Ilyana Kuziemko is a professor of economics at Princeton University, where she has taught since 2014. She previously served as the David W. Zalaznick Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School from July 2013 to June 2014 and as associate professor from July 2012 to June 2013. From 2007 to 2012, she was an assistant professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and Woodrow Wilson School. She also served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2009 to 2010 under The Office of Microeconomic Analysis. During her tenure, she worked primarily on the development and early implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Education
Ilyana Kuziemko obtained an A.B. in economics from Harvard University, where she graduated summa cum laude in 2000. After being selected as a Rhodes scholar, she studied at Oxford University from 2000 to 2002 where she obtained a B.A. in mathematics. She went on to pursue a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University, where she graduated in 2007.
Occupation and affiliations
Professor of Economics, Princeton University
Co-director, Center for Health and Well-being, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University Research associate, National Bureau of Economic Research Co-editor, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics Associate editor, Journal of Economic Literature
Previous positions
July 2013 – June 2014: David W. Zalaznick Associate Professor of Business, Columbia Business School July 2012 – June 2013: Associate professor, Columbia Business School June 2009 – May 2010: Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury July 2007 – June 2012: Assistant professor of economics and public affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University January 2014 – March 2016: Associate editor, Journal of the European Economic Association
Research
Ilyana Kuziemko's research primarily focuses on economic inequality. Her research interests include:
Voter preferences regarding redistributive policies
The implications of U.S. public health insurance programs on vulnerable groups
The U.S. criminal justice system
Selected publications
Research on voter preferences regarding redistributive policies
Support for Redistribution in an Age of Rising Inequality: New Stylized Facts and Some Tentative Explanations (2016)
To determine the changes in level of support for redistribution in the U.S., Ilyana Kuziemko, Vivekinan Ashok, and Ebonya Washington analyze American survey data over several decades. Although economic inequality in the U.S. has been increasing since 1970, the study finds that the support for redistribution has remained flat, and has decreased significantly for the elderly and for African-Americans. Possible explanations for this trend are explored, and the authors argue that the elderly have grown less supportive of redistribution due to worries that it would come at their expense through cuts to Medicare. The authors also argue that African-American attitudes surrounding fairness in economic issues have increased, explaining the decline in support for redistribution.
How Elastic Are Preferences for Redistribution? Evidence from Randomized Survey Experiments (2015)
Ilyana Kuziemko, Michael I. Norton, Emmanuel Saez, and Stefanie Stantcheva use randomized online surveys on Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk) to analyze the effects of information regarding income inequality and taxes on preferences for redistribution. Randomized treatments were provided to approximately 4,000 respondents with varying information on income inequality in the U.S., the estate tax, and the relationship between tax rates on the highest income group and economic growth. The authors find that the treatment has substantial effects on views about the significance of inequality as a problem. Conversely, the treatment has limited effects on preferences surrounding redistributive policies. Lastly, the authors observe that treatments informing respondents that the estate tax only affects very wealthy families have a large positive effect on support for the estate tax.
Research on the implications of U.S. public health insurance programs on vulnerable groups Does Managed Care Widen Infant Health Disparities? Evidence from Texas Medicaid (2017)