Featured Researcher: Nicole Maestas
She is a research associate in the NBER's aging and labor studies programs and the director of the NBER's Disability Research Center.
Dr. Maestas's research explores topics related to disability and health, insurance systems, and employment. Some of her past work has examined the effect of disability insurance benefits on employment decisions, the prevalence of labor force re-entry by older workers, and the relationship between population aging and economic growth. In current work, she is examining preferences for working conditions and their relationship with employment, the effect of technological change on older workers, and the work capacity of disabled workers.
Professor Maestas recently served on the Committee on Health Care Utilization and Adults with Disabilities of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and previously served on the Disability Policy Panel of the Social Security Advisory Board. She is an editorial board member of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, and Industrial Relations. She has testified before Congress on two occasions.
Maestas earned a PhD in Economics and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a BA from Wellesley College. Prior to joining the faculty at the Harvard Medical School, she worked at the RAND Corporation, where she served as director of the Economics, Sociology, and Statistics Research Department as well as in other leadership roles and taught in the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
In her free time, she hangs out with her kids, runs her dog in the woods, and enjoys craft food and drink with her husband.
