Briger Family Distinguished Professor of Economics

Chair of Economics, Professor of International and Public Affairs

John Friedman joined Brown University and the PSTC in 2015. His research brings together theory and data, harnessing the power of large administrative datasets to yield policy-relevant insights on a wide range of topics, including taxation, healthcare, and education.

Friedman's work has appeared in top academic journals as well as in major media outlets. His most well-known papers estimate the long-term effects of teachers on student outcomes such as college attendance and earnings; in just one year, a great teacher can raise the lifetime earnings of a single class of students by nearly $1.5 million. This work was cited by President Obama in his 2012 State of the Union Address. Friedman has also worked as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council in the White House from 2013-2014.  He is also a faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Selected Publications

Measuring the Impacts of Teacher I: Evaluating Bias in Teacher Value-Added Estimates  American Economic Review, 104(9): 2593-2632, September 2014 (joint-lead article with Raj Chetty and Jonah Rockoff).

Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Students Outcomes in Adulthood  American Economic Review, 104(9): 2633-2679, September 2014 (joint-lead article with Raj Chetty and Jonah Rockoff). 

Using Differences in Knowledge Across Neighborhood to Uncover the Impacts of the EITC on Earnings  American Economic Review, 103(7): 2683-2721, December 2013 (joint with Raj Chetty and Emmanuel Saez). 

How Does Your Kindergarten Classroom Affect Your Earnings? Evidence from Project STAR  Quarterly Journal of Economics, 126(4): 1593-1660, November 2011 (joint with Raj Chetty, Nate Hilger, Emmanuel Saez, Diane Schanzenbach, and Danny Yagan). 

Scholarly Interests

Education, Healthcare, Political economy, Public economics, Retirement, Taxation

Affiliated Departments

Department of Economics