Jeffrey Liebman

Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy. Director, Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard Kennedy School

Schools

  • Harvard Kennedy School

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Biography

Harvard Kennedy School

Jeffrey B. Liebman, Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy, teaches courses in public sector economics and American economic policy. In his research, he studies tax and budget policy, social insurance, poverty, and income inequality. Recent research has examined the impacts of government programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, Social Security, and housing vouchers. During the first two years of the Obama Administration, Liebman worked at OMB, first as Executive Associate Director and Chief Economist and then as Acting Deputy Director. From 1998 to 1999, Liebman served as Special Assistant to the President for economic policy and coordinated the Clinton Administration's Social Security reform technical working group. Liebman received his BA from Yale University and his MA and PhD in economics from Harvard.

Selected Publications

Academic Journal/Scholarly Articles

  • Liebman, Jeffrey B., Erzo F.P. Luttmer, and David G. Seif. "Labor Supply Responses to Marginal Social Security Benefits: Evidence from Discontinuities." Journal of Public Economics 93.11-12 (December 2009): 1119-1284.
  • Ludwig, Jens, Jeffrey R. Kling, Lawrence F. Katz, Lisa Sanbonmatsu, Jeffrey Liebman, Greg J. Duncan, and Ronald C. Kessler. "What Can We Learn about Neighborhood Effects from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment?" American Journal of Sociology 114.1 (July 2008): 144-188.
  • Kling, Jeffrey R., Jeffrey Liebman, and Lawrence F. Katz. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects." Econometrica 75.1 (January 2007): 83-119.
  • Duflo, Esther, William Gale, Jeffrey Liebman, Peter Orszag, and Emmanuel Saez. "Saving Incentives for Low and Middle Income Families: Evidence from a Field Experiment with H&R Block." Quarterly Journal of Economics CXXI.4 (November 2006): 1311-1346.
  • Katz, Lawrence F., Jeffrey R. Kling, and Jeffrey B. Liebman. "Moving to Opportunity in Boston: Early Results of a Randomized Mobility Experiment." Quarterly Journal of Economics 116.2 (May 2001): 607-654.

Book Chapters

  • Liebman, Jeffrey. “The Optimal Design of the Earned Income Tax Credit.” Making Work Pay: The Earned Income Tax Credit and Its Impact on American Families. Ed. Bruce D. Meyer and Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Russell Sage Foundation, 2002.
  • Feldstein, Martin, and Jeffrey Liebman. “The Distributional Effects of an Investment-based Social Security System.” The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform. Ed. Martin Feldstein and Jeffrey Liebman. University of Chicago Press, 2002.
  • Elmendorf, Douglas, Jeffrey Liebman, and David Wilcox. “Fiscal Policy and Social Security Policy During the 1990s.” American Economic Policy in the 1990s. Ed. Jeffrey Frankel and Peter Orszag. MIT Press, 2002.
  • Liebman, Jeffrey. “Redistribution in the Current U.S. Social Security System.” The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform. Ed. Martin Feldstein and Jeffrey Liebman. University of Chicago Press, 2002.
  • Feldstein, Martin, and Jeffrey Liebman. “Social Security.” Handbook of Public Economics, Volume 4. Ed. Alan J. Auerbach and Martin Feldstein. Elsevier, 2002.
  • Ellwood, David, and Jeffrey Liebman. "The Middle Class Parent Penalty: Child Benefits in the U.S. Tax Code." Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 15. Ed. James M. Poterba. MIT Press, 2001.

Edited Volumes

  • Brown, Jeffrey R., David A. Wise, and Jeffrey B. Liebman., eds. Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment. University of Chicago Press, 2009.
  • Feldstein, Martin, and Jeffrey Liebman, eds. The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform. University of Chicago Press, 2002.

Research Papers/Reports

  • Liebman, Jeffrey, and Richard Zeckhauser. "Simple Humans, Complex Insurance, Subtle Subsidies." NBER Working Papers 14330, September 2008.
  • Liebman, Jeffrey. "The Role of Annuities in a Reformed U.S. Social Security System." AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper, December 2002.

Commentary

  • Feldstein, Martin, and Jeffrey Liebman. "Realizing the Potential of China's Social Security Pension System." China Economic Times, February 24, 2006.
  • Liebman, Jeffrey. “Social Security Meets Race.” Science, 309.5743, September 23, 2005: 1965.
  • Liebman, Jeffrey. "Is Social Security Unfair to the Poor?" Washington Post, July 29, 2001.

Magazine and Newspaper Articles

Liebman, Jeffrey. "Reforming Social Security: Not All Privatization Schemes Are Created Equal." Harvard Magazine March-April 2005: 30-35.

Outside Professional Activities

Transparent Engagement

Harvard Kennedy School is proud of its energetic involvement in the world. To better understand how to solve public problems by improving policy and leadership, we engage directly with policymakers, public leaders, governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses whose activities affect those problems. However, we recognize that such engagement can raise questions about perceived and potential conflicts of interest, so we disclose publicly the key professional activities of our faculty outside the Kennedy School.

Outside Professional Activities For Jeffrey Liebman

2016

National Bureau of Economic Research. Conducted economic research; served as associate director of retirement research center and disability research center (paid).

Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. Member (appointed by Senate minority leader). Unpaid.

Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Wrote chapter in book (received honorarium).

2015

National Bureau of Economic Research. Conducted economic research; served as associate director of retirement research center and disability research center (paid).

Gates Foundation. Wrote summary of a research literature (paid).

2014

National Bureau of Economic Research. Conducted economic research; served as associate director of retirement research center and disability research center (paid).

2013

National Bureau of Economic Research. Conducted economic research; served as associate director of retirement research center and disability research center (paid).

America Achieves. Wrote paper on evidence-based policy making (paid).

Brookings Institution. Wrote chapter in book on budget options (paid)

2012

National Bureau of Economic Research. Conducted economic research; served as associate director of retirement research center and disability research center (paid).

Sandler Foundation. Consulted on equitable growth initiative (paid).

Obama for America. Senior economic adviser (unpaid).

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