Jessica H. Brown

Academic Positions

• University of South Carolina, Assistant Professor of Economics, August 2019 to present; maternity leave 2020, 2023
• Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Policy Fellow, January 2026 to present
• Institute for Labor Studies (IZA), Research Fellow, April 2024 to present
• Wilson-Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities, Faculty Affiliate, October 2021 to present

Visiting Positions

• Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies, Princeton University, Short-Term Visiting Scholar, March 2025
• W.E. Upjohn Institute, AEA Summer Fellow, Summer 2022

Education

• Ph.D. in Economics, Princeton University, 2019. Committee: Alan Krueger (chair), Leah Boustan, Will Dobbie, Alex Mas, Ilyana Kuziemko
• M.A. in Economics, Princeton University, 2015
• B.S. in Mathematics and Economics, magna cum laude, University of Notre Dame, 2011

Research Interests

Public Economics, Labor Economics, Economics of Child Care

Published or Accepted Papers

• "The Labor Market Effects of Pregnancy Accommodation Laws" with Emily Battaglia. Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 38, Article 88, 2025.
• "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 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: A Model and Application to Temporary Disability Insurance." 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 Martinez-Matute, John Nunley, R. Alan Seals, and 37 others. Covid Economics, Vol. 79(1): 152-217, 2021.

Working Papers

• "Minimum Wage, Worker Quality, and Consumer Well-Being: Evidence from the Child Care Market" with Chris M. Herbst (Third Round R&R, Journal of Human Resources)
• "Undersupply or Lack of Demand?: Evaluating Measures of Child Care Access"
• "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?"

Selected Works in Progress

• "Can You Mind My Kids?: Vacancy Rates and Waitlists in the Child Care Market" with Danna Kang Thomas
• "Homelessness Prevention through the School System: An Impact Evaluation of Hennepin County's School to Housing Program" with Mike Cassidy
• "Big Daycare: The Growth of Private Equity in the Child Care Market" with Chris M. Herbst

Teaching Experience

• Introductory Econometrics (Undergraduate), University of South Carolina, Fall 2019 to Fall 2025
• Public Finance II (Ph.D.), University of South Carolina, Spring 2024 and 2026
• Third-Year Seminar (Ph.D.), University of South Carolina, Fall 2024
• Health Economics (Undergraduate), University of South Carolina, Spring 2026

Awards and Grants

• Moore Fellowship, Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, 2025 to present
• Riegel and Emory Human Resource Center Grant ($5,000), 2025 to 2026
• Riegel and Emory Human Resource Center Grant ($5,000), 2024 to 2025
• Washington Center for Equitable Growth Early Career Scholar ($30,000), 2024 to 2026
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, with Chris M. Herbst ($454,022), 2024 to 2027
• Darla Moore School of Business Internal Grant ($4,270), 2023 to 2024
• Darla Moore School of Business Internal Grant ($2,000), 2020 to 2021
• Darla Moore School of Business Internal Grant ($5,000), 2019 to 2020
• Richard A. Lester Fellowship for Industrial Relations, Princeton University, 2017 to 2018
• Louis A. Simpson '60 Graduate Fellowship, Princeton University, 2013 to 2014
• Phi Beta Kappa, University of Notre Dame, 2011
• Omicron Delta Epsilon, University of Notre Dame, 2011

Selected Media

• "How New Mexico is trying to stabilize a broken child care market" NPR Marketplace, April 4, 2025
• "The immigration crackdown threatening to break America's child care system" Vox, March 25, 2025
• "The crushing cost of childcare" CBS12 West Palm Beach, August 12, 2024
• "Families are paying an average of 30% more for child care than they did in 2019" NPR's Marketplace Morning Report, October 31, 2023
• "Newest way to woo workers: Child care at airports, schools and poultry plants" Washington Post, October 29, 2023
• "Baby's first market failure" NPR's Planet Money, February 3, 2023
• "California's child care crisis: How three families are fighting to stay afloat" L.A. Times, January 19, 2023
• "Omicron is the latest disaster for working parents" CNN Business, January 14, 2022
• "Child Care in Crisis: Can Biden's Plan Save It?" New York Times, March 31, 2021

Invited Presentations

• 2026: Association for Education Finance and Policy (scheduled)
• 2025: Princeton University, Florida State University, Society of Labor Economists, Association for Public Policy & Management, Southern Economic Association
• 2024: American Economic Association, Southeastern Micro Labor Workshop, Society of Labor Economists, Triangle Economics of Education Workshop, Brookings Institution, NBER Summer Institute, Association for Public Policy & Management, Southern Economic Association
• 2023: University of Notre Dame Alumni Conference, Princeton University Industrial Relations Centennial, University of Virginia (Education), Southern Economic Association
• 2022: Association for Public Policy & Management, Clemson University, Census LED Webinar, Carolina Regional Empirical Economics Day, Southern 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 Labor Economics, 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 ("The Care Economy" external advisor), Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

Program Committees

• 2025: Association for Public Policy & Management Annual Conference (Child & Family Policy; Education)
• 2024: Association for Public Policy & Management Annual Conference (Child & Family Policy)