Ofer Malamud, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Ofer Malamud, an assistant professor in the Harris School, primarily conducts research in the fields of labor economics and the economics of education. His work focuses on the labor market outcomes associated with general and specific education. In particular, he has examined the relative returns to academic and vocational education in Romania and the trade-off between early specialization and the gains from delaying the choice of a major field of study in Britain. He has also studied the effect of education on regional mobility using the unintended effect of attending college to avoid the Vietnam draft, and most recently, the effect of home computer use on child and adolescent outcomes.

Malamud received his PhD in economics from Harvard University in 2004, where he also graduated magna cum laude with a BA in economics and philosophy. He is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economics Research and a faculty affiliate at the University of Chicago’s Population Research Center and the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy. He was also a Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow during 2003-2004. Selected Working Papers

* "Self-Selection and International Migration: New Evidence from Mexico." (with Robert Kaestner), Harris School Working Paper, October 2010.
* "The Effect of Computer Use on Child Outcomes," (with Cristian Pop-Eleches), Harris School Working Paper #08.12, January 2010 (revised).
* "The Impact of College Education on Geographic Mobility: Evidence from the Vietnam Generation," (with Abigail Wozniak), Harris School Working Paper #08.11, October 2010 (revised).
* "School Tracking on Access to Higher Education among Disadvantaged Groups," (with Cristian Pop-Eleches), Harris School Working Paper #08.10, May 2008.
* "Discovering One’s Talent: Learning from Academic Specialization," Harris School Working Paper #08.09, October 2007.
* "Breadth vs. Depth: The Timing of Specialization in Higher Education," Harris School Working Paper #08.08, October 2007.
* "General Education vs. Vocational Training: Evidence from an Economy in Transition," (with Cristian Pop-Eleches), Harris School Working Paper #08.07, May 2008.