Kristin Butcher

Vice President and Director of Microeconomic Research

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Kristin Butcher

About

Kristin Butcher is Vice President and Director of Microeconomic Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Butcher is an applied microeconomist whose research focuses on children and families, immigration, health, criminal justice, labor economics, social mobility, and higher education.

Prior to joining the Chicago Fed, Butcher served as director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution, where she was a senior fellow in Economic Studies. She is the inaugural holder of the Marshall I. Goldman Chair in Economics at Wellesley College, where she chaired the economics department for six years.

Butcher previously worked as a senior economist in the Chicago Fed’s Economic Research Department from 2002-2007. She also served as a program officer at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and held faculty positions at Virginia Tech and Boston College, as well as visiting faculty positions at Princeton and MIT.

Butcher holds a Ph.D and M.A. in economics from Princeton University, an M.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics, and a B.A. in economics from Wellesley College.

Bank Publications

Chicago Fed Insights

Kristin Butcher, Elizabeth Kepner, Kelli Marquardt, Brianna Smith | 2024 | June
Kristin Butcher, Ariel Gelrud Shiro | 2024 | January

Chicago Fed Letter

Kristin Butcher, Lucas Cain, Camilo Garcia-Jimeno, Ryan Perry | 2023 | No. 486 | October Download
Kristin Butcher, Kevin F. Hallock | 2006 | No. 225a | April Download
Kristin Butcher, Kevin F. Hallock | 2004 | No. 207 | October Download

Economic Perspectives

Kristin Butcher, Kyung H. Park | 2008 | Vol. 32 Download
Kristin Butcher, Kevin F. Hallock | 2005 | Vol. 29 | No. 2 | May | 2nd Quarter Download
Patricia M. Anderson , Kristin Butcher, Phillip B. Levine | 2003 | Vol. 27 | No. 3 | July | 3rd Quarter Download

Working papers

Working Papers

Kristin Butcher, Luojia Hu, Ryan Perry | 2024 | No. 2024-24 | November Download
Kristin Butcher, Deniz Civril, Sari Pekkala Kerr | 2024 | No. 2024-12 | May Download
Kristin Butcher, Lucas Cain, Camilo Garcia-Jimeno, Ryan Perry | 2023 | No. 2023-39 | October Download
Kristin Butcher, Patrick J. McEwan, Akila Weerapana | 2023 | No. 2023-21 | June Download
Kristin Butcher, Patrick J. McEwan, Akila Weerapana | 2022 | No. 2022-55 | December Download
Patricia M. Anderson , Kristin Butcher, Phillip B. Levine | 2002 | No. 2002-11 Download

Selected External Publications

Acceptances in Academic Journals and Books

Butcher, Kristin, Patrick McEwan, and Akila Weerapana, 2024, “Making the (letter) grade: The incentive effects of mandatory pass/fail courses,” Education Finance and Policy, Vol. 19, No. 3, Summer, pp. 385–408. 20240601050000
Butcher, Kristin, Patrick McEwan, and Akila Weerapana, 2024, “Women's colleges and economics major choice: Evidence from Wellesley College applicants,” Feminist Economics, Vol. 30, No. 2, April, pp. 123–161. 20240401050000
Butcher, Kristin, Lucie Schmidt, Lara Shore-Sheppard, and Tara Watson, 2023, “Living with children and food insecurity in seniors,” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Vol. 45, No. 1, March, pp. 234–261. 20230301060000
Butcher, Kristin, Kelsey Moran, and Tara Watson, 2022, “Immigrant labor and the institutionalization of the U.S.-born elderly,” Review of International Economics, Vol. 30, No. 5, November, pp. 1375–1413. 20221101050000
Butcher, Kristin, Luojia Hu, and Ryan Perry, “The public charge rule and program participation among U.S. citizen,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, forthcoming.
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