4th Annual WALES hosted by the Georgetown Center for Economic Research (GCER)

The Washington Area Labor Economics Symposium (WALES) is a one-day labor economics conference that brings together researchers from many DC institutions. The goal is to provide an outlet to share work in progress and get to know other researchers. In the past, WALES has featured participants from the Agency for Healthcare Quality Research, American University, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Trade Commission, George Washington University, Georgetown University, International Food Policy Research Institute, University of Maryland, Urban Institute, US Naval Academy, and World Bank.

                                                                                     Announcement 

We are pleased to announce that the fourth annual Washington Area Labor Economics Symposium (WALES) will be held at Georgetown University on Friday, April 22, 2021.

The 4th Annual WALES conference will be hosted by the Georgetown Center for Economic Research (GCER). 

Venue: The conference will be held in person on Friday, April 22 at Georgetown University, from 9 am to 5 pm. All talks and meals will take place in an outdoor, tented area. Attendees must be vaccinated.

Conference registration: Advance registration is required, at the following link. There is no cost to attend this conference.

Please spread the word — all are welcome. We hope to see you there!

Agenda

9:00 – 9:15 Welcome

9:15 – 10:45 Labor Market Structure and Inequality

1. Henry Hyatt, Industries, Mega Firms, and Increasing Inequality, Census
2. Ken Onishi, The Decline of Labor Share and New Technology Diffusion, Fed
3. Sunghoon Chung, Labor Market Rigidity at Home and MNCs’Flexible Task Reallocation Abroad, World Bank

10:45 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11-12:30 The Value of Employment

1. Gregory Lane, Psychological Value of Employment, American University
2. Jason Sockin, Non-Disclosure Agreements and Externalities from Silence, Treasury
3. Alessandra Fenizia, The Effectiveness of Targeted Payroll Taxes Reductions, The George Washington University

Lunch 12:30 – 1:30

1:30-3:00 Gender, Children, and Fertility

1. Mary Ann Bronson, Optimal Parental Leave Policy Design, Georgetown
2. Kate Pennington, Reproductive Risk Aversion and Contraceptive Choice, Census
3. Eric Nielsen, The Effect of Maternal Labor Supply on Children: Evidence from Bunching, Fed

3:00 – 3:15  Break

3:15 – 4:45 Education

1. Alexander McQuoid,  Fear and Loathing In the Classroom: Why Does Teacher Quality Matter? Naval Academy
2. Lelys Dinarte, What Makes a Program Good? Evidence from Short-Cycle Higher Education, World Bank
3. Nolan Pope, Making Teaching Last: Long-Run Value-Added, University of Maryland