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Research Staff and Resources

Research and Statistics Staff | Program Direction
photograph of William L. Wascher
William L. Wascher
Senior Associate Director
Division of Research and Statistics

Contact Information
202-452-2812
william.l.wascher@frb.gov

Fields of Interest
Labor Economics
Macroeconomics

Education
Ph.D., Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1983
M.A., Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1980
B.A., Economics & Mathematics, University of Delaware, 1978

Professional Experience
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1983-present
Member, Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, 2000-present
Visiting Economist, Bank for International Settlements, Basel, Switzerland, 1998-1999
Senior Staff Economist, Council of Economic Advisers, Executive Office of the President, 1989-1990

Selected Publications

  • ''Minimum Wages and Employment'' (with David Neumark), Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics, vol. 3 (2007), pp. 1-154.
  • ''The Recent Decline in the Labor Force Participation Rate and its Implications for Potential Labor Supply'' (with Stephanie Aaronson, Bruce Fallick, Andrew Figura, and others), Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, vol. 2006 (2006), pp. 69-154.
  • ''The Effects of Minimum Wages on the Distribution of Family Incomes: A Nonparametric Analysis'' (with David Neumark and Mark Schweitzer), Journal of Human Resources, vol. 40 (Fall 2005), pp. 867-894.
  • ''Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government: Lessons from Past Productivity Booms'' (with Roger W. Ferguson Jr.), Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 18 (Spring 2004), pp. 3-28.
  • ''Minimum Wage Effects Throughout the Wage Distribution'' (with David Neumark and Mark Schweitzer), Journal of Human Resources, vol. 39 (Spring 2004), pp. 425-50.
  • ''Minimum Wages, Labor Market Institutions, and Youth Employment: A Cross-National Analysis'' (with David Neumark), Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 57 (January 2004), pp. 223-48.
  • ''Compensating Differentials and the Evolution of the Quality of Life Among U.S. States'' (with Stuart Gabriel and Joe Mattey), Regional Science and Urban Economics, vol. 33 (September 2003), pp. 619-649.
  • ''Minimum Wages and Skill Acquisition: Another Look at Schooling Effects'' (with David Neumark), Economics of Education Review, vol. 22 (February 2003), pp. 1-10.
  • ''Do Minimum Wages Fight Poverty?'' (with David Neumark), Economic Inquiry, vol. 40 (July 2002), pp. 315-33.
  • ''State-Level Estimates of Minimum Wage Effect: New Evidence and Interpretations from Disequilibrium Methods'' (with David Neumark), Journal of Human Resources, vol. 37 (Winter 2002), pp. 36-62.
  • ''Understanding the Recent Behaviour of Inflation: An Empirical Study of Wage and Price Developments in Eight Countries'' (with Palle S. Andersen), in Empirical Studies of Structural Changes and Inflation. Bank for International Settlements: BIS Paper #3, pp. 267-302, 2001.
  • ''Minimum Wages and Training Revisted'' (with David Neumark), Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 19 (July 2001), pp. 563-95.
  • ''Using the EITC to Help Poor Families: New Evidence and a Comparison with the Minimum Wage'' (with David Neumark), National Tax Journal, vol. 54 (June 2001), pp. 281-317.
  • ''Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania'' (with David Neumark), American Economic Review, vol. 90 (December 2000), pp. 1362-96.
  • ''The Cyclical Sensitivity of Seasonality in U.S. Employment'' (with Spencer D. Krane), Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 44 (December 1999), pp. 523-53.

Last update: December 4, 2009