Rucker C. Johnson
Assistant Professor
Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley
For a printable PDF version, click here
CURRENT EMPLOYMENT
Assistant Professor, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
(Aug. 2004-present)
AFFILIATIONS
Research Affiliate, National Poverty Center, University of Michigan (2007 – present) Research Affiliate, Institute for Poverty Research, Univ of Wisconsin (2007 – present)
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar in Health Policy Research, University of Michigan (Aug. 2002-2004)
Research Associate, University of Michigan Poverty Research Center (1998-2002)
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Economics, University of Michigan (June 2002)
M.A Economics, University of Michigan (May 1997)
B.A. Economics, Morehouse College (May 1995)
magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
FIELDS
Labor Economics, Urban Economics, Health Economics, Applied Econometrics
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH/TEACHING INTERESTS
Poverty, Inequality, Social Welfare Policy
DISSERTATION
Essays on Urban Spatial Structure, Job Search, and Job Mobility
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
APPAM Dissertation Award for Best Dissertation in Public Policy and Management (2003)
1st Place, Upjohn Institute Dissertation Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Labor Economics (2003)
National Economics Association Dissertation Award (2003)
Robert Wood Johnson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Policy Research (Aug. 2002-2004)
National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Winner (2002)
Rackham Merit Fellowship, University of Michigan (2000-2002)
Ford Predoctoral Training Fellowship, University of Michigan Poverty Research Center (1997-1999)
Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Fellowship (1997)
Summer Research Fellowship, Department of Economics, University of Michigan (1996)
Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship (1995-1997)
Summer Minority Fellow, American Economic Association, Stanford University (1994)
PAPERS FORTHCOMING AND UNDER REVIEW
“The Road to Economic Self-Sufficiency: Job Quality and Job Transition Patterns After Welfare Reform” (with Mary Corcoran)
published in the Journal of Policy Analysis & Management (Fall 2003), 22(4): 615-639.
“Landing a Job in Urban Space: The Extent and Effects of Spatial Mismatch”
published in Regional Science & Urban Economics (May 2006), 36(3): 331-372.
“Wage and Job Dynamics After Welfare Reform: The Importance of Job Skills”
published in Research in Labor Economics (2006), 26: 231-298.
“Welfare Reform: The Morning After” (with Sheldon Danziger)
published in the Milken Institute Review (Winter 2005).
“The Effects of Male Incarceration Dynamics on AIDS Infection Rates among African-American Women and Men” (with Steven Raphael),
published in the Journal of Law & Economics (May 2009), 52(2).
“Health Dynamics and the Evolution of Health Inequality over the Life Course: The Importance of Neighborhood and Family Background”,
currently under review.
“The Influence of Early-Life Events on Human Capital, Health Status,
and Labor Market Outcomes Over the Life Course” (with Robert Schoeni),
currently under review.
“Health Disparities in Mid-to-Late-Life: The Role of Earlier Life Family and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Conditions” (with Jeannette Rogowski and Robert Schoeni), currently under review
“Work after Welfare Reform and the Well-being of Children” (with Ariel Kalil and Rachel Dunifon), currently under review.
“Leaving Welfare for Work: How Welfare Reform has Affected the Well-being of Children” (with Ariel Kalil and Rachel Dunifon), forthcoming book published by Upjohn Institute Press (2009).
“Ever-Increasing Levels of Parental Incarceration and the Consequences for Children” (Book Chapter, Do Prisons Make Us Safer?, Edited by Steven Raphael and Michael Stoll, Funded by Russell Sage Foundation), 2008.
“Early-Life Origins of Adult Disease: The Significance of Poor Infant Health and Childhood Poverty” (with Robert Schoeni), to be submitted, February 2009.
“Healthy First Steps Lead to Later-Life Success ”
forthcoming in The American Prospect, December 2007.
“The Place of Race in Health Disparities: How Family Background and Neighborhood Conditions in Childhood Impact Later-Life Health” (Book Chapter, How Does Place Matter? published by University of Pennsylvania Press/Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank), December 2008.
“The Place of Race in Hypertension: How Family Background and Neighborhood Conditions in Childhood Impact Later-Life Health”
to be submitted, February 2009.
WORKING PAPERS AND WORKS IN PROGRESS
“Long-run Impacts of School Desegregation and School Quality on Adult Health ”
“Intergenerational Risks of Criminal Involvement and Incarceration”
“The Influence of Neighborhood and Family Background on Educational Attainment: Revisited”
“The Lasting Impacts of Childhood Neighborhood & Family on Adult Economic Status and Poverty over the Life Cycle”
“How Much Crime Reduction Does the Marginal Prisoner Buy?” (with Steven Raphael)
“Spatial Mismatch, Local Economic Conditions, and Job Search Outcomes of Welfare Recipients”
“Residential Mobility among Low-Income Women after Welfare Reform” (with Scott Allard and Sheldon Danziger)
“The Persistence of the Black-White Wealth Gap: Effects of Inter-Family Transfers, Portfolio Choice, and Asset Appreciation"
RESEARCH GRANTS
“Work after Welfare Reform and the Well-being of Children”, (with Rachel Dunifon and Ariel Kalil). Book Project Funded by W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2006-2007.
