Seth Zimmerman

Seth Zimmerman is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He also holds positions as a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), and a Research Scholar at Yale University.

Professor Zimmerman studies labor economics and public finance, with a focus on the economics of education. His research combines partnerships with local, state, and national governments with field-experimental and observational methods to evaluate public policy and understand economic behavior. Topics of particular interest include the market and policy determinants of educational attainment and the returns to education, as well as the role of firm- and school-specific social networks in job-finding and career success over the long run.

Zimmerman’s work has appeared publications such as the Journal of Labor Economics, the Journal of Public Economics, and the American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings, and also has been featured in national and international news outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Before joining Chicago Booth, Zimmerman worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Industrial Relations Section at Princeton University, a Consulting Researcher at Microsoft Research, and a Research Associate at the Urban Institute. He holds a Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. in Economics from Yale University, and received his B.A., summa cum laude, in Mathematics and Social Science (high honors) from Dartmouth College.