henry. More info: The PhD Excellence Initiative - WelcomePapers & Research Mentioned:Rising Import Tariffs, Falling Exports: When Modern Supply Chains Meet Old-Style Protectionism - American Economic AssociationThe US-China Trade War and Global Reallocations - American Economic AssociationRecommendations of the Week:Board game: Hues and Cues – a fun, color-based guessing game for families and friends.Office hack: Over-the-door bike hanger for saving space.Glasses: Zeni (https://www.zennioptical.com/) – affordable online prescription glassesThank you for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and check out the links above for more information on the organizations and resources discussed in this episode.

In this episode we talk with Jeremy Weber about applying statistical concepts and lessons into applying to the real world. Jeremy is a professor in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. He has a PhD from the University of Wisconsin Madison and he is focused on the economics of environmental and energy issues. He has also worked as a research economist at a Federal statistical agency (the Economic Research Service) and as a chief economist at the White House. He is the author of the book “Statistics for Public Policy: A Practical Guide to Being Mostly Right (or at Least Respectably Wrong)”.You can get his book through bookshopBooks & PapersStatistics for Public Policy: A Practical Guide to Being Mostly Right, or at Least Respectively Wrong by Jeremy Weber Book page at UChicago PressNBER Paper: "Difference in Difference in the Marketplace" NBER Working Paper Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA ERS WebsiteCouncil of Economic Advisers (CEA), White House CEA WebsiteRecommendations of the week:Show: "Masters of the Air" and "The Bloody 100th" (see above). Masters of the Air (Apple TV+) ⁠Apple TV+ link⁠The Bloody 100th (Documentary, Apple TV+) ⁠Apple TV+ link⁠App: Readwise – App for saving, highlighting, and resurfacing reading material. readwise.ioSebastian Tello-Trillo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Alex Hollingsworth is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University.Henry Morris is our main editor. He is a student at the University of Virginia studying computer science and mathematics.

In this episode, we talk with Tal Gross about new teaching techniques. Tal is a Professor in the Department of Markets, Public Policy & Law at Boston University. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research focuses on health insurance and household finance.In this book, Tal shares about his new book “Better Health Economics”, which you can buy through Bookshop.org, Amazon, or the publisher’s website.They are also giving out slides, exams, and active-learning exercises to instructors. If you are teaching health economics – or know someone who is – they can provide the materials.Tal talked about his latest publication in economics just appeared in AER: Insights, and it’s joint work with Tim Layton and Daniel Prinz.We talked about how to structure our day and refer to this article on Non-technical summary of decision fatigue.We also talked about how interruptions affect your work, and here is the George Mason study on interruptionsWe also talked about how writing is important and references the article: “One learns through the act of writing itself.”The Elite IllusionWe also talked about an easy way to improve student evaluations: Cookies improve student evaluationsAnd two articles that argue against student evaluations One and TwoHere is a Great summary of active-learning methods in STEM classesAwesome PNAS paper: active-learning method is more effective but feels less effectiveIn addition, Tal has put together A list I put together of resources on active-learning exercisesWe talked about ModLab, which provides a number of great active learning resources.Tal’s recommendation of the week is to get a stopwatch, which is useful for setting a time to work, cooking, and many other things!Alex’s recommendation of the week is the book “Teaching Statistics: A bag of tricks” by  Andrew Gelman  (Author), Deborah NolanSebastian’s recommendation of the week is Ommwriter, a minimalist and relaxing writing appSebastian Tello-Trillo is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.Alex Hollingsworth is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.Henry Morris is our main editor. He is a student at the University of Virginia studying computer science and mathematics.