Darla Moore School of Business, Room 436
University of South Carolina
1014 Greene Street
Columbia, SC 29208
Jessica.Brown@moore.sc.edu
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Academic Positions
Assistant Professor of Economics, University of South Carolina, August 2019 – present
Research Fellow, Institute for Labor Studies (IZA), April 2024 – present
Faculty Affiliate, Wilson-Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities, October 2021 – present
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Visiting Positions
Short-Term Visiting Scholar, Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies, Princeton University, March 2025
AEA Summer Fellow, W.E. Upjohn Institute, Summer 2022
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Education
Ph.D., Economics
Princeton University, 2019
Committee: Alan Krueger (chair), Leah Boustan, Will Dobbie, Alex Mas, Ilyana Kuziemko
M.A., Economics
Princeton University, 2015
B.S., Mathematics and Economics
University of Notre Dame, magna cum laude, 2011
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Teaching and Research Fields
Primary Fields: Public Economics, Labor Economics, Economics of Child Care
Published or Accepted Papers
“Secure Communities as Immigration Enforcement: How Secure is the Child Care Market?” with Umair Ali and Chris M. Herbst (Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 233:105101, 2024)
“The Impact of a Long-Term Care Information Campaign on Long-Term Care Insurance Purchase” (Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 92:102822, 2023)
“Child Care Over the Business Cycle” with Chris M. Herbst (Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 40(S1): S429-S468, 2022)
“Mandated Benefits, Imperfect Information, and Moral Hazard” (Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 88(3): 1037-1064, 2022)
“The Global COVID-19 Student Survey: First Wave Results” with David A. Jaeger, Jaime Arellano-Bover, Krzysztof Karbownik, Marta Martínez-Matute, John Nunley, R. Alan Seals, and 37 others (Covid Economics, Vol. 79(1): 152-217, 2021)
Working Papers
“The Labor Market Effects of Pregnancy Accommodation Laws” with Emily Battaglia (R&R, Journal of Population Economics)
“Minimum Wage, Worker Quality, and Consumer Well-Being: Evidence from the Child Care Market” with Chris M. Herbst (Resubmitted, Journal of Human Resources)
“An Equilibrium Model of the Impact of Increased Public Investment in Early Childhood Education” with Jonathan Borowsky, Elizabeth E. Davis, Chloe Gibbs, Chris M. Herbst, Aaron Sojourner, Erdal Tekin, and Matthew J. Wiswall
“Does Public Pre-K Have Unintended Consequences on the Child Care Market for Infants and Toddlers?”
Teaching Experience
Third-Year Seminar (Ph.D.)
University of South Carolina
Fall 2024
Public Finance II (Ph.D.)
University of South Carolina
Spring 2024
Introductory Econometrics
University of South Carolina
Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Fall 2024, Fall 2025
Awards and Grants
2025-present Moore Fellowship, Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina
2024-2025 Riegel and Emory Human Resource Center Grant ($5,000)
2024-2026 Washington Center for Equitable Growth Early Career Scholar ($30,000)
2024-2027 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, with Chris M. Herbst ($454,022)
2023 – 2024 Darla Moore School of Business Internal Grant ($4,270)
2019 – 2020 Darla Moore School of Business Internal Grant ($5,000)
2017 – 2018 Richard A. Lester Fellowship for Industrial Relations
2013 – 2014 Louis A. Simpson *60 Graduate Fellowship
2011 Phi Beta Kappa
2011 Omicron Delta Epsilon
2011 Bernoulli Award Honorable Mention for Senior Thesis
Presentations and Seminars
2025: Princeton University, Florida State University, Society of Labor Economists Annual Meeting
2024: AEA Annual Meeting, Southeastern Micro Labor Workshop, Society of Labor Economists Annual Meeting, Triangle Economics of Education Workshop, Brookings Institution, NBER Summer Institute, Association for Public Policy & Management, Southern Economic Association
2023: University of Notre Dame, Princeton University (Industrial Relations Section Centennial), University of Virginia (Education), Southern Economic Association
2022: Association for Public Policy & Management, Clemson University, Census LED Webinar, Carolina Regional Empirical Economics Day, Southeastern Economic Association
2021: Association for Education Finance and Policy, Southeastern Micro Labor Workshop
2020: Eastern Economic Association Annual Meeting, Tufts University
2019: University of South Carolina, Joint Committee on Taxation, George Washington University, Upjohn Institute, Federal Trade Commission, Association for Education Finance and Policy, Association for Public Policy & Management, Southeastern Health Economics Study Group
2018: University of Notre Dame, Princeton University, Economics Graduate Students’ Conference at Washington University in St. Louis, Haverford College
Professional Activities
Referee: AERA Open, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Journal of Public Health, B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, Child \& Youth Care Forum, Contemporary Economic Policy, The Economic Journal, Economica, Evaluation and Program Planning, Health Economics, International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, Journal of Demographic Economics, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Human Capital, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Urban Economics, LABOUR: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations, Oxford Economic Papers, PLOS ONE, Review of Economics of the Household, Social Service Review, Southern Economic Journal
Grant Reviewer: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Inter American Development Bank GDLab (external advisor for call on the Care Economy), Washington Center for Equitable Growth
Program Committees: Association for Public Policy & Management, Child & Family Policy (2024, 2025); Association for Public Policy & Management, Education (2025)