Featured Researcher: Erzo F.P. Luttmer

03/30/2015
Featured in print Bulletin on Aging & Health
180x250 Erzo Luttmer

Erzo Luttmer is a Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College. He is also a Research Associate with the NBER's programs in Aging, Political Economy, and Public Economics.

Luttmer is the Co-Editor of the Journal of Public Economics, an Associate Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and a member of the editorial board of the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. He is a research fellow of IZA, the Institute for the Study of Labor, and a fellow of Netspar, the Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging, and Retirement. 

Professor Luttmer previously held academic appointments at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. Prior to this, he was a member of the Young Professional program at the World Bank.

Luttmer earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, a masters in Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and a degree in electrical engineering from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. 

Dr. Luttmer's research seeks to understand what drives the demand for redistribution and social insurance and how the implementation of redistribution and social insurance programs can be improved. Many of his papers highlight the important role of social effects in economic behavior. Much of his more recent research explores the role of cognitive limitations on demand for and design of social insurance programs. In 2014, his research on health and the value of consumption was awarded the European Economics Association's Hicks-Tinbergen award.

Luttmer lives with his wife, Ellen Meara, and two children in Hanover, NH. In his free time, he enjoys playing piano, skiing (downhill and cross country), nordic skating, and hiking.