Brian Jacob

Brian Jacob

Faculty Co-Director & Founder
[email protected]

Brian A. Jacob is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy and professor of economics at the Ford School, and is co-director of the Youth Policy Lab. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Brian came to Michigan from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government; he previously served as a policy analyst in the NYC Mayor’s Office and taught middle school in East Harlem. His primary fields of interest are labor economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education. Brian’s current research focuses on urban school reform, with a particular emphasis on standards and accountability initiatives. At the Ford School, he teaches “Economics of Education” and classes focused on education policy. In 2008, Jacob received the David N. Kershaw Prize, an award given every two years to honor persons who, at under the age of 40, have made a distinguished contribution to the field of public policy. He received a BA from Harvard University in 1992 and a PhD in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Current research

Recent publications

  1. Jacob, Brian (Forthcoming). “How did the COVID-19 Pandemic Influence School Board Elections.” AERA Open (EdWorkingPaper: 24-906)
  2. Berne, J., Garcia, K.C., Jacob, B., Musaddiq, T., Owusu, S., Shapiro, A. and Weiland, C. (Forthcoming). “Transitional Kindergarten: The New Kid on the Early Learning Block.” Educational Researcher.
  3. Christian, Alvin, Jacob, Brian and John Singleton (2024). “Assessing School District Decision-Making: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Education Finance and Policy. (NBER working paper #30520)
  4. Berne, Jordy, Jacob, Brian, Shapiro, Anna and Weiland, Christina (2024). “The Effect of Early Childhood Programs on Third-Grade Outcomes: Evidence from Transitional Kindergarten in Michigan.” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings. 114(May): 480-485.
  5. Trejo, Samuel, Yeomans-Maldanado, Gloria and Brian Jacob (2024). “The Psychosocial Effects of the Flint Water Crisis on School-Age Children.” Science Advances. 10(11). (NBER working paper #29341.)
  6. Weiland, C., Unterman, R., Dynarski, S., Abenavoli, R., Braga, B., Faria, A.M., Greenberg, E.H., Jacob, B., Lincove, J.A., Manship, K., McCormick, M., Miratix, M., Monarrez, T.E., Morris-Perez, P., Shapiro, A., Valant, J., & Weixler, L. (2024). “Lottery-Based Evaluations of Early Education Programs: Opportunities and Challenges for Building the Next Generation of Evidence.” AERA Open, 10.
  7. Stacey L. Brockman, Jasmina Camo-Biogradlija, Alyssa Ratledge, Rebekah O’Donoghue, Micah Y. Baum, Brian Jacob (2024). "Forging a Path to College Persistence: An Experimental Evaluation of the Detroit Promise Path Program." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.
  8. Jacob, Brian, Damon Jones and Benjamin Keys (2024). “The Value of Student Debt Relief and the Role of Administrative Barriers: Evidence from the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program.” Journal of Labor Economics. 42(S1).
  9. Baum, Micah and Jacob, Brian (2024). “Racial Differences in Parent Response to COVID Schooling Policies.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. January 16, 2024. 121(3).
  10. Baron, Jason, Jacob, Brian and Joseph Ryan (2023). “Pretrial Juvenile Detention.” Journal of Public Economics. 217 (104798).
  11. Pilkauskas, Natasha, Jacob, Brian, Rhodes, Elizabeth, Richard, Katherine and Shaefer, Luke (Forthcoming). “The COVID Cash Transfer Study: The Impacts of an Unconditional Cash Transfer on the Wellbeing of Low-Income Families.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.