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Kearney
Melissa Schettini Kearney, NBER Profile: Melissa Schettini Kearney

Melissa Schettini Kearney is a Faculty Research Fellow in the NBER's Programs on Public Economics and Children and an assistant professor in the Economics Department at the University of Maryland. She also serves on the Research Advisory Council of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and on the Policy Council of the Association of Public Policy and Management (APPAM).

Kearney received her A.B. in economics from Princeton University in 1996 and her Ph.D. from MIT in 2002. Prior to joining the Maryland faculty, she was a resident fellow at the Brookings Institution. From 2002 to 2004, she was an assistant professor of economics at Wellesley College. Before attending graduate school, she worked as a research assistant/programmer at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, D.C.

Kearney's fields of specialization are public economics and labor. Her research interests include the effectiveness and design of anti-poverty programs; the effect of government policies on fertility and related outcomes; issues of income distribution and inequality; and the nature of risk preferences and perceptions and, in particular, how these relate to individual decisions with regard to gambling and savings behavior.

She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband Dan (a lawyer). They have great fun playing with their children, William (age 3.5) and Sophia (almost 2), in all of their favorite places, including Shenandoah National Park in VA; Park City, Utah; Long Beach Island, NJ; Fenway Park; and closer to home, the National Gallery of Art, Rock Creek Park, and their little backyard strewn with outdoor toys.

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