“Neighborhoods and the Health of Elderly Americans”, (with Vicki Freedman, Jeannette Rogowski, and Robert Schoeni). Funded by National Institute on Aging, 2005-2007.
“Intergenerational Risks of Criminal Involvement and Incarceration”
Project Funded by National Poverty Center, 2007-2008.
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
Panelist, PAA Session on The Emergence of Health Trajectories in Childhood (organized by Christine Bachrach), May, 2009, Detroit, MI.
Panelist, Urban Institute Roundtable on Policies Affecting Low-Income Families, Washington, D.C., December 2008.
Panelist, Economic Summit on Early Childhood Investment, Telluride, CO, September, 2007.
Panelist, National Summit on America’s Children, Washington, DC (Capitol Hill), May '07
“Neighborhoods & the Health of Elderly Americans”, NBER Summer Workshop, July '07
“The Effects of Male Incarceration Dynamics on AIDS Infection Rates among African-American Women and Men”, University of Washington, March 2007; Criminology and Economics Summer Workshop, Maryland, June 2006; Economic Demography Conference (PAA), Los Angeles, March, 2006; Princeton University, December 2005; University of Michigan, December 2005; APPAM Annual Conference, D.C, November, 2005; University of Wisconsin-Madison, October, 2005.
“The Influence of Early Life Events on Health, Human Capital Accumulation, and Labor Market Outcomes in Adulthood”, NBER Summer Workshop, Boston, July, 2006; IRP Research on Low-Income Population Summer Workshop, Madison, WI, June, 2006; SOLE annual conference, Boston, MA, April, 2006; Federal Reserve Bank, Chicago, IL: March, 2006; APPAM Annual Conference, Madison, WI, November, 2006; University of Washington, January, 2007.
Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference, Washington, D.C.: “Incarceration Dynamics and AIDS Infection Rates among African-Americans.” September, 2005.
Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Fall 2005.
“Intergenerational Risks of Criminal Involvement and Incarceration”
Seminar at New York University in the Law, Economics, Public Policy Series, April 2007.
Discussant at National Poverty Center Conference on “Working and Poor: How Economic and Policy Changes Are Affecting Low Wage Workers." Washington, D.C. June, 2005.
Population Association of America Annual Conference. Philadelphia, PA: “Economic Status in Childhood, Birth Weight, and Adult Health and Labor Market Outcomes.” April, 2005.
ACF Welfare Research Evaluation Conference. Washington, DC: “The Road to Economic Self-sufficiency: Job Quality and Job Transition Patterns after Welfare Reform.” May, 2004.
Population Association of America Annual Conference. Boston, MA: “Health Dynamics and the Evolution of Health Inequality Over the Life Course: The Importance of Neighborhood and Family Background.” April, 2004.
National Poverty Center Conference on Aging and Health. University of Michigan: “Health Dynamics and the Evolution of Health Inequality Over the Life Course: The Importance of Neighborhood and Family Background.” October, 2003.
University of Michigan Labor Seminar. “Health Dynamics and the Evolution of Health Inequality Over the Life Course: The Importance of Neighborhood and Family Background.” October, 2003.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Annual Health Scholars Conference. Aspen, CO: “The Effects of Neighborhood Quality during Childhood on Health and Health Behaviors in Early and Mid Life.” June, 2003, 2004.
Health Economics Conference. RAND, Santa Monica, CA: “The Effects of Neighborhood Quality during Childhood on Health and Health Behaviors in Early and Mid Life.” April, 2003.
Conference on Urban Change and Spatial Mismatch. Federal Reserve Bank, Chicago, IL: “Landing a Job in Urban Space: The Extent and Effects of Spatial Mismatch.” April, 2003.
Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Annual Conference. Dallas, TX: “Wage and Job Dynamics after Welfare Reform: The Importance of Job Skills.” November, 2002.
Institute for Research on Poverty Summer Workshop. University of Wisconsin, Madison: “The Road to Economic Self-sufficiency: Job Quality and Job Transition Patterns after Welfare Reform.” June, 2002.
University of Michigan Labor Seminar Series. “Landing a Job in Urban Space: The Extent and Effects of Spatial Mismatch.” October, 2001.
Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Annual Conference. Seattle, WA: “The Road to Economic Self-sufficiency: Job Quality and Job Transition Patterns after Welfare Reform.” November, 2000.
TEACHING
UC-Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy (2004-2007): graduate courses of 55-100 MPP students
Microeconomics of Public Policy Analysis
Applied Econometrics (Quantitative Methods)
Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy (undergraduate)
REFEREEING FOR PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS
Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Demography, Journal of Human Resources, Economic Journal, Review of Black Political Economy, Industrial Relations
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS CITIZENSHIP
American Economics Association USA
National Economics Association
NEA Board and Nominating Committee (2001-2006)
Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management
APPAM Program Committee (2007)
Population Association of America
Society of Labor Economists