Jared Huff, Ph.D.

Jared Huff, Ph.D. joined CNA as a research analyst in July 2012 after completing his Ph.D. in economics at Clemson University. His primary field of study was Labor Economics, with a secondary field in Industrial Organization. The lead paper in his dissertation, entitled “Measurement Error and the Black-White Wage Differential,” examined the impact of errors in the education and experience variables traditionally available in Census data on estimates of the Black-White wage differential. The distributions of these errors were estimated using auxiliary databases, and then these estimated distributions were used to construct an observation-specific conditional log-likelihood function. In this log-likelihood function, true values were probabilistically assigned given observed values and the estimated distribution of the measurement error. The results of the ML estimation, paired with a more traditional Multi-Sample 2SLS estimation, showed that the conditional Black-White wage differential estimated in the Census with improved data was half of that estimated using the traditional measures. As the functional form of the estimating equation did not change, this reduction was due entirely to the reduction of measurement error in the traditional education and experience variables.

Education:

• Ph.D., Economics, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 2012
• B.S., Finance and Economics, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL, 2005
   

Scholarships/Awards:

• Hugh H. Macaulay Award for Outstanding First-year Graduate Student (Clemson University) 2009
• John E. Walker Fellowship, Awarded for Excellence in Economic Research, August 2010-May 2011 & August 2011-May 2012