Tara Watson

Assistant Professor of Economics

E-mail: Tara.Watson@williams.edu
Office: South Academic Building Rm. 204

Department of Economics
South Academic Building
Williams College
Williamstown, MA 01267

Education

Harvard University, PhD, Economics, 2003
Wesleyan University, BA, Economics, 1996
Curriculum Vitae

Fields of Specialization

Labor Economics
Public Finance
Health Economics
Urban Economics
Economic Demography

Research

Publications

Fertig, Angela and Tara Watson, "Minimum Drinking Ages and Infant Health Outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, forthcoming.

Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program Policy Brief Series , "New Housing, Income Inequality, and Distressed Metropolitan Areas " 2007
http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2007/09newhousing_watson.aspx

Book Review: Journal of Regional Science , “The Geography of American Poverty: Is There a Need for Place-Based Policies?” by Mark D. Partridge and Dan S. Rickman, 2006, 2007, 47(5), pp.1002-1004.

Journal of Public Economics, "Public Health Investments and the Infant Mortality Gap: Evidence from Federal Sanitation Interventions on U.S. Indian Reservations," September 2006: Volume 90, Issues 8-9, pp.1537-1560.

Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs , Gary Burtless and Janet Rothenberg Pack, eds., "Metropolitan Growth, Inequality, and Neighborhood Segregation by Income, " 2006.
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/brookings-wharton_papers_on_urban_affairs/

Journal of Law and Economics, "Fundamental Flaws of Social Regulation: The Case of Airplane Noise," 1999, 42(2), pp.723-43, with Clifford Winston and Steven A. Morrison.

Works in Progress

"Inequality and the Measurement of Residential Segregation by Income," in progress. ((Under Second Review at the Review of Income and Wealth)

"Marriage Meets the Joneses: Relative Income, Identity, and Marital Status," with Sara McLanahan, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 14773, March 2009. (Under review.)

"The Effect of Local Fiscal Policies on Urban Wage Structure," with Lara Shore-Sheppard and Patricia Beeson, in progress.

Other

Select Work Experience

Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research, University of Michigan, August 2007-present
Princeton University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, September 2003 to July 2004. Office of Population Research and Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.
National Bureau of Economic Research, Research Assistant, June to August 1999. Research Assistant to Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz.
Brookings Institution, Research Assistant, August 1996 to July 1998. Research Assistant to Clifford Winston.
Harvard University, Teaching Fellow, September 2000 to May 2001. Teaching Fellow for Social Analysis 10 taught by Martin Feldstein.

Fellowships and Honors

Harvard Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy Doctoral Fellow, September 1999 to June 2003.
Social Science Research Council Program in Applied Economics Fellow, September 2001 to August 2002.
Lincoln Land Institute Dissertation Fellow, August 2001.
National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellow, September 1998 to August 2001.
Wesleyan University, Phi Beta Kappa Society and University Honors, May 1996.